Claritas Publishing - Alternative to Classical Conversations?!

[yvonne]

Anyone seen or used materials from Claritas Publishing?!   It looks like a fantastic alternative to Classical Conversations..... a 4 year cycle (vs CC's 3 year cycle), beautiful maps, very similar cycle guide books, similar memory work, .... Materials are similarly pricey, but.... it looks like you could buy them and use them in your own co-op, free of all the limitations & extra fees/expenses imposed by CC corporate.

One of CC's strengths, though, is the national franchising approach. Such a double-edged sword.... It's easy to start a campus bec of their publicity, but, on the flip side, the campus is subject to the CC corporate strangle hold which allows CC to continue to make money off the campus every year.

Edited May 23, 2017 by yvonne

[Ms.Ivy]

We use Cross Seven (crossseven.org), which is about $4 per month. I haven't found it necessary to buy anything from Claritas, although I can see how some of the printed materials might be nice. I love having the memory work all on one weekly video. It has made Morning Time very easy on me.

[yvonne]

I'm not familiar w/ Cross Seven. Thanks for posting.  It looks like it uses the materials published by Claritas and makes each week's memory work available via media stream for a $4/month (per cycle) subscription.

 

How long has Cross Seven and/or Claritas been out there?!  I wonder why they don't have more visibility  Seems like a fantastic alternative for families who want to form a co-op over which they have more control. It would be much less expensive and they'd be able to chart their own course, use the best teachers/leaders they can find, etc.

[Another Lynn]

I vaguely remember seeing a website a couple years back for a group that did something similar, but it also included literature.  I don't know if they ever marketed their materials, and of course I can't remember the name of it now.  

[Finlandia]

I started using claritas materials a few months ago. I really like the 4 year cycle instead of CC's 3 year one. Claritas lines up very easily with SOTW. I also like that the weekly memory work includes a hymn and a Bible passage (CC technically has Scripture for each cycle, but it's not included in the weekly work and is not on the audio CDs). The science, English grammar and math are very similar for both programs.

 

The only things I like better about CC materials is the Timeline Song and the fact that their memory work is both spoken and put to music (on the audio CDs). Claritas only has things put to music, which works well for my musically inclined DD but not for every kid.

 

I think the reason we don't hear much about Claritas is because it was put together by a group of parents in order to use with their kids. It didn't start out as a business idea. They do sell the materials, but I get the idea that it is still mostly a parent-led operation, done out of a desire to help other parents rather than grow a profitable business.

[yvonne]

I think the reason we don't hear much about Claritas is because it was put together by a group of parents in order to use with their kids. It didn't start out as a business idea. They do sell the materials, but I get the idea that it is still mostly a parent-led operation, done out of a desire to help other parents rather than grow a profitable business.

 

That's true. CC corporate is a business first & foremost.

 

I think it would have been so fun to put all the Claritas memory work together!  And it's so neat that they make it available to home schoolers, no strings attached. (Other than buying the materials.)

[h2bh]

We are using Claritas this year. At first we didn't buy the materials and just used the streaming content via across Seven, but then I took the plunge and spent more. The map book is beautiful! The pages are laminated and full color. My kids love pouring over them and the map work lines up with the SOTW Readings and history sentences. Claritas really is a hidden gem. If I didn't move so much for my husband's job, I'd definitely start a group.

[Mama2BugNBear]

We'll be using the Claritas materials for the first time this coming fall! I can't wait! I have some aversions to CC but like the idea of not having to do all the legwork for memory work. Claritas fills that need for my family.