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herdingkittens
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| Posted: May 23 2013 at 9:21am | IP Logged
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I was looking over the home program Schola Rosa (through Rolling Acres) and it loks like just what I'll need this coming year. However, I REALLY would love to chat with someone who has done this for a year. Anyone done this and willing to share their experience?
We are expecting a baby this fall and I am getting to a season in life where I can no longer hunt stuff down. I really need things laid out for me to pick from, but without the feeling of a boxed curriculum (which my personality does not do well with  ). SR seems like a great solution for that. Also, I was drawn to it because I wanted to use Classically Catholic Memory this coming fall to streamline all our memory work and makes things easier on my brain (which is all but fried at the moment).
The things that are attracting me (off the top of my head):
-Plans to follow each week, just print and go
-If I am sick, etc.my older ones can keep things going for themselves and the youngers
-same philosophy of education or family embraces
-everyone is studying the same topics together at their own level
-seems inexpensive - $200 per family per year for all the online resources, $100 for books, plus using lots of great common domain books.
-links to projects, games, online games, videos, audios, text that I do NOT HAVE TO HUNT DOWN ALL THE TIME! Can you tell that has been my weak spot?! I love that everything is right there - resources all brought together already so I am not wasting internet time. 
-Seems to have everything except Math, and writing and Geography (I could be wrong on the last two.)
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krygerzoo
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| Posted: Aug 17 2013 at 12:37am | IP Logged
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I'm looking into using it this fall for just my family. May enroll an older kid or two in an Independent Study. I'm not a packaged curriculum gal, either, and this looks like it uses great books!!
I am over the moon that EVERYONE will be studying the SAME thing!!! 
I will be schooling 5 kids preschool through junior year with a new baby & this looks like it will streamline everything for me! I do think geography is included - CCM has those beautiful, laminated maps! 
I seriously have not been this excited about school stuff in a long time!!
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Peace, Katherine
wife to David '89, mom to +Kaden Michael (8/15/94-5/10/05), DD'97, DS'99, DD'01, DS'05, (+baby'08), DS'09, (+baby'12) & DD '13
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herdingkittens
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| Posted: Sept 02 2013 at 9:54pm | IP Logged
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Katherine, I finally hit the purchase button. I, too am very excited. I really feel like I have hit a tipping point with planning and just cannot do it all anymore without losing my mind (or spending all my time planning and not being in the moment as much as I'd like). Plus it looks like there is a lot of flexibility since there are not 36 fully planned out weeks. Lots of weeks off which will give us time to enjoy our new baby and explore extra stuff our family is into and the children's interests.
Well, I was hoping to hear more feedback but since this is fairly new and there are not a whole bunch of people to ask I had to take a leap of faith. I did get great feedback a couple other places, however.
Also, looking over the CCM stuff that came in the mail, we should be having some fun! Lots of stuff in there I never would have thought to introduce to the kiddos.  Looks like I'll be learning a lot, too.
Praying for a great year for you and yours! Keep me posted on how it goes! Here's to a new adventure..... 
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krygerzoo
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| Posted: Sept 02 2013 at 10:42pm | IP Logged
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This curriculum is right up my alley!! Seriously, if I were to develop a program, it would look like this. Yay! I don't have to reinvent the wheel!!! I'm printing out materials now. I am sooooo thrilled to be using this! I was a bit disappointed that once I paid I didn't get instant access to the site  But it is quite new and they are experiencing some growing pains. Not a huge deal. I haven't gotten to dig into the upper grades yet.
I'm just trying to figure out how to order my days. We'll get 'er figured out in no time, I'm sure.
I can't wait to learn all this alongside my kiddos! Can you just hear how excited I am!!??
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Peace, Katherine
wife to David '89, mom to +Kaden Michael (8/15/94-5/10/05), DD'97, DS'99, DD'01, DS'05, (+baby'08), DS'09, (+baby'12) & DD '13
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herdingkittens
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| Posted: Sept 07 2013 at 6:42pm | IP Logged
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Glad to hear you are enjoying it!
I am printing stuff off right now and gathering materials for our first week. I am wondering how our days will flow... The sample schedule is helpful, but seems a bit unrealistic for multiple children. I imagine we will be working much later than 1pm.  How did your first week run? Do you have any tips? The only part I can see us doing for sure without having to think through things is prayers/memory work/hymn etc. After that, I think we may just need to experiment.
And yes, I can hear how excited you are!
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Donna Marie
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| Posted: Sept 09 2013 at 5:14pm | IP Logged
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I am SO curious. I really want to know better how this would work. I wish I had more time to learn!!
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God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
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krygerzoo
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| Posted: Sept 09 2013 at 6:40pm | IP Logged
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We did light week last week - I'm FINALLY "nesting" from my last pregnancy (haha, she is now 2 months old!! ) & I'm up to my eyeballs in organizing/purging.
Some courses offer lectures (more for 8th grade through high school). Lesson plans are thorough and simple. Does not include math or heavy science for older grades. I'm great with that because we are in a groove there (Saxon, Life of Fred for math & Shepherd Science for biology.... great biology course!!!)
Religion, art, music, history,language and more! I just have to tweak my sched... not sure how we are going to fit it all in with so many kids at different levels high school, preschool, infant and in between! Lesson planning time is minimal for me - yay!!!
The kids are having fun even -- bonus
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Peace, Katherine
wife to David '89, mom to +Kaden Michael (8/15/94-5/10/05), DD'97, DS'99, DD'01, DS'05, (+baby'08), DS'09, (+baby'12) & DD '13
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herdingkittens
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| Posted: Sept 09 2013 at 9:23pm | IP Logged
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I had a tough time figuring things out today. Nothing to do with the program, but more with my brain (on vacation currently....  ) and trying someone else's plans, which is a new thing for me.
There was so much to print....then I mistakenly ordered the printouts by group (K-1, 2-4, etc.), rather than by subject. It will be easier to have everyone's stuff organized by subject for tomorrow. I am thinking I should have them listen to the CCC CD by subject and then do that subject for the day, then move onto the next subject? Is that what you are doing Katherine? Then maybe by the end of the week, listen to the full week of CCC and see how much we can remember?
Also, for the copywork, are you having them copy onto a new sheet of paper? There is no room on the printout to write... Is that what you are seeing too?
Love the notebooks - we spent some time making covers this morning and everyone got into it. I love having all the work in ONE notebook - in years past, we had a notebook for each subject and they were never kept up properly or filed away. I think it was too overwhelming for my children.
Love the audios too. It is nice to have a break from reading and to sit and listen with them. I may even get myself a little notebook and join in the illustrating.
Oh, are you doing year 1 or 2? We are doing 2.
BTW, congrats on your sweet baby!
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krygerzoo
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| Posted: Sept 09 2013 at 10:10pm | IP Logged
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Hmmmm, not sure what you mean about printing?
The CD - is that the one from CCM? I haven't used it yet.
I really enjoy notebooking. Especially when someone else ties it into a comprehensive curriculum and I don't have to spend hours researching! I had never heard of History Pockets, either. How can it be that after allll these years homeschooling that I missed that one??! We keep everything in one notebook ~ much easier for them & less shelf space, too!
We are starting from the beginning of time with year 1.
Thanks ~ we are enjoying the newest blessing, for sure!! 
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Peace, Katherine
wife to David '89, mom to +Kaden Michael (8/15/94-5/10/05), DD'97, DS'99, DD'01, DS'05, (+baby'08), DS'09, (+baby'12) & DD '13
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herdingkittens
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| Posted: Sept 10 2013 at 10:22pm | IP Logged
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krygerzoo wrote:
| Hmmmm, not sure what you mean about printing? |
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The lesson plans and planning sheets and all the lesson sheets (Latin, Language Arts, History, etc.).
krygerzoo wrote:
The CD - is that the one from CCM? I haven't used it yet. |
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Yes, that is the one. I think I'll bring it in the car with me when we are out and play it....
krygerzoo wrote:
I really enjoy notebooking. Especially when someone else ties it into a comprehensive curriculum and I don't have to spend hours researching! I had never heard of History Pockets, either. How can it be that after allll these years homeschooling that I missed that one??! We keep everything in one notebook ~ much easier for them & less shelf space, too! |
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Us, too. I am sad that Year 2 does not have History Pockets, though. I was looking forward to those.
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kbfsc
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| Posted: May 15 2014 at 7:52pm | IP Logged
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Katherine and heringkittens, I'm reading this thread so late! - but found it as I searched for info on Schola Rosa. A co-op at our parish is planning on using SR in the fall and we are discerning joining. So may I ask for your reviews and opinions, please, in order to get a better feel for what using SR would be like for my family? Did you both continue with SR all year? What were the pluses and minuses? What is the juggling with different grade level kids like? And are the materials entirely digital?
Thank you!
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Kiera
happy mama of ds '02, dd '03, ds '06, dd '09 and little ones in heaven
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herdingkittens
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| Posted: June 27 2014 at 11:09pm | IP Logged
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kbfsc wrote:
Katherine and heringkittens, I'm reading this thread so late! - but found it as I searched for info on Schola Rosa. A co-op at our parish is planning on using SR in the fall and we are discerning joining. So may I ask for your reviews and opinions, please, in order to get a better feel for what using SR would be like for my family? Did you both continue with SR all year? What were the pluses and minuses? What is the juggling with different grade level kids like? And are the materials entirely digital?
Thank you! |
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Sorry it took me a while to respond.... I am still processing this past year. We did SR at home without a co-op, which, I imagine, is a different experience of the program. So, our experience is based on that - the at home version only. Also, this was my first year following someone’s plan and we moved this past fall and had a baby (who is the most edible little red haired sweetcakes ever! ), so my year was colored by those things.
Ok, here is what we observed/noticed/experienced/etc....
Neutral observations:
-The program is very Classical (not as CMish as I thought it might be – it was described as CM inspired)
-All subjects were included except math and handwriting instruction (there was copywork, but if you need to teach handwriting, you’ll need to add that).
Positive:
-Everything was all laid out for us (there were a few kinks here and there, but they have improved the online layout and it looks like it will be much more user friendly). Very well thought out. The program seems very comprehensive.
-Customer service is wonderful. I received replies within hours and they were always very friendly, thorough and helpful. Many suggestions were addressed and changes were made.
-Loads of links and supplemental material. I appreciated the audio links for hymn studies.
-VERY good deal for what you are getting. $200 per family is really amazing for how much content and support is included in the program.
-I can see using the K-6 materials as a springboard for older grades, too if you beefed it up a bit.
Negatives:
-The sample weeks looked good, but as we got into the year, lots of the projects (Science and History) were not great and we ended up searching for our own projects. Some of them were designed for a classroom, or just too expensive for us (some suggested kits were pricey). I did email them about this and they said that would be less of an issue in the upcoming year’s plans.
-The booklist from the online store included a lot of books that we never really used or needed.
-The format of the weekly plans does not have a layout that I found helpful. Again, we ended up using our own plan, which defeated the purpose of me wanting to use something already set-up.
-The audio we did not love. They volume was very low and the way things were read were just not our style – a little dry and too formal. My kids zoned out, so we stopped listening. She reads very well and is articulate, just not something we found captivating.
-We are not people who read off of a computer, so the online reading was not used by us. I know not everyone feels this way, but I really realized how much we need a paper book.
-Latin was not as easy to do independently as I thought. I was hoping for more audio and instruction with that, but it was printable lesson worksheets with a pronunciation audio.
I asked the kids what they thought about our last year, and they all basically said, “eh… it was okay.” My oldest said, “I liked when we went back to doing things how we normally do them.” We enjoyed the CCM component - that might be something we keep for next year and build off of that, using it as a framework (just enough structure for us, but lots of room to dig in when we want to and add and embellish).
Honestly, the program is very thorough, rigorous and well put together for the most part, but just not our style. I can see it working very well, and may look into their online courses in the future for my older ones, but I could not get it to work for us. SR just felt like a lot of work and I never really got into a rhythm where I was helping everyone get everything done. Maybe we are too relaxed, I don’t know. I feel like we did less cuddling up with books (what life normally feels like) and more going from one thing to the next. Again, that is more of a learning style thing, and not a fault in the program itself.
If I think of anything else, I'll post again.
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herdingkittens
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Oh, and the materials are all digital except for the books that you are told to purchase (which ended up being well over $100 for us).
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Did anyone do Schola Rosa at home?
