Classical Conversations

[AllBoys]

Does anyone use Classical Conversations at home without belonging to a CC group? Can you get the materials for home use and are they the same? I am so interested in this but really don't want to have to make the drive there every week. If you are doing this, can you tell me how it is working for you?

[Amber in AUS]

Bumping along for you :)

[Kirch]

:bigear:

[VA6336]

For Foundations, yes, you can get and use all the materials at home. For Essentials you cannot purchase the EEL Guide (which is the English grammar component) without being a community member, the IEW books are available anywhere. In Challenge, you cannot get the Challenge guide (the syllabus/lesson plans/tells you what to do) without being in a community.

 

Hope that helps.

[Goldilocks]

We are using some of the memory work at home after being a part of a community last year. I purchased the CD's for the cycle that I was interested in and we add new memory work about once a week. I am only using a few of the subjects.

 

The Foundations Guide is a great resource for memory work, but there are many other aspects of Classical Coversations that are missing when you just doing it alone at home.

[mommyoftwo]

We are using CC cycle 3 at home this year. The actual CC groups this year are on cycle 2 but cycle 3 worked best for us because we are studying American History which is the theme of cycle 3's history memory work. We are also doing a study of the human body and that is the science theme for cycle 3 (one of the benefits of not joining a CC group is that you get to choose which of their 3 cycles works best for your family).

 

I follow their Instruction Guide to write the memory work each week on a large white erase board then sit on the couch and listen to the cycle 3 subject/weekly audio cd as we read the info on the white board. This cd recites the memory work verbally and offers a song for the history sentence. There are other songs on it such as the one that helps memorize the names of the presidents.

 

I also purchased the Veritas Press history timeline cards and we memorize 8 of them each week; adding on to the ones memorized the previous weeks. We attach the 8 cards for the new week onto our white erase board so that we see them all week. We take two down each day to read the back then reattach them to the white board.

 

I bought their suggested science experiment book (by Janice Van Cleave) but haven't used it yet. They also recommend Classical Music for Dummies and Drawing with Children. We purchased our tin whistles but haven't made it to that part in the instruction guide yet.

 

We are using the Institute for Excellence in Writing materials (CC uses IEW in their Essentials class). As another hive member mentioned already, you can not purchase CC's English materials without being a member. You also can not purchase their mapping materials and have to pay a much higher membership fee than CC group members to have access to a web site portal that contains helpful information.

 

My children are enjoying the pieces of CC that we are using at home.

 

HTH,

Melissa

[Angie in VA]

We're using the Foundations memory work at home and it works beautifully. Are my two children getting the full benefits of being in the community? No, but this works for us right now, and they're better off for it.

 

True some materials are only for community members, but I'm so glad they sell as much as they do to non-members!

 

Ditto on practica. They're free (for parents, and not pricey for kids IMO) and not just for CC community members. Nice!

[rmiz]

I think you and I are reaching some of the same conclusions at a similar time. I ordered my Foundations guide last weeks. I am going to incorporate as I am able to do w/o getting myself too frazzled about it. We are doing Am. History so we will probably go with cycle 3 this year.

 

Hoping we can give each other feedback over the next few weeks.

 

rmiz

[AllBoys]

So for boys in 4th and 6th grade, what should I order? I am unclear exactly what some of these are and how they fit together.

 

Foundations Guide?

 

VP Cards?

 

Audio CD's?

 

Memory Work Resource Cd?

 

Memory Cards?

 

Something else?

 

Also, these are all from the Foundations level but that is where we start, right?

[H_Household]

Your boys would be doing the same memory work week to week on the cycle that you choose. I'm in a CC group and we're doing cycle 2 this year, so if you want to join a group in the future, you might want to do that one.

To do the memory work, you need the foundations guide, which will serve you for all 3 cycles. VP Timeline Cards - purchase the timeline cards and use them in the order found in the guide. The Audio CD and Memory Resource CD have the same information on them....one is just audio and the other is for the computer with graphics. If money is a factor, just buy the one that fits your children best. We use the memory cards for review time..you could just review info from the guide...but these are handy for the car and are like flashcards. We also use text like: Classical Music for Dummies, Drawing with Children, Discovering Great Artists and 201 Awesome Experiments: all which help with the fine arts portion. The children also learn to play the tin whistle, which you could do or not do at home. This year they also made Science Flashcards. They are pretty and explain in more detail the Science sentence for the week.

I know everyone can't be in a group....but we love ours and find great time learning while in the community. Either way though, CC has great information and tools to teach your kids about learning! Good luck!

[AllBoys]

OK, I have received my order. Now what? How do you do this in your home?

 

Thanks!!

[Karis]

Classical Conversations also has the on-line community (C3)

 

this is a tremendous resource!! go to the website to find out more about it.

[AllBoys]

Thanks for telling me about the online community. I went and took a look around the public forum, which is small. I am guessing you are referring to one of the private forums? I didn't want to subscribe if that is not the right thing since it is 80/month. Is this the right one?

[blessedathome]

AllBoys,

There is more to it than that but sometimes their website is hard to navigate. Try this link.

http://www.classicalconversations.com/pdffiles/PromoMaterials/C3FoundationsTierInfo.pdf