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starting or implementing
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I’ve planned and watched all the CMO videos. (I’m waiting just a bit on the free trial for the CMO.)
I will be starting on Monday using CM techniques w/ my dc in 4th, 6th, and 9th.
Can I start w/ what I have?
I have what I would call “in-between” books – not full-blown texts but not totally living. I do have some good books for reading and literature, but not so much for the more academic areas. Maybe I have more than I think, though. I need to see if this is going to fit our family before being able to spend the money needed for the transition. And, our libraries are NOT good so books will have to be purchased.
Can I work up to the timeframe needed?
So, my oldest doing this (9th gr) would be up to about 45 min of reading time in each book. Can I start w/ 10-15 min increments a few times a day until he’s used to narrating? To build up his proper focus and retention.
Is that time the total time they work on that subject?
IOW, does that 45 min include the narration time? Or, is that done after reading for that approximate amount of time? How long should the narrations take?
K
When starting w/narrations it’s recommended to start w/shorter readings…so your plan sounds good:)
I’m not sure where you’re getting 45 min. from so I don’t know how to answer that. But generally, I think a core subject for high school should take about 45 min.-1 hour daily for all aspects required for that subject. Non-core subjects can be less. My oldest is 8th, so hopefully some w/olders will chime in. This is just from my research for high school:)
As far as quality of books, hard to say w/o knowing what you have. But I think for high school sometimes it’s necessary to get a bit more textbooky for Science and Math, especially. My main concern would be that they are high school level, and interesting.
Oral narrations don’t take long…maybe a few minutes each, depending on the kid. Written will, of course, take more time…
It’s hard to give exact time frames because kids are so different in how much they want to share. Hopefully others will chime in:)
Hi Kerby,
When I transitioned to a more CM approach with my older kids I did it on thing at a time. SCM has a great article about how to make a slow transition so its not too overwhelming. http://simplycharlottemason.com/how-to-get-started/transition/
As far as your specific questions…
Can I start w/ what I have?
Yes, but it might not work as well. Using the living books for example- you can use a dull text book and ask for a narration, but it is much harder to pay full attention and remember details to narrate when the material is not engaging. So, I would choose something easy and very living to start with narrations, for example Aesop’s Fables, even if you continue with the same old English text books for a while for the rest of the “subject”.
Can I work up to the timeframe needed?
Absolutely! In my opinion, I think most everyone needs to start at the beginning with these methods and move through them to the best of their ability, according to their maturity. The skills required to narrate, pay full attention, make connections and process information are much more difficult than simply regurgitating facts on a worksheet. Older kids often need time to develop these skills, it isn’t *just* because they are young that they need short lessons.
With older kids, I would start narrations with just one paragraph at a time until they feel comfortable with the short ones, them do two paragraphs, etc. They would probably be able to do longer passages relatively quickly.
If I had 45 minutes for each subject that would include everything, reading, writing, discussiong, thinking, narrating, etc.
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