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tm_burriss

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Posts posted by tm_burriss

    Does Classical Conversations take over the homeschool week?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    For us, the memory work compounded and as the year went on squeezed out the other subjects that we wanted to cover. My ds studied and made memory master, so it was a big commitment. It really cannot be done in 1/2 hour a week of review. It must be done every day. As the test drew closer we spent hours going over memory work.

     

    I found that if it was just a supplement to our curriculum, I simply could not justify the expense. It is a huge price tag (IMO) for something that is not going to be the core of my homeschool work.

     

    I wrote a lengthy post about our decision to leave CC on my blog. It is not critical of CC, but merely delineates why it wasn't the best fit for us..

     

    I agree to a point. For us the money is worth it even as a supplement because the other aspects of CC are important to us. The presentations, community, science experiments, and art. Sure I can do most of that at home or in a coop but, for now, the CC model works for us. It also helps to keep me accountable some on those weeks I just don't want to do school. One of my three is testing for MM and we still only spent 30-45 minutes daily during the week reviewing memory work and then we listened to the CD in the car. That said it is not for everyone. The one thing that I am not thrilled with about it is giving up one day a week for it.

    • Like 1

    Does Classical Conversations take over the homeschool week?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    It doesn't take over our week and we haven't made it the spine of our curriculum. It is more supplementary in our house. I love how much my kids have learned in addition to our regular curriculums. They have made great friends and the weekly presentations have been great for them. Mine are in Foundations and Essentials this year and next year I will have kids in Challenge A, Foundations and Essentials. ETA: I am expecting Challenge to be the majority of my son's curriculum but it is fairly well rounded and fun stuff he can still do with me and the younger ones.

    • Like 2

    Would you quit piano to do Classical Conversations?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We love CC but I don't know that I would give up my kids music lessons to do it. It would be a hard decision. You can do foundations at home with the book without being part of a group. Essentials has been great for my kids though and I am excited about challenge for my oldest next year but if mine were the ages of yours I would choose the music lessons. Once they are essentials age, ~4th grade, then I think it becomes more valuable because of essentials. I think learning writing in a community can be very helpful.

    Planners

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Great!Thanks! I made my own this year but I don't love it and I am trying to decide whether to put the time into tweaking it or trying to find something out there already made.

    CC with another curriculum like TOG or HOD?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We use CC just as memory work, and we rarely do anything with it other than review in the car. I treat it like one "subject", and use completely different things for math, reading, writing, science, & history.

     

    That being said, my kids pay a lot more attention in CC class when they have a clue what the memory work is about. So I do, most of the time, try to read the kids a short book about the topic right BEFORE it comes up in class. (Like a "Let's Read & Find Out" type book for science, a "You Wouldn't Want to Be" book for history, find a few of the interesting things on the back of the timeline cards, etc..) I go through once every 6 weeks and pull all the books I want to do, and they are in a bin ready to go. When I get behind, DH uses them for bedtime reading.

     

    We do locate our history lessons on our CC timeline, and I went through my SOTW book and CC Foundations Guide together last summer, and wrote the CC history sentences into my SOTW book at the appropriate places. That way, I can review them together when we come across them. I have found that I actually don't have to bring them up, though - my kids usually remember (and are thrilled!) when SOTW crosses paths with something they have memorized at CC.

     

    This is how we do it for the most part too. My kids love making the connections between CC and other things and I love seeing them make the connections. Great idea about writing the history sentences in the books!

    Planners

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I am looking for a planner that will have room for my lesson plans and also our daily stuff like drs appointments for each kid and sports practices. I want it to be divided by day and then by family members. Any suggestions?

    More CC Questions

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I like being able to watch the tutors present information and then being able to implement it on my own. I also like that even if I never manage to get art science into the curriculum completely they do a little of it at Cc every week. I second attending an Open House if at all possible. The presentations are also great. Even my youngest is now completely comfortable speaking in front of people.

    Classical Conversation Cost?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We will have 1 in foundations, 1 in foundations and essentials, and 1 in challege A. We balked because of the price at first but are happy we did. Tutoring can help offset some of the expenses. Just doing essentials is a good idea too. The fees cover the costs for the building, tutors, and stuff like science and art.

    CC with another curriculum like TOG or HOD?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Does anyone use CC with another full curriculum? I know it is meant as a full curriculum but I am not good at fleshing out the topics. I would like a curriculum to use along with it that already lines out my literature/history/geography etc. I don't care if it lines up with the timeline for CC as I don't particularly love the way it is organized anyway. We love the memory work for CC but I am not a fan of building my whole curriculum around it. Next year I will have one is 2 in Foundations, 1 in essentials, and 1 in Challenge A.

    Classical Conversations History and Science Cards

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I'm impressed you got them so quickly. I ordered last weekend and won't get the box until next Wed. Not much about this company has impressed me in the slightest. It's been one frustration after another since we decided to do CC this year.

     

    I am glad to hear you like the quality. I'm looking forward to seeing them for myself.

     

    I have had a lot of frustrations with CC this year too. My family and I enjoy the program itself but there have been a lot of customer service issues that I am not happy with. It takes forever to get items from them and getting registered for CC Connected has been a nightmare for me this year. I think it is because they grew much faster than they expected so I am trying to be patient. Plus I live in Hawaii so everything takes extra long to get here.

    Reading

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My 1st grader is reading but not fluently. Should I purchase a phonics program for him? Is AAR a good program? Any other suggestions. This is our first year homeschooling. He was in PS for K.

    History Curriculum

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Looking for a History curriculum that can be used by all my kids ages 12, 9, and 6. I had planned on SOTW along with Usbourne Encyclopedia but am wondering if my oldest is beyond that now. This is our very first year homeschooling so I am very much a newbie.

    Visual/Kinesthetic Learners

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Get a copy of the Well Trained Mind. Check out and read every homeschooling book you can find at your local library and go to www.rainbowresource.com and request a catalog.

     

    I have read WTM twice, along with highlights and notations LOL. I also have a list of books I have seen on here that I am reading through. I think I have read too much and am overwhelming myself. I get it in theory but I am having a hard time with the nuts and bolts of planning out a year and settling in a certain curriculum or path for each subject.

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