COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Select courses within each discipline are offered on a rotating cycle at Mater Dei. See the full curriculum HERE. Course offerings for the 2024-2025 academic year at Mater Dei include:

Composition & Grammar
Composition & Logic
Modern Literature
United States & Modern History
Apologetics & Church History II
Physical Science
Chemistry
Algebra I
Geometry
Algebra II
Precalculus
Latin II
Schola Cantorum
MDA Enrichment Elective

Composition & Grammar

English Credit: 1

Course Description:

The goal of this course is to help students write well-formed expository, persuasive and compare/contrast essays. Students will learn and practice the skills needed to be successful when writing essays. These skills include organizing their thoughts in a logical manner, making a strong argument to support their view, using correct grammar, properly citing sources using the MLA Handbook, and revising and proofreading. The students will work with some basic elements of formal logic with an emphasis on grammar, the logic of a sentence. There will be weekly writing assignments for this course.

Students will also use the Sadlier Vocabulary program to develop their capacity to pronounce, spell, use, understand, and remember the definitions of words, their diacritical marks, and syllabication. The vocabulary portion of the course will also develop the student’s ability to work with synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, homographs, prefixes, suffixes, roots, denotation, connotation, literal usage, figurative usage, and analogies. Practicing these skills will help the student utilize better and more effective word choices as they write and help them prepare for college entrance examinations.

Composition & Logic

English Credit: 1

Course Description:

The goal of this course is to help students build upon their essay writing skills and write a well-formed research paper. Students will learn and practice the skills needed to be successful when writing essays and research papers. These skills include organizing their thoughts in a logical manner, making a strong argument to support their view, using correct grammar, and properly citing sources using the MLA Handbook. The students will also work with some basic elements of formal logic and elocution. Through these elements, the students will learn to develop logical arguments and use literary devices to enhance their writing.

There will be weekly writing assignments for this course. Writing assignments will be accessible for all students and will be drawn from the common knowledge subject areas of history, literature, and theology, or they may be in another area of the instructor’s choice. Students will also use the Sadlier Vocabulary program to develop their capacity to pronounce, spell, use, understand, and remember the definitions of words, their diacritical marks, and syllabication. The vocabulary portion of the course will also develop the student’s ability to work with: synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, homographs, prefixes, suffixes, roots, denotation, connotation, literal usage, figurative usage, and analogies. Practicing these skills will help the student utilize better and more effective word choices as they write and help them prepare for college entrance examinations.

Composition & Rhetoric

English Credit: 1

Course Description:

Composition and Rhetoric is a yearlong study in the skills of written and oral persuasion. We will master these skills through the study of Aristotle’s Rhetoric, Farnsworth’s Classical Rhetoric (Figures of Speech), famous historical speeches, and Cicero’s “Six Moves of Persuasion.” We will use creative composition assignments, modeling and case studies to put our rhetorical wisdom into practice.

In this course, we will study speeches by many great orators, such as: Patrick Henry, Sir Edmund Burke, Socrates, Sir Thomas More, Fredrick Douglass, Winston Churchill, Shakespeare, and several U.S. Presidents. As part of exams, the students will be asked to analyze model speeches: “Cross of Gold,” “The Gettysburg Address,” Julius Caesar “Funeral Oration” by Marc Antony & Brutus, and “Address to the Nation: Challenger Disaster” in an attempt to demonstrate their strong grasp of the rhetoric concepts learned in each quarter.

Creative Writing

English Credit: 1

Course Description:

Creative Writing is a senior-year english course that has been designed to help form the student’s abilities to effectively speak, write, and act. The lessons of the three component parts of the course—vocabulary, composition, and oral presentations—will all contribute to development in these fields. This course is also designed to help stimulate and develop the student’s creative imagination through admiration and imitation of great writers and styles.

Ancient Western Literature

Literature Credit: 1

Course Description:

This course introduces the student to the foundational works of Greek and Roman literature, as well as a study of genres and literary forms. The texts of antiquity are studied for their universal appeal to the human experience and for their influence upon the great thinkers and development of the West. Greek and Roman poetry, drama, and philosophy are referenced throughout the literary and intellectual works of Western thinkers to this day.

Students will identify and examine the inter-relationship between the four primary genres of all imitative forms of literature: the epic, the lyric, the tragedy, and the comedy; identify and use literary devices and figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, allegories, fables, parables; imitate these genres and literary devices in their writing in order to understand more deeply the nature and power of these forms; become familiar with the greatest examples of Greek and Roman literature and their impact upon Western literature and modes of thought throughout history; compare and contrast Greek and Roman ideals of heroism and virtue with the Christian understanding of these ideals, and identify the ways in which Greek and Roman thought served as preparation for the Gospel.

Reading List:

The Iliad
The Oresteian Trilogy
The Theban Plays
The Great Dialogues of Plato
Classical Literary Criticism
The Aeneid
The Odyssey

Literature of Christendom

Literature Credit: 1

Course Description:

This course is a companion to the History of Christendom, introducing the student to the important works of the period, as well as to the literary styles and conventions developed in this period both those that it borrowed from previous times and those it expanded on or created. Students will become familiar with the main examples of Medieval literature; identify and examine the inter-relationship between the Greek epic (the Iliad and the Odyssey), the Roman epic (the Aeneid) and the Catholic epic (The Divine Comedy); identify the Christian virtue of chivalry and its role in Medieval society; identify the Christian virtue of courtesy and its role in Medieval society; identify the Christian metaphor of the spiritual quest to attain salvation; further the study and imitation of these genres: epic, tragedy, comedy, and rhetoric; learn to interpret and distinguish the fourfold senses of theological writings: the literal, the allegorical, the moral, and the eschatological; and trace the effect of the Christian world on the development of Medieval literature.

Reading List:

Beowulf
The Song of Roland
Sir Gawain & the Green Knight
The Divine Comedy: Inferno
The Divine Comedy: Purgatory
The Divine Comedy: Paradise
The Canterbury Tales
Macbeth
Hamlet
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy

Modern Literature

Literature Credit: 1

Course Description:

This is a challenging course intended to be taken in conjunction with the 12th grade Modern and US History course. The course is largely based on reflective reading and writing essays based on text analysis. The novels have been chosen for their timelessness and their accurate, stunning portrayal of important historical events and the ideas that have helped shape the Modern world.

Students will become familiar with some of the major authors and most influential novels from the Modern Era; identify the historical events that took place during the life of the Modern writers and how these events have impacted their writing; have a greater understanding of the evolution of literary style and technique in the Modern Era; learn to interpret and analyze an author’s means of conveying ideas; and appreciate the impact of philosophy upon literature, and the subsequent impact of literature upon culture.

Reading List:

Winesburg, Ohio
The Man Who Was Thursday
The Old Man and the Sea
Crime and Punishment
1984
The Power and the Glory
Dubliners
The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry
The Collected Works of T.S. Eliot
Flannery O'Connor: Collected Works

Ancient Western Civilization

History Credit: 1

Course Description:

This course examines the great civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. The first half traces the arc of Greek democracy and culture through the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars; the second picks up with the rise and fall of Roman power, from the mythic and historical accounts of Rome’s early days all the way to St. Augustine’s reflections in The City of God on Rome’s fall and the conflict between Christians and pagans in Roman society.

The influence of the personalities, events, and ideas of this era is difficult to overstate, and the study of ancient Greece and Rome is vital to any genuine understanding of the movement and progress of History in the West. This course will enable the student to observe the timelessness of human relations and the similarities of man’s responses to the conditions in which he finds himself across time periods; to discover the similarities and differences between ancient Greek and Christian ideas of virtue; to trace the cause and effect of political developments in the ancient world and, by extension, the modern; to identify the periods of ancient history and major characters of the period; to become familiar with the geography of the ancient world and the seeds of modern geopolitical conflicts; and to relate modern historical situations and documents to their ancient antecedents.

The Era of Christendom

History Credit: 1

Course Description:

This course is an introduction to the post-Pagan Roman world (which encompassed the province of Britannia, in the west, to the Kingdoms of Armenia and Georgia in the east), and to the expansion and transformation of that world, i.e. the new lands won for Christ by missionaries and the renewal or abolition of many western and central European institutions and traditions. More than this, the Kolbe 11th grade History Course is an attempt to present as an elaborate thriving organism, an often slandered or overlooked period in which the Christian ideal shaped and inspired the social and political order.

In this course students will continue their study of the incarnational development of history with the rise of Christendom. The readings and discussions will focus on what makes Christendom, with history makers, saints, popes, emperors, kings, and the everyday person. We will cover heroism, missionaries & conversions, conquest & expansion, and the art & architecture of the time. The readings emphasize primary sources as well as some significant secondary ones, building a picture of the backdrop of a changing world after the dissolution of Late Antique society. Students will explore key figures, and they will discuss the achievements and failures that helped to make the modern world. They will learn of the influences that led to the rise of the cultures such as Islam, the Vikings, and the Slavs. The class will compliment what the students are covering in theology and literature. The course will occasionally engage with some of the myths perpetrated by early modern historical critiques. Students will come away with the appreciation that these were not “Dark Ages,” but rather truly the Era of Christendom.

United States & Modern History

History Credit: 1

Course Description:

Thought shapes history. Man’s thoughts are shaped by his beliefs, his habits (be they virtue or vice), his society, culture, custom, environment, experience, and education. Man shapes history through his choices, which are rooted in those soils of his thought. As you read the pages of modern history you will see that man’s thought—beliefs and philosophies—are some of the most powerful forces on earth.

This course studies the major ideological trends of modern Western Civilization and their effects on the world. In this course students will be asked to examine the work of a number of thinkers—philosophers, scientists and theologians — in conjunction with their study of historical events and documents. In essence this is both a course in history and in political philosophy. It will be most fruitful to seriously consider the power of an idea to shape history.

United States Government

History Credit: .5

Course Description:

This one-semester course examines the character and history of American democracy in light of the principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence. It highlights three pivotal periods in our nation’s history: our separation from Britain and the establishment of the Constitution; the sectional conflict over slavery that culminated in civil war; and the struggle for racial equality in the 20th century that eventually saw a triumph of Declaration principles over unjust laws. Throughout the course, the influence of philosophy and religion on the evolution of American thought is emphasized. The course ends with a meditation on the dangers that threaten our democracy today.

Economics

History Credit: .5

Course Description:

Economics is a one-semester course that provides students with a basic literacy in economics, reviewing concepts such as the market economy, stock market, production, supply and demand, government regulation and the economy, and currency. Economic practice and theory is presented from a Catholic perspective.

Algebra I

Mathematics Credit: 1

Course Description

This Algebra I course moves at a very quick pace as much of the material in the first 2 chapters is review of Pre-Algebra. A review of decimals, fractions, and percentages is not included so parents should be sure the student is comfortable with those topics before beginning the course. This course provides the backbone of Algebra I concepts to prepare the student for taking Algebra II, and adequately prepare a student to take the Algebra I Math sections of the PSAT, SAT, and ACT standardized tests. Additional graphing supplements are provided in the course plan as an introduction to graphing. Topics include: Expressions and Equations, Operations with Negative Numbers, Distributing, Axioms, and Other Properties,Harder Equations, Some Operations with Polynomials and Radicals, Quadratic Equations, Expressions and Equations Containing, Two Variables, Linear Functions, Scattered Data, and Probability, Properties of Exponents, More Operations with Polynomials, Rational Algebraic Expressions, Radical Algebraic Expressions, Inequalities, Functions and Advanced Topics.

Geometry

Mathematics Credit: 1

Course Description:

This Geometry course can follow any Algebra I program. This course presents all the geometrical concepts traditional to a high school geometry course. This course will prepare the students for geometry questions on the PSAT, ACT, and SAT standardized tests. Students will continually review Algebra I material, whether as separate exercises or incorporated into geometry math problems. After students complete this geometry course, they will be ready for Algebra II.

The Art of Problem Solving: Introduction to Geometry text presents new geometric concepts in an exciting manner. “Rather than first introducing new material and then giving students exercises, new present problems at the start of each section that students should try to solve before the new material is presented. The goal is to get students to discover the new material on their own” (Rusczyk vi). A traditional math textbook would tell students how to solve problems (such as providing formulas), work through example problems, and then provide students with a set of problems to solve. In order for math to develop students’ critical thinking skills, it must challenge the students to solve problems in the same way that they would in everyday life.

Algebra II

Mathematics Credit: 1

Course Description:

Topics in this Algebra II course include: linear functions, systems of linear equations and inequalities, quadratic functions and complex numbers, exponential and Logarithmic functions, rational Algebraic Functions, irrational Algebraic Functions, quadratic Relations and Systems (circles, ellipses, hyperbolas, and parabolas). This course moves at a very reasonable pace for most high school students. It is meant to be a college preparatory course in nature, taking the student through a great number of Algebra II concepts but also spending some time on reviewing Algebra I. Upon completion of this course, students will be ready to tackle any PreCalculus course the following year.

Precalculus

Mathematics Credit: 1

Course Description:

This course is designed to thoroughly prepare students for success in calculus by engaging them with interesting explorations, real-world applications, and integrated technology. Rich and varied problem sets bolster students’ mathematical skills and train them to think more deeply about concepts and make interdisciplinary connections. Throughout the course, each precalculus concept is clearly developed through graphical, algebraic, numerical, and verbal methods.

Physical Science

Science Credit: 1

Course Description:

This is a course that studies the fundamental principles of physical science which are so important for the in depth approach to the high school sciences of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Although the main emphasis in this course is on Chemistry and Physics, the same scientific thought processes and especially many of the Chemistry concepts, are applied and used fully in the high school Biology course as well. Ideally, Physical Science should be taken concurrently with Algebra I. However, strong math students will find that a pre-Algebra course provides most of the necessary math skills needed to complete this course successfully. Topics covered include an introduction to properties of matter, states of matter, atomic structure, the Periodic Table, chemical bonds, chemical reactions, solutions, acids and bases, forces and motion, forces in a fluid, work, power and machines, energy, thermal energy and heat, mechanical waves and sound, the electromagnetic spectrum and light, optics, electricity and magnetism.

Biology

Science Credit: 1

Course Description:

This course includes the following topics: the nature of life, ecology, cells, genetics, evolutionary theory, microorganisms and fungi, plants, invertebrates, chordates, and the human body. This course includes a lab component. The science of biology presents the student with some of the bioethical issues that exist in today’s world, such as stem cell research, genetic engineering, and cloning. It is the role of the parent to discuss these issues with the student and instruct the student in Church Teaching. We point out these controversial issues and provide guidance on how to address them. For example, the topic of evolution is studied alongside the Church’s teaching in Humani Generis.

Chemistry

Science Credit: 1

Course Description:

This course includes the following topics: matter and change, scientific measurement, atomic structure, the Periodic Table, ionic, metallic, and covalent bonding, chemical names and formulas, balancing chemical equations, chemical reactions, stoichiometry, states of matter, gas behavior, water and aqueous systems, solutions, thermochemistry, reaction rates and equilibrium, acids, bases and salts, oxidation-reduction reactions, electrochemistry, hydrocarbon compounds, alcohols, ethers, carbonyl compounds, carbohydrates, amino acids, lipids, nucleic acids, and nuclear chemistry. This course includes a lab component.

Physics

Science Credit: 1

Course Description:

This course is designed to give an understanding of classical physics. Physics is the science of the natural laws of the physical universe, which, like the natural moral law, flow through creation, having as their origin the goodness of God. “The beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and submission of man’s intellect and will” (New Catechism of the Catholic Church 342). This course is typically done in 11th or 12th grade and includes the following topics: measurement, motion in one direction, vectors, motion in two and three dimensions, forces, Newton’s Laws, work, energy, power, momentum circular motion, rotational kinematics, rotational dynamics, static equilibrium and elasticity, gravity and orbitals, oscillations and harmonic motion, wave motion, sound, wave superposition and interference, electric charge and Coulomb’s Law, electric current and resistance, capacitors, and direct current circuits.

Introduction to Sacred Scripture

Theology Credit: 1

Course Description:

This course is designed to familiarize the student with the revealed word of God. It explains how we come to know Christ, the word of God, better through both the old and new testaments. The course introduces the student to methods of reading and understanding God’s word and teaches the student the content and significance of the old and new testaments. This course will enable the student to understand and embrace the Church’s teaching on divine revelation, in both sacred scripture and sacred tradition; understand the role of the magisterium in preserving, defending, interpreting, and explaining the word of God; become familiar with the messianic prophecies and their fulfillment in Christ, and recognize the Church, in her four marks, prefigured in Israel; know how to read God’s word with understanding and to begin to read it prayerfully and profitably; understand the historical and eternal significance of the Incarnation, public ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; trace the development of the Church from its founding by our Lord to the death of the last apostle and the closing of public revelation, and to understand our Lord’s provisions for the continuity of His Holy Church from then to now; and find and explain the new testament passages that teach the real presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, as well as the passages referring to the other six sacraments.

Mass, Sacraments, Prayer & Church History I

Theology Credit: 1

Course Description:

Grade Ten Theology is a two-part course. The first semester of the course covers Mass, the Sacraments and Prayer and the second semester, Church History I. The first semester of the course will teach the student the origin of the seven sacraments, the development in the Church’s understanding of them, and their absolute necessity in the Christian life. The student will also be exposed to the Church’s rich tradition of prayer. The second half of the course, Church History I, the student will learn the development of the Church from the close of the Apostolic age to the conversion of the Roman emperor Constantine: approximately 90 to 325 A.D.

This course will enable the student to understand in detail the nature of the Sacraments he/she is receiving, and be able to defend the Catholic understanding of each Sacrament against detractors; deepen the student’s appreciation of the Mass and of the Sacraments, so as to make reception of the Sacraments more fruitful; gain exposure to the Church’s treasury of prayers and spiritual practices, so as to develop an appreciation for the Church’s tradition and a zealousness to serve God; study the Word of God as it moved from the Apostles through the Apostolic Fathers to the Fathers of the Church; become familiar with the early Fathers and their works, particularly as they contributed to the unfolding of Catholic Doctrine and Sacred Tradition; and apply Christian principles faithfully as a result of studying the examples and seeking the intercession of saints of the period.

Apologetics & Church History II

Theology Credit: 1

Course Description:

Grade Eleven Theology covers Church History from the Council of Nicea to the Counter Reformation, focusing on the development of doctrine. The Course is divided into four quarters with each focusing on a particular period and its doctrinal controversies and developments. The original writings of those engaged in these controversies and developments will be our guide.

The first quarter of the course focuses on the late patristic period from the First Council of Nicea in 325 to the Second Council of Nicea in 787. The second quarter of the course examines developments through the Carolingian Period to the beginning of the High Middle Ages. The third quarter of the course focuses on the high Middle Age with special emphasis on the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. The fourth quarter of the course will take us into the Catholic Counter Reformation.

Throughout the course, we will also be studying the contents of Catholic Apologetics by Fr. John Laux. The lessons in that text have been arranged to match up thematically with the other readings. Relevant sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church have been assigned as well.

This course aims to help the student to be able to “give a reason for the hope that is in you,” by studying the scriptural and rational bases that support Catholic doctrine and practice; gain exposure to the writings of great saints and theologians who have had a significant impact on the development of Catholic thought; study the organic development of the Church’s teaching; become familiar with the early Fathers and their works, particularly as they contributed to the unfolding of Catholic Doctrine and Sacred Tradition; and apply Christian principles faithfully as a result of studying and understanding the living tradition of the Church, and seeking the intercession of saints of the period.

Morality & Church History III

Theology Credit: 1

Course Description:

This aim of this course is to teach students how to pray, and inspire them to pursue virtue and sanctity, to trust in Divine Providence, and to make life choices based on sound moral principles. The course will explore in the Church teachings regarding prayer, Divine Providence, morality, vocations, marriage, the family, the Church and Our Blessed Mother.

The course will introduce the student to a devout life in the modern world and the practice of mental prayer; give the student the tools to distinguish between forms of prayer that are compatible with Christianity and those that are not; explain why sanctity and perfection consist in doing “everything to conform to God’s will” as St. Teresa of Avila says, and why that is the highest perfection possible; encourage boundless trust in God, His Divine Providence, His Love, and His Mercy; impart a firm understanding of Christian moral principals and the proper application of Christian moral principals in life situations; impart a greater understanding of the dignity of the human person, freewill and vocation; foster a deeper admiration of the particular callings within the Church; inspire each student to respond with greater zeal to the Universal Call to Holiness; reveal the beauty and sanctity of Matrimony in the Catholic Church and the benefits and responsibilities of family life; show forth the excellence of religious vocations, their benefits and responsibilities, as well as briefly define the various type of religious vocations in the Church; further the understanding of one’s duties to God, Church, self, spouse, family, state, and society; and foster a profound appreciation and understanding of Our Lady, her role in salvation and in our lives.

Ecclesiastical Latin

Foreign Language Credit: 1

Course Description:

This one-year course is designed to enable a diligent student to read the Roman Missal and Breviary with reasonable facility. The lessons embrace Latin Grammar completely, from the first declension to the various uses of the subjunctive. Well-planned exercises, lessons and vocabulary provide a solid foundation in Latin. Students will encounter reading lessons which are connected with passages from the two liturgical sources for which the whole course is a preparation. Students will also learn how to sing numerous Latin chants that every Catholic should know.

Schola Cantorum

Fine Arts Credit: 1

Course Description:

Coming soon…