missceegee…are you watching the DVD’s before your group study? My DVD’s arrived yesterday and I’m busting at the seams with excitement….not sure I can wait :))
Also, I posted on our local homeschool forum regarding the possibilty of starting a CM Study Group. I have since had many responses. Is it wise to limit your group size or doesn’t it matter?
I would like to use the group as a “book club” per say to read Charlotte’s 6 volume set and have discussion. Would you do this before or after watching the DVD’s?
Melissa, I was the host for the recording of this set, so I’ve seen it in person. 🙂 I lead a CM co-op of ~25 families with another 8 or so who remain in contact. Those moms are my primary audience, but not all can come or are interested. I open it to other cmer’s because it can be a blessing. I don’t expect more than 15 at the most, but if I expected a large crowd, I’d limit. I started a CM book study called Learning with Charlotte and we’ve read though 2 volumes. However, for the coming year we are taking a break from the original series and doing our year’s study with the L&L DVD set. I expect to return to the original the following year. I would NOT try to do the DVD and book study at the same time as I feel it would be too much.
Melissa, starting with the DVDs would be simpler (no homework) and less threatening for newbies IMO and then move on from there. We’ve done 2 volumes of CM, took a break last year, will do the scm DVDs this coming year and then return to do another CM book.
I bought these on the sale but have not watched them yet. I was going to sell my other two sets, but now I wonder if I should maybe keep any of them. Mathematically the same content is not on both sets unless the messages were more concisely delivered on the new DVD’s.
I add up 7 hours total for the 8 discs in the two older sets of All Day CM Seminar and Books and Things.
The new 12 disc set is 8 hours 35 minutes total of which 4 hours 20 minutes is from discs 1-6 & 10 (same topics as older discs, but updated and expanded on) and 4 hours 15 minutes is from discs 7-9, 11, & 12. So half this set is “new” material. Great!
But 7 hours – 4 hours 20 minutes = 2 hours 40 minutes difference on the older two sets. Am I making sense? So is there a reason I should keep any of the older discs? Sonya?
Great question. I think the difference in time is due to several factors.
Yes, I’ve learned how to present ideas more concisely over the years.
There were many audience questions in the older DVDs. Many of those turned out to be frequently asked questions, which I have encountered many times over the years and have learned to address in my presentation. That’s another way time is saved.
There are some repeated topics between the All-Day Seminar and the Books & Things Seminar, such as nature study, handicrafts, living books, and narration. Combining those saves some time.
Books & Things has a segment in which my husband shared how he taught our girls to draw. Now we recommend Creating a Masterpiece that includes so much more art instruction than just drawing and given in video step-by-step format, so we can simply direct people to them.
Over all, I’m sure there are some unique passages and comments in the original DVD seminars that aren’t in the new one, but the changes outlined above probably make up most of that extra time you mentioned.
I started with Disc 10 because I was intriqued by the title. So, am I the only the weirdo? LOL!
I have all of the “old” DVD’s but, for some reason, I just can’t part with them yet. I am so thankful to have been able to order the new one and I can’t wait to watch the others so I can participate in the discussions.
Thank you, Sonya, for sharing your experience with so many families. You could have kept all of this to yourself, but you have chosen to bless others…thank the Lord.
Over the last two years, when I take my notes for the seminars, I always make a note of the time in the margin. Sometimes, when I read my notes later, I want to go back and listen to that section again. Seeing the time in the margin makes it easy to find that portion and I don’t spend extra time searching. I can go straight to it. HTH
I’ve had mine for about a week now. I knew I they would be good after I saw a couple of Sonya’s videos on YouTube. This is the best homeschool purchase I have made. I learned so much in less than 24 hours! (Yes I watched them one after another, I couldn’t get enough!) My favorite parts:
Sonya is an amazing teacher. She is gifted in organizing information. She allowed questions and was very caring in the way she answered them. I appreciated that.
The women in the audience were very involved. It makes you feel like you are there.
I was so overwhelmed by CM and now I am excited. My son was even listening from the other room and would bring up points later to me that he would like to try 🙂 And he’s only 11.
The reading of Plutarch stuck in my mind. I find myself thinking about it randomly.. it just pops in. So not only do you experience copywork, you get a taste of living words. I now am planning on doing a Plutarch life every term.
The notebook is also very useful. It is packed with how to teach Shakespeare, CM quotes, scheduling charts and more!
Okay I could keep going forever. I just really liked this!
My DVD’s arrived, but we’ve been so busy with ball games so I haven’t had time to start them 🙁
I did decide to start a study group. So far, I have 13 others signed up. I printed off the Leader’s Guide and the schedules are invaluable! I need to work on finding a venue and scheduling dates. I am planning to start with the DVD series
Thanks SCM team for providing quality and useful information,