OK Family Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I have an 8, 5, and 4 yr old. We have been involved in classical conversations for 2 1/2 years now. We love it but for various reasons may not be able to enroll for the fall. My oldest has been in CC the longest and I'm starting to feel guilty about not signing up for next year. I know it's early to be thinking about it but the deadline to keep our spots is tomorrow. Anyways I plan on doing some of the memory work on our own. We started IEW's SWIA this year at home and will probably continue with the IEW SICCA. Is anyone doing their own version of Essentials at home? I'd love any ideas . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Why don't you just gather some friends and do an "unofficial" CC in your home or church? It's a book... and you could just use it to do your own co-op. This way you can sub in as you deem fit... and it really can be tailored to your liking. :) (This would mean you can keep your timeline cards, too :)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thyme4tea Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Why don't you just gather some friends and do an "unofficial" CC in your home or church? It's a book... and you could just use it to do your own co-op. This way you can sub in as you deem fit... and it really can be tailored to your liking. :) (This would mean you can keep your timeline cards, too :)) Did you have success doing this, it sounds like a lot of work, but maybe not? I have the same questions not sure if we will do CC again, but I do LOVE it. I just feel like it's stuff I can do at home myself. All except the presentations in Foundations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josie Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Have you considered enrolling them in Veritas Press Online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I didn't personally do this, because I had directed, but I had a friend who did. I did make $$$ to direct, which was nice, but the effort of having people join and dealing with the "uppers" was exhausting. If I had thought to just do it unofficially, I would have. The instruction on actually "doing" the program is minimal. I always want to "keep $$$ local", too. I would have preferred not to give $$$ up.... (There are better Science experiments, you could tweak things you don't like... better Latin... etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGHEALTHYMOM Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I am doing CC and Essentials at home. I have wanted to join for a few years and have not been able to for many reasons. After discussing it with some members I decided not to for my young children's sake, and didn't like the mandatory 4 year old enrollment. I have 7 children and it would be too long of a day for our young ones, and a long drive. If we lived closer, I would enroll my 2 oldest for challenge. Thanks for asking and posting! I have been lamenting my loss and am too isolated. I need friends, but couldn't imaging having lunch with my brewd and other mom's. I tried it in a mock co-op and it did not work too well. Young ones need to have play, rest, and not too much stress. I also was disappointed that the science and math are not covered well in K-4 as a Director told me. Those are just some of the reasons besides the cost I have never joined. And: If you decide to have a group, you better be sure that every parent is on the same page. In the beginning, to avoid major conflict.:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OK Family Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Coop wouldn't work for me for several reasons. I am contemplating on the Veritas Press Self Paced history. I originally have SOTW 4 planned for the fall, still need to research which history VP offers that would be similar to SOTW4. We will be finishing volume 3 this spring and want to continue history chronologically. I guess the guidance I am looking for is what to do grammar wise. I plan on doing IEW for writing. (although at times I wish I had someone else to help correct my sons writing). CC Essentials has their own grammar program. I hope to sit in on a class soon to get a feel for what they do. I do have an old essentials guide, just not sure what to do with it yet. Otherwise I need to find a solid grammar program with sentence diagramming. Thanks so much for the responses, I don't have anyone to turn to and am grateful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 (edited) I like that Essentials includes both parsing (labelling "jobs") and diagramming, so to get that, I'd recommend Shurley grammar (which Essentials is based on) or Michael Clay Thompson's books plus a resource that teaches only diagramming. You could even do just your parsing choice the first year and then add diagramming for a second-year skill. Frankly trying to figure out an old Essentials guide on your own may be iffy. Then of course you can use the IEW videos or IEW history-based books on your own. Some campuses will allow Essentials-only registrations, but you do have to be there as a parent in class and either put your children in the afternoon program or make other arrangements. Some areas have IEW classes too. I live in an area with a number of drop-off IEW classes at all levels, most run by former Essentials tutors. The fees are less than Essentials and you don't have to be there. And yes, Veritas also has grammar and writing online classes that meet live twice a week. Just some ideas! Edited February 5, 2012 by GVA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OK Family Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 I like that Essentials includes both parsing (labelling "jobs") and diagramming, so to get that, I'd recommend Shurley grammar (which Essentials is based on) or Michael Clay Thompson's books plus a resource that teaches only diagramming. You could even do just your parsing choice the first year and then add diagramming for a second-year skill. Frankly trying to figure out an old Essentials guide on your own may be iffy. Then of course you can use the IEW videos or IEW history-based books on your own. Some campuses will allow Essentials-only registrations, but you do have to be there as a parent in class and either put your children in the afternoon program or make other arrangements. Some areas have IEW classes too. I live in an area with a number of drop-off IEW classes at all levels, most run by former Essentials tutors. The fees are less than Essentials and you don't have to be there. And yes, Veritas also has grammar and writing online classes that meet live twice a week. Just some ideas! Thanks for the ideas. I guess I forget that parsing and diagramming sentences are different. I like the idea of beggining the parsing (labeling) in fourth grade then the next add in diagramming. I think it would be real good to do that since Im feeling overwhelmed about teaching them in the first place. I'll have to dig a bit on Shurley English and see if thats a right fit. We have never done Shurley so I wonder which level to start at. I saw that Veritas had the Grammar/Writing online (shurley and IEW), thats also a thought too... I was also considering an IEW class but the class schedule isn;t out yet and the registration for the Veritas is this week. Makes it hard to make a decision!? Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I direceted CC and even though we offered Essentials it didn't really work for anybody- the gal teaching had taught for 8 yrs and found it very laborious. IEW and R & S will cover everything Essentials ever did. Mary Daly's diagramming if you want to cover more diagramming. And Living Memory or TWTM has much better, sequential memory work, imho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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