I'm confused (after reading your 2012/2013 plans). Are you participating in CC in the the year to come? If so, what purpose does it serve in your homeschooling? (enhancement, core, socialization, etc.) Have you done any posts on how you balance CC with other curricula (I noticed you use a considerable amount of other curricula; would like to, but I don't want to burn me or my children out so I'm always curious as to how others manage the balance.) Thanks much. Blessings, Toni on Classical Conversations Cycle 2 and Montessori Print Shop Match-UpsI'm sorry for any confusion. I hadn't been ready to say that we are not joining a CC community in the fall. Our decision at the point of writing a couple of my past posts was just not finalized. I know some will wonder why we aren't continuing in our community. I just really want a fifth day for our leisure, as opposed to having it be a day of rushing in the morning to get somewhere. I want a day to follow our hearts' desires, be it a hike, an art project, a day just for science, music appreciation.
I will still be blogging about CC to some extent, but not like before. We will still do memory work, but it will be a strange mix of CC memory work, CC inspired memory work, memory work derived from First Language Lessons, and memory work from the book Living Memory. My friend and I have undertaken a huge project to summarize, in three to four sentences, each CC timeline cards for our new history memory work for our children. We were both dissatisfied with the memory work for history as written in the CC guide. It jumped around too much and in Cycle 1, there would be a question, like, "Tell me about Buddhism," and the answer included Taoism and Hinduism. Stuff like that bugged us a bit.
So, we are using other curricula (because I don't consider CC a curriculum, but rather a method) and will add memory work that is within context of what we are learning within that curricula. I just don't fully agree with memorization out of context. To some extent, but not completely.
I still love CC, but I need that fifth day and I am not willing to bend on some of my curriculum choices. Since I won't be in a community, why not go ahead and tweak our memory work so it fits better for us?
I'm wondering if I may feel the same way about CC. After MUCH deliberation I've decided to join my 4 and 6 year old up for it next year. I'm going to go in open-minded but I am not sold that we'll be following through with it all the way yet.
ReplyDeleteWe won't be returning to community next year either. I have twins, and my daughter loved it but my son so didn't. So, I'm working through Cycle 2 and going to offer it in a more Delight Driven method so that my little guy can enjoy it too. Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteI totally get it! We are at the same point. With three kids, it just became to crazy and hectic. We needed that extra day and the flexibility! I mean, isn't that one of the reasons we homeschool?! I totally support your decision and good luck! We are on the same path so I hope we can be a help to each other. You can find us on youtube or pinterest if you like. Happy Homeschooling!
ReplyDeleteI'd love a copy of your history sentences, if you are willing to share. I spent a couple hours yesterday matching the history sentences from all cycles to the time line cards. It would be great to have your list to fill in the blanks.
ReplyDeleteI think you knew this, but we did the co-op with CC as our backbone-used parts of it didn't use others, added our own stuff. I have the option of continuing with our current group, joining the local CC group, or doing nothing. I'm choosing #3. I plan to use that extra day for more field trips and to invite friends over to come and learn with us in our home. I totally agree on it just being a rush of a day!
ReplyDeleteI also totally agree with the history sentences! The Timeline is awesome. I would recommend learning it to everyone, the history sentences-no way.
Hi! We did the same thing this past year! I have 5 kids that include 2 toddlers and it was just too much, but I do love the memory work method so we have also continued that. I too, did not like the large gaps in history so I created my own timeline cards and history memory work. We do our own Latin memory, but geography, history and mapping follow what we are currently studying. I would love to communicate with you guys on creating some memory work. I made timeline cards with summaries on the back based on what we are studying and then took our history sentence from that. If you are interested, email me at janeen721@bellsouth.net. I have a blog that I just recently started: www.sproutingtadpoles.com
ReplyDeletethanks! and good luck to you!