Unsatisfied with the homeschooling curricula available in the 1990’s – we researched the various educational methods and approaches, as well as educational goals. Again and again we were drawn back to the Great Books Movement – the return to the classics – as the core element needing restoration and recommended by the leading lights for educational reform, including Mortimer Adler, former Editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Great Books of Western Civilization (as well as author of 50+ other books). After meeting with Dr. Adler for three days in 1999 and again in 2000, we concluded his educational approach was the most insightful and profound, and, with his encouragement, introduced the Great Books movement online, to homeschoolers and others. We accepted our first students in 2000 A.D. Dr. Adler – long a Thomist since reading the Summa Theologica when he was 22,  was received into the Catholic Church in December, 2000 by the Most Reverend Pierre DuMaines, then bishop of San Jose, CA, a friend and admirer of Dr. Adler.  In order to prepare students to read the Great Books, we introduced Dr. John Senior’s children’s classics Good Books list into the elementary levels.  Literature is the backbone and main integrating factor in education and in our program.

We have assembled what we believe is the finest educational curriculum available. Our high school and college-level literature program – the Great Books Program– introduces students to approximately 120 of the greatest works of genius ever produced, in various fields. The list may be viewed elsewhere, but includes Homer, Plato, Virgil, Genesis, St. John, St. Augustine, Venerable Bede, St. Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Dickens, Dostoevsky, Flannery O’Connor, etc. There cannot be a better core to any curriculum, at least with respect to the materials used, by the common opinion of the ages.

Such great works can more easily be understood with some preparation. Hence we developed our Good Books Program of literature classics for younger, elementary school readers (designed to be accompanied by Lives of the Saints). Likewise, our language arts, history, art, writing, vocabulary and other courses are all aimed and arranged to prepare students for the best – the great books. As the reader may see, the entire program, from pre-school to the end, is organized for excellence – to lead students to the very best – in art, science, literature, history, etc. – in graduated steps in all areas. Nearly 20 years of experience (following 80 years of the Great Books movement) have confirmed this approach.

Yes, there are a number of articles on this website. Additionally, Classical Homeschooling online magazine has numerous articles and essays discussing all of the above in detail. In addition, there is extensive literature and numerous articles on the Great Books movement online. Links to this above.

Our curriculum is all listed under the tab “Curriculum,” so simply visit any grade level, or subject area (such as Math, Art, History), and select the levels and materials you wish to use. To enroll just click the ENROLL link at the top of the homepage. To order individual books for non-enrolled students, please visit our Academy Bookstore, which only carries books and materials we recommend for our curriculum, listed by grade level, and by subject area. Parents are free to utilize other educational programs for various courses, alongside our program, even substituting for parts of our program – however we do not provide grading for other programs as we do not have their answer keys and it is not efficient to attempt to do. However, we do add such courses to our enrolled students’ trancripts, on request (we simply need some sufficient evidence of the name of the course, successful completion and grade or level attained to do so – this is usually a transcript, but that is not required). 

We have found that many parents want to cover additional subjects, in other areas. We offer 12 subjects – too many to do at one time. So, most parents begin with 3 or 4 and then add more until they are covering the areas they wish. Many teach some of the subjects 3 or 4 days a week, other subjects, only one day a week. Some focus on one subject at a time – like the unit studies approach. Whatever suits your time and circumstances is best for you. We trust the judgment of parents, and in validation of that view: homeschoolers regularly outperform schooled (public or private) students.

That is a matter of opinion of course, but we believe religion, literature, English language arts (such as phonics, grammar, writing), math, art (and/or music), history, and by 7th grade – science, are all very important subjects. Geography, philosophy for children, foreign languages, and dialectics (aka Socratic discussions) are also important. None should be entirely neglected. That is why some parents rotate weeks, or do some subjects only one day a week, or some over the summer, etc. There are all kinds of options for home education, which avoids the one-size-fits-all blunder of mass education.

Only until the students can read for themselves. Before then, they are often read to the children before bedtime. But once they can read, they typically read in the evening by themselves. No doubt this varies a great deal as well. Our Good Books literature program begins at the nursery level, though 8^th grade (15 levels in all). It is followed by our Great Books Program, beginning in 9^th grade and up.

The natural sciences are learned analytically in the traditional sequence of biology, chemistry, physics – usually sometime in 9th-12th grades. Texts are available to prepare for those years – in a simplified format for 6th-8th grades – entitled Life, Earth and Physical science (or similar names). These are important subjects. However, these texts all assume a certain level of experience of the natural world. Students who do not actually know what a butterfly does, who have not seen turtles in water, blown seed stars off of dandelions, made mud pies nor followed rabbits to their holes, simply cannot do as well as students that have. Texts have been created for 1st-6th grade science – and we carry the very best for parents who want them – but on examination, parents will discover their contents are largely attempts to replicate the experiences mentioned above, using photos and dry explanations, and which are enjoyed by all children with enough time to play in nature.

The earlier the better – and the easier. Studies show that learning a foreign language is more difficult after puberty. But better late than never. We offer the classical languages – ancient Greek and Latin – and encourage the study of those inflected, root languages, but any foreign language is far better than none. A good understanding of English is nearly always one happy result of learning a foreign language and its grammar and syntax.

No. Again, parents are the primary educators. We are here to aid them. While we believe our materials are the finest available we understand that in some circumstances parents may wish to continue using some materials they already have or prefer for some other reason.  Of course we cannot grade tests for other curricula as we do not have their materials and answer keys. We are happy to add those courses to your Angelicum transcript – just send us the relevant information at your leisure.

The listings are a rough guide for parents. Certainly, in the youngest grades, the parents will be doing some, or most, of the reading. This is not only acceptable but also beneficial for the students, even for some older students, as they learn how the language should sound and also helps the student learn to listen well. It is a good thing for students [for all of us, in fact] occasionally to read a book that is difficult and makes them stretch intellectually. It is for this reason that some of the books are listed where they will be a challenge to the student. Of course, not every book should be difficult as this would be discouraging. In any case, the parents know best what the student is capable of, and the choice of books is up to them. St. Benedict’s advice regarding novices was: not too hard, lest they be discouraged, nor too easy, lest they be bored. This varies students to student.

The amount of time will, of course, vary from student to student and family to family, but, on average elementary level, homeschool students spend only about 2 to 3 hours a day studying (excluding reading literature) and still surpass students in schools. But if you wish your students to excel in life, we believe it takes more time than that to do well. But no precise number is valid for all. Nevertheless, double that time or even more would not be unreasonable in some cases. It obviously depends on a number of factors: available time; educational goals; grade level, number of courses, temperament, other obligations, etc.

The Jesuits discovered long ago that students do not like doing the same learning activity more than two times in a row. So they broke it up with contests, field trips, other subjects (such a perhaps geography or history), different approaches, etc. Some homeschooling parents make Wednesdays a different sort of day, leaving Mondays and Tuesdays, and then Thursdays and Fridays, for the routine classes, but thus only two times in a row. But family life often solves this problem in unexpected ways!

The Academy allows parents to pick and choose whatever courses they wish, from whatever levels they wish. We believe this is a parental right, and duty. We do not believe every student should take every course we offer, neither all the time nor every year. There is a give-and-take in education, that is highly individualized, which is why it is called a co-operative art by Aristotle, like medicine and animal husbandry. If a doctor gave all sick folks the same remedy for every illness, many would die needlessly. Likewise, if a farmer gave all animals the same food, or the same quantity – many would needlessly grow sick. Education too has a large element that is best left to the parents who know and love the individual student best and can best judge when their child is either bored (i.e., not challenged enough), or discouraged (i.e., challenged too much), and can then adjust their studies accordingly. 

It is natural to love to learn. Most parents are in the best position in the early years to cultivate and nurture this desire. Schools can too easily stifle this by one-size-fits-all approaches to education, killing the innate desire to learn, by forgetting that education is a co-operative art. This is one of several great advantages homeschooling offers. A loving, safe (emotionally, morally, and physically) learning environment is another, in the great majority of cases.

Some students love math and blaze through three or even four grade levels in one year, while making little to no progress in, say, reading or writing; for others it is the reverse. These areas of interest tend to shift in time, so that by the end of elementary school level (with just a little gentle pushing) all, or nearly all, of the courses have been studied through the 8th grade level. If not, there remains time to make up for missed ground in the high school period. We have had high school students take 3rd or 4th grade English/grammar as they simply have not studied or been taught this in school, at least not adequately.  They typically make up for lost time very rapidly. The only deadline we have – outside of those for live classes – is that the students need to have all their high school level work done by the time they wish to conclude 12th grade (and their high school and required college-level courses done by the time they wish to earn their Associate’s degree). 

Home education allows for different paces in each course, and in each level. We encourage parents not to fell bound to the school academic year for all the courses – rather, they should feel free to proceed faster with some courses, and slower in others, and even have their children doing different grade levels in different courses. For example, A 5th grade math student might be doing 6th grade grammar and  4th grade literature (Good Books), each at a different pace (such as one lesson per day in one course, 2 in another, or perhaps one per week in a third). Such an individualized approach, dome reasonably well,  helps students avoid both boredom and discouragement, and allows them time to master the subject matter. St. Thomas advised students not to proceed to the next level of a subject until they had mastered the level they were on, and that will certainly differ student to student, course to course, and level to level. This logical, individualized approach is next to impossible to accomplish or provide in mass education settings, such as schools. 

This program is about education, not about forcing parents or students to conform to our programs, views or rules. We respect parental authority over the education of their children., even if we happen to disagree or think we may know better. We are simply here to help and assist them, make suggestions and educational recommendations, to whatever degree they wish and we are able. We are anti-bureaucratic – if we can say “yes” to any parental request, schedule or proposal, we do so. We are not taxpayer-funded, so we do not have to bow to political correctness or fads of social experimentation in order to receive government money with strings attached. Children are not “creatures of the State,” they are, rather, children of God, and of their parents to whom He has entrusted their care and education. This is an unapologetically Catholic program, however students of all faiths, or no faith, are welcome to benefit from our services, and many have done so over the years, and are treated with dignity, kindness and respect.  We have had students of every major religion and denomination, from six continents and many nations – all are welcome.