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Question re: Classical Conversations...


Pster
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There is a group starting near us and several of the families in our hs group are joining.

 

How exactly does it work? I know it meets 1x a week - and it involves a lot of memory work on various subjects.

 

Does this replace those subject then that you would ordinarily be doing at home or is it a supplement to them? Is the whole class they attend just working on memorizing things for the different subjects?

 

I'm not sure if I want to attend the informational meeting or not. I am still not sure if this is something that would interest our course of study.

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I just went to a hs convention and found out there was one starting up an hour (or more) away from us, and I seriously considering making the long haul. I thought it sounded quite exciting, but I couldn't do it due to traffic, weather in winter, etc. But I would tell you to go to the info meeting and check it out!!

 

The class was going to have about 45 minutes of memory work (5 min. for Latin, 5 for Grammar, 5 for history, 5 for geography, songs, etc.) and 1/2 hour for science projects/experiments, 1/2 hour for drawing lessons alternating with music instruction, and time for oral speeches and presentations. There was going to be 1 tutor per 8 children. Then they'd have lunch and some organized games in the afternoon. There would also be LA if enough people showed interest. It went from 9 to Noon, followed by lunch and the games.

 

My vote would be to have you check it out and then tell us how you liked it! :001_smile:

 

Brenda

 

ds 8

 

dd 6.5

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There's a CC group in my area, though we haven't joined yet. I do know that they run several open house type events and even some three day conferences each summer. I'd check out the main web site and see. I'm planning on attending one locally in July. I'm considering them for the future when we don't have an infant's schedule to contend with.

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The Foundations classes, for 4 year-olds to 6th grade, do work on a lot of grammar (memorization.) They spend about an hour of the 3 hours on memorization. Like Brenda said, they also have presentations (each child speaks every week, total of a 1/2 hour,) art/music (1/2 hour,) science experiment (1/2 hour,) and opening assembly (announcements, and also each family presents to the whole group once or twice a year.)

 

Depending on how old your 8 year-old is, and if the campus offers it, there is also the Essentials program for 3rd-6th grade. This is 2 hours and covers 45 minutes of writing (IEW,) 45 minutes of grammar, and 1/2 hour of math drill.

 

To give you some idea of what it replaces, just in our family as an example: For my 6 yo this year, this will be his history and science. I will just add his phonics, literature, and math programs, and he wll be pretty much done. For my 10 yo, she will read books to go along with the history and science topics and that will take care of those, and the Essentials will be all of her writing and grammar for the year.

 

Disclaimer: I am a Classical Conversations Director. :)

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For my dd in Foundations and Essentials we will pretty much do what Angela in OH is doing - add a Latin program, math, reading assignments and some more art/music. Grammar and writing are more than adequately covered in Essentials and we needed to focus on those areas, along w/math, anyway.

 

During the time off (it only runs 24 weeks) there are writing assignments she will cover and we will just add in anything else that seems to be needed.

 

My other dd is in Challenge B, so for those 30 weeks she will just follow that curriculum and for the rest of our school time (we do year round) we will do something else,though I'm not sure what yet.:001_smile:

 

hth,

Georgia

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You will need to purchase a Foundations guide along with paying tuition. You can also purchase CD's and powerpoints that put the memory work to music and graphics. If you do the program, invest in these! The guide explains the scheudle for the memory work that you will be doing for the year in the following areas: Bible, History sentence, math, english grammar, latin, science question, geography, veritas press history cards (160) and all of the U.S. presidents. There is a 3-year cycle (so the memory work repeats itself). The math and the VP card memory work is the same each year.

During the weekly class time your Tutor will have 5 1/2 "lessons"- 1 on review (of the previous weeks memory work), 2 on preview (of next weeks memory work) 3- art lesson 4-science experiment, 5-presentations (the kids each do a 3 min. presentation - the younger kids do more of a "show and tell."

There are over 1000 pieces of infomation to memorize each year.

 

You will still need to do math and phonics at home. They suggest you start a Latin program at home as well.

You will learn a lot if you really work the program. You will not have a lot of time for other things if you really work the program. The science experiments do not follow the memory work. The History sentences are also not in order. There is a lot of overlap, gaps, etc. The english grammar majors on minors (IMHO). The Latin grammar is not connected in any way for the younger kids. The geography supposedly follows the history sentences but it too seems disjoint. In other words, while the amount of memory work is doable there is a general lack of cohesiveness.

The afternoon eled program is called Essentials. The kids do 45 min. of grammar, 1/2 math games and 45 min. of IEW. The Essentials notebook is overwhelming. They introduce concepts in a way that no other grammar program does (for istance they don't explain what an adjective is until well into the program but they've had the kids using adjectives throughout the year). The IEW uses a theme based lesson depending on the Cycle (in the fall they'll start cycle III - U.S. History and they'll used the U.S. History theme based lesson). Parents who haven't spent time watching the TWSS vidoes will have a difficult time following. The 1/2 math games are hugely popular with the kids.

Individual Tutors can really add to the program or detract from it -kwim.

If you think you may invest in the program (because financially it is an investment) you'll want to attend a parent info meeting.

It is an amazing concept. The execution needs work.

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Pster,

 

This will be my 3rd yr w/CC-Foundations and 2nd yr tutoring. Some use it as a supplement and do not tie any of it into their other subjects. This just becomes their memory work.

 

Some use the Art and Science labs for their art and science for the week and do the rest of their subjects at home.

 

Others just do Foundations for it all and just add in things like phonics and handwriting.

 

Then there are folks like me who pick parts of it to add to and then do other work at home. I tend to prefer to memorize what I'm familiar with so I like to teach more about what we are memorizing. So I tend to pick the history sentences. My kids read more on each sentence and do their presentations on those each week. That's all we do for history or science that week.

 

Essentials and Challenge programs are separate and not everyone chooses to do them.

 

I really think you should attend the seminar to learn more, it will help.

 

hth

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  • 4 weeks later...

The Practicum was helpful in providing a better picture of what CC is. If you can attend one, I would recommend it. The afternoon sessions on IEW wouldn't be as helpful unless you know you'll do Essentials or just want to learn about IEW.

 

Does anyone know if there's a forum for tutors anywhere? I'm off to look for a yahoo group. I'd love to get ideas on how to make this fun for 4-7 year olds.

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Does anyone know if there's a forum for tutors anywhere? I'm off to look for a yahoo group. I'd love to get ideas on how to make this fun for 4-7 year olds.

 

 

 

They used to have two forums, one for families sharing ideas and one for tutors. The families' one was accessed thru the foundations page. The tutors' one was accessed thru the essentials page. But, all could access either one. Many tutors freely shared their ideas.

 

They also had an archive site (their original CC home page) that contained a wealth of information on the different memory subjects. But, it is no longer accessible. CC also had a Beta site, only accessed to buyers of the cds. The cds were arranged by subject. The Beta site allowed you to download the info by week. Now, the buyer receives 2 cds containing the info by week and subject when purchasing. They revamped the powerpoint cd to include some of the helpful links contained on their site, the present one and the archived one (many you need a password to access). I do not think any of these helpful links can be accessed on their website anymore. You must buy the powerpoint cd, where as before, this information was free. Now, they are going to start a new improved forum in August. Here is a link to the details:

 

http://amazingforums.com/forum3/0607FOUND/54.html

 

This forum is being discontinued.Please keep an eye out for our new, ad-free forums included in our new Connected Community site coming in August.We have a free forum for registered users that allow you to share ideas, as well as an "upgraded" forum for subscribers, that allows for file sharing and uploading of small files to share instantly.For more info keep checking the front page of the CC Website - Coming August 2008!

 

Here are the links to both of the old forums:

 

http://amazingforums.com/forum2/CLASSICAL/forum.html

http://amazingforums.com/forum3/0607FOUND/forum.html

 

 

 

:)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have a 1st grader and we started with CC last spring. I love the memory work and the support of other classical hs moms. We use CC as a supplement. We're in SOTW 1 which doesn't coincide with CC this year, but my ds likes memory work, so it's not really an issue.

 

Just to echo the other comments, visit an open house if you're able. Each campus is different. Here in TX children are allowed to attend the sessions which will give you a feel for whether CC will fit your family's educational goals.

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