scgirl816 Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Hi, I've been trying to sort through the archives on this forum to find what I'm looking for, and my eyes are crossing! (It could be that the 4 rather loud munchkins running around are not helping.) I homeschooled my oldest 2 boys for two years before we sent them to school this year for a little break while I had 2 under 2. While I'm okay with the school, I wouldn't say that I'm thrilled in every aspect, and so we are praying about bringing them back home next year. I will have a 1st and 3rd grader. Both are good readers, and I would say probably slightly advanced in most areas, although I'm not sure how that will look after the year ends in school. I think they were further ahead at home. In any case, they catch on quickly to pretty much anything. In K and 1st, I used an assortment of curricula based on what appealed to me and how interested I thought my oldest would be. What I found was a lot of prep work (which I had the time for then, not now) and also frustration on my end at not really having any sort of cohesiveness, nor were we headed in the direction we wanted our kids' ultimate education to look like. That said, we know we want to take a classical approach to learning. Literature is very important to us, and Math and Science must take a front seat as well. I don't have prep work time. By the time my kids are in bed at night, I can't think straight anymore. I need something that is laid out for me that I can scan over and understand what I need to teach for the day. I need organization really badly. I'm not really sure what else I should be taking into consideration. Any prompts in that direction would be welcome! I'm not sure if I need a package set of everything or if piecing together subjects would work if each was laid out well enough to be easy on me. I'm really wanting to hear all points of view! I'm looking into Classical Conversations but am only willing to go that route if I have good curricula at home that fill in the gaps and also fit the bill for what I need as a teacher. I definitely like the memorization technique, but we did CC when DS8 was in K, and it wasn't taught very well, so I felt as though nothing was being categorized but was instead a jumbled mess of facts. Perhaps that is normal, and the supplemental curricula at home is key? I have looked briefly at Veritas Press, Memoria Press, and others, but not enough to have made any sense of what each brings to the table. Thanks for reading this far and for any help you are able to give! I just need a jumping off point to figure out if this is something I can feasibly do next year! Rebekah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof2littles Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I don't do classical but easyclassical.com is always calling my name... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Creek Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Memoria Press sounds like what you have described - Lit is very important, memorization is scheduled and covers a variety of subjects, and the entire curriculum is completely scheduled out for you each day...no prep work at all! The only thing lacking would be the science...they don't start it until mid-elementary, so you would have to use something else in the meantime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stm4him Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I have gone totally CC after a half year that sounded like what you did (though I was adding my own unrelated curriculum at home) and one full year last year of beginning to make it more central. This year I have really seen how simple it can be and yet how unified. The way I am doing it is not a laid out lesson plan from a book because I tend to do poorly with that (trying to do every little thing they say and getting very overwhelmed). It has taken me a long time to see that less can be more. Here is what I am doing related to CC: Saxon Math Tables/Squares/and Cubes for my 3rd grader (multiplication drills for multiplication from CC) Latin's Not So Tough (independent if you start at book 1 and work up) Dictation Resource Book for grammar (just doing topics on whiteboards together that I pulled from this book....I can lay it out in more detail if you want) PreScripts (in January) IEW (though we are doing the Level A book Fables, Myths, and Fairy Tales) Bob Books (Leigh Bortins recommends these) CC book list Teaching the Classics Here is what we are doing that is slightly related: Hey Andrew (Greek version of the Latin books) YesPhonics (about to begin, knock off of WRTR) Other stuff I got from Teaching the Trivium or Well Trained Mind: Building Thinking Skills McCall Crabbs books for comprehension (recommended in WRTR) McGuffey Readers (after Bob Books) narrations Other stuff I just like for memory work: AWANA (or Memory Work Notebook from CLP) First Catechism IEW Poetry Character First Ok, here is what I am doing for the other subjects related to CC: We read whatever the resource is on the subject of the day (History, Geography, Bible, Fine Arts, Science, Science Lab or project, or Nature Study). We use the Acts and Facts cards, History Highlights (these are from CC Connected or the memory work tutorials or ipad app), Trivium Tables, Drawing with Children, Classical Music for Dummies, Discovering Great Artists, Janice van Cleave book) for our information. Then we discuss it together. So many times there is a lot of overlap and connections between subjects that come up. Then they do some copywork of the memory work and/or write narrations (using WTM directions by grade level) and illustrate it in their sketch notebooks (one per subject). I often pull out my Usborne and Kingfisher Encylopedias for science and history or an atlas for geography, etc. I have a shelf full of books from the CC list (and other I already own) and they are to set a timer depending on their age and dive into these. I have directed the amount of fiction and nonfiction at times. They are just to enjoy these. They are learning a ton this year. As they get older they will have to write up reports or have more structure to their writing but for now what they are doing is plenty. Also, daily we sing the geography songs we got from CC Connected and they find the places on their Trivium Tables. Daily I read the back of one timeline card and they do the same as mentioned above. That amounts to about 2 notebook pages a day (one for timeline and one in one other subject). We sometimes get on pinterest and look at what other families are doing or watch youtube videos they post that are related. We watch movies related to what we are learning as we have time. But just being truly plugged into CC and all the available resources has made things very simple for us..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scgirl816 Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 STM4HIM, That seems overwhelming at first glance! Most likely because I'm not familiar with anything you mentioned. :) I'm going to take some more time when my mind is clear and I'm not so tired to look through everything you wrote more closely. I really appreciate you writing all that out for me! I assume you spend one day at CC. The other days at home, can you give me an idea of how many hours you spend working on everything? Also, how much of the work are you able to combine between your kids? I'm really looking into Memoria Press right now and comparing it to Veritas Press. Do any of you know how they compare? Also, my husband mentioned that he was really impressed with Omnibus (obviously a ways off). If we were to start with Memoria, would we be able to move to VP seamlessly enough if we didn't like MP or in later years if we wanted to start Omnibus? I think one of my biggest worries about curricula is that if we change to something else my kids won't get a full scope of what they need, or something will be skipped due to one program being different or more advanced than the other. Thoughts? Thank you all!!! Rebekah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scgirl816 Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 Oh, and as I'm posting here, I'm still researching! :) So I've just read about Tapestry of Grace and how all the kids are learning together. I love that. Are MP and VP like that? In the Fall, I will have a 3rd grader, 1st grader, almost 3yo, and almost 1yo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stm4him Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 It takes us about 2 hours to get through math, logic, Latin, and Greek (and have a snack). Then I would say about 2 hours for memory work, timeline, geography, and the enrichment subject. Honestly, some days we don't get to it. Language Arts was taking us way too long, but that is why I am now looking into Yes Phonics and planning to use the Dictation Resource Book all together for grammar (which is what CC recommends). Yes Phonics has some independent components to it so I'm hoping it will do better for us. The amount of time it takes varies for each kiddo but I really want to cut back on our one-on-one time and have more group and independent time. So one could get all the subjects done in the morning before lunch except language arts and then do that in the afternoon as that will vary per child. And I'm hoping to cover our group grammar lesson while littles are in bed. I have a lot to say about Memoria Press and Veritas Press but it will have to wait until tomorrow (really later today...) Hubby and I just got back from a late showing of Les Mis (my mom came to town tonight) and that will be a longer response. But the bottom line is they are all awesome. I have just found that CC is more simple, less confining, less expensive, and more group discussion focused. Veritas is coming out with a self-paced Omnibus this coming year and I'm hoping mine can handle that on top of CC's Challenge program when the time comes b/c I love the look of Omnibus. For our booklists we rely very heavily on Veritas' catalog. They are awesome! Memoria Press's read aloud collections are great too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scgirl816 Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 STM4HIM, Thanks again for laying all that out for me. Still considering everything over here. Tough decisions! I think I'm leaning away from CC (maybe...at least for now? Lol), but I'd love to hear your thoughts on MP and VP? When you have time... Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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