Does Classical Conversations take over the homeschool week?

[Hottater]

Really liked this thread. Glad to see the different perspectives. I was going through several personal pro's and con's myself. But Really happy about the not having to make it our spine:

Entering into CC this year:

 

 

Pro's: Never could do memory work without a co-op, so now's my chance. Positive praise from other people helps with my lack of praise. The memory work is thorough for the items they chose. I can do it for one year, so that the vocabulary for every subject is touched upon so that when they get to it later, it will click. Personal choice on home curriculum will not hinder this. Frankly, big on MOH in our house here. (We've done 3 and 4 of Story of the World too). Intend on meshing the two curriculum personally with CC as the sole function as a memory helper. My oldest has already gone through Creation - modern history so, this would make him one step closer to mastering the subject and all these subjects are not random facts for DS ~also, my oldest has done all of Considering God's creation, many of the elementary Apologia books (except for zoo3 and human anatomy.) They get to have many aha! moments when all the foundational vocabulary of each subject is laid out. It will force me to wake up earlier and not be a lazy homeschooler. 

 

 

Cons: I am disappointed the history sentences are all over the place, even though they said Ancients for cycle 1 history.

The new acts and facts cards are not as biblically based as the veritas press cards. Veritas puts it all in biblical and biblical topics order first. Need to really de- emphasize Greek and Roman influences at home when dealing with memorizing "gods", especially for the littles. Time is a precious commodity for me because I will loose 1 day plus 30 minutes of practice a day. 

 

 

 

 

 

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I agree with many of the responses here: while CC is what you make of it, if you add lessons to make the experience valuable, it will take up your week. The parroting-style memory wasn't valuable for us, and I felt like a drill sergeant. If we dug deeper into a topic that grasped her attention, I had to curb her enthusiasm so we could move on to the next memory piece the following week. To expect to satisfy a curious child with "we'll talk about it later" is unreasonable, as is the expectation that, three years later, they'll still remember a sentence they parroted and apply it to an in-depth lesson.

In similar fashion, the science experiments and art and music experiences were so rushed into our CC day, that the clock squashed our enthusiasm. Perhaps we are Charlotte Masons living in a classical world...

 

I'm also going to say something that may be very controversial in this group, so I'll preface: every person we met in our community was a gem with lots of passion and lots of love for education and their families. Our director was the most hardworking, detailed, dedicated of them all. The tutors loved their classes, the parents were all super involved. We met excellent quality people. But then we heard from our upline...

 

And yes, I am going to call it that. Because Classical Conversations is a pyramid scheme.

 

When I was a tutor for our community, I was approached to see if I would be interested in being a coach. Or a resource coordinator? Regional support? I don't remember what it was called at the time, but the basic model was: participate in a year of CC, attend this weekend course (which was pricey!) and you'll be qualified to support budding communities in your area. There were lots of presentations about how the company was experiencing growth, showing how you could maximize your earning potential by spreading out and supporting a number of small communities and helping them grow. And you didn't see a penny until after the first successful year of one of the communities you supported (about 18 months after the costly training weekend).

I felt very uncomfortable being a part of that, especially when so many of the directors I knew were doing so much to support one another just out of kindness and generosity.

 

Meanwhile, the "stick in the sand" philosophy of CC requires so many supplemental resources now. Flashcards, Trivium tables, pocket inserts. All to make it "easier" to tutor, but costly.

 

Finally, after one of the applications I filled out during hiring for the support position revealed that I was Catholic, my interview turned into an in-depth session of Catholic Apologetics, which left me breathless and shaking. I was told that I should probably look for another program, because the CC Community wouldn't be a comfortable fit for me. I was reminded of the Non-Disclosure Agreement I signed before agreeing to tutor, and told to have a blessed day.

 

It is such a shame to have to leave our community on a sour note, because the actual people I met were so lovely, generous, and kind. But in the end, I felt they were lovely, generous and kind IN SPITE OF what was expected of them by the company known as Classical Conversations, and I dearly wish that wasn't the case.

 

This deviates from your original question, and I apologize. However, it certainly falls under something I wish I knew. If you decide to participate in a CC community next year, I hope you'll have a much better experience.

wow. Shaking my head. Catholics are traditional

Orthodox believers with so many excellent things to add to the Christian community.

[dauphin]

After researching for the past week, I've come to the same conclusion that many other posters have, we are going to implement CC Foundations at home. I am fortunate to have someone passing the 3rd ed. guide to me so I'll choose what suits our homeschool and leave the rest. We are primarily CM homeschoolers. I thought I'd share some of the resources that I'm using to get prepared.

 

Free collection of lists and material for memorization put together by another homeschool mom: http://www.lulu.com/shop/hannah-wilson/grammar-stage-memorization/ebook/product-631808.html;jsessionid=6C7F7939B38993DD319CEEC8F308EBDC

 

Former CCer shares memorization methods: http://goldengrasses.blogspot.com/2008/10/memoria-opus-memory-work.html http://goldengrasses.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-memorize-timeline.html

 

Doing CC at home combined with Montessori method http://www.myhomeschoolstyle.com/?p=175

Bummer, the third link appears to be dead. That sounded perfect.

[Seasider]

What a great thread! We have been HSing awhile now, so I feel like we have a good flow, we know what works and does not.  But we are at a point where dd could use the community. It is nice to know that I can use it as a supplement to what we have going on. Thanks to all who replied. 

 

Since this thread has been resurrected, I just want to add that I believe that a family's individual experience can vary greatly with the CC community. Anyone considering CC should visit all the communities available in the area before selecting one with which to affiliate.

[HilJoy14]

I think, like so many others said, it's really your choice.  Last year was our first year homeschooling (2nd/3rd and 4th), and they both did Foundations and older did Essentials.  Foundations was fine for me, but we're not doing it again next year. (I just want to try a year without it.)  Since I was new to homeschooling, I let CC determine our week's studies for history and science.  It gave me a jumping off point without actually using another full curriculum.  It worked well for me, really.  BUT that's because it was US history and not world history.  World history has so much to cover that I don't think I could do it at that pace and feel that I was getting it "all" in there.

 

I LOVED Essentials - the grammar, especially.  And I was shocked that my daughter did so well at it.  She has a fairly good grasp of everything covered all year - she can diagram compount-complex sentences mostly without me even walking her through the questions at this point.  The writing was a bit of a stretch for me - we honestly didn't finish a couple of the assignments - I was just burned out on it.  (I liked it and it was taught well - just a bit much sometimes.)

 

I feel like we might go back to CC after one year off.  OR at least I'll use the materials to walk my younger daughter through the Essentials grammar - I enjoyed it that much!