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Maggie
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| Posted: Feb 05 2014 at 2:14pm | IP Logged
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Hi Moms~
Has anyone here used LCC from Memoria Press as a spine? If so, I would love to hear your comments, pros/cons, etc.
Obviously, anything "Rod and Staff" would have to be substituted...and I am partial to Faith and Life and Rightstart...
Next year my children will be in 2nd and 4th grade.
Any thoughts?
Maggie
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Amber-v
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| Posted: Feb 05 2014 at 3:51pm | IP Logged
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I used Andrew Campbell's book for a spine for K - 3rd grades for my oldest daughter. I used some of it in fourth, I looked at it for fifth, but I don't think I even opened it when planning for sixth grade (her current grade). Come to think of it, I am doing a little of it with my 2nd and K!
My biggest problem was that starting the progymnasmata with my 3rd grader was a total failure. Even though the program he recommends can be used with that age, I don't think it ended up being a good idea for my daughter. I also felt like we were starting Latin too early with the Memoria Press programs. I've been doing Latin with my daughter since she was in K (yes, seriously - that was the recommendation in the first version of the book!) and only now do I feel like we're really doing something with it. I'm not planning on starting Latin with my youngers until 3rd grade. Sure, if we were fluent in it and speaking Latin as well, I would start younger... but since my goals are aimed at improving logic, writing, and grammar (and not Latin as a spoken language!) I think it makes more sense to start once they can read and write it instead of trying to do it all orally. I'm not that big of a fan of the Evan-Moor geography units that he recommends - they are a little too workbook-y for me. I ended up wanting to do a different approach to history - more living books (perhaps too many at times!) and delving deeper rather than staying at the surface and studying long periods of time over the course of a single school year. I also wasn't that interested in the Memoria Press Christian Studies workbooks - again, too workbook-y, and I wanted to be using firmly Catholic materials, not just Christian ones (even if they were supposed to be non-offensive for Catholics)
What I like about it... I like the emphasis on ancient history, fairy tales, and myths for the younger kids. Before discovering LCC I was considering following The Well Trained Mind, and I found LCC to be a lot more reasonable, doable, and more in line with what I want for my children's education. WTM felt like a lot of busywork to me, and this was quite a bit less of that. I really like what he says about multum non multa, it is something that I remind myself about repeatedly as I plan and consider my my children's education.
What is it that attracts you to LCC? I hope you find this helpful, let me know if you have any questions I can answer! There used to be a LCC Yahoo group, but I think it has largely died out. The URL is: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/LatinClassicalEd/info
Amber
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Maggie
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| Posted: Feb 05 2014 at 7:27pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Amber!
I am very drawn to the idea of classical education. The philosophy of multum non multa and "teaching from a state of rest" ala Andrew Kern is very attractive. I think I have always had a classical bend to my curriculum.
These past two years, I used CHC as a spine for my dd. For my ds, I do my own thing because nothing would work as a spine for him. 
However, it has become quite apparent that she needs academic rigor to thrive. She loves it. She cannot get enough. She constantly complains that CHC is too easy. I do supplement and use other things to beef it up, and we do use RS for Math.
Ideally, I would use Mater Amabilis, but I need lesson plans done for me. I have been schooling for 6 years now and know that my weakness lies in the fact that while I have grandiose ideas, I cannot execute them if not on paper laid out, day to day...I need to see it...and I cannot make them. (Sigh). I wish I could. I wish MA had everything laid out...I would pay $$$ for that!!
I love ancient history, and my children eat it up on a spoon. I have been reading Rosemary Sutcliff's Adventures of Odysseus to them--not knowing how they would find it--and they absolutely adore it!
As a history major myself, I wondered why history was not taught chronologically...and why there was always such an emphasis on modern history...I really believe that we can learn so much from the ancient civilizations, and I think it is all too easily forgotten in education today, leading to a plethora of problems.
It seems to be a good fit thus far...whether it works for my son or not remains to be seen...but I really wanted a good spine...and LCC seemed pretty good...so does Angelicum...but nothing is perfect. Like you, I desperately wish for MORE LIVING HISTORY. That is imperative...and obviously something I will have to supplement. I also really like narration...and that seems to be missing...
I am concerned about "Christian Studies"--is there a Protestant bend? Even if it is "neutral", it's still not teaching salvation history from a Catholic perspective, and that has me wary...but I think that Biblical History tied to Geography and made fluid with say narration and grammar, etc...is ideal. But then I would have to write my own curriculum... 
Sorry for the long post...any thoughts on that?
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Amber-v
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| Posted: Feb 06 2014 at 6:10pm | IP Logged
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Hi Maggie,
I have such a high regard for Andrew Kern and CIRCE. I've been slowly listening to all the talks from the 2013 CIRCE conference (and trying to brainstorm ways I could attend this year's... I very much doubt it could happen, but it hasn't stopped me from pricing flights! ). Just today I was listening to Andrew Kern's talk from the conference about assessment. An excellent and thought provoking talk - as I have come to expect from him!
Anyway... Yes, I agree, I think LCC inhabits that same sort of "teaching from a state of rest"/poetic knowledge sphere that Kern speaks about. There are some plans in LCC, but they are definitely not detailed day by day plans like CHC offers, instead they are more like week by week break downs for the literature assignments. You'd still be on your own for figuring out how to line up the geography, math, Latin, etc.
Because the plans provided are fairly general, it does make it easy to swap out in various subject areas. You could easily switch the Christian Studies workbooks for something solidly Catholic like Faith & Life.
You could start the progymnasmata recommended in the book with her, and I think it would be more challenging than the CHC workbooks. You could still include narration by having them narrate from the literature selections. The other option is to work on written narrations based on what you are reading (which is the first stage of the progymnasmata anyway), ask for oral narrations, and do copywork from the readings or from another source. (Well, there are lots of other options, but these are the two that align most closely with LCC!)
I think adding in Latin could be a great thing for your daughter, especially if she's looking for something more challenging. Latina Christiana I would be a good place to start.
For Geography, you might want to consider the Visits to ... Geography series from Simply Charlotte Mason instead of the Evan-Moor workbooks. I'm considering using those in the near future - they look pretty neat and a lot less workbook-y. (Can you tell I'm allergic to workbooks? )
I'm a history major too, and I completely understand where you're coming from when you talk about studying history! I'm starting to think that the best way to really study history with younger children (and really, perhaps everyone!) is to immerse the family in a particular time period for a couple months then move onto the next chronological time period. The kids and I have learned a lot and had wonderful discussions about various eras by reading a read aloud or two as a family and reading lots of non-fiction and historical fiction at each person's reading level - be it picture books, books for adults (for me), easy chapter books for my second grader, and other books for my 6th grader. I end up cobbling together my own reading lists for everyone, using sources like this forum, Connecting with History, Artner's Guide for US History, surfing Amazon, surfing my library's website... rather labor intensive, but wonderful for our family!
OK, this is definitely long enough!
Amber
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TryingMyBest
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| Posted: Feb 14 2014 at 2:08pm | IP Logged
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Which version do you have? I've heard the two versions are very different but both equally good.
I'm very intrigued by LCC and intend to buy one of the two versions to read during Lent. I've been combing through the CiRCE threads over on the WTM forums and my head is spinning. I love what I'm reading about classical education as opposed to neo-classical education. I'm hoping that LCC brings it all together for me.
Jenn
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Feb 14 2014 at 3:15pm | IP Logged
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I didn't realize that there were lesson plans for LCC. I have the 2006 version of the book. Do you mean the packaged curriculum from Memoria Press?
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Amber-v
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| Posted: Feb 15 2014 at 3:54pm | IP Logged
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I have both versions, and I think I lean towards liking the second version better. I think it is a little more streamlined and user friendly, and he's incorporated some helpful "how to use this" type information. I do like the dual stream history of the first, but from experience I know how difficult it is for me to implement it well. I'm planning on spending some time with the second version over the next couple of weeks. This post inspired me to pick it up again and it made me realize how much I like the book!
Amber
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: Feb 17 2014 at 12:53pm | IP Logged
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There are lesson plans in the 2nd book- pretty basic ones. I actually prefer the 1st edition- it is definitely more 'mulata-non-multa'!
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Willa
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| Posted: Feb 24 2014 at 10:32am | IP Logged
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I like the first edition best, too.
I use a lot of MP resources. They help keep me from overcomplicating everything 
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Maggie
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| Posted: Feb 24 2014 at 10:49am | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
| I didn't realize that there were lesson plans for LCC. I have the 2006 version of the book. Do you mean the packaged curriculum from Memoria Press? |
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Yes...I did mean the packaged curriculum.
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Wife to dh (12 years) Mama to dd (10) ds (8), dd (1), ds (nb) and to Philip Mary (5/26/09), Lucy Joy (12/6/09), and Margaret Mary (3/6/10) who entered Heaven before we had a chance to hold them.
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Maggie
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| Posted: Feb 24 2014 at 10:50am | IP Logged
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Willa wrote:
I like the first edition best, too.
I use a lot of MP resources. They help keep me from overcomplicating everything |
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Will, did you find the workbooks to be very fill-in-the-blank heavy? Did you use any of the "Christian Studies" materials? Or Rod and Staff? Just wondering your perspective.
Like you, I would love to not over-complicate things, too. :)
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Wife to dh (12 years) Mama to dd (10) ds (8), dd (1), ds (nb) and to Philip Mary (5/26/09), Lucy Joy (12/6/09), and Margaret Mary (3/6/10) who entered Heaven before we had a chance to hold them.
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Forum Locked) 
4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: The "Latin-Centered Curriculum"?
