Classical Academic Press - CAP - Likes & Dislikes

[Literary Mom]

I met Christopher Perrin of Classical Academic Press at a Great Homeschool Convention several years ago. His talks were my favorite (vive la truth, beauty, goodness...and rest!). I felt sure that I must have been missing out by not using any CAP curriculum, so I decided to dive in...

 

Modern Language (Shiny but remains untested)

 

That day, I impulse bought their Spanish program, but didn't end up using it because I couldn't juggle three kids and two languages, so I persisted with teaching Memoria Press Latin and outsourced French (my second language) to Rosetta Stone, but progress was slow and enthusiasm waned (methodology was too haphazard), so we dropped it after a year.  Then a few months back, I finally laid Latin to rest on the condition that we would resume study of a modern language. That's when I saw CAP's new French program and was, of course, smitten again. I determined we would start as soon as we wrapped up the first season of AG. Well, we passed the halfway mark of our school year a few weeks ago, and we still have a few weeks of AG to go, so I am hesitant to start something new towards the end of the school year. 

 

Writing (Great at first; now not so sure)

 

Meanwhile, I discovered Writing & Rhetoric just as I was at the end of my rope with Writing With Ease. W&R turned out to be a much better fit for my daughter's affinity for both creativity and structure. Two years later, we're halfway through the fourth book and the compatibility seems to be wearing off. I am not sure if just this particular book (Chreia/Proverb) or the whole program, but as we're about to enter middle school, I am tempted to explore other options...

 

Bible (Mixed)

 

I started with the first book of God's Great Covenant: Old Testament this past fall. I used it with my 3rd and 5th graders, so it was a bit on the easy side for them, but I thought that might be better, since we had not formally studied the Bible before (on a consistent basis). We made it through the book of Genesis, but as we were meandering along, I had that nagging sense that there was bit too much busy work (trivia and such), while all the meat of it was in the teacher notes, which I found myself reading aloud to them, and it being a bit much to digest at once. I wished there was something in between the detailed notes for parents and the literal fill in the blank, matching, multiple choice worksheets. I suppose I was supposed to adapt the notes, but who has time for that?  Then I discovered that when we switch from SOTW to MOH next year, we'll be covering a lot of OT history, so I decided to set aside GGC, with the possibility of bringing it back later in conjunction with MOH.  Also, it had been taking a long time to read both the Bible story (summary of multiple Bible chapters) in the GGC as well as actual chapters from the Bible, and I didn't like how we were skipping a lot, though I understand it's not practical to have a curriculum that has you read the entire Bible, hence the Bible story/summary with the option to read the actual Bible. Since we dropped that, I have been reading the gospel of Luke to them, in small doses each day, and discussing it, after our opening prayer (during "Morning Time"). 

 

Curious about...

 

I am currently tempted by their literature guides and logic books. That would be for my oldest (8th grade), the one who I taught Latin to from 2nd grade through the middle of this year (about a quarter of the way into Second Form Latin). She is excellent at Latin grammar and vocabulary (memory like a vault) but hates translations and the tedium of it all. I let her drop it when we picked up AG (she is completing all three seasons this year), because it seemed cruel and redundant to inflict all of that on her at once. She actually enjoys AG. Anyway, we do own Latin Alive, so there is a slim chance we will use that next year, should she balk at learning a modern language (which has been her attitude from day one of the logic stage other than the brief bout with Rosetta Stone), but when we initially tried it, it was actually too easy for her (I'm guessing it just starts out that way).  

 

 

...What CAP curriculum has worked for you and what hasn't?  The more details you can share, the better.  Thanks!  

 

 

Edited March 16, 2016 by Literary Mom

[Tenaj]

W&R has worked well here for one of my boys but not so much for two others I tried it with.  In our family, it seems to work for my kidlet who is a very creative writer and not afraid to "take risks" when he writes.  He loves the assignments, has a great time with them and completes them well with little instruction from me (He's in the narrative 2 book).  My other two seemed to need more concrete assignments and they just couldn't cope, even with me working right beside them.  I have switched them to IEW and they are much happier and successful with that program.

 

 

[ByGrace3]

We did a few of the W&R books with success, Love the Reading and Reasoning books, use VP (their history rec), and plan to use their logic in a few years...

[Kristie in Florida]

We have liked Latin for Children and will start Latin Alive this summer. The current plans are to use their logic and poetry next year so I can't say much about them yet.

[RootAnn]

Spanish didn't work for us- too much to learn with not enough practice or review. Great info,just didn't match our style.

 

Doing W&R Narrative 2 this year with Dd#3. Not a great fit, but that's ok for now. We only get to it 2x per week, so it'll last us all year.

 

Using Art of Argument for the second time with a small group. Great for a small group with a knowledgeable teacher who throws in games and reviews for fun. If we do formal logic ever, we might try CAP's other stuff. MP's trad. logic was a bust.

[tmstranger]

I've used W&R for one of my kids. It was not a good fit and generally caused a lot of bickering.  I was not a fan of the Teacher's Guide b/c I found it confusing and didn't think it was laid out well.  That being said, I've considered going back to it for my younger kiddo.  He learns differently and it may be a better fit for him.

 

My oldest also started with Latin for Children.  He learned a lot, but neither of us really loved the materials.  He did MP's FFL this year.  Much of it was review from LfC, but it is explained so much more clearly in FFL. 

 

 

[mschickie]

We are using Art of Argument this year for a co-op class.  I can say it is dd's favorite course.  It may seem "easy" but it is written in a way that dd gets it.  I think that is what I like about a lot of the CAP programs on the surface they may look easy but the kids really get some meat out of it.  With the logic class we use the DVDs which are a little dull but the kids do get some good examples.

 

Dd has done God's Great Covenant OT2, NT 1 and then this year NT 2.  I hesitated on NT2 because she is in 7th and it is written for slightly younger kids but I can say she has gotten a ton out of the study of Acts.  She does the work on her own and I am impressed with the discussions I have with her and her overall knowledge that she has gained.

 

When dd was younger we did Song School Latin and Latin For Children.  We have taken a break from Latin but I plan on doing Latin Alive with her in high school.  Right now she is doing French (a ps textbook) and she will also do that up through level 3 for high school.

 

I picked up the teacher's book for Art of Poetry.  I plan on using that in high school for dd to supplement the literature guides I plan on using.  It looks amazing.  I am not sure if I will do it as a co-op class or not but that is a possibility.

[SilverMoon]

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Edited September 10, 2023 by SilverMoon

[SilverMoon]

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Edited September 10, 2023 by SilverMoon

[Stellalarella]

I've used W&R this year.  We are getting writing instruction done.  I like the content.

 

I evaluate curriculum based on how clear it is, does it accomplish what I intend to teach, and the big plus comes if it makes me a better teacher.

 

If it accomplishes those three things AND the children don't cry, cry, cry over it, it's a win.

 

W&R books 1-2 are a win for us.

 

[happypamama]

I love the look of Latin Alive, but we haven't started it yet. It's just so clean and tidy and very visually appealing.

 

I love Art of Poetry for 7th-8th grade. It's hefty, but really good and packed full of information. Really great for the parent who is non-poetry-oriented.

 

Also, I spoke with one of their reps at a small convention last year, about Latin Alive, and she was SO nice and friendly! Just left me with a good impression of the company as a whole. I like my WTMPress writing materials, but I'm looking forward to checking out some of CAP's stuff at this year's convention.

[Literary Mom]

All this feedback is great! Thank you for sharing. I'm sure it will be helpful to other people as well.

 

I definitely agree with the first two books of W&R being quite good, the third okay, but the fourth I'm not as hot about. I will have to see if it picks up in the second half - we put it aside to finish up AG (2 hrs a day on language arts was too much!), but will return to it after next week. We have been going through about a book and a half per year.

 

Art of Argument seems to be a winner, so I'll be buying that for sure, and looking into the other recommendations.

[KrissiK]

We use their Bible curriculum and really like it. We use it at a slower pace than recommended. We have been doing it for 3 years now and will have finished book 2 by the end of the year. I have looked and looked for good Bible curriculum and this is the best I've found. The kids enjoy it, too. We used Greek Codecrackers and the kids kind of liked it, I felt like it did a pretty good job teaching the Alphabet. We then moved on to Elementary Greek.

[domestic_engineer]

We enjoyed Song School Latin, but now that we are ready for Latin for Children my children are put off with the "old-ness" or lesser quality of LfC compared to SSL.  This is a disappointment to me as I enjoy listening to Dr. Perrin, but I don't think we'd have a good attitude if I forced LfC on my children.  So I think we are going to take a break from Latin now and maybe pick up Latin in the upper grades and try to use Latin Alive then.

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

I bought their Bible curriculum, but decided to wait a couple years and do something else first.  We have done half of the Song School Spanish and like it, but we are going to try SFC for my oldest next year.  We are on book 2 of Writing and rhetoric.  I like that a lot.  We are planning to use Reading and Reasoning next year with my fifth grader, and then logic when he is older.  

 

So far, I really like the looks of their materials and have enjoyed what we have purchased so far.  They are probably my favorite of the classical type curricula.  They are more visually appealing.  I feel like Memoria Press looks like drudgery with their dry books.  

[cintinative]

Literarymom, I have sort of the same impression of the GGC Old Testament as you stated. We are maybe three-fourths through the book. Sometimes the fill in the blanks seem so repetitive, especially considering that their schedule is to complete a chapter in one week. Perhaps if you were coming back to review it after a couple weeks it would feel more appropriate. We do one chapter a week, and I do read the Bible passages every time, but I don't always read the summary in the text. I also have found the comments in the teacher's manual to be really meaningful. I have this sense that if there were some slight tweaks this would be exactly what we need, but it's present form isn't a great fit.  I guess maybe I would prefer more of it to be oral?
 

We have used Song School Latin 1 and this year we are using Song School Latin 2. Of the two, I prefer the first.  The second feels overfull at times and the videos seem too meager for the material they are trying to cover in a single week.  They could have possibly put more into the SSL1 product to spread it out. I just feel like the pacing now that we are learning the verb endings and declensions is crazy fast for something geared to a 3rd grader at the top end.  We are doing okay but I don't find it provides the handholding I felt like SSL1 did.  That said, we do plan to use Latin for Children Primer A next year and I am hoping for the best.

 

We have used the Reasoning and Reading product (Beginning Reasoning and Reading) and I really like it. It's not really logic per se but I think it moves in that direction in the other levels.  

 

I have only ever heard great things about The Art of Argument. It's a favorite logic resource among many friends. We are not there yet (I have a rising 5th grader) but I do intend to use it when the time comes. 

[Tenaj]

I definitely agree with the first two books of W&R being quite good, the third okay, but the fourth I'm not as hot about. I will have to see if it picks up in the second half - we put it aside to finish up AG (2 hrs a day on language arts was too much!), but will return to it after next week. We have been going through about a book and a half per year.

 

 

Interesting . . . one of my kids was in the fourth book when everything fell apart and my more creative writing kid hasn't hit that one yet so now I'm wondering the same thing.  I'll find out next fall when he hits that Chreia book, I guess.  

Edited March 18, 2016 by JanOH

[Homeschoolmom3]

We have used Song School Latin, Latin for Children, and Latin Alive. This was my first exposure to Latin too and this series has worked great for us. Reading and Reasoning was great too. My middle schooler will be doing Art of Argument next year, but looks great. That is all we have used of theirs.

[Ethel Mertz]

We did a couple of years of WWE and then switched to W&R. We bogged down on the 4th book and switched back over to use WWS Level 1 this year. WWS has worked really well for DS, but W&R got him out of his reluctant writer phase.

 

SSL was wonderful for DS. We've spent the last two years in LFC and next year (8th grade) will move to Latin Alive. We've also used SFC and love that. I don't know what we'll do for Spanish after that.

 

I'm planning on using Art of Argument (we didn't get to it this year) and have a couple of their literature studies. Overall, I really like their company, though I wish they would develop more Spanish materials.

[Aloha2U]

We have used CAP's curricula for several years now. My response may echo and even piggy back some previous posters, but in an effort to appease those interested...

 

Song School Latin was our first introduction to Classical Academic Press, following our first and only year with Classical Conversations—which included sing-song recitation of Latin memory work. My little man adored SSL 1, and so began our love for CAP products. SSL 2 not being ready yet, we moved on to Latin for Children—completing all three levels (A, B, and C). I appreciate LfC as much as my little man, especially for really trying to teach/learn any other language for the first time. (Government school French class was a joke when I was in hs.) LfC was fun, engaging, and stuck in our brains. All positives. What's more, it hasn't stopped there for us. This year we're using Latin Alive! 1. I plan on continuing that course until it runs out. Afterwards, our next go-to may (most likely) be Wheelock. 

 

He tried the Greek Code Cracker shortly after SSL, but was just not interested at the time. Our focus remains on Latin.

 

Writing and Rhetoric came into the picture after WWE 1-4. He wasn't ready for WWS 1, and so W&R became our filler—nearly completing two books a year, for two years. Books 1 and 2 were quite good. He loved them, and asked to do more. Book 3 was okay. Book 4... good to meh. It was hard for him at times, and yet he was still up for the challenge, until the challenge became too daunting near the end. Not enough life experience to create the level of work being asked? Though outside forces also contributed to this, we didn't finish the last two chapters. It was time to give WWS a try. This year he's working through WWS 1, and it's... good. Gets the job done, so he'll finish it out. But he mentioned that he'd like to try the next two levels of W&R next year—Books 5 & 6, instead of WWS 2. Now I have some comparison research to do.

 

Art of Argument was a huge hit this year! We're currently working our way through The Argument Builder, which requires more writing, but he's still interested. The Discovery of Deduction is the plan for next year. As a side note, we completed The Fallacy Detective and The Thinking Toolbox last year. Although they're not necessary, I'd recommend both of those informal logic books as a precursor to CAP's Art of Argument.

 

I had plans to use Reading and Reasoning, but they eventually fizzled out. He began. Seemed like busy work. Didn't get past the first chapter. Set it aside. Perhaps we'll pick it back up later.

 

GGC looked a bit on the busy work side of things as well, and I liked our current studies too much anyway. We've already been using VP's 5-year Bible and History cycles, which are perfect for us—streamlined, yet meaty enough for this stage.

 

Art of Poetry is our next product to try from CAP. We're finishing up Grammar of Poetry this year. It's okay, providing a necessary basic foundation. A bit dry, but mostly uninspiring. I think my little man will like AoP better next year, for 7th grade. I'm hoping that it will engage and actually inspire him. 

Edited March 29, 2016 by NCAmusings

[Dramorellis]

We have used SSL, LFC ,Greek Code Cracker(just for fun) and W&R. All of those have been very successful in the sense that my child/children really, really enjoy doing them and I see progress. My 2 youngest ask to do SSL and my 9 year old started LFC this year and it's one of the things that gets done consistently. He loves W&R but we are only on the 2nd book.