Foundations is memory work for History, Science, Latin, English grammar, Math and Geography. Science Experiments, Art Projects and playing the Tin Whistle. Essentials is Grammar (CC's program), Writing (IEW's program) and Math review games. To my knowledge, neither has reading so you have to do that on your own. Once they get into Challenge, then they have novels that they read. Enjoy CC. We're starting our 3rd year and LOVE it!

I just came back from Practicum and it was great! It was all about the classical model and what that looks like for the stages of Grammar, Dialectic and Rhetoric. Even though I too have young children, I enjoyed it all. The theme is about Improving your vision...which it does...by showing you why we do what we do throughout the stages. I've been in CC for 2 years now and I feel like each time I go to Practicum, I learn a little more about the classical model and why I do CC. Hope you enjoy it!!

:hurray: YEAH for the beagle! We adopted our female beagle from the humane society and I think she's part basset too! She is the sweetest dog I've ever met. We got our boy beagle from a rescue...he was wondering in the woods. He's the coolest colors...they call it chocolate-tri. We have had beagles for the last 11 years....they are the greatest! I hope that your family enjoys and love your new little boy. Praying that the vet visit goes well and he's in good shape. Looking forward to more pictures and finding out his new name. Enjoy!

I'm probably the only one but we've used Discovering Intensive Phonics a Orton-Gillingham approach to phonics with All About Spelling. We are also reviewing with IEW's PAL Reading and Writing before moving on to Notebooking for reading and IEW's writing.

Thanks Kitten18! :001_smile:

We have two beagles and they are so great! Now, it just depends on what you like. They aren't like labs or goldens who can easily be trained to stay off lead but they are so sweet. My kids just adore ours. They can bark but not any more than other dogs. Here is a picture of our two. Hope you can choose the one that will fit best with your family

We redid our kitchen 4 years ago. We wanted to get rid of the laminate counters, cabinets and floors. We did Bellawood 5" cherry floors which my husband installed in the kitchen and family room. We had Home Depot do our Kraftmaid Cherry cabinets and black granite countertops. We didn't do the appliances at the time but have since added KitcheAid French Door Frig and dishwasher. The floors, cabinets and countertops were about 15K and the appliances were $3500. Attached is a picture of my kitchen island looking into my family room. You can see the island cabinets, countertop and dishwasher to get an idea what we did. It is a process but well worth it when it is finished. We hope to enjoy our kitchen for many years to come. Hope you can get the house for a good deal so that you can make the kitchen you want.

We've used this company in the past and had a very nice place to stay! http://bluecreekcabins.com/

We love Math Mammoth...but Bob Jones would be my second choice. We love more mastery approach with review built in.

I agree...what I was saying is exactly that. I had a child who worked on cycle 2 all summer so when he came to class...he had an attitude like I already know it. Then by the end of the year he just started acting out. Feel free to already cover material that will be discussed in class....that will really help them as they learn the information in class. But again agreeing with above....let your tutor introduce the CC work...that is what you are paying them to do. Enjoy!

I have used HST free and then decided to upgrade to HST+...which I am so glad I did. It's easy to create lesson plans and then use them over and over again for each child as they come to that lesson. I can rearrange lessons if we get off track. I can keep track of attendance and grades. It helps me so much to stay organized. I guess it's not for everyone but I love it and found it worth every penny for me.

Costco or Sams are definitely the cheapest place to buy binders. They come in packs of 2-8 depending on size. The last time I bought some at Costco they were white heavyduty ones with the clear cover so that you could have your child make a picture to decorate their binder and slip it in the front. Good luck finding a deal!

We listen to our CD some but not as much as during the year. We'll keep working on Cycle 2 materials. My son wants to do Memory Masters next year so I think we'll work on things that are the same every year like timeline and math. However, I'm a tutor and if you're new to a group you may think that you should listen to our Cycle 3 CD over the summer....but resist the urge. My job as a tutor is to introduce that memory work to your child. That is the fun of class, for the kids to learn the information together. In the upper grades, some kids will already know the information if they had the cycle before but the younger kids will probably not have that issue. CC is so fun and I'm excited to go to practicum next week. My kids miss having CC over the summer. We'll be enjoying it at home and hopefully visiting CC friends often till we start again in the fall.

IEW does make student courses called Student Writing Intensive and Student Intensive Continuation Course. They are not online but are DVDs where Andrew Pudewa teaches your child. It's not an independent course as I understand it though so not sure if that is what you're looking for. I'm not aware of any online classes but Classical Conversations uses the IEW TWSS program to teach their writing program in the Essentials class. You could check that out or the DVDs if you want to use IEW but not have to do the main teaching. FYI - The child in 3rd-5th grades would use level A. I'm getting ready to buy the combo set (TWSS/SWI A) and use that next year with my rising 3rd grader.

The Memory Work Resource CD is a CD-Rom that you play on your computer. It opens in PowerPoint Presentations for you to view each week under the subject. The songs are only part of the weekly PP presentations So if you want to simply listen to the songs, you would need to purchase the Audio CD or join the online C3 community to download them. I use the Audio CD or C3 downloads to listen on my Ipod. We listen while doing school and when we're out in the car. I have my kids review using the Memory Work Resource CD on the computer. The Memory Work Resource presentations can also be found on the online C3 community site. The Memory cards are color coded by subject for each cycle. I use them for review where I can just grab my cards....read the front...and they tell me the back. I am also a tutor so I use them often in class for review. All of these resources are helpful and great but you can decide what works best for your family. You don't have to buy all of them but you can if you like. Since you are talking about just learning the memory work over the summer, the audio CD might just be all you need.

Just got one after Christmas and husband liked it so much he got one too. I use it for so many things. It has my calendar, we listen to books on MP3, music (Cds and online), play cool fun and educational app games, watch Netflix, Check email, Facebook, watch movies....just to name a few. I got the largest one and have already filled up about half of the memory. I have all 4 SOTW downloaded plus our CC memory work. I am a tutor at CC and I got a small portable speaker....I make a weekly playlist and use that during class. We also just plug it in to the car stereo and listen to all kinds of books, memory work and school work as we travel around town. I've always had non apple MP3 players before but I feel that it was way better than what I've had before and iTunes is so easy to use. Good luck deciding!

We live outside Greenville, SC and Love it! We came from the Northeast...Philly area but moved down here to be near our families. Greenville has large industries in it including GE, Michelin, BMW among others. It has lots of cultural things including the Peace Center for the performing arts, the Bilo Center (our indoor arena), and different kinds of museums including our new Children's museum which is tons of fun. Greenville is located at the foot of mountains so it's not far to go find plenty of hiking, state parks and even lakes for boating and fishing. It's got tons of shopping and events all year long. It is a very family friendly place for sure. Greenville has some more affluent area and has many transplants so it's a good diverse area. The housing market has slowed but isn't stopped completely. You might find that people are looking to do things in their homes instead of moving which might work for your line of business. The weather can get warm in the summers but not as hot and humid as areas further south like Columbia and Charleston. The winter...we have snow every once and a while....where things close down because they just don't have the means to clean up the snow. It is quite funny after living in the North where snow is more common and they don't freak out about it. I'm so thankful that God brought us here and we call Greenville area home. Good luck as you decide what works best for your family!

So excited to go today to the conference. A little disappointed....I asked on facebook today at PHP if Jessie was coming or not as her speaking engagement disappeared from the list. She is not able to come after all. Wishing her the best but still disappointed as I wanted hear her take on FLL. Oh well....still super excited to see Susan, the other presenters and see Tim Hawkins!

I print a chapter as we go and then file it in a 3 ring notebook. I then pull out the work for the week and put them in our daily work folders. I print the pages on both sides and fast draft to save paper and ink. That has work well for us so far. I am considering making it in advance over the summer for next year when I have time but we did it this was as I started with MM after school started so I haven't made the time to do more than a chapter at a time.

Thanks so much! We've been doing 2A and I didn't realize it was there in all the stuff she provides. I still can't believe all that is provided in this wonderful curriculum for such a great price. I ordered 1-6th through HSBC because we love this math so much. Can't wait to get it and continue to use it!

We don't have to have one but our homeschool group let us pick one if we wanted. Ours is JJM Academy.....the first letter of each of my children's name. I'm not sure though that my kids would say it though if they were asked...they would just say they are homeschooled...and proud.:001_smile:

The Core is a great book along with WTM to learn about classical educations at home. My view of how I school my children coming from a teaching background has changed so much. We are a part of a CC group but you definitely don't have to be in one to appreciate the way of teaching. By the way, CC only meets 1 day a week....not 3-4 like the previous person posted. We meet 1 morning a week for Foundations. Then the afternoon is for 3-6th graders in Essentials. Challenge only meets one day as well for the whole day. I'm glad that people are enjoying her book and learning a lot like I did. I'm going to the Southeastern Homeschool convention next week in Greenville, SC and I hope to hear her speak!

I bought BJU English 2 to use this year and then didn't use it once I read the WTM. I like and have used the grammar part some this year after FLL 1/2. However, the writing part is more of a traditional view of writing not like SWB teaches so I'm using WWE instead. I think I'll stick with FFL and WWE as they fit the approach to education I'm following now....but otherwise I like the curriculum for what it is. The nice thing is that there are many curriculums out there now for all kinds of homeschools.

Here is what we have done with BJU Math..... We've used it in K5, 1st and 2nd grades. For the K5 student, we would do the lesson together with manipulatives and then he works on the worksheet with help. For 1st/2nd, I would give him the review workbook sheet to start the day as a review time while I worked with his younger brother. Then I would do the lesson with him and have him do the worksheet for today's lesson, helping understand what he has to do and help when needed. He would mostly work on the worksheet by himself with me close by for help. Hope that help!

I'm guessing the wink says you are joking about your possible salary. I'm a foundations tutor and it's not anything like that. My payment for the year pays for my 2 kids in Foundations and 1 in childcare with a little extra. It's helpful for me to tutor so that I can pay for my kids to go since we are a one income family but I also LOVE doing it. I hope you find that it is a blessing to you as well.