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Home > Support > Curricula > There are so many wonderful materials available for homeschoolers! How do you narrow the choices?
 
 
Question: I feel so overwhelmed by all of the wonderful materials that are available for homeschoolers! How do you narrow your choices to make sure you are giving your children a thorough education without being overwhelmed? I am using CHC lesson plans, but in reading I am having to supplement because my girls are in first grade but are reading on a third grade level. Thank you and God bless you for your work.
Answer:

Dear Mom,

I feel that you have brought up a very important issue. I will give you the mindset I use when I approach purchasing materials for use in our homeschool.

I like to use a basic and well thought out lesson plan that allows me the freedom to supplement as necessary. I do not want to be restricted too severely in the amount of work that is expected of the children. I began homeschooling so that I could spend time doing the activities with the children that we all enjoy.

If the lesson plan is complete with "good bones" then it is easier to reach out beyond the plan and enhance your curriculum as meets your child's needs. I do not think that we need lots of "busy books" in the homeschool. One history book done and comprehended thoroughly is far better than materials that never get finished or worse, never used at all.

How wonderful that your girls are reading above their grade level. That is a most important criterion for success in any learning environment. You are right to be sensitive to their needs for stimulation and exciting reading material. I would suggest that you utilize your public library. Each library keeps a list of the suggested titles for children at different grade levels. Ask your librarian's advice. Communicate your needs and desires in reading material for your children so that the librarians are able to help you select material with which you are comfortable.

Along these lines, have you thought about enhancing your daughter's learning through activities associated with the books they enjoy? Perhaps they could make dioramas or pictures or write engaging book reports. Maybe field trips that complete the reading of a book on a particular subject would be to their liking.

In other words do the basics well and completely. Interject creativity often and keep the fire burning when it comes to reading.

I think you have chosen well in CHC curriculums. Besides being user friendly and complete, they are totally Catholic. The Catholic teachings and lifestyle are so tenderly interwoven in the text that it becomes a joy each day to use the curriculums.

Dearest Jesus, we love You and praise You for the gift of reading. It is a joy to introduce our dear children to authors that will stimulate their imagination. We ask for the graces necessary to be showered upon all children who are trying to learn to read. We ask that the Holy Spirit empower individuals who are in the position of teaching others to read. Amen.

Sending out a prayer,
Rita Munn

   
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