Got the CC foundations guide and resource CDs

[Dmmetler]

And was kind of excited about the idea of integrating it...but now I don't "Get" it. It hasn't worked for us to do a community, but I was thinking that i could use the older materials at home. DD loves the VP cards, and has basically memorized the US history timeline from them this year, including most of the details on the back, so I thought she'd enjoy the CC memory work, but it all seems to have absolutely NO context, where the VP cards are putting events into a context. The history sentences, while I know they're pegs and that you're presumably using them with more books, VP cards, SOTW and the like, seem to be picked out of thin air. The science and math both jump around so much that I can't see putting them into a sequential program at all. Latin...same thing. And it looks like all kids, from 4 yr olds to 6th graders, memorize the same things in a given year?

 

I can see where, if you went through the whole 3 year cycle and did all the memory work, your child would know a lot of facts, and I like some of the ideas in the guide, but I have to say that I'm having a hard time now wrapping my mind around using this, because it seems so...well...Non-classical... to just have a whole bunch of discrete facts with little context. To me, the Grammar stage is about giving a whole bunch of context so that, at the next level, kids can build on it, and while they can, and do, memorize rules and facts, it's part of that context.

 

So, please tell me what I'm missing. There's got to be something here I'm not seeing!

[chepyl]

We are doing foundations at home. It is not the core of our curriculum as CC sets it up to be, it is supplementary. I started on cycle 1 this year even though all communities are doing 3. I chose this because we are doing Biology and Ancients. Our bio study has lined up pretty well with the memory work. I got the science flash cards to add context to what we had not learned yet. The history sentences are a challenge because they.move through history faster than SOTW. I am not 100% thrilled with those.

 

The math has been so helpful! We made ot through akip counting before Christmas and are really working hard on multiplication now. Being able to do the skip counting is great.

 

We look at all the locations for geography on the map. That helps put it in context.

 

I don't know how much Latin he is absorbing. I do know that memorizing endings now will help later. That was what we did my first year of Spanish. We conjugated verbs. I still remember those.

 

My favorite part is the history timeline. We memorize the order and go over the backs of a couple of cards a day. His recall on that is great.

 

If it has no context, I don't push memorization as hard. We will go through it all again after a full history and science cycle. It will make more sense the second time around and some of it will hopefully he retained!

 

We will pick up week 13 here in a week or two...I hope we can stay motivated!

[JKKJ04]

CC can be a spine to build off of, a supplement or just memorizing facts. This year for my DD we are just memorizing facts in some subjects. In other subjects I add context. For example, the history sentences, I will get a picture book from the library or look up stuff online to show her. Geography, we do look at a map and have a board game she plays and also some ipad apps. Skip counting we work on by singing the songs, the context for that will come later and the skip counting will be helpful. Science, latin, english I don't push at all. The timeline is what it is, I don't add anything because what she is starting to have is memory pegs to hang later information on. It has been really cool to be watching something or hear something and hear her say "mommy, that is in my timeline, or that was one of my history sentences." As she gets older I plan to use CC as a spine and really delve into whatever we are studying.

 

hth

[Way2blessed]

We have not done CC, but I was very interested in the timeline after I read Bortin's "The Core". The idea of memorizing a history timeline made sense to me as the child would have pegs for additional information learned later. Unfortunately, when I actually saw what was to be memorized in the CC timeline I was underwhelmed. The facts seemed too western/biblical centered for my family. They also seemed too disconnected from each other and I knew my child would not enjoy learning them or retain them unless they were constantly reviewed. I realized however that he loves to memorize poetry and retains that really well with little constant review. So, I used SOTW as a core to build a timeline. Then I converted the events into a poem. Here is what he has memorized for book 1:

 

Mesopotamia,

between the two rivers,

the "Cradle of Civilization,"

Narmer unites kingdoms

Upper and Lower

into one Egyptian nation.

 

Epic of Gilgamesh,

Great Pyramid built,

Akkadian--Sargon the Great,

Minoans jump bulls,

Hammurabi writes laws,

The Shang help the Xia*meet their fate.

 

Hatshepsut, female pharoah,

Mycenaeans settle Crete,

Tutankhamen, the boy pharoah dies,

the Olmecs make heads,

The Phoenicians make glass,

Greek city-states begin to arise.

 

Homer's Illiad and Odyssey,

Ashurbanipal's library,

Siddhartha begins Buddhist teaching,

Confucious thinks,

First marathon is run,

Alexander's empire is far-reaching.

 

As Asoka ruled India,

perhaps he would read from

the Mahabharata's thousands of lines,* *

Shi Huangdi, he was buried

with an army of clay,

And even some live concubines.***

 

Hannibal crosses the Alps

with war elephants

And his army to invade Italy.****

His victories will fade

as the Romans invade Carthage,

causing Hannibal to cross o'er the sea.

 

 

The Silk Road in China,

the Nazca carve drawings,

Cleopatra and Caesar unite.

Caesar is assasinated;

Cleopatra commits suicide

With an asp she entices to bite.

 

Before this point, dates were "B.C."

after this point, dates are "A.D."

The birth of Jesus is the point in-between;

The Pax Romana,*****

Caesar Augustus,

Rome burns while Nero is vacationing.

 

Boudicca, Celtic warrior queen,

Mount Vesuvius

destroys Pompeii. ******

Diocletian rules jointly

with Maximian,

Constantine claims Christ is "the way".

 

Guptas in India,

Visagoths in Rome,

England's Anglo-Saxon invasion;

Attila the Hun,*******

Clovis' Frankish Empire,

Justinian leads Eastern Roman "restoration".

 

First Archbishop of Canterbury

Was St. Augustine,

The peak of the Mayan civilization;

Muhammad founds

the Islamic religion.

Tariq leads an Islamic invasion.

 

Charles Martel,

halts the Islamic expansion

into the land of the Franks.

Vikings raid Europe,

the Maori arrive

in canoes onto*New Zealand's banks.

 

 

1. The Xia (pronounced "zhah) are not mentioned in SOTW.

2. The Mahabharata, an important contribution to literature is not mentioned in

SOTW.

3. The live concubines are not mentioned in SOTW.

4. Hannibal and Shi Huangdi lived concurrently. Hannibal's invasion with

Elephants actually occurred before Huangdi's death, but his return to Carthage is after Huangdi's death.

5. The Pax Romana, Caesar Augustus, and the life of Jesus were all happening

concurrently.

6. Pompeii isn't mentioned in SOTW.

7. The date listed as Attila the Hun's death in SOTW is an error.

His death occured in 453.

[JKKJ04]

I love that, great job! CC is releasing a new timeline that is put out by them rather than using veritas press's timeline. It will be less western centered which is a great thing :) it should be released in march sometime.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

I love that, great job! CC is releasing a new timeline that is put out by them rather than using veritas press's timeline. It will be less western centered which is a great thing :) it should be released in march sometime.

 

:iagree:

 

If I were doing CC at home, I would not do everything in the order (and schedule) presented. I'd pick what corresponded to what we were studying (and when).

 

Last year we took a break from our SOTW history cycle due to a new baby in the house. I used the CC history sentences as a jumping off point. It was a very simple thing to find the event or person in our history encyclopedia and read a little more. Usually we had a few picture books (or even a few chapter books) from our own shelves or the library to choose from, as well.

 

This year we resumed SOTW with early modern. The American history sentences we are learning through CC go at a totally different pace, but my boys spontaneously and excitedly break into song when we finally come across an event or person they have already memorized. :) It doesn't seem to phase them that all related information isn't learned and connected within one week. :)

 

The math memory work (particularly the skip counting) has revolutionized our math studies at home. We studied the human body for the first half of this year and now we are picking back up with our chemistry studies. The memory work has been perfect for this.

 

Maybe something like Living Memory by Andrew Campbell work work better for you because you could use his organized lists to pull out the memory work that would correspond with your studies.

[stm4him]

The most important things in some sense is the geography and the timeline. Every day I would have them review the timeline and either trace or draw and label the map depending on your child's age (I believe there are recommendations in the guide for this). The Science Acts and Facts cards are great too and we put those in order and memorize them like a timeline as we go along. You could buy the cycle you're on and the famous scientists set.

 

Anyway, the rest you can do in the car with the cd and a set of flashcards if your child needs to see it. I forget how old your child is but that is only if they are reading of course. I would just take one day a week and introduce the memory work for that week for about half an hour. If you want to you can do the experiment and fine arts project too. Let your child do the resource cd on the computer whenever he or she wants to as well. By just doing this much you will be surprised what fruit you will see come from it.

 

In our house over and over this year the kids have been interested in something they see or hear around them based on having memorized it in CC. In my experience (been homeschooling 6 years now), the kids are more interested in learning about things they've already memorized however random those things might seem, than to memorize things they're supposed to be learning about. Remember, to them a lot of what we try to teach them seems random or irrelevant to them. But if they are motivated to memorize something after that it has a familiarity to them that makes it come alive when they encounter it. With a CC community that motivation comes easily to most students just by their attendance. When doing it at home I would find another form of motivation (winning prizes for whatever they can memorize, invite family over to watch them, or some other special thing), but I would stick with it for a year at least and then see what you think. I doubt you'll be disappointed you did.......