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I have 2 kiddos who do not like listening to audio books. We've tried several over the years and they just have never enjoyed them. They would much rather read it themselves or me read to them. How important are the audio cds (Diana Waring, Squanto, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, etc) in the guides? I noticed that a lot of these are scheduled in the independent history study. Would it affect much to skip them? Thanks!

Christy

I would not skip the one in CTC. There is a lot of information on it regarding archeology that is not anywhere else in the program.

She does have a good sense of humor and is fun to listen to, if that helps.

Her CDs were my sons favorite part of CTC.

I hope that helps.

Diana Waring is not really audio book style at all. She is energetic and enthusiastic and is more a history lesson. They are pretty key to the program and the understanding of the history. Many of the others are also not typical audio books they are more drama's with different voices for all the characters. They definitely add a lot to the study and were always my son's favorites. They provided a nice break from all the reading. I wouldn't just say you were skipping all of them without at least trying some of them. Keep in mind though I am one of those moms that tells her son that there will always be things he might not care for in the school day, but he has to do it anyway .

I echo that the Diana Waring ones are not to be missed to help in understanding the history material, plus could not be substituted for a book to read as I don't believe there is a book corresponding to it. I'm not sure with the others, there may be a book they are based upon and if so, I wouldn't see a problem with substituting that. You may find it difficult to schedule out the reading, since I think the guide just tells them which track(s) to listen to. But you could always just break it up into however many readings the guide tells them to do.

I do not really learn by listening, which may be part of the problem. I can listen to a whole lecture/sermon and remember almost none of it if I haven't been writing things down or somehow visually getting the information as well (powerpoint really helps me!) I made it through college by reading and studying my books, as lectures were of very little help to me in learning. So maybe this is the way your children are wired also. If you think they won't get much out of audio you may need to encourage them to take notes or something.

Of those core elements you would really miss a lot to leave it out. You CAN do it and still get a lot of the understanding, but the way things are woven together really helps them retain and analyze what they are learning.

I personally am not a great auditory learner either but I have found that I really like to follow the guide to a T. Since I give the guide to my kids and tell them to do what is in the guide, then my kids know what to expect and they know that no item in the guide is negotiable. My kids have enjoyed the discs though and my kids do enjoy books on tapes. There are some things that my kids aren't crazy about with school but the discs haven't been one of them. By me stating that they must do all the items regardless of preference has made the school day go much smoother.

But you are definitely the mom and should do what works for you and your family. However, I would encourage you to give it a year with the discs to see how they likes it. If they hate it, then you could definitely reevaluate next year. But I would try doing HOD as is for one year before making that decision. Just my 2 cents.