Monday, November 24, 2014

Update on Classical Conversations

I had intended to do a better job of recording our journey of CC.

Truthfully, life has been so busy and I don't think I have posted any of our school year since I said we were starting CC.

For those that cared, my bad.

Do we like it?

Yes, we LOVE it.

We are currently on a break until the new year and I  really like that. It is giving us an opportunity to focus on family, holiday preparations, AND review what we have learned this far (12 weeks of IMMENSE info) .

I am continually amazed in how little I must do in order for so much to stick in Dane (and Webb's) brain.

I also love that it takes the burden of "what shall we do today?" or "what curriculum should we use this year?" away from me.

What a normal week looks like for us is this:

The kids get up whenever they want unless we have somewhere to be (Tuesday mornings-Thursday morning). When they get up, for the most part, they get to chill and watch a couple of cartoons. Then it is on to morning chores. On Monday, it is all about school. On Tuesday, we go to co-op and that is our school; I sometimes tag a reading lesson in there before the day is over. On Wednesday, we go to Bible Study. Most weeks, I say that is school for that day, but other weeks, we come home and do roughly 45min of school. Thursdays, I am out of town working and they do school with my parents when I remember to print off the work. Fridays is a school day at home.

What does a school day look like at home:

We do CC memory work. I try to make it fun and we will listen to it and I will try pausing the song at a different spot each time through. Then, I will try to get them to say it back to me. I help them with what they don't remember.

I have a small, handheld, dry erase board from the Dollar Tree we do math memory work on. It helps when Dane can see the number on there. Then each time, I will erase a different number until no numbers are left. He can then sing it all the way through with no help. He has learned his times tables through 15 and has learned squares, cubes, and measurements.

We do our Timeline cards for the week. Each week, we have 7 new ones. Up to this point, we have learned 84 different timeline events. On the front is a picture and the event and on the back is info if your kids are age appropriate for listening and comprehending.


We have the timeline song in its entirety, so lots of weeks, we review all that we have learned to this point (and maybe what next week will be).

We have a set of all the info for each week in these little cards.



I will offer a marshmellow, chocolate chip, or some other small bribe incentive for giving me the answer to what I am asking. We will work back from where we are currently are and review all the weeks we have completed. That is a great way for us to review and make sure this info is sticking.

Dane has learned all 50 states and their capitals as well. He is also supposed to know their location. He has this map that he LOVES to outline and trace each individual state. That is good because at some point in CC, he will be drawing the entire thing from memory!!!






He is currently learning mountains





I bought this little sticker pad at Hobby Lobby this weekend, Dane found it, and I have a great plan for it during our break from CC.





I'm planning to have him take each state and flag and stick it on cardstock. Then we will google the state together and pick something he finds interesting. He will then write that out on the piece of paper.

For Science, we just focus on CC memory work. They just finished studying the human body and organs and we have this little gem hanging in our house now!



During our break, I plan to take these little nuggets and review each week to where we are.



There is all the information from each week on this. So it is a week at a glance and an easy review tool.

We have also memorized John 1:1-7 and are working on learning it in sign language AND Latin.

We do our reading lesson, writing lesson, and math workbook on our own. I am also branching out and getting Dane to read to me! LOL. n

At home, on average we spend about 2-3 hours on school. Dane could finish his assignments in less than an hour, but so it goes, we spend quite a bit of time getting sidetracked and whining that he would rather be playing.

As stressful as a day or week can be, I am continually thankful that God laid it upon our hearts to homeschool. Having my boys home with me each day is such a blessing and full of rewards. I love being able to pour into them lessons that go far beyond a school book or memory work. Lessons that REALLY matter. Life lessons. Faith lessons. Attitude lessons. Gratitude lessons. The ability to encourage, build up, and love on my kids is priceless. Watching them get something for the first time is such an ecstatic feeling. Being able to stay at home with my sweet, precious boys, that I only have for a very short time, is such a luxury. I try to not take that for granted.

I am completely satisfied with CC and plan on continuing this through highschool. I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone interested and love that Jesus is at the center of it all.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving week!!

No comments:

Post a Comment