This reading text is used in the fourth grade at Seton Home Study School. It provides a wide variety of stories and poems of a rather engaging nature for young readers. Some examples include selected chapters from popular books by authors such as Beverly Cleary and Carolyn Haywood, several well-known Fables and Fairy Tales, Greek Myths, Bible Stories, stories about Saints, and stories and poems from nature. The comprehension/study questions which follow each story are excellent. They are designed to help the reader identify subtleties in the story and consider the deeds of the characters. My husband, who has read some of these selections aloud to the children complains that they (stories such as those written by Cleary and Haywood) were "horribly written."

Designed for 4th or 5th grade, this level of the popular Catholic grammar curriculum is another winner! The book has been improved from the earliest editions of the lower levels by using a high-quality, bright-white, erasable paper with a lay-flat spiral binding. The 120 exercises in the worktext provide four short lessons per week for thirty weeks, including regular review of concepts already taught on lessons titled "Practice". There are no tests, although the "Practice" pages could be used as tests. The examples and exercises are gently Catholic, using bits of Catholic history, explanations of Catholic customs, and illustrations from daily family life as the sentences upon which the students practice. Pictures are simple black-and-white drawings and sketches and add to the simplicity of the book. It is very refreshing to use a text that is not filled with politically correct rhetoric and visually overwhelming photos and diagrams!

This level reviews grammar topics covered in earlier grades and extends these topics with grade-level information. A study of the parts of speech and their usage comprises the majority of the lessons. An introduction to traditional sentence diagramming (7 lessons) and sentence construction is also included (about 10 lessons). The exercises require very little actual pen-and-paper work and are ideal for a child who struggles with the physical act of writing. To practice a child's handwriting and to improve his retention, I have my children copy some of the daily practice sentences into their grammar notebooks, rather than just filling-in-the-blanks. For a student of this age, this text is not a complete language arts curriculum; you will also need regular composition exercises.

This book is used as a reading text in Seton's 2nd grade program, but is available for sale apart from the curriculum. Interestingly, the typeface at the beginning of the book is somewhat large, becoming gradually smaller as the student progresses through the book. My 3rd-grader read through the book quickly and without challenge, but it would be too difficult for a typical 1st grade student. Randomly selected vocabulary includes Blaise, cloak, gushed, shrine, squirrel, children, sufferings, and loaves. I admit to a fondness for old readers, and this new one deserves a place on the shelf with them!

This charming work text is designed to precede the My Catholic Speller series and would be appropriate for most First Graders. The book provides 27 two page lessons with six spelling words each. Spelling words include some Catholic words as well as the basics. Lessons provide opportunities for simple writing exercises (on appropriate sized writing lines with dotted center-lines as well as simple exercises in matching words and pictures, finding rhyming words, making up sentences, finding hidden words, simple alphabetization, etc. List words are grouped by vowel sounds, phonograms and simple spelling rules. The Introduction provides a simple outline for completing a lesson each week and a segment at the end of the book entitled "Presenting the Lesson" gives teaching tips and ideas for each lesson. The book also comes with an alphabet on heavy cardstock to cut out for a simple way that children can start putting letters together into words.