I'm glad to hear from some of you! The thread caused me a great deal of reflection on whether a history-centric approach to learning is ideal.
I've come to the conclusion - for now - that my family will continue to use history as a spine for art, literature, music, geography, theology, ideas, inventions, biographies, etc.
However, we will do so with caution. By that I mean, we WILL study literature outside of the historic time period that we're in. Second, we'll focus on Western Civilization, with less emphasis on Far East / Asia and Africa. I love other cultures and countries - personally I'm very multicultural - but I'm looking for continuity and connecting the dots. If my children can learn how to learn well....then when they're older they can easily learn more about the rest of the world, with depth. (plus they'll get some of that history when we read about Gandhi, and other famous people)
I believe that literature and history are both very important. So we may enjoy Treasure Island, while we're studying the ancient world. But we also will enjoy GA Henty's The Destruction of the Temple, while we are studying the Early Church. We'll study Vivaldi's Four Seasons at anytime. What I've learned from this thread and other research, is that we will be cautious not to overdo the history approach - that it won't drive everything we study. But so far it's working well for us.
I'm still learning a lot and I value the breadth of experience of those on this forum.
Regarding CiRCE - it's been a life changer for me. CiRCE podcasts and articles support a wonderful approach to Christian classical education - not just for us as teachers, but for us as learners. I'm doing the apprenticeship this year - it's sort of a big deal, I feel like I'm going back to school. And yes, it will enrich our homeschooling and help me grow as a teacher (I teach at a co-op), but I'm excited to grow as a person as well.
Thanks for "listening"!
Alex Gonzalez