Guides for Teaching and Learning

The following are links to samples of Kolbe Academy Homeschool Course Plans. Course plans with exams are available for free to enrolled families or for purchase from our bookstore. Our online courses generally follow Kolbe’s homeschool course plans with the opportunity to modify as needed for the online classroom.

• High School Sample Course Plans
• Junior High Sample Course Plans
• Elementary Sample Course Plans

Methodology of Course Plans and Study Guides

All the components of Kolbe’s curriculum guide students through the four stages of intellectual development:

• Understanding what is read
• Retention of explicit information
• Recognition of implicit concepts
• Making connections—mastery
  

These syllabi and course plans are the road maps through the first, third and fourth stages. They provide the parent/teacher and the student with key points for understanding and also help make connections across subjects and to our Catholic Faith. The discussion questions and key points focus attention to the recognition of implicit concepts, while the paper topics primarily focus on making connections. The quarterly exams generally have multiple sections designed to test the student on understanding, retention, recognition and mastery.

Study guides focus on development in the first, second and third stages of intellectual development. They lead students to a better understanding of what they have read, help them to retain explicit information through repetition, and guide them in understanding and recognition of implicit concepts. Although it may seem trivial to simply repeat given information, it is critical to mastery.