Sunday, June 29, 2014

Simply Classical Curriculum Review and Giveaway!

(SCROLL TO BOTTOM FOR GIVEAWAY!)
If you have a child with special needs then this post is for you!  If you caught my review series back in February on  Simply Classical - A Beautiful Education for Any Child by Cheryl Swope then you know that I really loved her book.  I especially loved her ability to break down the classical model into a tangible model for parents who were seeking to give this type of education to their special children.  She skillfully made the case that a classical education for children with special needs was not just in spite of their special needs but rather because of them!  Now Cheryl has gone one step further in making this an attainable model for special families by developing a classical curriculum to guide parents in executing it.



I was given the blessing of being one of the first bloggers to put their hands on this exciting new curriculum and I have reviewed the Level B Simply Classical Curriculum that was sent to me.  This curriculum is a very practical how-to on teaching your special child.  There is an assessment to help you determine what level your child would start out at, if you go online at Memoria Press.  Currently, there are two levels available - Level A & B with a Level C coming soon.  The ages (chronological or mental depending on the child) start at 2-3 years for Level A or 3-4 years old for Level B.   While I wasn't able to utilize the curriculum myself because my son's academic functioning is higher than this curriculum will go at the current moment, it was still exciting to see something so helpful finally be made available to families with special needs, who want to pursue a beautiful education for their child.

This easy to follow curriculum is broken down so each level of the curriculum has a special overall focus - Level B is Essentials, Etiquette & Ear Training.  The focus is fine-motor skills needed for doing art, daily living skills and ultimately, writing.  There is training in manners too -which is often overlooked with special needs children.  Lastly, the preparations necessary for learning to read through ear training with sounds of letters, living books and a variety of crafts and activities is a main focus of the daily lessons.

You are given an assessment, skills to develop list, read aloud list, supply list, lots of helpful tips throughout, teacher notes, space to record mastery for various recitation and memory work, and a daily planner with each day written down for you to check off as you accomplish it.  There is even space provided for you to add your child's unique therapies to the daily planner.  Cheryl has thought of everything, having been there herself as a homeschooling mother to two very special children.

You can go online at Memoria Press to see a sample lesson plan, readiness checklist, supply list and skills to develop list for preview.  In addition, detailed information concerning the curriculum focus and costs is also there.  I like that you can purchase everything as a boxed curriculum (think Sonlight) for those who are looking for that (individually is also available).  I would have found the boxed curriculum to be very helpful back when my son was that young and we were first starting out.  I can imagine that this will be a real life saver for many families just starting out in educating their special needs child at home.  The cost is reasonable for a curriculum of this scope.

Now to the giveaway!  Since I am unable to use this curriculum with my son, I would like to bless a reader with it instead!  I will prayerfully hand pick the winner based on the information submitted.  I trust God will move to provide for just the right family out there that has need and will benefit from this giveaway!  I am excited to learn about each of you who enter!



7 comments:

  1. This is just amazing! I am so excited to learn more. Would you happen to know if you can purchase just the curriculum guide...in case you already have many of the books? Also, is it possible to adapt to nonverbal children who use a communication device? Thanks so much for sharing this info!

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    1. Aileen - You can definitely just purchase the curriculum guide. She has it so you can purchase by piece or as a bundled pack - whichever suits your family. It could definitely be used for non-verbal kiddo's without a problem. I wish it had been around when my son was younger - it sure would have been a lifesaver for me at that time! I'd say sign up for the giveaway, since that is the curriculum book mainly and check out the webpage via the links above in the post and you will get a lot more details about the products. It's pretty terrific though!

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  2. How neat! I think it is awesome that Cheryl made this! Thanks for sharing about this resource.

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    1. I agree Amy! It's going to help lots of families with special needs children. Thank you for stopping by!

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  3. This looks like a great curriculum! Thanks for hosting this awesome giveaway!

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    1. Sylvia - I agree! Whoever wins the giveaway will be blessed - it's a great curriculum! Blessings - Colleen

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  4. Just ordered A for my son. I am so excited to introduce him to this curriculum. I also ordered Simply Classical to read before beginning the curriculum. I was wondering if students who have not been able to do letter sounds or read phonetically have difficulty with this curriculum. My son can identify letters and recognizes some site words but we've never had success with letter sounds. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge about special needs and homeschooling!

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