New to Classical Conversations this year - help!

[Pster]

Can someone please share their schedule with me?

 

I have 3 students who will be doing this. 1 of them will be taking the Essentials class also.

 

How do you break up your week?

Besides the CC memory work & the homework for Essentials - we are adding Saxon math & the younger 2 will be doing narrations with me.

 

I might at Our Mother Tongue with my oldest.....

 

If you are doing CC - how do you schedule your week?

 

thanks!

[kls126s]

I don't have an Essentials student, so I can't speak to that, but I'll tell you what we do with our Foundations work at least.

 

CC is not the core of our curriculum. I look at it as an add-in so we treat it as a memory work portion of our day. I do the regularly things listed in my sig and then we add a couple of minutes of CC work to each subject.

 

For instance, before we start our math lesson, I get out the CC math flash cards and we spend 2-3 minutes drilling on that before we get into the lesson. Before we do our grammar pages, we drill on the CC English flash cards for a couple of minutes. You get the point.

 

It doesn't add a lot of time to our day and I like integrating the memory work into its related subject.

 

I know other families that just spend 20-30 minutes a day and go through all the memory work, timeline cards, geography, etc, and consider it one subject in their day.

 

My two cents...

[TwinMominTX]

Hi,

 

I am doing Foundations and Essentials with my 8 year old twins this year and this is our basic schedule.

 

Bible - (30 minutes) We read together from the bible for 15 minutes and then create flashcards from Bible memory work, then we review the previous weeks Bible memory.

 

Math - (1 hour) Saxon lesson

 

CC Memory Review - (30-45 minutes) Listen to the current week CD's 2-3x and review all grammar using a notebook created from the Memory Resource CD. Tuesday I concentrate on math and English grammar memory work (we might make flashcards, do a worksheet). Wednesday I concentrate on Latin and science (we chant the Latin and might read a bit of the science snippet to dig a little deeper in to the science). Thursday I concentrate on history and Geography and have the girls trace the maps. On Thursdday we briefly listen to the next week's memory on CD.

 

IEW Writing - (45 minutes) I set a timer and we work on it for that long and then stop when the timer goes off.

 

History - (30 minutes) We go through the VP timeline cards first and then do some history work - either reading, coloring page, map page or activity from STOW.

 

Essentials Grammar - (45 minutes) I spend 15 or so minutes having my girls work on reviewing and memorizing the mastery sheets. We do a combo of copying on paper, white boards and copies of the actual memory sheets. We then spend 15-20 minutes going through a task sheet and doing the editing exercise.

 

Reading/Phonics/Spelling - (20 minutes) - We spend 20 minutes on reading/phonics and spelling using a different curriculum as I feel like my girls need the extra help.

 

Free Reading - (30+ minutes) - My girls are required to spend at least 30 minutes reading silently.

 

Read Aloud - (1 hour) - We spend at least an hour a day doing read alouds - sometimes at breakfast, before bed, etc.

[meet me in paris]

 

I know other families that just spend 20-30 minutes a day and go through all the memory work, timeline cards, geography, etc, and consider it one subject in their day.

 

 

This is us! We're doing Foundations only, so we can just whip through all the memory work every day. I block out 30 minutes for it. My kids work their other subjects at different times, so integrating the memory work into the subject it goes with would me much harder for me.

[midwestbelle]

My twin girls (4th grade) are in Essentials and all 4 (age 9, 9, 6, 4) are in Foundations and here's what we're doing with it at home...

 

Bible & Breakfast - Dad reads a devotion each am and we work on the Bible portion of CC and also their Bible drill verses

 

Latin - we're using Latin for Children at home

 

Math - Saxon, I spend 30 minutes with 6yo while the girls practice music and then spend 30 minutes with girls while 6yo and 4yo play legos

 

Science - we're using God's Design for Life (from Answers in Genensis) and it is going along very nicely with the CC science for this year

 

CC Memory Work - while I'm preparing lunch, the girls help the boys with the CC Memory work for the week. I quiz them and go over the geography maps before we eat.

 

Preschool & Math - while the others complete their math sheets from the morning lesson, I do some preschool stuff with the 4yo.

 

History - we're using MOH vol 1

 

Essentials - while the boys are resting, I go through our Essentials assignments with the girls. We just finished week 2 so we haven't had any task sheets yet. Our first day working at home, I go over the OMT lesson and we do the exercises orally or on the dry erase board Then the girls sit down with their Essentials notebooks and practice their mastery sheets. I have them all in page protectors with the key on the reverse side of each sheet. They use a dry erase marker and complete each sheet we've introduced so far. Next we do the editing exercise. I have them go through and find all the errors they can then we talk about the ones they missed. With going over the same exercise each day, they are really picking up a lot of stuff.

 

IEW - first day working at home we talk about the new dress ups for the week and finish filling in the worksheet in the book. Over the rest of the week we finish the draft, I edit and we type a final copy and mark it according to the checklist. We've drawn pictures to go with the 2 poems.

 

I am pretty much following the suggested schedule in the Essentials guide for these elements of our school day. It's on page A35 of the Essentials guide.

 

HTH

[Hen]

we just started, this week was our first week- and we are one of those families that tacks on CC as extra memory work. It is working out to about 30 extra minutes a day, working as a group, plus I grab the kids at odd times and have them sit down at the computer and do the slide shows, and then the audio in the car or at bedtime.

 

I am a more relaxed type homeschooler, so for my kids, this is a huge amount of information to memorize...so someone gave me the idea of giving pennies as incentives, so I am, and the kids are wild to do our cc work now. I give out pennies for right answers, or several if a child can do all 8 timeline cards for the week, stuff like that. They keep them in a jar and can turn them into dimes, nickels, dollars...look, it's math, too! They have to spend it at Barnes & Nobles. :D

Edited September 4, 2009 by Hen Jen
spelling

[newlifemom]

Can someone please share their schedule with me?

 

I have 3 students who will be doing this. 1 of them will be taking the Essentials class also.

 

How do you break up your week?

Besides the CC memory work & the homework for Essentials - we are adding Saxon math & the younger 2 will be doing narrations with me.

 

I might at Our Mother Tongue with my oldest.....

 

If you are doing CC - how do you schedule your week?

 

thanks!

 

 

As you can see, there are two ways to do CC at home. From what you said above, it looks like you are using it as the core to your hs. I would do the memory work subject by subject throughout the day and add to it as you see fit for your youngers. For example:

 

Math memory then begin with Saxon

English grammar then incorporate some sentences as examples. Maybe even a touch of copy work for the 6 yr old.

Science memory then read a book or two about that subject. Or read out of a science encyclopedia a little to reinforce it.

 

For your older child you can do the same, but I would probably go a little more in depth and expect some independent work. I'm not sure how this would look. [we use Foundations as a supplement]

 

Essentials is different. You want to follow the plan that your tutor has outline for you. I am assuming that you have had at least one meeting where the tutor has gone over the EEL guide with you. It can be a daunting guide. You'll want to structure your daily work with her and since she is young you probably don't want to go past the first 3 or 4 tasks. Don't worry, she has a couple more years in Essentials to get all the way through the tasks. [on a side note, I have seen kids who have been in Essentials for a couple of years and their grammar skills are amazing!] IEW is scheduled into my dd's day as a sep class and she is being given 3 one hour periods a week to accomplish her work.

 

HTH. FWIW, we really loved CC last year. My kids learned so much and I am excited about what they will learn this year.

[everlastingstarflower]

We do not use CC as our core curriculum either. We have our regular school day and at some point during the day each of my children goes over memory work. Sometimes we do it all together and sometimes each child does it separately. It just depends upon if one child isn't finished with something and the other is waiting to go on, I'll have the waiting child do some memory work.

 

This is our first year for CC also. Our director said that she has her kids do their memory work immediately after their family devotions in the morning after breakfast. She said that it works best for their family to do it at that time because the kids' minds are fresh and otherwise it would get lost during the rest of the day.

 

Another friend of mine has her kids doing their memory work in the car. Everytime they have to go somewhere, they put the CD in and the kids work on their memory work as they drive to the grocery store or where ever it is they are going.

 

My question about CC is whether or not to challenge my kids to be Memory Masters. Both of my children seem overwhelmed to think of all of the things that are to be memorized even though they are both doing well with the work that has been given to them so far. I do not want to scare them by demanding that they work toward MM but, I also don't want them to think that they can slack off and not work on remembering their memory work, either. I pretty much have told them to do their best and if at the end they want to try for MM, they can but I'm not requiring it of them. My ds is 6 and my dd is 7, soon to be 8. I'm not sure if they are considered too young to be able to acquire MM or not.

 

Anyway, I digress.....I hope that some of the suggestions I have heard for incorporating memory work into school days will be helpful for you.

[newlifemom]

My question about CC is whether or not to challenge my kids to be Memory Masters. Both of my children seem overwhelmed to think of all of the things that are to be memorized even though they are both doing well with the work that has been given to them so far. I do not want to scare them by demanding that they work toward MM but, I also don't want them to think that they can slack off and not work on remembering their memory work, either. I pretty much have told them to do their best and if at the end they want to try for MM, they can but I'm not requiring it of them. My ds is 6 and my dd is 7, soon to be 8. I'm not sure if they are considered too young to be able to acquire MM or not.

 

Anyway, I digress.....I hope that some of the suggestions I have heard for incorporating memory work into school days will be helpful for you.

 

Are the ages in your siggy accurate? If so, then they are too young for the official MM program. Even if they weren't I wouldn't push them unless they were absolutely sold on it. They have time to be MM when they are older. It needs to be fun. My 7 & 5 yr old last year learned a lot. They did not memorize everything. They had tons of fun though and are so excited for CC to start again. That to me is more important. :D

[elfinbaby]

CC Foundations is not our core either. It's our memorization work. It takes about 20-30 minutes a day - less with my 11 yr. old. He has a fantastic memory. It takes my 5 yr. old a little longer. However, I don't expect 100% accuracy from her:) I am currently trying to figure out new and interesting ways to go over the info. No big ideas yet - just what I learned in class last year and from tutor training.

 

For Essentials, look in your EEL at A35-36. A35 lists the chars to work on week by week. A36 is a suggested weekly schedule. I find it very helpful. It will give you a guide to schedule charts, OMT, sentence analysis, editting, and even a writing schedule. The EEL is a helpful guide that lays everything out but it has a steep learning curve imo. For instance, I didn't find the suggested scheduling pages until the end of last year! Anyway, these pages should go along nicely with your tutors assignments.

 

HTH

[TwinMominTX]

Are the ages in your siggy accurate? If so, then they are too young for the official MM program.

 

There is an "official" age for memory master? I was told at our summer practicums that they had 7 year old memory masters this past year.

[FlutterbyMommy]

It is our first year and my daughter is quite young. I use it as "practice" for sitting, as a supplement to our other curriculum, and a nice place to meet other children.

 

I have been shocked by what she memorized the first week! The only thing I didn't press were the grammar and Latin. That was my call. I thought she had a lot to learn the first week and the Latin goes over two weeks at first.

 

We do the hand gestures together for Daddy to the Vertias cards, we play games with some of the other stuff, and listen to the songs in the car and a little at home. We mix it up and it is a great addition to what we do thus far.

[lauracolumbus]

We only did 6 weeks last year at the tail end of the session. My kids loved it, and I told them if we were going to continue w/CC it would have to be on their time b/c I have my own agenda for them. So we do it on Sunday nights b4 our CC get together. They have great memories and it seems to stick w/them. DD9 begs me to quiz her all the time. We also listen to the cd sometimes in the car. I don't push it w/my dd5.

 

Laura

[midwestbelle]

My question about CC is whether or not to challenge my kids to be Memory Masters. Both of my children seem overwhelmed to think of all of the things that are to be memorized even though they are both doing well with the work that has been given to them so far. I do not want to scare them by demanding that they work toward MM but, I also don't want them to think that they can slack off and not work on remembering their memory work, either. I pretty much have told them to do their best and if at the end they want to try for MM, they can but I'm not requiring it of them. My ds is 6 and my dd is 7, soon to be 8. I'm not sure if they are considered too young to be able to acquire MM or not.

 

DH and I offer a separate incentive at home. We told them we would give them $5 per subject memorized. Last time we did Cycle 1 my girls were 1st grade. In January they pick which subjects they want to go for and we only studied those subjects at home. They opted out of timeline and geography and had 6 subjects memorized by the end of the year. We still offer the money but they are in 4th now and have to try for MM as well. We did have a 6 yo MM in the program a few years ago, so it really depends on the child and how much emphasis is placed on the memory work at home

Edited September 6, 2009 by midwestbelle
spelling error :)

[newlifemom]

I could be wrong. I was a tutor last year and my class was the youngest to allow it. Or so I was told. Maybe it had to do with the fact that it was our 1st year as a group. Now I am a Challenge Director and I haven't paid a lot of attention to the Foundation stuff as much. Sorry.

[SonshineLearner]

Sorry Pam, it's because of me that there's an age requirement at our campus. I didn't/don't want stress for the little kids. I've heard that some of the ABCers at other CCs are MMs.

Carrie:-)

[newlifemom]

"My bad" :)