Neptune Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Hello all I had to pull out my DS from school at the beginning of the year. After many months of much needed deschooling, he is ready to get to work. I tried elementary Montessori with him, since it is what he is used to, but I give up, I find it is too difficult to implement in the home. So I am turning to classical HS, but I feel overwhelmed. I am looking for a curriculum or a program that would act as a guideline to start. I am not sure I'll enjoy having to follow a canned curriculum for a long time, but I feel I need somebody to tell me what to do week per week for a while to get us started. Would the material from CC work?(the foundation guide and history cards for instance) I would not joint a group. Anything else can be used as a guide/programm/curriculum for the weekly/daily stuff? Thank you so much for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Have you read The Well Trained Mind yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Read The Well Trained Mind :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neptune Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 Yes, I have. And that gave me a very good overview of the year, but I wanted something more precise to start from, for instance, in the first week, you talk about this, and do that memory work, and work on that math topic. Does this exist in some form? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmith Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Have you checked out Memoria Press? Also, The Latin Centered Curriculum is a good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayne J Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I think that most of the individual curricula mentioned in WTM are fairly easy to plan out, or come planned for you. For example, most math programs come with daily lessons already labelled and you simply do one lesson each day. The teacher's manual will tell you what to teach/do/assign for each lesson. Same with the writing, for example. Writing With Ease (written by one of the authors of The Well Trained Mind) has daily lessons outlined, right down to what questions to ask the child, what assignment to give and how to evaluate the child's work. So, although you may not have one sheet of paper with every subject listed, each subject on its own has a daily structure. Then you can use the WTM schedules to help you figure out how many lessons to do in each subject per week. You can list all the daily assignments on one sheet if it helps, but you don't need to. If you really like the WTM suggestions, you could do it that way. Memoria Press also has packages that give you weekly lesson plans all made up already, including memory, if the thought of writing them yourself is just too much. (And I understand that it seems really overwhelming!). People might be able to make more specific recommendations if they knew more--what age is your dc, what do you like about classical education, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I would not do CC without the group. I have no experience with the group, but I did buy the foundations manual. It lacks a lot of what is needed to implement the program. When I contacted CC to get something simple like the map blackline they informed me you could only get that through the group. At the time there was no group within 50 miles of me. CC's answer, start a group. It was a wasted $50 for me. What age is ds? TWTM materials really are open and go. Very scripted. Others have mentioned Memoria Press. They have both packaged curriculum by grade, and individual resources. Veritas Press has a lot of interesting material too. CC uses a lot of their curriculum. Or at least they did 3 years ago when I was looking at them. My advice is always just to start with Reading and Math, then add things in. We here can help you put together a good plan, but we really need to know what level ds is at, and what you are already using or have tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Agreeing that pretty much all the curriculum suggestions in WTM are open and go. If you are Christian, Memoria Press materials are very nice. I also second the idea of reading The Latin-Centered Curriculum. It is short and helps you to focus on the important subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Even though it may feel daunting at this point to have to 'plan it yourself', in the long run I think it is very liberating. I did a 'canned' program the first year I homeschooled and every time I failed to check a box on the Instructor's Guide because we had an interruption of some sort, I felt like a failure. Over time, I evolved to chose good programs for each subject mainly based on WTM suggestions and I just did the next thing each day (i.e. if we stopped on p. 31 one day, we began on p. 32 the following day). I keep a planner for each child and use it to record what we actually did/do each day or week. That way, I can look back and see if I feel like we're covering enough or have accomplished our goals. If I feel like I need to pick up the pace in a subject or two, I do, without feeling overwhelmed or crushed by failure to keep up with someone else's pace. Of course, you can look at a curriculum to see how many lessons are included and then compute how many you should do to cover it in a year's or a semester's time. Just my $.02. Good luck with your journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neptune Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 So sorry, indeed, I should have added more informations DS is 7 yo, he is in 2nd grade. he has been in Montessori schools all his life. I tried to keep going in Montessori, but it is too demanding, and he is going too fast for the preparation I am able to do. We started Singapour Maths, and Some language material. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 It's not specifically classical, but Heart of Dakota might be a nice way to get going. Their lesson plans are very well laid out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 So sorry, indeed, I should have added more informations DS is 7 yo, he is in 2nd grade. he has been in Montessori schools all his life. I tried to keep going in Montessori, but it is too demanding, and he is going too fast for the preparation I am able to do. We started Singapour Maths, and Some language material. Thank you If he's moving fast, you may not want a packaged curriculum with all subjects. I can't do one with my advanced kid(s). They'll zoom ahead in one subject while staying behind in another. If you use WTM as a guide, it's really quite easy. Most of her recommendations are fairly open and go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2TheTeam Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 There are several boxed curricula. It's probably up for debate if they follow a classical education exactly. We use My Father's World. They describe themselves as a mix of Classical and Charlotte Mason. I tend to steer away from the more Charlotte Mason aspects of the program and am adding in more classical stuff. With their programs, you choose your own LA's and math. I'm choosing those based on a Classical approach and WTM. IMHO, a boxed curriculum is an option, but you might need to be willing to tweak it if you want a full Classical approach because most of them are a mix. I needed a boxed starting out. I really needed the hand holding. I'm planning to continue with it for now, but I do see myself breaking out more and more as I go along. At some point, I may not use it at all. Though, I think I will. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neptune Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 Thank you all for your recommandations I'll check into LCC, and I'll go back reading TWTM Thank again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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