I totally disagree with that one! I much prefer the clean look of the VP cards over the dark, beige CC ones. :)

I have both, and would be hard pressed to choose. If you think you will ever do CC, go with the CC cards. Otherwise, I think I would go with VP, but it would be a tough choice. VP's cards have more *people*, and CC's are more civilization-centered. VP has the more traditional timeline events that everyone knows. CC throws in some odd stuff. VP's separate out events, CC combines them (this is definitely a minus for the CC cards - they sometimes combine events that are 1000 years apart like Minoans and Myceneans). VP's are more Western, CC's have more non-Western.

There wasn't an official CC song to go with the VP cards. We had one that our campus used, that was created by another local campus.

PS - I love our CC community, but would not be nearly as happy if we attended any of the others in our area. Each community is very different from the others based on the director and members. One local campus near me is extremely fundamentalist Christian, which I am not. Another campus near me is a bunch of hippies, which I am not. (I am somewhere in the middle, as are most in my community.) One of the communities near us has a very high rate of kids achieving Memory Master. After a certain age, it is definitely expected, and those who don't/can't make it complain of feeling made to feel inferior. It's a high pressure, competitive campus altogether. Another local campus hasn't ever had a Memory Master. No one studies anything at home. It's a very expensive social time every week. Again, our campus is somewhere in the middle. We had two Memory Masters last year. A number of others made an effort but didn't get there. Almost all the families review the work at home each week. We are somewhere in the middle, and for us, it's a good fit! If we were at a campus that was much more competitive, or much more relaxed, I wouldn't be nearly as happy. I highly recommend meeting the director & some of the families, and if at all possible going to observe for a day before deciding to join a CC community. If there are several communities in your area, I highly recommend visiting them all to see which would be the best fit.

That is exactly my kids. SOTW on its own wasn't enough. It's an amazing part of our homeschool (both my kids and my favorite part!), but my kids just don't remember with one pass through. Exposure through one and mastery through the other has been much more effective for them. Both facts & story stick when they get it in two different ways/places.

I sat down with my SOTW volume for the year and compared it to the CC history sentences as well as the timeline events, and wrote the CC info into my SOTW book. Then we review the CC stuff when we hit it in SOTW. They are always so proud to "surprise" me by remember way more than I thought they could! (Quite the fun game to shock Momma at how smart they are!) So we do the CC stuff separately as a "memory work" subject, then review it as part of our regular curriculum when we come across it. Learning it in two different areas has been very helpful for my kids - they need that extra review.

The CC morning has 5 parts (after our morning assembly with Pledge of Allegiance & so on): . - new grammar (which is the new memory work - 7 high-level timeline events per week, a detailed history sentence about one topic, science, Eng grammar, Latin, math, & geography) . - presentations - each kid does one every week. For the younger kids, it's basically show & tell. My kids were 1st graders last year - they did maybe 2/3 show & tell, and 1/3 academic topics. The ratio goes to more academic as they get older. Most of the older kids pick one of the pieces of memory work from the week before as a topic. For example, the week after you are to learn the 7 biomes, they might explain what a biome is, and tell what the 7 are and describe the characteristics of each. Or they might give a 5 minute presentation fleshing out the history sentence. So they learn a lot about one, and hear everyone else's presentations and learn a little about all the others. . - science project or demonstration . - fine arts - 1st quarter drawing, 2nd quarter tin whistle (like a recorder/flute), 3rd quarter famous artist study & art project, 4th quarter orchestra & famous composer study & listen to work . - review the old grammar (the memory work from prior weeks) That goes til noon. After that, we eat lunch together, then our campus has enrichments from 1 to 2 and from 2 to 3. We have had Lego club, martial arts, Playball (sports skills), art, etc. It's been a great place for me to find like-minded homeschoolers. Most of the other co-ops in our area lean more towards unschooling than classical. So it isn't *just* memory work, but that is a large part of it. It's memory work, public speaking skills, science demonstrations, fine arts, social for kids & for me, being in a class environment while mommas are right there encouraging appropriate behavior, an environment a little different than home that encourages memorization (they want to learn it b/c their friends are learning it!), enrichments, etc. We also do a fair number of field trips together. You could just buy CC's materials and do the memory work (or buy one of the other memory products on the market - I really like Living Memory). But no, that is not the same as joining a CC campus. I think a lot depends on how much value you place on that other stuff, as well as how easily you can get that other stuff in other places, as to whether or not it is worth it in time & money. For us, it has been well worth the price. But I know for some others, it has not.

Those are two very different questions. 1 - is CC a stand-alone program? Absolutely not. I don't know *anyone* (including CC themselves) who would call CC in the elementary years a full education. You must add in language arts (literature, reading/spelling, handwriting, composition, & grammar), as well as math. CC is a supplement. In addition to the above, we add in non-CC history, science, & Spanish. 2 - is it effective to memorize all this stuff? In our house, absolutely! My kids have some developmental challenges. We started CC solely for social reasons. I had NO hopes of my kids learning any of the material. When we started, my kids could not follow 2 step instructions. The improvement through practicing CC memory work has been nothing short of amazing. I assume practicing what was for them a weakness built up that "muscle". They are so much better able to cope with life - they can remember instructions, dance routines, our phone number, etc. I don't know that kids who didn't have these weaknesses would see that kind of result, but for us, it has been life-changing! Also, everytime we come across some piece of information in our regular schoolwork that we have previously learned in CC, my kids are SO much more interested in learning about it! It amazes me that stuff we hadn't seen/heard in 2 years comes back instantly when they hear it mentioned in Story of the World or whatever. I do give my kids some background about as much of the CC memory work as I have time for. We don't spend a lot of time on it, but I do try to read a Let's Read & Find Out science book, watch a Bill Nye video, read a few main sentences from the back of the timeline card, or whatever. But that is under "memory work" as a subject, and is completely separate from our regular history & science. I used to stress about them not being perfectly aligned, but I am finding that for long-term retention it is actually good to have them spaced a bit!

That is the most brilliant (and practical!) idea EVER!! Thanks for sharing - I will definitely be copying this one!

That is the most brilliant (and practical!) idea EVER!! Thanks for sharing - I will definitely be copying this one!

Does anyone have any more insight about this? I have been worrying about it as well. I have one kiddo who is in MUS, but I wonder if they are changing to be CC compliant, if my child will end up with gaps due to using some older and some revised versions? New info, anyone?

Just from reading a LOT of older posts on this forum, it seems like older kids who are fluent readers often zoom through 2-4 levels a year, but slow way down when the level approximates their grade (ie Level 4 for 4th graders). My kids had a very thorough grounding in phonics and were reading well when we started. The big kids had just turned 8, and the youngest was 6 1/2. Doing every single step thoroughly as explained in the manual, we have completed 21 of the 24 steps in Level 1. It has taken 44 sessions of about 20 minutes each (usually 4 per week, so almost 3 months). It has been easy-breezy thus far (but well-worth doing)!

That's what happened to me. I went into college planning to major in Spanish. I exempted the first few years/levels of classes. Did great in my 300 level classes. Then I got to the 400 levels, where the goal was to read & interpret great Spanish literature. I was the only non-native Spanish speaker in the class. Everyone else was from South America. They had all studied these works as part of their high school curriculum (the equivalent of Americans studying Shakespeare.) Needless to say, I was not able to read and interpret and make great literary connections compared to everyone else, and I ended up having to drop it and change my major. I would have been fine if everyone else had been native English speakers, but there was just no keeping up with those classmates!

And thus the reason my kids hear more audio/CD read-alouds than Mommy read-alouds...

This is us, except that I play it up big time. Instead of "you are going to do homeschool", I would phrase it "you get to do homeschool", in the same tone of voice I would use to announce that we were having homemade brownies. It's a TREAT to homeschool! Aren't they LUCKY to have a momma who is able/willing to homeschool them! I've sold it that way since the beginning. :)

We have been through each of the books multiple times. :)

Well, I've only been a mom of 3 and then 4, but speaking of periods when kids were with grandparents or whatever - - ONE is REALLY hard b/c they expect YOU to be talking to them / interacting with them ALL THE TIME. - THREE is really hard b/c there is an odd man out, and so there is a lot of fighting. - Two & four much easier - they entertain each other, and no one is left out. - Unless one happens to be high-maintenance. My youngest is easily 10 times more tiring than the other three combined!

Ed Emberley books!

So helpful in making long-term plans - thanks!

We were not successful with either FLL or WWE before the reading was well-established. Now, they LOVE FLL. It caused tears previously! We plan to pick WWE back up in the fall, but flipping through it, I can already tell that they will like it. I don't know about all kids, but my kids really enjoy pretty much anything that is at their just-right challenge level. Too easy is boring, and too hard is frustrating. We just weren't able to do FLL before we spent a year really buckling down on the reading. I'm so glad I listened to a friend and put grammar, spelling, and composition aside and really focused on reading this year.

I just copied them out of the show descriptions. :) That stinks that they don't have much that appeals to older kids. I was hoping somebody was going to tell me that some of these we haven't seen before were wonderful!

The ones I know: Calillou - the whininess makes me insane! I don't think we've ever watched more than 2 minutes of that before it has to turn off. Sid the Science Kid - kids love it, seems like they learn a little WordWorld - kids love it, seems like they learn a little Super Why - kids love it, seems like they learn a little Between the Lions - kids love it, I love it - they learn a LOT! This was the fav in our house for a LONG time!!! Wild Kratts - kids love it, seems like they learn a little

Anybody else looking for PBS shows by age & topic? I couldn't easily find this on the PBS website, so thought I'd post in case anyone else needed it. I would love your thoughts/reviews on these (specifically those for 6/7/8 year olds!). We don't watch much TV, but it is nice to have some decent things DVRd for the odd occasion. Caillou - preschool - imagination Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies - preschool - natural world/wildlife Sesame Street - preschool - early language & literacy Sid the Science Kid - preschool - science readiness The Cat in the Hat - preschool - science & math WordWorld - preschool - early literacy Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood - 2 to 4 - social skills based on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Mister Rogers - 2 to 5 - social skills Curious George - 3 to 5 - science, engineering, & math Dinosaur Train - 3 to 6 - scientific thinking - life science, natural history & paleontology Super Why - 3 to 6 - reading readiness Between the Lions - 3 to 7 - literacy skills Clifford - 3 to 7 - social, emotional, & moral messages Martha Speaks - 4 to 7 - vocabulary Arthur - 4 to 8 - interest in reading & writing; positive social skills WordGirl - 4 to 9 - vocabulary Wild Kratts - 5 to 7 - science / animal habitats Postcards from Buster - 5 to 11 - cultural awareness / ESL acquisition ZOOM - 5 to 11 - activities - science, engineering, & math Fizzy's Lunch Lab - 6 to 8 - WEB ONLY - healthy food Noah Comprende OR Oh Noah - 6 to 8 - Spanish Chuck Vanderchuck - 6 to 9 - music, ear training, & music composition The Electric Company - 6 to 9 - literacy Fetch! - 6 to 10 - science Wilson and Ditch - 6 to 10 - American geography / history / culture Maya & Miquel - 6 to 11 - diversity of cultures, perspectives, traditions, languages & experiences Cyberchase - 8 to 11 - math SciGirls - 8 to 12 - science & engineering Dragonfly TV - 9 to 12 - science

I did not mean to imply that we homeschool just so we can sleep in all day - you are right, that is clearly NOT a valid reason to homeschool. The bus comes by here at 6:25. We don't get up til 7. :) "Sleeping in" until 7 is just a nice benefit to homeschooling, and not the purpose!

I have heard a lot of people here comment that you shouldn't start WWE before 1) the child is reading WELL, 2) the child's handwriting is firmly established, and 3) age 7. I am just now getting there with kiddos who just turned 8. We plan to start WWE in the fall.