Farewell to Classical Conversations

     To CC or not to CC.  That is the question.

     The answer is not.

     We will not be returning to the Classical Conversations, Foundations Program.  This was not an easy decision to come to.  Even writing this post isn't easy.  Classical Conversations is what God used to open the door to homeschooling for us.  It opened our eyes to books like The Well-Trained Mind and The Core.  I met my best friend there.  I enjoyed tutoring this past year.  I agonized over this decision for a few months.  I prayed about it and it was clear that I wasn't suppose to tutor in the Fall, but the decision to completely stop going to CC wasn't so clear.

     Until now.

     I happened upon a few homeschool blogs, one of which was brought up as an actual CC resource during my tutor training last year, who started out in CC but then stopped going.  Their reasons resonated with me; I wasn't the only one who felt this way and it told me it was okay to walk away.  

     Don't get me wrong.  We love the friends we've made in our CC community and we like Classical Education, but Classical Conversations is no longer for us for many reasons.  These are my personal observations and opinions about CC.  It doesn't mean that CC isn't for you or that we won't go back to it.  It's just not for us this coming year and here's why:

      Expense.  We have financial goals and I couldn't justify the price.  Yes, it's still much less than private school, but at roughly $1000.00 for both my kids, not including any CC supplies or supplements they might need, it added up.  Moreover, while my kids did the memory work, notebooking pages, activities and readings tied to the the corresponding CC facts, they were bored.  Frankly, they enjoyed the Language Arts and Math programs (an additional expense) I purchased for them more than the CC stuff, silly songs aside.  What my kids liked about CC this year was that I was their tutor!  We all love the Timeline song and History sentence songs, but I don't need to take a day from our week to have them learn those things.  That's money that could be better spent elsewhere or, in our case, to help us reach our goals.  Toward the end,  I felt like I was paying for them to socialize.  Which brings me to my next reason.

     Socialization.  Our community is full but is still growing.  However, for both my sprouts, there weren't many kids to bond with.  Let me rephrase that...there weren't many girls my daughter's age that she could connect with.  Our community had A LOT of boys and while you may think that's great for my son, well, my son's syndrome and age made it difficult for him to connect with anyone as well.  This may be the case where ever we go because of his syndrome, but in this particular community there weren't many boys for him to model and look up to.  Some of the boys were just mean.  That's the only way I can say it; mean for no reason.  I know boys will be boys but it doesn't call for personal attacks, which I observed a few times over the course of our enrollment.  I know not every CC community is like that.  This just did not sit well with me.

     It's too fast.  As I mentioned before, Foundations meets once a week for 24 weeks and every week the kids are introduced to new facts, covering 6 subjects.  One week did not give my kids enough time to really dig deeper into that week's History (or Science) fact before learning the next fact the following week.  (The History sentences were what I built our curriculum on this year.)  Yes, there were still 12 more weeks (in our state) to research and read more, but by the end of the 24 CC weeks it didn't make sense for me to go back after we had already moved on.  Sure, I could have purchased a full curriculum like I did the first year I homeschooled my daughter and then just let the CC stuff somehow make its way into the curriculum or let it be something they did on the side, but then it would be an added expense.  Remember, we have financial goals!

     CC uses 3 Cycles.  If you've ever read The Well-Trained Mind (you should if you haven't, homeschooler or not) you'd know that she suggests that your curriculum be based on History/Geography which cycle every 4 years starting from Ancient History ending in Modern Times.  The fact that CC is 3 cycles drove me nuts which is why this year I decided to create my own curriculum.  The 3 cycles wouldn't line up with any of the great Classical Christian curriculum out there and if it did happen to line up, it wasn't age appropriate for my daughter.  Almost all the Christian curriculum out there run in 4 cycles.  It was maddening I tell ya.  Maddening!

     We lost a day.  While CC only meets one day a week for 3 hours, that wasn't necessarily the end of the day.  While we enjoyed hanging with our friends at the park after class, by the time we got home the day was pretty much over and there was no real school work done.  At this point, I'd rather lose a day of completed school work to a field trip or spontaneous play date (or a doctor's appointment which is common since my have special but different needs.)

     Above all this:

      My kids have special, but different needs.  Some of you reading this may or may not know this.  Very rarely do I share what is going on behind the scenes with the challenges both of my kids face, not because I'm embarrassed or ashamed, but because it doesn't matter.  It is what it is and homeschooling is a blessing that allows me to work together with them to address those issues.  I'll share if I've found something that made a significant difference in our homeschool, especially for my son, but otherwise I like to focus on the fun, learning stuff!  Now, back to those challenges behind the scenes...there are things that I have to address on a daily basis and attending our weekly CC meetings gets in the way of that.  'Nuff said.

     Finally, I can provide a Classical Christian Education for my children.  I am their teacher.  I am responsible for learning the techniques and tools to teach them classically and then do it.  Many have done it before and without Classical Conversations.  Does this mean we'll never go back?  No.  Things change, but for now, bidding farewell to CC is what is right for us.

     Our new school year is set and planned.  I'll share our "Box Day" post in a couple of weeks once everything comes in.

     For other perspectives on leaving CC (and what they're up to now) take a look at A Nurse's Wildflowers, Nurturing Learning and The Accidental Homeschooler.

Year 2, Week 21

     Happy New Year and happy back to school!  We are back on track with homeschooling and Classical Conversations.  For those of you interested in Classical Conversations, this is the month to start checking for Open Houses or informational meetings in your area.  Next month will be the time to sign up and register and if homeschooling is growing, much like our community did from when we first started (It went from two groups to 7!) then you're going to want to get informed and get signed up asap.  You can look for a community close to you by clicking here.  If you'd like information from a tutor's perspective, feel free to post questions in the Comments section and I will answer them as best as I can.

     The New Year brought some changes in our homeschooling routine.  I use a mix of the Charlotte Mason method and Classical Education in our homeschooling, so in order to really nail in the kids' memory work from CC, they read what I've written on the board and then copy it down.  For all the subjects in CC except math, I've either created or found a double-sided sheet for them to do their work.  (This gets placed in a notebook which I'll share later on.)  They would do one side on one day and the other side later on in the week.  History and English would be done on Monday and Wednesdays, Latin and Science on Tuesdays and Thursdays, leaving Geography and review on Fridays.

    However, the kids would often jump ahead and just complete both sides.  This would also, unbeknownst to them, make their school day longer.  So, I changed it so that they complete both sides of the copywork/worksheet on one scheduled day instead of coming back to it later in the week.  This also made it easier for me (and them) to track what was done or still needed to be done.  Now our schedule now looks like this:

Monday:  English Grammar
Tuesday:  History
Wednesday:  Latin
Thursday:  Geography
Friday:  Science and Review

     It's more streamlined and they're done with all their work earlier.  Applause all around!

     Week 21 we also finished our reading of The Wind in the Willows.  My kids LOVED this story, even more so than Peter Pan, which we finished prior to this book.  I don't think I ever read The Wind in the Willows, or at least I don't remember reading it, but we thoroughly enjoyed it.  This is just another reason why I love English Lessons Through Literature by Kathy Jo Devore.  I like that we get to read great classics together and that the kids' work comes directly from the books we read.  My kids even put on a skit for their dad showing him one of their favorite parts of the book.

     That's about it for now.  I'll be back soon, hopefully!

   

Year 2, Week 11

  What a week!  We did so much, but what really stood out was our History project.  This will be a post in pictures.

     This week we read a lot about George Washington.  We had several books on hand but our favorite was George Washington's Breakfast:

     My kids liked it so much that we decided to go ahead and make George Washington's Breakfast of Hoecakes and tea:

There's cornmeal back there somewhere.  Washington grew corn
on his plantation so it was no wonder Hoecakes were a favorite.

Cracking eggs.

Adding a minuscule amount of sugar.

Mix!

Mix some more!

We fried them in a cast iron pan.  The closest we could get to how
they were originally made; on a hoe!

A spot of tea.

The finished cakes.  See that one front and center?  My son
said it was shaped like Africa.  This is what happens when
you homeschool and teach Geography.

They had it with raw honey and cultured butter.
Lucky kids!

He had four of them.

She just had one.

Washing it down.

Taking a sip.

     That is how our homeschool week ended.  With some hoecakes and tea on a Saturday morning.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed them.  On our CC meeting day my son presented the book, summarizing it.  My daughter presented the hoecakes; the ingredients and how to make them.  Since the recipe made plenty we were able to bring some and pass it out to the class.  I'm trying to do one project a week, preferably one they can do with The Principal so that he knows what we've been up to and the kids can share what they've learned with him.  Plus, hands-on learning is always fun.

     That's all folks.

Year 2, Weeks 6 and 7

     Can I just say...oops I did it again!  I forgot to sit down and write about our previous week so now I'm having to play catch-up AGAIN.  I hope this isn't a pattern.

     Week 6 brought us to the end of our California Missions study.  I'm making use of every inch of available wall space in our house so this is a picture of their maps hanging in our hallway:

     I think their favorite part was mapping the Missions.  We're planning a trip to visit as many of them as we can to get an up-close look.

     Week 7 also kicked off our first week of Classical Conversations, thus our History curriculum shifted to coincide with Cycle 3 of CC.  This CC year, I'm also a tutor and am enjoying getting my kids' feedback as I practice the lessons with them.  They let me know what works and what's fun.

     My favorite part of homeschooling?  My kids get to read books that I select and at their own pace.  When we go to the library the kids get to pick books they want to read while I select books that I've already chosen for our curriculum.  Every day they read at least one book of their choice and a book from our curriculum.  This week I accidentally returned a book that they had read but apparently wanted to read again and reference during their studies.  Another oops.  I won't do that again.  Below are picture of my kids reading away.

     Have you read The Core by Leigh Bortins?  If you haven't you should, even if you're not a homeschooler.  It gives great insight into the kinds of books your kids should be reading and the levels they should be reading at to increase their vocabulary and comprehension.  See that book my daughter is reading?  It's for grades 3-7.  A very wide range, but my daughter is only 6 (technically a first grader) and is able to read and understand it.  I thank God for blessing me with another voracious reader in the family!

     That's it for now.  Hopefully, I won't forget Week 8.

Kindergarten, Week 36; FINITO!

     We are done!  I don't even know where to begin to write, which is why although our official last day of school was May 1, it is a week later that I am beginning to summarize our last week.  Plus, in the middle of writing this my daughter stopped me to work on telling time.  (The learning never stops!)

     Our last week brought us to Revelations in the Bible.  What a fantastic way to end our school year; with the image of God's Kingdom yet to come!  I constantly see God at work in my daughter and am thankful that He has plans for her that will bring glory to Him.

     We also finished The Hundred Dresses.  I don't know if I was emotional because everything was coming to a close, or if the ending of the book really touched me, but I teared up!  My Little Toughie had to console me as I explained the significance of the ending.  It's a book I definitely recommend reading to little ones and keeping around for them to read to themselves later on.

     As a way of acknowledging the end of our school year (Although I will continue to do a little homeschooling during this 2 month hiatus; she wants to start again in July.) we had a little celebration luncheon.  We were in attendance along with my step-daughter, her fiancee and kids.  There, The Principal handed her certificates of completion by Sonlight.  She also recited "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer from memory.  It's a beautiful poem!  It was a wonderful gathering and a great way to end her school year.

     So, what did she learn this year?  Between Classical Conversations and Sonlight my Little Toughie learned:

• 24 history sentences covering topics from Charlemagne to the present
• 161 events and people in chronological order
• 44 presidents
• Over 100 locations around Europe and Asia, including mountain ranges and rivers
• 24 science facts, even the laws of thermodynamics (at 6 years old...what?!)
• English grammar facts, including memorizing a list of pronouns from objective to indefinite
• Multiplication tables up to 15x15 and laws of addition and multiplication
• Latin Verb endings of the first conjugation

     She also:

• Read the Bible from Old to New Testament
• Read biographies of 30 different missionaries who spread the Gospel throughout the world
• Did 12 science experiments
• Learned about the orchestra
• Studied 6 Great Artists and completed corresponding projects
• Read over 40 books to herself
• Listened to me read (I don't know how many) books aloud
• Completed over 400 math worksheets
• Did 25 oral presentation, one of which was the poem "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer, which she memorized and recited.

     Those were just the things I could pull from our resources and could remember.  There were many discussions that came forth from our homeschool days; deep conversations that could only happen because I homeschool her and we can take as much time we need.  These were lessons that weren't planned but were taught and I know God had His hand on those particular moments.

     Which leads me to what I learned this first homeschool year.  I learned that a homeschool day doesn't always go as planned, but it's okay.  That could be anyone's day, but I was able to work through it with my daughter and teach her how to handle the curve balls life can sometimes throw.

     I got to spend real quality time with my daughter during what we termed her Kindergarten year.  I'm blessed to be able to do that.  We are blessed to be able to do that.  Not many parents are, and I thank God every day for blessing us with the provisions to make it happen.

     I learned what kind of books my daughter likes and am glad that because our reading list varied, her taste in books does as well.  I learned her favorite subjects (all of them for now).  I learned to not worry so much about whether or not she would "get it" because in the end, she did.  Homeschooling allows me to take it at her pace, not anyone else's.  It allows me to teach her a love of learning and that it can be fun at any age.

     I learned to prioritize better, in all aspects of my life.  Not that I was ever bad at that but I was able to narrow down what I deemed important to our family and our relationship with Jesus.  I let everything else go.

     I learned how to create my own curriculum, which I will share with you when our school year begins!

     Ultimately, what was pressed upon my heart during this first year of homeschooling is that God is at work and has plans for my kids.  Great and wonderful plans!  Academics aside, I've been entrusted with raising lovers of Christ; future apostles to spread His Word and shine His light; to be living testimonies of how much God loves us.

     There is no greater lesson.

Kindergarten, Week 19

     As you may have noticed, I'm playing with the title of my homeschooling posts.  This blog is all about homeschooling and our experiences; I figured it was redundant to keep putting it in the weekly title.  I started putting kindergarten in the title and I'll stick with that for now, since it's just my Little Toughie that I'm homeschooling.  If that changes (or if I come up with something better) then, I'll make another change.

     We took a week off for Thanksgiving and got back on track the Monday after.  We began reading A Grain of Rice, which has become a new favorite.  It was a short and clever story that intrigued my daughter and made her smile at the end.

     Speaking of smiling...I couldn't help but giggle when I saw what my daughter came up with for her history copywork.  With Classical Conversations, the children learn a history fact every week.  I have my daughter write out that sentence and draw a picture for it.  Below is what she came up with for this week:

     What you don't see is the rest of the sentence on the back which says, "aristocrats heads were removed by the guillotine."  When she showed me her picture she said, "See, mommy.  There's blood there because their heads were chopped off."  Giggling ensued.

     We spent a couple of afternoons running errands, so during those busy days we took a very short break and just powered through the work.  My Little Toughie was a trooper and went along with it.  I think she liked the change of pace and the fact that by lunch time school was pretty much done.  (There was at least one assignment she had to complete.)  Our weekend ended with a wonderful cookie making party hosted by one of our dear friends.  We all had a joyful time.

     All in all, it was another good week.  Thanks be to GOD!

Homeschooling, Week 10

     Week 10 moved at a snail's pace.  (Ironically, in my last post I said every week passes quickly!)  This week was slow because both my daughter and I had a cold.  My daughter was feeling a bit under the weather Monday afternoon and when we got home from the park, she passed on lunch and slept.  The next day I awoke with a sore throat and immediately knew I was coming down with something.  I was able to go through school work on Tuesday, but come Wednesday I had no voice and my head was throbbing.  We took that day "off".  I gave her history and science copywork and called it a day.  We took Saturday morning to go over the day that we missed and now we're back on track.

     As I mentioned in my last post our Classical Conversations community began meeting.  When we had the opportunity to enroll our daughter midway early Spring, I was immediately hooked on how the kids were learning, what they were learning and the fact it had plenty of parent participation.  It is what opened the idea of me homeschooling my daughter.  I can't imagine it any other way.

     This was our second week of CC.  In Classical Conversations the kids learn what is referred to as a Timeline; points and people in history from Creation to Modern Times.  By the end of the CC year the kids will have memorized 161 events and people in chronological order.  There are fact cards that go along with each event or person listed on the Timeline.  The cards go into more detail about that occurrence or person.  Last CC year I purchased the fact cards but didn't really use them since we started so late.  This year I didn't buy any new cards because I thought we already had all of them.  Unfortunately,  much to my daughter's disappointment, I learned that I did not have the current cards and had yet to purchase them.  She wanted to practice putting the cards in order, as we do when our community meets.

     Since my daughter was so eager to work with them she decided to make her own.  They're like those fact cards of the U.S. Presidents that you see; with the picture and name on the front and the details on the back.  She wrote the name of the event and drew pictures to go along with it.  She made 14 cards because that is how many events we have covered to date.

     That very first card you see at the bottom is one for "Age of Ancient Empires" and she drew a Sphinx, which she remembered is on that particular fact card.  The next one is "Creation and The Fall".  She chose to draw Adam and Eve at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

     I was delighted to see her take initiative and make her own cards.  To me it's a sign that she is enjoying what she's learning and is seeking more.  Plus, I get to see what she comes up with for each card.  I mean, what would you draw for "Babylonians"?

     I've ordered the cards and they're on their way.  While I know she wouldn't mind creating all the cards herself (and she still might do so) and this is a great way to reinforce what she's learning, we'll need the cards for when she gets older and the details on the back become more significant.

     That is our week.  We're starting Week 11, cold-free (mostly) and ready for Autumn!

Homeschooling, Week 9 and CC Week 1

     Week 9 went by with a blur (they all do these days).  This happened to also be our first week of Classical Conversations, which my daughter thoroughly enjoys.  There are seven subjects covered in a short amount of time, not including the Bible scripture they're memorizing.  It goes by quickly.  Ask my child what the 1st conjugation endings, present tense, are in Latin and she'll tell you.  I kid you not.  The children learn A LOT in the short three hours we're there (once a week) and the rest of the week us parents are reinforcing those subjects every way we can.  Through song, play, reading, coloring and drawing...anything we can think of!  It is a wonderful process.

     One of the things we took away from the History part of CC was about Charlemagne (or Charles the Great, a.k.a Charles Magnus).  As suggested by Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood  I recently purchased The Story of The World:  History for the Classical Child to go along with the history we're learning in our CC curriculum (I actually purchased all 4 volumes.)  My daughter LOVED hearing the story of Charlemagne and was excited to hear the part that tied in with the history fact she learned in Classical Conversations.  I love when I can see the dots connecting!

     Even if you're not a homeschooler I highly suggest The Story of the World books.  They teach History in a way the kids can relate to and the stories are long enough to hold their interest and keep them wanting more without be drawn out and boring.  When we finished up the chapters on Charlemagne my daughter was disappointed there wasn't more.

     Our week ended with a project for my daughter that had her name written all over it.  She's such a performer and I knew she would enjoy this one.  We were to watch the news together and I was to point out all the different ways the reporter conducted herself; from the way she clearly spoke to her composure to her eye contact.  Then my daughter had to come up with something in her life that she wanted to report on and deliver it the same way she saw the news reporter do it.
   
     When we finally got the news turned on we happened upon a piece on eating healthy, where a chef was being interviewed.  She too wanted to do a report on eating healthy which ended up turning into an instructional presentation on how to make a smoothie.  Afterwards though, I asked her to think of an event that she wanted to report on and what she wanted to say so that it would be presented just like the anchors on the news.  She chose to report on my husband competing in the Scottish Highland Games in Long Beach back in February.  She took some time to think of what she was going to say, grabbed a mike and began.

     I didn't record it.  I wanted to, but she was ready to go and I didn't want to interrupt the creative flow by saying, "Wait, wait!  Let me get the camera."  Next time, I'll have it ready and going.

     Anyway, her "news report" was flawless.  She knew exactly what she wanted to say.  She kept herself still (no fidgeting!) and she kept great eye contact.  She spoke clearly and at the appropriate volume.  There were no pauses, no "ums" or "uhs".  It flowed beautifully.

     Like I said, it had her name written all over it.