I agree with Saraspondence and Melanie32.
I was very excited to try the series with my students. We got the Junior Journal last year with the text and coloring book. The site says that the Jr. Journals are suitable for students with “limited writing skills”, ages 6 – 9. However, even for my advanced reading son, I found that these were over his head. (For instance, one of the first exercises in the jr. journal included comprehending and writing the word “foundation”. Not entirely practical for most 6, or even 7, year olds.)
I did not find that it fit into CM’s method very easily. The daily lessons, even broken down, took at least 45min (vs the 15-20 prescribed by CM for young children), there were a TON of canned questions, and lots of busywork – like fill-in-the-blanks and word searches.
In Lesson 1 of “Who Is God” there is: a “Big Idea” section, followed by some individual verses, and canned questions. Then a snippet about the Great Architect (God). Then a 3 page story about two young boys. More canned questions. Finally, we get to the parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. Then a snippet about the Pyramid at Gyza. More canned questions. A box of vocabulary words. More disconnected verses. THEN we have some practical application, which is comprised of 7 parts over 4 large pages, and some quotes thrown in, along with more individual verses. Then a notebooking exercise, which includes writing down a list of all of the things that will prevent you from Building on the Rock. (Seemed counter-intuitive to me. If CM balked at children writing a word improperly, what would she think about writing a whole Biblical principle this way?) Finally, we get to a pre-scripted prayer.
All of that is separate from the 13 pages of exercises in the Jr. Notebooking Journal that go along with Lesson 1, as well as the pages of the Coloring Book, if you choose to include that.
It definitely felt contrary to the idea that the teacher/text shouldn’t get between the student and the subject. Haha. 😉
Ok, this overview sounds pretty negative, so let me add that I do know of families who have gotten a lot out of the series and they recommend it very highly. (I do not believe that they were following a CM philosophy, however.) I DO think that there are some good concepts in the series, so I’m hanging on to it for now… Perhaps when my children are working more independently, this resource might become more practical? However, at that point, I am concerned that, while the volume of information might be more attainable, the activities might be too simple. *sigh*
I really wanted to like it (obviously, I’m still torn!), but cannot recommend it from a CM standpoint. I just seems like there are much simpler and more organic ways to plant seeds of understanding in our children’s hearts.