CC -- would you join only for the community? (+ 2nd grader questions)

[profmom]

We've been in a CC Foundations group for 2 years -- the first with only our then 6th grader & last year with our 1st & 7th graders. (7th graders were still in Foundations because no Challenge A.) The first year was great -- perfect for 6th grade. Last year wasn't so much -- the material seemed to be over my 1st grader's head, & I shouldn't have included my 7th grader -- too much to add on top of his 7th grade work.

 

So...in looking at it for next year, I only have my 2nd grader to consider. I like memory work, but when I look at the CC memory work, it just seems better suited to 4th- 6th grades & not 2nd. What do you think? I wish they had a 6-year cycle instead of 3, even though I see that it would be inconvenient for larger families. When I think of 2nd grade memory work, I think of IEW Poetry, scripture passages, grammar terms as we encounter them, science and history facts as we encounter them, and maybe 1/2 of the new CC timeline.

 

I've already signed her up for 4 classes at a Friday drop-off co-op around the corner -- art, PE, choir, & geography/current events. She is with friends there, but parents don't stay.

 

I've been leaning towards not going back to CC for 2nd & 3rd and considering it again for 4th. However, the main draw for me is the group. We attend a church of around 3,000 and many of our CC group are from our church. I really like the idea of getting to know homeschooling families from our church, along with the other CC families. Is that enough to join?? When I mentioned to dh that I'd probably do the CC timeline either way, he thought we should join for the group & timeline.

 

Am I missing something about the value of CC for a 2nd grader? If you love it for this age, will you help me understand why? What are your goals for a 2nd grader in Foundations?

Edited June 26, 2012 by profmom

[Missouri Okie]

I have a second grader, and we will do Foundations this year.

 

Here are some things to think aboutr:

 

1. I also consider the homeschooling mom network to be invaluable. It's encouraging to me to be around like-minded people. I don't have homeschooling support from any other source.

 

2. Second grade is a good time to do the hard work to learn this material. Their educational work load is only going to increase. So, I think it would be good to get as much of the material under the belt as possible before things really heat up.

 

3. The accountability is good. Use it as a motivation to keep yourself on track.

 

4. Second graders are perfectly capable of learning this material. My son was memory master for grade one. I know he can do it again this year....and Latin in cycle 1 is WWAAAYYY easier (geography's harder, though).

 

5. Brain training is good. You don't have to memorize it all, but all of it's worth knowing. We do IEW Poetry too, and I find that one helps the other as it keeps that brain 'muscle' strong. We focus on poetry in the other half of the year in which we don't do CC or when CC memory work is just getting started.

 

6. That weekly presentation can be an excellent tool in getting your child prepared to speak publicly as an adult. I don't think most CCers take this as seriously as they should. This year, I plan to make their presentation more of a project that we work on and polish all week. I'm going to use Toastmaster material as a guide.

 

7. I love the esprit de corp that exists among the kids. They are all in it together, and they build a camaraderie from year to year.

 

Okay, I'm tired.

[Missouri Okie]

One more thing...I really think we underestimate a child's capacity to memorize. Read Laddie, which is semi-autobiographical, and see what children 100 years ago memorized. I am convinced their is room in their brains for poetry, scripture, and facts...and lots of it. For example, I knew of a man who was in his 90s and who was alive when I was a little girl, that had nearly the whole Bible memorized.

[Lori D.]

Sounds like you would be doing CC mostly for the social aspect if you were to do it with your 2nd grader?? If so, instead of doing the CC, could you just arrange a weekly or bi-weekly get together with some of those families from church to build a relationship?

 

For the young elementary ages, a "mini co-op" for 6-8 families is ideal. The one our family participated in for several years met weekly (though, you did not have attend every week), and our get-togethers usually lasted just 1-2 hours. We met at the beginning of the year and planned out the schedule. We met about 12 times in each semester. A typical schedule looked something like this:

 

week 1 = field trip

week 2 = presentation day (show and tell, demonstration, etc.)

week 3 = park day/play day

week 4 = variety day (special guest speaker OR art, science or other project OR special history recreation day OR community service OR ...)

...repeat...

 

It was great! The small size allowed us to really get to know one another, and the variety of activities allowed for both socialization and some enrichment. Planning in advance was key, as then each mom only had to organize one field trip for the year, and plan one variety day event for the year. The presentation day was an opportunity to show something you'd done that month and not every student presented something every time.

 

 

Anyways, just a thought! BEST of luck as you work through your decision. Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited June 26, 2012 by Lori D.

[profmom]

Thanks Missouri Okie and Lori! I've been trying to decide between CC or a small group that I put together! When my older kids were this age, we got together with a couple of other families and did history and science activities.

 

Thanks for your points, Missouri Okie! (I'm a Missouri Texan.) I agree that memory work is important and I'm trying to decide whether to go with CC or put together our own. I've been talking to another mom and we would incorporate presentations into our small group meetings, if I didn't join CC. For some reason, I don't completely buy in to CC's particular list of memory work, but I am trying to figure out exactly why and if my reason are enough not to join. I appreciate hearing from someone who does love it for 2nd grade! How much time do you spend working with your child for CC work? Feel free to be very specific with your routine :D -- I'm trying to picture it for that age. (I've worked with my 6th grader, who made memory memory, but I couldn't seem to get into a good CC routine with my 1st grader last year.) Do you add any other science or history?

 

Lori, I always appreciate your input! I love the schedule idea you posted for the small group -- 1st week field trip, etc. I am definitely considering setting up a small group! After thinking about it more this morning, I had some more ideas for friends to invite -- so many are already involved in CC and co-op, but I know 3 families who have decided not to go back to CC and another that I'm hoping will join us anyway -- if I decide to go that way. :D I think the other moms would want the mom talking time, so we'd need to allow some time for the kids to play. It's a good idea to meet only the 12 weeks per semester too.

 

Thanks guys! Anyone else want to chime in? :bigear::D

[moskitoe]

My son is going into his fourth year with CC and will be starting fourth grade. I don't recommend it just as a social outlet because I think there are less expensive ways to get the socialization in. But I do see much value in it if you do CC as your spine curriculum. By that I mean that you would not be trying to add other curriculum on top of CC. It really is meant to be a stand alone curriculum for which you would add just a few things. We never did memory master in the early grades but I know families that have done it with first graders on up. Even with my own son this past year in third grade, doing memory master required about 30-45 min of daily memory review work. I do see much value in it and wish I had done it since first grade. The first and second grade are a great place to start with memory work because the academic load is still light.

 

A day with a little one your age would involve phonics/reading, language skills, math, and memory work. I would consider those basics. I also wouldn't get bogged down with lots of workbooks. Math of course would have a workbook, but second grade is still very oral in terms of work. FLL is is very gentle and easy to work through for the language skills and it covers both grammar and writing. For phonics, I like something like Phonics Pathways that focuses on reading and removes the busy work aspect of workbooks. A curriculum like this would take maybe 2 1/2 hours per day. And thats very reasonable for a second grader.

 

CC covers science and art but you can always follow up at home with that if you have the time.

 

The challenge years is when you really reap the fruit of all the grammar you have sown so I would encourage you to find a CC community with challenge if you decide to stick with it. I think that every community should have a vision for the challenge years because that is really where the program began and grew from. I think that it is the job of the directors and tutors to spread the vision and equip parents so you don't feel like you are going through the motions but with no idea of why you are doing what you are doing. I think that some communities are better at this than others. The summer practicums do a great job of re-envisioing parents for the future. That might be helpful. Also reading "The Core" was helpful for me.

 

On a last note, I too have used Pudewa's Poetry Memorization program because I wanted to add some literature grammar to our day. We do it without the CD and don't spend more than 10 minutes on it and it is going well.

 

I hope that this is helpful and encouraging. If you have any questions let me know.

 

Moskitoe

[sarahv]

:bigear:

[profmom]

But I do see much value in it if you do CC as your spine curriculum. By that I mean that you would not be trying to add other curriculum on top of CC. It really is meant to be a stand alone curriculum for which you would add just a few things.

 

I'm coming to understand this. I remember noticing in The Core or may it was the Foundation Guide that Leigh's kids only did the CC memory work for history and science, but I guess I had forgotten. Our group passes around book lists and schedules, etc. to add to CC for history and science. I should ask if any of them only use CC for those subjects.

 

My ideal would probably be something like having the memory work (with songs) tied to a spine, such as SOTW, so that there's plenty of context available. In that situation, each family could have at least 3 choices for how to handle history -- CC sentences only, CC sentences + SOTW, CC sentences + SOTW + activity guide, extra library books, etc. I understand that we have those 3 choices now, except that they don't line up or cover the exact same material.

 

Thanks for your comments!

[staceyobu]

I'm asking myself the same question for next year. We've done it for two years and my oldest (who will be in 2nd grade) has really enjoyed it. She memorizes easily and enjoys the challenge. My 5 year old had a rough time last year, though. He felt stupid since he couldn't learn everything and didn't understand a lot of it. I'm considering doing just a fun coop next year instead, but man, I love the families in CC. The kids and I have made really good friendships there. But, it's a lot of money to pay for socializing.

 

I think memory work has its place... but CC seems too much for the little ones. However, I know others disagree...

[mellifera33]

nm

[Ellie]

I wouldn't.

[sassenach]

It seems like a lot of money and work for very little payoff. If you weren't already doing a co-op, that would be one thing, but doing 2 co-ops a week just seems like a lot of running around. Can you really do all of your other work in just 3 days a week?

 

I tried doing 2 co-ops once. I made it 3 months before I imploded.