mommynluv Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Hi Ladies! Please tell me everything you love about CC! Does your child REALLY learn all that? :) I'm interested to hear what your children actually learned and if you plan to stick with it as long as possible. :bigear: Thanks! :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 This is a thread that gets started a lot, and I can't help but comment. I LOVE CC and the memory work. To me, it's like a whole food vitamin that gives them a HUGE amount of pegs to hang other information. We use CC and I try to make most of the info relevant to my children's learning. I mean, even if we're in another history period, or a different area of Science studies...we can still talk about what we're learning in CC. My 5 year old can really make the connection and bring it into real life conversation! My mom was talking about the Declaration of Independence with my 2nd grade nephew. Of course, my son started singing the song about it...and telling my mom about it.... He also does skip counting and has started to try to memorize some of the multiplication facts. And, knowing his skip counting makes all of the Living Math books that we read, come to well....life. (Greg Tang's and Cindy Neuschwander's) My 5th grader has most of the information memorized, as well. It's really been painless. She's taking Essentials, too. While it's not her favorite, it's been a good class for her to take. It's nice for her to have some teaching from someone else! Carrie;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlifemom Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Pretty much. My 5 yr old doesn't have it all memorized, but she has a fair amount and next year, she will learn some things again(skip counting/timeline) and new stuff as well. I have to preface any remarks with "I am a director for the Challenge A program", but for my kids CC day is their favorite day of the week. They adore it, they are learning it is the style I was looking for, Classical/memorization and I have met some great people. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LND1218 Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Yep this comes up a lot, but I have to answer too... Love it and plan to do it all the way through!! My kids absolutely love CC - they can't wait to go. My 5th grade dd LOVES Essentials! It is her favorite class next to Latin. (Of course, she's not such a fan of the math games!) I love that it helps me get what I am not good at doing at home - science, art and presentations. The grammar memory work is good and it's great for my kids to have other kids to do it with. My kids have learned a lot. But what I love the most is being connected to a community of classical homeschoolers. These are the families I was looking for and could only find in my area in CC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) The kids can learn the info and do it well the year they are learning it. We hit it hard last year and my kids diligently worked through the entire program. This year they can recall the information set to songs, the math memory, but the science is harder to recall, the grammar is not learned in a manner that really makes sense, etc. My kids are bright and memorize easily so it's not a matter of them having difficulty learning or memorizing. My point in all of this is to ask this questions? What is TRUE long-term memory, can they truly memorize all of this if you are teaching them content along with the skills? We did the VP memory cards last year, all summer and have continued on this year. My kids know most of it, but even with that there are still areas they don't know by memory. So, it's a long term process. Continual review is the key to true mastery. 24 weeks a year won't be the review you need to truly master the info. Also, it is not a complete program, imho. CC teaches skills, but not content. Learning 24 history sentences is not a complete history program. Learning 24 grammar facts is not a grammar program. And, honestly, having your kids know the personal pronouns when they can't I.D a noun and verb in a sentence is not really helpful or useful. Last year our kids were memorizing what a gerund was but couldn't pick out an adjective in our Essentials class. CC went over the definition of adjective in cycle 1 and we were on cycle 2. The cart is before the horse in several of the memory areas. Learning 1000 facts a year is impressive. Another question to ask might be, how much of that is retained long-term. What other learning besides memory work is being done? We found the science and art to be weak areas. The experiements don't follow the memory work in sciecne. That being said, it is a unique program that offers parents the opportunity to learn to teach memory work (though I don't agree that it teaches parents to school classically, like they claim). It can create a classcial community. It's a good spine, if it is used that way. We also found Essentials to be time consuming, difficult to use and frustrating. Shurley Grammar and OMT, Mary Daly's Diagramming does all it claims to and more in a logical, sequential manner that doens't leave the parent and child feeling lost and inadequate Edited February 15, 2009 by laughing lioness added Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2abcd Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) My view is similar to laughinglioness'. There's room for a lot of improvement. I think the reason most people like it is because they get to get together with other families. We really enjoyed that, too. CC is an interesting concept, but I would rather put together my own plans and invite people over and have it be free. It's very expensive and the company is frustrating to work with. It's nice to have participated in the CC model and I will likely be doing something similar (of my own planning) with other families. We won't be continuing with CC, though. And no, most kids won't be able to do all they say they will. Our trainer swore that even the 3 year olds would be able to draw a map of the US freehand, including all 50 states. Well, my group knows Florida sticks out in the corner of the map and they know where AK and HI are (in general), but there's no way they can do what the trainer said they'd be able to do. Even my six year old boy who LOVES geography and can identify all 50 states can't draw the map freehand. I was disappointed that when I reviewed the states and capitals with the class, they had forgotten a lot from a few weeks ago. The Skip Counting can better be accomplished with a more bearable cd such as 100 Lost Sheep. The History songs are about the only thing I think our group will remember. BTW, I've been a tutor and we have a great Director and the other tutors and families are great, too. And no, we're not doing this for the money. HTH. Edited February 16, 2009 by mom2abcd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josie Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 There are some great parts to CC, but it is overpriced. Whether you like the campus is really dependent on how the director runs it. The one we tried just didn't float my boat. I think you can do the same with a few friends and get the same results. I agree that the grammar is a bit disjointed for foundations. I would work with the history, some of the math, geography, and do the science, but I would talk about what they are learning a bit more than they do a CC. I would take it MUCH slower. I would take maybe two or three history cards a week instead of eight. Remember that the tortoise won the race! Essentials...Well, the IEW you can definitely do yourself...just fork over the money for the DVDs and you are good to go. The math in Essentials isn't anything stellar. You can do the same at home by buying the book and doing some of the games. The grammar portion of Essentials is awesome IF you can spend beau coup amounts of time trying to figure it out. Oh, and you need to spend a lot of time figuring it out even if you ARE in a program. Once again, I would take this MUCH slower than they do in CC. It is one of the most cumbersome programs I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot. I like Rod and Staff English...it is great and EASY to implement. I have heard that Shurley is good, but I have never used it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Josie, "Curvy road, no problem, full speed ahead!" :lol:I LOVE it!! Can we be friends?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josie Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Josie, "Curvy road, no problem, full speed ahead!" :lol:I LOVE it!! Can we be friends?! I love it, too! It sums up our lives so well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Hey There, I wanted to point out a few things from a Director's perspective. I'm directing in Oregon and I work really hard for my group. I genuinely love all the families that we have. Some are more like me than others, but for our group, diversity is great! We have cultural and theological diversity. Tomorrow I start Info Meetings again. I'm a bit overwhelmed with all of the work that goes into it and can tell you that the prospect that one day...I'll make a bit of money sounds appealing. My parents, over 25 years ago, started a Homeschool Group, out of concern for others.(no $$$ for this, although the group treated us to a vacation) So, I've seen it both ways, even though they are a bit different. In our group, we also have field trips planned once a week after CC gets over...for quite a few weeks, at least. I hope that helps everyone stay connected, and new families feel welcomed! Break down the tuition and think about the hours it takes to put a program together. It's not a ton an hour. I've figured it out.... Also, there are unseen costs...Building, insurance...Those crazy whiteboard markers... And, here's the second thing, I explained to our group that while I do get to make $$$ that money should not be the reason that anyone decides to opt out this next year. Because..... Many hands makes the load light...ok, that may not be the exact quote...I'm sure someone can correct me:-) SO, if you wanna help me prepare and get things ready, I'll share the load of directing CC...and the $$$ back to you. I would rather have all our families and help...than just $$$ any day. And getting along with the parent company. Growing so fast might be hard, it's easiest to give others the benefit of the doubt. I do the best I can....and I expect the same. I looked at putting a group together, that would stay together after me...it's a ton of work, and work that I couldn't do and homeschool my children. I needed more of an open and go. Then, depending on personality, there is some wiggle room.... ALL memory work has to be reviewed. CC isn't perfect, but it's the highlight of my children's week. Something that my child wouldn't willingly give up for anything. Something that makes them (her) happy to homeschool. And then the Challenge program, not everything's perfect. I don't know that I'll want to do Math or Latin with it (she'll be too advanced for their Latin, anyway, since she's studied for 3 years already) BUT, it's great for friendship and a sharing of my oldest daughter's learning with others. Even though she's older...she loves the Logic, Debate, Current Events...and other subjects... It's not enough for her, and probably all my children will have to add to what CC studies....BUT, it's only 30 weeks...so there's room to add other learning. I want my children to fly:-) And, for us, Challenge can help them do that! Carrie:bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommynluv Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 Thank you so much ladies! ALL of your comments (pro and con) have helped me so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisainVirginia Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 We have signed up for CC next year, mostly b/c it's going to be our first year homeschooling (after a private classical school) and I thought the support and interaction would be good. However, I'm not sure what their curriculum actually covers, specifically in the history area. Do I need a separate history-type curriculum, or are there complementary materials to the memory work that provide context, etc.? (I'm specifically asking about the 'foundations'-level students.) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I would get SOTW:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2abcd Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 We have signed up for CC next year, mostly b/c it's going to be our first year homeschooling (after a private classical school) and I thought the support and interaction would be good. However, I'm not sure what their curriculum actually covers, specifically in the history area. Do I need a separate history-type curriculum, or are there complementary materials to the memory work that provide context, etc.? (I'm specifically asking about the 'foundations'-level students.)Thanks! I know there's a list floating around for Cycle 3 with booklists that support the topics. Your director may run across something like this. There's a yahoo list, but it's not very active. CC has message boards, but there's not a lot on there (for the price... even with the 90% off coupon code.) There are tons of great ideas and things people have developed to support CC, but it doesn't get shared well. If you ask enough people, someone may have run across something that would be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 (edited) Hey there, Ask your director for the suggested reading list... If that ends up not working...pm me. There's a list I can get to you, I think;-) How old are your children? I WOULD NOT purchase the memory work cd or the audio cds to listen to...as at least this year...the material is on the C3 community. If you don't want to do it the whole year, you can do it the first month the material is up...and then wait for weeks 13 on to be put on....It worked great for me...Too bad I already purchased the cd. PS, with a coupon code for the CC group...the C3 only costs $6 a month for the Foundations' level. Along with the SOTW, I also like Jim Weiss' other recordings for various cds that he offers on his site. I would wait to purchase other curriculum, depending on your kid's ages, until you get to talk with some others. Start CC and then wait for a few weeks. This might save a lot of money...and get you something that will fit you better. Carrie:-) Edited February 20, 2009 by NayfiesMama I agree SOTW1 would be a great start!! I am getting the cds, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sportymom Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 When we began our classical homeschool journey, I was lost when it came to memory work. I notice that something along the lines of, "what do you do for memory work?", is a frequent question on these boards, and CC is my answer. My youngest daughter, who was 3 when we started CC (three years ago) can still remember a lot of the memory work from that year. She only heard her older sibs studying the work. It works for us. About Essentials...it's like any curriculum choice. Some people like it, some don't. For our campus, I remember after our info meeting with the Essentials tutor, we mom's were getting a little freaked out over the size of the guide and how to use it. After the first week--the first week--I haven't heard one mom talk about it being too difficult to understand. As for me, my grammar education was sorely lacking, so it's been a huge blessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyL Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Where do you find the coupon code? I am putting the cart before the horse here, but I am going to an introduction to this next week and from what I have heard so far, I think I will like it. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara in WA Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I just have to put in my 2 cents to support CC. On one hand, I do think this company has grown a little too quickly and could improve in some areas. Yet, it has been a great addition to our homeschooling year. It has raised the bar high for my children, it has provided weekly accountability for us and provided some good social time for moms and kids. We operate in more of a co-op manner, as there are just 3 families with kids in the class. The kids work so hard. I'm thankful for CC to set out the curriculum and give us a high goal. It's not perfect, but it is great. Some people think it's overpriced, but I know a few co-ops that charge similar amounts (once you break it down by month) for a full morning of classes. We use CC as our weekly memory work and continue on our own history cycle. The memory work CD is worth every penny. It's amazing what kids can learn when it's set to music. - Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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