I need some advice about meshing LCC and TWTM. sm

[gandpsmommy]

I am feeling some angst about trying to plan next year for dd, who will be 7 and doing 2nd grade, although she is working ahead of grade level in several subjects.

 

I read TWTM when my daughter was four. I loved it from the first reading, and felt that I had finally found what I was looking for in terms of a long-term plan for hsing. I was excited, to put it mildly. We have tweaked the recommendations to fit dd's accelerated abilities and our lifestyle, but we have pretty much followed the heart of TWTM for K5 and first grade.

 

One of the things I was most excited about was the history cycle. My history education was quite erratic, piecemeal, and shallow. I wanted to give dd a firm foundation from the start, so that she would grow up with a clear understanding of the major events in history, from ancient to modern times. So, we began SOTW, vol. 1 this year.

 

I also have loved FLL, which we started in K5 and will finish this year. I do have a strong background in grammar. In fact, I really enjoy grammar. It isn't dd's favorite sujbect, by far, but she does understand it readily and memorizes it easily.

 

And I love the idea of using a notebook of narrations/pictures for science.

 

Earlier this year, however, I felt as if we were being stretched too thin in too many different directions and that it was impossible to keep up with a schedule that would allow us to finish SOTW, vol. 1 in just one year. I also felt that asking dd to narrate her history lesson everyday was asking too much of her, especially when she hated to do it. The process which we used to get through a chapter of SOTW and get the narration done for each section just seemed so taxing and reminded me of work required of much older students, not a 6yo.

 

We were doing well on the basics (handwriting, spelling, FLL, math, reading), but I was having a hard time fitting in everything else(science, history, art, music, geography, Spanish).

 

Then, I finally decided to buy a copy of The Latin-Centered Curriculum. I am really drawn now to a more classical (as opposed to neo-classical) model. I want to start Latin with dd next year, and I love the idea of Classical Studies, Christian Studies, English Studies, and Modern Studies. I like the focus on depth instead of breadth, of doing a few important things really well. Dh and I discussed it at length. We both agreed that we would like to streamline our curriculum for next year to follow this sort of approach.

 

The problem is that I still love TWTM approach, too. I still want to do SOTW and the four year history cycle. So, I thought maybe we could just make SOTW a read-aloud. But then I remember all of the great mapwork, coloring pages, and activity ideas in the AG, and I don't necessarily want to give that up. And then I think about what an important skill narration is, and I wonder if it will be much more challenging for dd if I wait until later to try to teach this. And to complicate matters even further, dd is the rare type who *loves* worksheet/test-type things. I have been using the SOTW tests as review sheets for us at the end of a chapter, and it is probably her favorite part! We just don't seem to have time to keep up a good pace with it. So, I'm thinking maybe we could work through SOTW and just take it a little bit more slowly than others? And do modern studies, as well?

 

Also, I have read that if we are studying Latin, we won't need a separate grammar program. But I really like FLL, and I wanted to continue with FLL3. And then I read that SWB's writing program will be published this spring/summer. I *know* that I am going to want to buy it.

 

And ds4 is a scientist. I mean science is his main interest. So, I know that we will continue to buy science curriculum. I would like the idea of making it more informal and a family pursuit, but we still have to have some sort of narration/notebooking to put in dd's portfolio for evaluation.

 

We already do art and music in a pretty informal way, squeezed in here and there. We have been using Artistic Pursuits and Themes To Remember. We also do things as a family, such as attending a Mozart Festival symphony orchestra performance, going to an art museum, etc.

 

Wow, this post is *really* long. If you have gotten this far, do you have any suggestion for how I can mesh the two approaches? Thanks.

[Snickerdoodle]

The beauty of homeschooling is that you can do what you want and leave the rest. It sounds like you have a clear idea of what is important to you and your children. The the best of each approach and apply it in the way that suits you.

 

You are not required to follow any homeschooling approach exactly the way it was written. Think of each approach as a smorgasboard of good ideas and choose those that resonate best with your family.

 

It is possible to have a solid education without doing everything.

[Just Another Jen]

This is what I would do:

1. Make a list of all the subjects you want covered and the curricula you'd use.

2. Write up a weekly schedule with everything

3. Start re arranging and cutting things.

 

My first thought is that it would be easy to do SOTW as your classical study. There are no LCC police that will knock on your door. Or Do SOTW on Fridays and its history and art if you use the activity guide. Music too if you have some playing while you read aloud!

The biggest choice will be if you want to do just Latin or continue with FLL. You'll just have to choose. Or do both and you'll be more WTM and less LCC- and that OK.

 

If its any consolation- you'll probably change our mind about 10 more times before your kids are grown!

[Plaid Dad]

Other posters have already said what needs saying: you get to set the agenda for your homeschool - thank goodness! :) I just wanted to link to an article that addresses what you're dealing with.

 

Are you a member of the LatinClassicalEd list? It's a big list, and I would bet that every single homeschool represented there looks different. Some people use SOTW for history, with Classical Studies as a separate subject. Some people do more formal science than I normally recommend for the lower grades. (I do, in fact. My dd is a science nut. We're even doing a physical geography book here because it's "sciency.") Some people continue on with an English grammar curriculum alongside Latin, or do the grammar component in CW - although I hear from a lot of people who discover after six months or a year that their English grammar curriculum has become redundant, and cheerfully drop it.

 

I really would recommend joining the LCE list, and also looking over the "day in the life" articles here. You can also have a look at my blog (linked below) to see how I've adapted the program for my language-arts-accelerated dd. I hope those resources give you some peace of mind about adapting both programs to your needs.

[King Alfred Academy]

Gandpsmommy...

 

This is EXACTLY what I have been thinking and trying to do! Seriously...exactly! I just read LCC and it makes a lot of sense to me too (thanks Plaid Dad!) but I also love SOTW and following history chronologically in a four year rotation, that makes sense to me too. I am very interested in hearing how others are meshing these together as well.

 

It's already been a good reminder from the others who have posted that *we* get to choose what we want and what fits best with our kids. The books we read are just a guideline.

 

Here's to homeschooling!

[Plaid Dad]

A side note: As many of you know, there is a revised edition of LCC due out this summer. It will include a single chronological stream of history for grades 2-7 (so not a four-year rotation). That said, the four-year history cycle works well for many people, and if it ain't broke...

[Mama Lynx]

What he said. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

I follow LCC, and I still do the four-year history cycle. I like the ease of keeping my kids together, but on different levels. I love the projects, the maps, etc. etc.

 

But I do try to put less emphasis on it than I used to. History used to be the center and focus of our curriculum. Now, we still have fun with it, but if it doesn't get done according to my grand plans, that's okay.

 

At any rate, we still use SOTW and the AG. We still do the projects. We only do narration occasionally. It can work quite well.

[BarbaraL in OK]

We went LCC this year -- 7yo & 12yo sons -- yet we still do the four-year history cycle. I decided that since my kids really enjoy history and I really like the four-year cycle, we'd keep it :) The main thing I really appreciate about LCC is that our core subjects are very focused, and we have plenty of time for the other things, too.

 

My 7yo second grader's core is Minimus & Latin games; math; and piano. The next in importance to me is world history, using SOTW2 & activity guide, synchronized with my 12yo's History Odyssey Middle Ages.

 

In addition, he reads enrichment books for history, and tells me about them (narration); he has handwriting practice and copywork on alternating days; he is a strong reader so he has a couple of assigned chapters each day of reading for American history, British history, Christian studies, and literature (using LCC recommendations); we do nature study, usually quite casually; and we are a math-y, science-y family so that stuff happens very naturally for us. I brainstormed art, architecture, craft, and music exploration to go with each chapter/lesson of SOTW2, using our CD collection, books, local art museums, and online sources; that's what will work for us.

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but it all hangs together pretty well for us. This year his writing focus is copywork, and we might start dictation in the spring. Next year it'll be copywork & dictation, and perhaps we'll try Writing Tales for a progymnasta-oriented writing program.

[Debra in CO]

And I'll echo - what MamaLynx said.

 

I consider us to be mostly LCC. But I was using Sonlight before LCC was published, and I like their sequence. We just don't make it as central to our homeschool life as we used to. We don't do all the discussion questions anymore. We listen to some of the books in iPod school (ie, when we are driving around). I don't <gasp> read the books as scheduled. We discuss things more casually, and I don't require the same level of narrations as I used to.

 

I also do not start Latin (or Greek) as early as he recommends. My plan for my first grader?

 

Do FLL at least through 3rd grade. Use the new writing book probably all the way through 4th. Add Latin in 4th grade and probably drop grammar at that point. Working through Lively Latin books 1 and 2, has him starting Henle (or something else I find before then) in 6th, and my plan would be to work through Henle I in three years instead of four, putting him on track for high school. My plan would be to start Greek in 6th, and spend one year per Elementary Greek level, putting us right on track in high school.

 

We also do formal science. I cannot imagine not doing formal science. My boys would probably revolt if we stopped for more than a couple of weeks.

 

The big thing *I* got out of LCC is that I don't need to make history the focus of our homeschool day. We concentrate on phonics or Latin, math and Bible. Almost everything else happens as part of our family read-aloud time. My oldest wants to continue doing things like his Classical Studies daily (he hated doing it one day a week). My others were younger when we started, obviously, and they are content with one day a week for such things.

 

I didn't streamline anywhere near as much as I would like to have. But I did change what I emphasize. And the big thing is that I thought things through a lot more. For me, what is truly important? That is where we focus. What is simply important? That we now do more casually. It still gets done, I just make it less of a school assignment and more like life. What is merely good? That gets tucked in here and there with a special field trip, or a library video, or a project on a weekend.

 

Before LCC, I was treating almost everything as being truly important.

 

ramble, ramble, ramble.... ;)

 

Debra

Mom of five, ages 1-10

[gandpsmommy]

Debra, your last thoughts really hit the mark for me. I think earlier this year I was treating everything as equally important, and now I am evaluating and prioritizing. Thanks for sharing.