Favorite Catholic Homeschool Curriculum

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What are the best catholic homeschool curriculum out there? Well to be honest, this will depend entirely on your method of homeschool.

So, I’m sharing some of our favorite places to source materials to build your traditional Catholic curriculum.

This post has been updated from the original publish date of February 5, 2022. And I will continue to update as needed.

Favorite Catholic Curriculum

Over the years, I’ve tried classical & traditional methods, before finally settling on Charlotte Mason. I’ve been a long time supporter of the Charlotte Mason method and we have been using the CMEC for the past few years now.

While we use the CMEC for their many benefits, we also supplement with a variety of sources to make our curriculum Traditional Catholic.

Before I go off on a tangent, let’s chat about some favorite places to buy a traditional Catholic curriculum for the homeschool.

And this post will not be all inclusive to what is available out there. I’m just sharing the places where I have personally sourced materials from. And those that I do recommend based off of the method of homeschooling which you choose to do.

If you’re brand new to homeschooling, you may like to read more about the methods of homeschooling before deciding which is best for your family.

Traditional method curriculum sources

Many families that I know choose this method of homeschooling especially as a beginner. This is the method that I initially began with and I purchased many of our first books & curriculum to support this method.

Here are is an excellent option for the traditional method curriculum which I have used and recommend:

Our Lady of Victory – Listed as Traditional and pre-1960’s, but also note that after ordering, I’ve found things like like Divine Mercy, Vatican 2 saints, etc. It seems to be pretty minimal and overall, they have good choices for books.

St Jerome Library – I no longer support this curriculum after they’ve made changes to their curriculum based on theories.

Charlotte Mason curriculum sources

We made the switch to Charlotte Mason in our homeschool a few years ago. And it is still very much a part of our approach.

When I was beginning with the CM method, I had to piece together our curriculum through a variety of sources.

I used a lot of foundation materials and ideas from Ambleside, which is not Catholic, but Christian based. From here, I added in the catechism and living books that were more practical for our faith.

Here are a few of the places where I have put our curriculum together from in past years:

• Ambleside Online – be very selective in books that they recommend. Many are protestant and have anti-catholic bias. Especially with history and some literature read-alouds.
• Beautiful Feet Books (some good, some not so good – be selective as some are protestant leaning and pro-reformation)
• Living Book Press (a lot of excellent & classical living books — you’ll definitely need to pre-read to make sure nothing against the faith with some options)
• Simply Charlotte Mason (great options & suggestions for Charlotte Mason curriculum)
• Mater Amabilis – not traditional, but at least gives you some ides for putting together a Catholic based Charlotte Mason curriculum of your own.

Piecing together curriculum from a variety of sources may not work for you if you prefer something more structured. I do love an all-in-on approach to sourcing school materials.

However, over time I’ve found that I haven’t always agreed with some principles or books provided. So, now I take the time to select the books that I find fitting for our family. This is not something that has come to me as a beginner, but over time as I’ve gotten more experienced and comfortable as a home educator.

Classical method curriculum sources

This method is liberal arts focused. It focuses on teaching children in three stages, called the Trivium. The Grammar Stage, the Dialectic Stage, and the Rhetoric Stage.

A study of Latin forms the foundation of classical education. There is also the study of history and literature to create a knowledge of Western civilization.

Here are two catholic based approaches to this method:

• TAN Academy – they even offer free lesson plans. We use the Land of Our Lady series for history and some of their science recommendations. I love to include a variety of the lives of the saints, spiritual reading, and other children’s books from TAN books. We even use this Catholic Classical Enrichment for our morning time.
• Mother of Divine Grace – not traditional, but they have some good classical recommendations.
• Queen of All Saints Academy – this is a great option of online learning taught by sisters and other religious.
• Memoria Press – another suggestion that isn’t Catholic, per se. But it is Classical and Christian – they don’t teach doctrine. I use some of their suggestions and pair it with our Catholic sources, such as Bible and Commentaries to make it suitable for our family. Btw, their Latin programs are fantastic!

Avoid the overwhelm

There are so many different options out there when putting together your homeschool curriculum. Try to avoid becoming overwhelmed by keeping it simple.

What works for one family, may not work for another. This is the beauty of homeschooling! We can piece together a beautiful feast of learning for our children.

And when feelings of overwhelm start to come up, try to remember the reason why you’re homeschooling in the first place.

 It is therefore as important to make no mistake in education, as it is to make no mistake in the pursuit of the last end, with which the whole work of education is intimately and necessarily connected. In fact, since education consists essentially in preparing man for what he must be and for what he must do here below, in order to attain the sublime end for which he was created, it is clear that there can be no true education which is not wholly directed to man’s last end, and that in the present order of Providence, since God has revealed Himself to us in the Person of His Only Begotten Son, who alone is “the way, the truth and the life,” there can be no ideally perfect education which is not Christian education.

― ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XI
ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION (DIVINI ILLIUS MAGISTRI)

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