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teachingmyown Forum All-Star
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Posted: July 21 2009 at 4:30pm | IP Logged
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I am wondering if, while accepting the premise of the Latin Centered Curriculum and the core subjects, we can fill in those subjects with more enjoyable materials and still have a "classical" education.
For example, instead of Latina Christiana choosing Lively Latin; instead of Elementary Greek, choosing Hey Andrew, Teach Me Some Greek; instead of Traditional Logic, choosing the Art of Argumentation or Fallacy Detectives, and so on. Can the weightier subjects be lightened up without losing the benefit?
I am certainly not implying everything needs to be fun but rather wondering if we accomplish the same ends without being bored to tears.
__________________ 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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Donna Marie Forum All-Star
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Posted: July 21 2009 at 4:33pm | IP Logged
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good question!
I am all ears!
__________________ God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
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Willa Forum All-Star
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Posted: July 21 2009 at 5:24pm | IP Logged
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Seems to me I read Drew Campbell was using fun things to supplement LC with his daughter, and from being on the LCC list I get the sense that a lot of LCCers are using Lively Latin.
__________________ AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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teachingmyown Forum All-Star
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Posted: July 21 2009 at 7:08pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Willa. Maybe I need to get on that list and see what's up.
__________________ 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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melmc Forum Newbie
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Posted: July 23 2009 at 12:00pm | IP Logged
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Definitely check out the LCC loop. You get so many ideas from what other families are doing to incorporate it into their homeschool plans.
We migrated to more of a LCC philosophy as last year (our first homeschooling) went on. We switched to LL and loved it so much more than anything put out by MP. I started with WT1 & WT2 instead of CW because it seemed more teacher friendly and the kids enjoyed it.
I also combined all three into the same Ancient history class because that worked better for us and added a couple Montessori works from CGS level 2 and ones I came up with myself to get some hands-on activities for them. Many wouldn't consider that Classical, but we had a lot of fun with history and that was their favorite subject.
Melissa
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teachingmyown Forum All-Star
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Posted: July 23 2009 at 3:09pm | IP Logged
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Melissa,
Maybe just a brain freeze moment, but I don't think I know what WT is. Is CW Classical Writing?
__________________ 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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melmc Forum Newbie
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Posted: July 23 2009 at 3:44pm | IP Logged
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Molly,
Sorry I am used to typing in acronyms on the WTM forum.
WT = Writing Tales and CW = Classical Writing. A lot of people love CW, but I found it a little intimidating (and I make my living writing fiction so my hat's off to those who make it work for them!) I much preferred the format and open-and-go teacher's manual in WT. Though WT only goes to 4th/5th grade.
Melissa
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teachingmyown Forum All-Star
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Posted: July 23 2009 at 4:30pm | IP Logged
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Thanks!
__________________ 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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BrendaPeter Forum All-Star
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Posted: July 24 2009 at 2:42pm | IP Logged
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I think it can be be fun simply because of "multum non multa". When you fill the jar with all the "big rocks" that leaves time for lots of "fun" small rocks. You're not always stressed and wondering if you're doing everything. When I know my kids are getting a great education, then I relax alot about what they do in their free time. I don't worry so much about the calibre of the reading material, are they "learning" all the time, etc.
__________________ Blessings,
Brenda (mom to 6)
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katilac Forum Newbie
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Posted: July 24 2009 at 8:48pm | IP Logged
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Sure, of course! Just make sure you are comparing apples to apples - - that is, two Latin programs might take very different approaches, but cover essentially the same material.
The example on your list that strikes me as being a bit more apples to oranges is logic; the two substitute programs you mention don't approach the level of Traditional Logic (and aren't meant to - they are more introductory courses), and so the student would not be mastering the same material.
When there's no good substitution for a dry curriculum, remember that we can always add a bit of our own fun and change things up. The student doesn't have to do every lesson precisely as assigned in the text - - what is important is learning the material. If a game can do that, if writing on the whiteboard instead of in the book can do that, great!
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teachingmyown Forum All-Star
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Posted: July 24 2009 at 9:27pm | IP Logged
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katilac wrote:
The example on your list that strikes me as being a bit more apples to oranges is logic; the two substitute programs you mention don't approach the level of Traditional Logic (and aren't meant to - they are more introductory courses), and so the student would not be mastering the same material.
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Is there something comparable to Traditional Logic? I haven't totally ruled it out. It's just as I said, I am wasn't impressed with LC so I am hesitant about other MP products. Probably kind of closed minded, so feel free to tell me so!
__________________ 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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Willa Forum All-Star
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Posted: July 24 2009 at 10:52pm | IP Logged
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BrendaPeter wrote:
I think it can be be fun simply because of "multum non multa". When you fill the jar with all the "big rocks" that leaves time for lots of "fun" small rocks. You're not always stressed and wondering if you're doing everything. When I know my kids are getting a great education, then I relax alot about what they do in their free time. I don't worry so much about the calibre of the reading material, are they "learning" all the time, etc. |
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Yes, exactly! That's what works best for me, too.
I think the way Charlotte Mason says it is short lessons for the basics and then more open-ended time for all the exploratory type things.
My kids generally seem all right with some intense work with the basics, so long as the intensity level of the core subjects doesn't weigh them down. They actually seem to prefer their required subjects to be substantial and plain so they don't have to weed through all the teachery, extra stuff in order to get to the actual content of the lesson.
We don't tend to retain much using LCC though -- I've switched to using a more conversational approach in Latin. We have been using Traupman's Latin is Fun but from experience I know it's a bit challenging to use if you don't really know any Latin yourself. My oldest and I used to start it every year and get bogged down a couple of units in.
__________________ AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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katilac Forum Newbie
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Posted: July 27 2009 at 9:17am | IP Logged
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teachingmyown wrote:
katilac wrote:
The example on your list that strikes me as being a bit more apples to oranges is logic; the two substitute programs you mention don't approach the level of Traditional Logic (and aren't meant to - they are more introductory courses), and so the student would not be mastering the same material.
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Is there something comparable to Traditional Logic? I haven't totally ruled it out. It's just as I said, I am wasn't impressed with LC so I am hesitant about other MP products. Probably kind of closed minded, so feel free to tell me so! |
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I think Susan wise Bauer has recc'd something new that's a bit less dry (not fun, lol), but I only have the talk on cd. When I get a chance, I'll listen and post her new rec.
Also, just to be clear, I wouldn't discourage anyone from using the other programs as an intro. I think an intro program would make any logic program a bit easier.
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katilac Forum Newbie
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Posted: Sept 08 2009 at 7:47pm | IP Logged
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Finally found that info on logic. Unfortunately, it turns out that Traditional Logic IS the new rec; the old rec was the one from Canon Press (which, apparently, succeeds at the awesome feat of being drier than Memoria Press ).
fyi, she does rec Art of Argument for 7th grade, with Traditional Logic I and II following the next 2 years (and she says the dvds make it much more doable). A of A is informal logic (study of informal fallacies), TL is formal logic.
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