Am I looking at Classical Conversations the right way?

[snickelfritz]

dh and I are considering Classical Conversations for next year. My dd's will be in 2nd and pre-k. But, we are looking at it this way....

 

We will EITHER do Classical Conversations or something like Sonlight or MFW. We are looking at the Classical Conversations to get in our history, geography, science, art, etc.... (with adding related books from the library for the rest of the week....kind of like book basket in MFW)

 

If through the rest of the week, I did: math, WWE, FLL, spelling, handwriting, Latin, CC memory work, keep a read-aloud going and keep my dd's reading (chapter books for older and phonics for the younger)...........is that a full curriculum?

 

I honestly can't justify using CC and another full curriculum. And I can't commit that I would do a huge amount of history, science, geography, etc... outside of the CC classes. I am good about doing what's expected for a deadline (helping them do things they need for the next class) and I WOULD keep a supply of library books on the topics. My dd's also do violin and various sports activities and we do field trips and such.

 

Or am I looking at CC to be more than it is?

[meet me in paris]

Yes, I agree. I wouldn't do both, either. Just keeping up with the CC stuff will keep you busy, busy, busy.

[Chris in VA]

I disagree. CC at that stage is just memorization, a fun science experiment and some art, and some presentations. It's GREAT, but I don't think it replaces history--but then, I'm all for fleshing out history with projects, notebook pages/narrations, fiction/non fiction books, etc.

 

OTOH, I'm all about exposure being the main grammar stage goal for history and science. You don't have to do it, imo, with any curriculum. I also use history and science as narration/dictation opportunities, but that's another post!

 

Look at it this way--

CC is like...knowing your way around a grocery store. Once you know the basic layout of a grocery store (what you find in the dairy section, what's in the meat section, that the baked goods have their own aisle, cash registers in the front, etc.) you can go into any store and find what you need. CC is like that--giving you the organization of the "store" thru grouping and memorization.

 

But you have to eat the food!

[HerdingCats]

We are in our second go-round with CC and I would agree with your plans to do either/or. It would be very difficult to keep up with a full SL program and do CC every week. We read from SOTW every day and don't try to make it mesh w/CC topics. I will use another resource to flesh out the CC topics each week; a library book, video, OR :)magazine, just touching on it. The kids' presentation time each week is on one of the memory work topics and that is where we do a project or drawing and notes for their informal Q&A. The tutors also cover some added info in class. This is plenty. They are memorizing and getting these pegs and when we get to that in SOTW they say, "Oh!". It would be impossible for us to add a full history program, but I feel we are doing plenty.

[Another Lynn]

Yes and no :D

 

I think as young as your kids are, it could work very well to use CC that way. If I were you I would look closely at CC's history and science sentences for Cycle 2 (next year's cycle) and decide if you are happy with those being your focus each week for the next year. I think it depends on what you want history at home to look like. The history sentences jump through time pretty quickly, (Topics from the first 6 weeks history sentences are: 1)Charlemagne, 2)William the Conqueror, 3)Richard the Lionhearted/Crusades, 4)King John/Magna Carta/King EdwardIII/100 Year War, 5)Joan of Arc/Plague, 6)Renaissance/Rembrandt/Shakespeare/Copernicus) so, imho, you won't have time to go very deep and you'll likely need to skip a lot. But, with your dc's ages it could be a fine first exposure and fun too.

 

eta: FWIW, the CC memory for English grammar will be different from FLL's memory work. I don't know if that matters to you, but it was frustrating to me. I preferred FLL's lists, but if we had perfected these they would have been "wrong" at CC - so I confess, in the end I just let them pick up whatever they picked up - which was nothing proficiently. Next year I will focus on doing FLL's lists because we do not plan to do CC. More than you wanted to know! :)

Edited February 14, 2010 by Another Lynn
eta: 1st 6 weeks history topics, and thoughts about FLL

[SonshineLearner]

We will EITHER do Classical Conversations or something like Sonlight or MFW. We are looking at the Classical Conversations to get in our history, geography, science, art, etc.... (with adding related books from the library for the rest of the week....kind of like book basket in MFW)

 

If through the rest of the week, I did: math, WWE, FLL, spelling, handwriting, Latin, CC memory work, keep a read-aloud going and keep my dd's reading (chapter books for older and phonics for the younger)...........is that a full curriculum?

 

I think this looks right. For us, it would be enough to do what you've put out here. The book basket... and such is great. I like the SOTW cds and asking questions from my daughter... and she's older than yours. Or, the Diana Waring and her activity book... something in line with the history you're trying for...

 

I think this would work great. I hope the book list for the next cycle is like Cycle 1's. It's great!!

 

Carrie:-)

[monalisa]

We will EITHER do Classical Conversations or something like Sonlight or MFW. We are looking at the Classical Conversations to get in our history, geography, science, art, etc.... (with adding related books from the library for the rest of the week....kind of like book basket in MFW)

 

If through the rest of the week, I did: math, WWE, FLL, spelling, handwriting, Latin, CC memory work, keep a read-aloud going and keep my dd's reading (chapter books for older and phonics for the younger)...........is that a full curriculum?

 

I honestly can't justify using CC and another full curriculum. And I can't commit that I would do a huge amount of history, science, geography, etc... outside of the CC classes.

 

We have done CC this year, with a 1st grader. I think you will find the history and science to not be enough (and for me, the art and music aren't enough either). I am doing SOTW 1 at home (reading the text, along the with narrations and activity pages in the AG). The science experiments are OK, but they seem really disconnected (and most of the time not explained what they are supposed to be learning). The geography is pretty good because it goes along with the history sentence you learn that week.

 

Really, CC foundations is JUST memorization. And realize, it takes an entire day out of your week by the time you get home at 1:30 or 2:00, so at least for us we can't accomplish anything else that day. The art is so/so (the first 6 weeks were a waste IMHO, based on Drawing With Children, and our tutor did a poor job with it); the 6 weeks of tin whistle are marginal (too much music theory crammed into too short of a time taught by a tutor who doesn't know much about music!). The art we're doing now is pretty good (from the Great Artists book).

 

I know a lot of people love this program, but I can't say that I do. It's a lot of $ for what you get, IMHO. I spent $ for a full curriculum in addition to the $600+ required for CC.

 

My daughter has learned a lot of history facts, and we do enjoy the CD's. But to give an entire day to it is a tough pill for me to swallow. I spend the rest of the week feeling "behind", and have found I haven't done the fun things with my dd that I thought I would in our first year of HS because I have felt like I don't have time. Also, your experience will hinge very much on how good your tutor is; my dd had an inexperienced tutor for the first 16 weeks and most of the fall I was ready to drop out. She now has a 2nd year tutor who is alot better (they switched kids around 3 weeks ago because new kids joined the campus). Unfortunately, you usually have no idea who the tutor will be ahead of time. Just be sure you want to do it before you commit; you can't get your money back mid year.

[angela in ohio]

We are in our second year, and I Direct.

 

CC with library books on the topics would be plenty for your dc for history and science. You would want more art and music, though. It is one or the other each week, and it's not much.