Opinions on this schedule please? – new to CM

Are you planning to do any literature reading? We do it very informally. Our literature readings are the stories daddy reads before bed each night. Right now they are all reading Peter Pan.

What about some fine arts – composer study, artist study, poetry, Shakespeare, etc.? Nature studies? Musical instrument?

It sounds like you have the core subjects planned out quite well. Adding some of these other things could really round out your curriculum.

Your core schedule sounds great! I haven’t used ILL, but did use PLL. I assume it’s probably similar in that they do include some poetry and artist study, but it’s not a lot.  We aren’t great about getting poets/poetry and artist study in as much as we’d like (confession here!), but ideally my schedule has us reading poetry weekly w/a focus on one poet per year. So, we’ll read from Famous Poems Old and New once a week (any poem) and have one poet picked for the year to read a bio about and focus some poetry reading on him/her. Does that make sense?

And for more in-depth artist study, the picture portfolios sold by SCM are an incredible value and make it much easier to implement. They send you 8 quality picture cards from each artist. You pick six favorites, displaying one picture each week (I have a cheap easel I bought from Walmart displaying pictures on our foyer table). Once a week you can have a short study on it (15 min. or so) by reading the artist bio, looking at the picture and turning it over and asking the kids what they remember, etc. (all instructions included). 

I highly recommend the book sold here, “Planning Your CM Education.” It lays out simply how to implement all the CM subjects. The handbook you purchased is great…it has really simplified my life in planning History/Geo./Bible. You may know this…but literature isn’t included in the handbook (just history readers). Literature books are listed by age in the free planning guide.

Hope that wasn’t confusing! I know it always takes me a while to figure out how different sites are organized. It took me a bit to wrap my mind around how things are done here, but once I got it I really appreciated the simplicity that SCM brings to implementing a CM education! Blessings, Gina

Just a note on the last comment in case that seems intimidating to add all that…the way we do it (and possibly most of us here??) is once a week for each thing.  We do it at lunch time as much as possible…one thing each day.  We’re using this schedule http://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/scmguide/  to go along with SCM’s Modern Times handbook.  Just click on Picture Study fro example.  Then we use this site if we don’t have something in hand for the art.

http://www.cgfaonlineartmuseum.com/r/r-5.htm

Picture study Monday, Music/Composer Tuesday, poetry Wednesday…and just look at, listen or read one picture, song, poem.  Easy, quick, painless.

Looks like you have a great schedule planned out! Hope it’s a blessing to you and him:)

We use Analytical Grammar. I’ve also heard good things about Our Mother Tongue.