Melenie Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Would anyone care to tell me about their experiences? I am looking at it as an option for my pre/K DD. From the website I do not get a good idea of how much time they spend on it per week and exactly it is they do. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom_7 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 This program is very much inline with the Veritas Press programs. They use the history cards for all FIVE series and learn them all in one year (which is alot!). They work on Latin (I believe the younger grades in Prima Latina). They do a science / art project every week. The science goes inline with the classical method cycles (ie, life science, earth science, etc). They also work on one area of history each year, and review math fundamentals through games and chants. I was actually going to tutor one of the Foundations classes in our local group this past year. It ended up not working out, though, because they're on cycle 2 or 3 and we were only on cycle 1 the first time through. We would have been working on ancient history, art, science, etc 4 days a week and then working on Renaissance / Medieval period on Fridays. We chose to wait until our personal curriculum was on level with what they were working on. All in all it is a wonderful program. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in VA Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Classical Conversations is a 3 level program for k - 12 grade. In K - 6, the child is in Foundations. This is primarily a memory program that includes memory work of geography, math, science, latin, Bible, and history. The history is broken up into 2 sections - first they memory the VP history cards (in a slightly different order than VP) and 2nd there are specific history sentences for key events and people of the specific time period they are currently working on. All CC groups throughout the country are on th same time period (called cycle). This year the cycle is American History. In addition there are art lessons, music, and science experiments. You meet once a week where the memory work is reviewed, new memory work is introduced, you do an art or music lesson and a science experiment. The parent's job at home is to help the child review the memory work and expand on whatever subjects they choose at whatever depth they choose. Some choose just to do the memory work and then do whatever they want at home. Some choose to tailor their history and/or science around the topics in CC. Many with kids your age simply do CC as is and concentrate on the basics (reading, writing, math) at home. It's up to you. There are 3 cycles and the idea is if you start at young, you'll cycle through twice and really get those memory hooks down for future studies. Also, usually those with older kids link more studies to their memory work than younger. Foundations is 1/2 a day - usually about 9 - 12. Starting in approx 4th grade (4-6th usually) there is an additional course in the afternoons called Essentials. This focuses on writing and grammar. These kids do Foundations in the morning and Essentials in the afternoon. Again, its the parent's job to work with the student during the week on the materials. That's much more important with Essentials because it's their writing and grammar instruction. You can be in Foundations at any age without joining Essentials. When you hit 7th grade you can join Challenge. It's a full day program designed to cover all the needs for the year. You are no longer in Foundations at this point. I have 3 children in CC. The younger two (9 and 5) are doing Foundations. My oldest is doing part of Challenge. For scheduling reasons we ended up not being in all of Challenge this year. I also chose to wait a year to start Essentials. I've been asked if I'd still do CC if it was only my 5 year old. Honestly, I doubt I would have signed her up if it was just her, but she LOVES it. Knowing what I know now - I probably would. It's been far better than I ever imagined. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melenie Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 Thank you for the great replies! This makes it so much clearer. I am seriously going to look into it for next year when she will be in true K. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickelfritz Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 nt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda...inOwasso Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Let's see, next year will be Ancient history, life science / earth science, English grammar: prepositions & verbs, Latin: noun cases & endings, and every year CC students memorize all 160 Veritas timeline cards along with the names of the Presidents. Erica -- We've got an awesome CC group that meets on Fridays at Asbury. If you're interested in seeing it in action sometime, send me a PM and I'll give you the dates/times. I believe the Tulsa campus is full for this year, but if you're interested for next or beyond, it'd be nice to actually "see" it. Take care! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickelfritz Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Let's see, next year will be Ancient history, life science / earth science, English grammar: prepositions & verbs, Latin: noun cases & endings, and every year CC students memorize all 160 Veritas timeline cards along with the names of the Presidents. We will be starting our first year of ancients/life science next year. So, that would actually tie in nicely. What do people do with younger kiddos? I can't remember if I've asked that, but I don't remember the answer if I did.:D My younger dd will turn 4 in September. So, will she just sit in there too? I'm not even against paying for her to participate, since she wants to do what sissy does. BUT, I'm also used to the cutoff being Sept. 1. Which brings me back to the original question. We do homeschool choir at that same location, (which younger dd will still be too young for next year) and there aren't a ton of places to hang out and wait. Basically, I feed her m&m's from the vending machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frelle Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Some locations have a pre-school or pre-K class. Ours has a baby room, a toddler room, and a pre-K class. My daughter was in the Abcedarians class last year at 4 almost 5, they allowed her in, even though she missed the cutoff. She is in it again this year, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda...inOwasso Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Yes, like Frelle said, there is a nursery for little ones, but your dd would be old enough to join the 4 year old Abcedarian class. They do the same memory work and they're adorable! You can tell they feel like "big shots" because they have their own class and do the same work as their older siblings. And, you'd be amazed at how much they learn!! I'll send you a PM Erica, giving you the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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