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Kolbe Academy Homeschool
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Question:
We are thinking of switching to Napa, CA-based Kolbe Academy Homeschool.
We're really impressed with the classical approach offered by Kolbe.
Does anyone out there use Kolbe? Care to share your experiences with it?
Answer:
- We started using Kolbe with our 3rd grade son 2 1/2 weeks ago and both
he and his parents are very pleased with it.
Their classical approach is what first attracted our attention. Even if
you decide not to officially switch to Kolbe, I would recommend ordering
their "Principles of Ignatian Education in the Home." It is full of
good ideas, but be advised that the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the book is VERY
dry and difficult to force yourself to read. Between Dorothy Sayer's
"Lost Tools of Learning" and Kolbe's "Principles", you should have a
good educational philosophy to fall back on.
We have found the recommended Kolbe curriculum to be challenging and
invigorating. In some areas, such as spelling, we have had to drop back
from the Kolbe starting point to earlier lessons in the speller.
Depending on how long you have been with some other organization (I
noticed that you are "switching to" Kolbe), you may have some
transitional difficulties also. The challenge of ensuring that your child receives
a quality education, and feels the accomplishment of achieving
challenging goals, while not discouraging him by setting the bar too high - is
always present, with or without Kolbe.
The only other potential academic downside is in the area of history. As
we are starting 3rd grade, we were facing 3 years of studying Ancient
Egypt, Greece, and Rome. My wife and I felt the need to supplement the
Koble material with appropriate American history materials, lest we
enter 6th grade with a child who was ignorant of formal knowledge about
Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, the Civil War, the Pilgrims, the
Westward Expansion, and so on.
I could mention several other quibbles, but I feel that they are very
minor and discussing them here would leave a negative impression. This
would be unfortunate, for at the moment I can not speak highly enough
of Kolbe and their curriculum.
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