Article On Catholic Education And Homeschooling

Here's a great article from Catholic Exchange on Catholic education for every Catholic kid:

http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/65754

While not everyone is able to homeschool, the very least we can provide for our children is a good Catholic education at home, if none is available at the parish level. I've convinced quite a few people in my parish to use one of the homeschool programs for religious education. The curriculum (Blest Are We) used by parish for the catechetical program is so poor, I cry every time I look at one of the books. I also cringe, knowing the faith of every child using the book is being undermined by CCD teachers are have little to no working knowledge of the faith.

I also don't believe we need to spend a fortune homeschooling. There are good quality books available, for a fraction of what it would cost to send a child to Catholic or private school, but every book does not need to be purchased. I've gotten into many an argument with my fellow Catholic homeschoolers who think it's necessary to purchase "complete" curricula. If a book is used once or twice, why purchase it? I always try to seek out the book, usually through ILL. So far, I haven't been disappointed. We do spend quite a bit on music lessons, about $55 per week. That works out to $2,860 per year, which is still far less than tuition to the local Catholic school.

Just my $.02 :)