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Post by LuckyMom on Jan 16, 2004 18:22:20 GMT -5
We will start CW-Aesop next year (1st grade)...Will Homer be more for 3rd/4th grade? When should we aim to have these two levels finished? And are the future levels all planned for 36 week schedules/one level per year plus 2 levels of poetry? (OR if we want to benefit from all levels of CW, what would we need to do each year to accomplish this?) Thanks
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Post by Tracy Gustilo on Jan 19, 2004 17:20:51 GMT -5
Hi,
Sorry it's taken me so long to get to your question.
You can pick up with Homer whenever you are done with Aesop. It could start in 3rd/4th grade, or whenever the child is ready for serious grammar. We are planning to include both a 1-year and 2-year schedule with Homer. Obviously you can substitute with work in Poetry for several weeks each year.
Eventually, we plan to publish two more Poetry volumes which can be substituted in for several weeks each year. There will also be all the remaining volumes of the core CW series -- nine more books after Homer at last count. If most people start Diogenes (proverb/chreia) in 5th/6th grade, they won't be able to do one book per year and get through them all before the end of 12th grade. (Some classical educators might want to see all the progym completed even before grade 11/12 in order to leave room for advanced rhetoric.) On the other hand, the further up we go, the more advanced the material gets and the longer (potentially) one might want or need to take with it before moving on. Compared to the ancient educational trajectory, we moderns find ourselves crunched on both ends for time. We also have a tendency to take a lot longer to get going seriously on the front end (with serious grammar), and we have many more subjects crowding our schedules and the time we do have. (Shakespeare would have learned nothing but grammar, logic, rhetoric, Latin, and Greek, and maybe a smattering of arithmetic, and he would have spent 12 hours a day, six days a week, from the age of 7 or so, to do it.)
At this point, our plan is simply to get these books out and published as best we can and as quickly as we can without sacrificing quality and usefulness to our targeted audience. Implementation will always be flexible. That is one of the hallmarks of our program. All I can really suggest is to begin at the beginning and progress as fast as possible without sacrificing quality or depth. Go as far as you can.
Sorry I can't be of more help. I realize that the situation is less than ideal.
BTW, Lene is on vacation. She can probably give you a much better perspective on this whole problem when she gets back. If she doesn't pick up on this thread later, please don't hesitate to ask again in a couple weeks.
Tracy
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Post by Lene Mahler Jaqua on Jan 27, 2004 10:39:32 GMT -5
Very good question.
Right now, we recommend CW Aesop in 2-3 grade, Homer in 3-4-5th grade (depending on when you start). Our next book will be Diogenes, dealing with Proverb and Chreia for 5-6-7 th grade (again, depending on when you start).
Beyond that, we have books planned and materials to teach, but truthfully while we know what needs to go in there, we do not have details worked out. Also, we MAY, perhaps, consolidate books at the higher levels in order to get all the material put in a format which is doable within the K - 12 framework. Some of the 11 books we proposed to write might be combined or some may end up being used for only a semester.
Lene, back from vacation
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Post by Lucky Mom on Jan 27, 2004 15:12:46 GMT -5
Thank you both!
It looks like we'll be "safe" if we finish Aesop, Homer and the first volume of poetry by the end of fourth or fifth grade. I think we'll try doing Aesop and Homer each over 2 years with poetry filling in...and starting the next book (Diogenes) in 5th grade.
Lisa (Hoping you enjoyed your vacation!)
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Post by Lorraine on Jan 27, 2004 21:14:59 GMT -5
Hello,
I've purchased and thoroughly studied CW Aesop. I'm thrilled with it! My children this year are in 2nd, 4th, and 5th grade. I've begun to apply your A&I and Writing methodology to the narrations of Beatrix Potter's Complete Tales each child began in September (A la Charlotte Mason approach). Each will bind a book of his/her own retellings of these beautiful tales. The older two are presently benefitting from the application of your method to these tales in an abbreviated fashion while the younger child continues to simply narrate as I keyboard, then illustrate each Tale. I'm grappling with jumping right into CW Homer with the older two next September. Do you suggest this? For two/three years they have been narrating in an unstructured way (as I keyboard) many types of writing: Tales, Fables, and non-fiction. I also insist they carefully illustrate their narrations. (The result is always charming!)
Would the older two be missing important building blocks? Would trying to teach CW Aesop to the younger child while teaching CW Homer to the older two be too divisive to our family learning style? Would I go nuts trying to accomplish it all? (ARGH!!!) Would it be better to choose to begin CW Aesop with all three stretching out the younger child's application over a two week period per selection while the older two complete each assignment in the one week scheduled and then add a week of CW Poetry? This would mean seesawing week by week between CW Aesop and CW Poetry for the older two. Too choppy?
Just trying to get the most bang for my teaching buck as I address three levels (those being 3rd, 5th, and 6th grade next year).
Help! Thanks Lorraine
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Post by Lene Mahler Jaqua on Jan 28, 2004 8:51:30 GMT -5
Aesop is the foundation. I would imagine some kids could go straight into Homer, older kids. However, I would think especially since you own Aesop anyways, that the best way to start with a student not familiar with the method is to do a few writing projects in Aesop and then move into Homer. Do as few or as many as it takes the kids to make proper use of the techniques of the writing projects used in that book: Outlining, rewriting, writing dialogue and description. - Ditto for the analysis and imitation skills in Aesop. There are few new skills for an older student, but be sure they know them and can do them, THEN move on. This may take 3 weeks, it may take a couple of months or more.
Lene
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