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HeatherS
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| Posted: March 26 2009 at 12:13pm | IP Logged
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Natalia,
Our group sounds very similar in that each tutor asks a mom(s) to help with their class each week, and moms just seem to pitch in. We also rotate in the family presentations.
MaryG.
The cost for tuition, supply fees, etc. is listed on the CC website www.classicalconversations.com, I believe, as well as in their catalog. I forget offhand what the tuition is for each program.
The science memory work is just that memory work that is presented to the students each week. Tutors and Directors are told, since it is CC's model that the parents are the primary educators, that doctrinal questions by the children are to be directed back (the children are) to their parents. For ex., the definition of the theories of evolution & uniformitarianism in Cycle 3 are simply defined. That's where is ends in the Foundations Guide. Nothing is *taught*...memory work is just introduced for the students. The rest is up to the parents.
I know, back to a personal note, that I found the info session, open house and practicum to be a series of *aha* moments for me as far as classical education. I'd really encourage going to one or more of those if you can!
heather
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Mary G
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| Posted: March 26 2009 at 1:28pm | IP Logged
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Natalia and Heather -- thanks for the info! That's exactly what I needed. I've requested a catalog and there is an informational meeting April I'll try to attend.
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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LisaR
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| Posted: March 26 2009 at 4:36pm | IP Logged
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Mary G wrote:
| I've requested a catalog and there is an informational meeting April I'll try to attend. |
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Mary, could you post here what your impressions are here once you attend?
the science that we use for experiments this year is Janice Van Cleave for Foundations, if that helps at all.
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Lisa
dh Tim '92
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Isaac Vincent 9/21/10! and...
many little saints in heaven!
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: March 26 2009 at 10:09pm | IP Logged
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Mary G wrote:
| Natalia and Heather -- thanks for the info! That's exactly what I needed. I've requested a catalog and there is an informational meeting April I'll try to attend. |
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Mary, there is one in Fredericksburg Monday night that I am going to try to attend. Feel like making the drive? 
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: March 31 2009 at 2:40pm | IP Logged
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I went to an informational meeting last night and was impressed. The whole memorization thing finally clicked for me, especially when they discussed how children are being taught in schools now (even how we were taught to some extent) and why children in schools seem unable to learn. I also now understand why kids like memorization and adults dread it! I am not in the Grammar stage. I even worry that I cheated my older kids by not requiring memorization! 
I am concerned about the faith issue at the older levels. Is the perspective heavily evangelical? Will my daughter feel that her faith is being attacked or even diminished?
Everything else on the Challenge levels is very exciting to me! I love the logic, debate and mock trials!
It does seem pricey at first glance, but if I try to keep it in perspective especially at the high school level ( I just wasted much more than that on an online high school program my son refused to do.  ) I think it is worth the money.
The classes fill up fast here so I feel pressured to make a decision for next year.
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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Natalia
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| Posted: March 31 2009 at 4:14pm | IP Logged
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Molly,
I probably won't have time today to give you an answer but I will get to his tomorrow. My dd has been in the Challenge program for two years now so maybe I can answer your questions.
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Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
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LisaR
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Molly, I am so glad you enjoyed it! Order seems so Catholic to me, you know? It just has been a fantastic year for my kids, and I'm not going to worry about what my older 2 ds's missed out on. They are still reaping the benefits whether they like it or not by seeing our white board and hearing the kids memory work!! 
I can't speak for older kids. We do not have a challenge program.
__________________
Lisa
dh Tim '92
Joseph 17
Paul 14
Thomas 11
Dominic 8
Maria Gianna 5
Isaac Vincent 9/21/10! and...
many little saints in heaven!
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aneliese
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| Posted: April 22 2009 at 7:23am | IP Logged
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Natalia, I'd love to hear how it has been for your child in the Challenge program with the science program they are using. I'm interested in attending a CC for future benifits (Essentials and Challenge) but I'm wondering if it creates any issues further down the road. Thanks
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Natalia
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| Posted: April 22 2009 at 3:32pm | IP Logged
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Analiese (and Molly-I have forgotten to reply to you  )
One thing I like about CC is that you continue to be the teacher and the authority in your child's schooling. You are in charge of what he does or doesn't do, of what he reads of doesn't read. That said we haven't encounter much that I wouldn't have my child do.
They use Apologia for science. I am not fond of Apologia.I wish there was another alternative. Last year she did Biology- so we make sure that we talked about the difference in approaches between other Christians and Catholics. If I was more diligent and she was more science oriented I would have supplemented with the MODG syllabus. It would have been easy to do since they use Apologia for Biology also. I just wasn't diligent enough.
This year she did Physical Science and the same thing applies. I think she has trained herself to skip over the young Earth and creationist stuff.
Other than that the Literature, Debate, Latin (which uses Henle, a Catholic text), Economics,Drama, Shakespeare,Philosophy is pretty standard. This year I had an issue with the book they use for Art History the first semester : Francis Schaeffer's How Then Should We live? The author blames St. Thomas Aquinas for introducing Plato (or was it Aristotles?) ideas into the Christian tradition. For him that was the beginning of the end of Western culture (I'm oversimplifying here). The book was interesting, if mistaken. I made sure that I read it and marked some problematic passages on her text. The interesting thing is that I discover later that Schaeffer ended up almost converting to Catholicism at the end of his life. Ooops! sorry for the digression.
Also, during class day what they mostly do is the experiments. So it functions more as a lab. There is not much in depth discussion of science and science theory.
If you read the Curriculum Guide at the beginning of the year it is pretty simple to skip books or to skip assignments or even add books and other material, if you see the need for it.
The only books we have skipped, if I remember correctly, The Pilgrim's Progress.
As always I wish there was a Catholic alternative to CC where I live. Since there is not, CC has served us well. It has been a great experience both for me and for my child. If you have any specific questions let me know .
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Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
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aneliese
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| Posted: April 25 2009 at 12:30pm | IP Logged
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I went to an info session and I do love how it is emphasized that the parents are the primary teachers so if there is something that they do not want their child to do, they do not have to do it.
Now my head is swimming with thoughts and prayers as I try to get organized as to what would be the best plan of action for our family next year.
I love how everything is already laid out for your with CC (with coverage of many different subjects) and the presentations are the clincher for me. At the same time I could see myself wanting to tutor, I just couldn't sit and watch if I knew I was going to be putting great efforts into expounding on the material during the week as well.
I just read the "Latin Centered Curriculum" and although Montessori and CM are my main approach to learning and home lifestyle I am liking the idea of integrating Classical as well. I have a very fast paced extroverted ds that loves the memorization and data gathering so this may be what he needs for next year.
Of course I want to do everything  so I'm reading Berquist's "Designing Your Own..." and also figuring if "Story of the World" would fit into what we are going to do.
Enough rambling from me, I guess I just wnat to find out if anyone has used any combination of these things and how it's worked. I would LOVE it if I could find some other Catholic families that would meet up with us once a week and do the CC "stuff". At the same time I'm wondering if all of the training they provide gives it the edge. I suppose it's worth it to try it out for a year since I would only have one in the program. Thanks for following me this far.
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amarytbc
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I'm curious how many of you are now doing this and what your impressions are of the program and the experience.
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Natalia
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I am still doing CC. This is our third year with it. I have a 16yo doing Challenge III, a 12 yo doing Challenge A and my 7 yo is doing Foundations. Do you have any specific questions?
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Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
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NicKatMommy
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My son is still in preschool this year so my query was more informational for me. We are considering it for next year -- there is a Catholic version of CC here in our area -- yet I still have my misgivings. Since my son will only be in kindergarten next year, I am seeking a gentler year for him than what a CC experience seems to provide.
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Angi
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We are 3/4 the way through our first year of Foundations. All 4 of my girls are in it and (ages 8. 6. 4. and 4) and I am a tutor. They all love it! It definately has something for everyone. My oldest likes the art, it really gives her a chance to experience new ways of approaching art - ways that would never occur to me. Dd2 loves the science projects and the twins love the music (history/science/latin songs). Actually they request CC music everytime we get in the van LOL.
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amarytbc
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Specific question-How much time are you spending on the material at home? At this point are you exclusively using CC material in your homeschool? I've read the CC website and your blog review and it looks like everyone uses the same material for the different subjects. So, if a family used a program other than Saxon, for example, they would have no other option but to switch to that series? What about the child who is a few years ahead in math?
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Natalia
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Specific answers :
1. Time- I am going to assume you are talking about the Foundations program since this was posted on the Early Childhood forum. With my 7(almost 8)yob I spend about 1 hour a day with CC material. It is the first thing we do in the morning. During this time, we go over the memory work for the week and review previous weeks. I use the flash cards sold by CC and the Cd with the music.They also have a computer membership that you can get where people share files. In those files they have extra songs from the ones on the CD. My son responds well to songs so we use those a lot. We also use the computer to go over the geography as they have maps and tutorials on their website.
2.- I don't only use CC material at this point. I only use CC material for the CC work. We add our own math, phonics,Spanish, religion, and handwriting. I use CC as a framework to geography,history and science studies. So for example, the past 6 weeks they were memorizing geography facts about Africa so I used some of the resources on the Serendipity site for Africa. They were memorizing the parts of the Earth in science so we did Earth science.
3.Regarding math, you don't have to use Saxon at this level. We use Singapore Math. Even at the higher levels, you can decide not to do math at CC and use your own program. AT the Foundations level the math they do is merely complementary: they memorize the multiplication table, some math laws, some formulas etc. Even at the Essentials level (4-6 gr) the math they do is simply practicing math facts through games. For the Challenge program,where each subject is offered as a separate seminar, you can opt out of math. I did that until this year.
Any other questions? Anything I need to clarify?
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Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
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happymama
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I am using CC at home as the spine of our 1st grade this year. There is not a group in our area. I'd be happy to answer any specific ?s about using it at home.
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amarytbc
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I was considering it for a rising 4th and 7th grader, sorry that I didn't mention that beore. I think we already use much of the material--IEW, Shurley Grammar, some Apologia, etc. Did they create their own material for memorization? It looks like the use Veritas Press? Anti-Catholic sentiments in the material?
Happymama, did you just buy the material from their site?
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Natalia
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Amary,
A 4th grader has the opportunity of doing the Foundations program in the mornings (that is where all the memorizing takes place) and the Essentials program in the afternoon. The Essentials program consists of three parts: English Grammar, IEW writing and practice of math facts. It is a very good Language Arts program for roughly 4th to 6th grades. At this point you wouldn't need any other LA material in your homeschool.
I have a 7th grader, he is doing Challenge A. Challenge A consists of 6 seminars: Literature (a semester of IEW Bible Based Writing and a semester of reading and writing about books), Latin, Math, Science (this year they are researching a topic a week and writing about and drawing a sketch-first semester it was zoology and this semester is anatomy), geography- they learn to draw maps from memory, free hand, they also memorize countries and capitals, and research geographical features.
The 6th seminar is Logic-it uses the book Don't Check Your Brain at the Door (or something like that) and the book It Couldn't Just Happened. From all the seminars, this is the only one that we don't really like because we don't subscribe to a creationist point of view.
The Veritas Press cards are used only in the Foundations program. The majority of the cards are fine except for maybe three that are blatantly anti Catholic. Of course the choose some facts and people that I wouldn't choose to highlight (like John Wyclife and John Huss) but they are just that facts. I really like the way memorizing the timeline has given my kids a framework to place people and events.
BTW, I don't think they use Shurley Grammar in CC.
HTH,
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Natalia
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happymama
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amarytbc - yes, I ordered from their site. They can also send you a nice catalog. I am only familiar with Foundations, btw.
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Classical Conversations
