What in the World is
Classical Conversations?
One of the questions I get asked most frequently about homeschooling is whether the state determines our curricula, or if we get to choose our own. The quick answer is, in the state of Wisconsin, homeschooling parents have the freedom to choose their children's curricula as long as we provide our children with "at least 875 hours of instruction each school year" and "a sequentially progressive curriculum of fundamental instruction in reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and health." Yippee! In my opinion, this is one of the major benefits of homeschooling. The freedom to choose gives me flexibility (what works great for one child may not work for another), and I don't have to deal with not being able to help my child with his homework, because I don't understand the "new math" that's being taught at school. I was going to write about our curriculum choices for this year, but, as I began to type that post, I realized that I was referring to Classical Conversations a lot. Which brings me to another one of the most frequently asked questions I receive: What is Classical Conversations?
If you've asked me this in passing, I might have responded, "Oh, it's our co-op." If I said this, I'm sorry. Classical Conversations isn't a co-op, but it's a term many non-homeschoolers are familiar with, so I often say that to avoid going into a lengthy explanation. Please forgive me and see below for my real answer.
In this post, I talked about how we started homeschooling mid-year, so we kind of jumped into Classical Conversations blindly. We had to learn about the classical education model on the fly, and, thankfully, it was a great fit, and we fell in love with it. According to Susan Wise Bauer, who literally wrote the book on classical education, "Classical education depends on a three-part process of training the mind. The early years of school are spent in absorbing facts, systematically laying the foundations for advanced study. In the middle grades, students learn to think through arguments. In the high school years, they learn to express themselves. This classical pattern is called the trivium." (Trivium is a Latin noun meaning the place where three roads meet. The three roads are the three developmental stages: Grammar, Logic/Dialectic, and Rhetoric.) Classical Conversations is a nation-wide program that equips parents to provide their children with a Christian classical education. CC embraces the trivium by providing the following programs:
Grades (Approx.) | Developmental Stage (Approx.) | CC Program |
4K - 3 | Grammar | Foundations |
4-6 | Grammar + Logic/Dialectic | Foundations + Essentials |
7-8 | Logic/Dialectic | Challenge A and B |
9-12 (High School) | Rhetoric | Challenge I, II, III, and IV |
Children mature at different rates, so there is some flexibility in regard to which programs the children participate in. Shane (grade 3) and Conner (Kindergarten) are both currently in the Foundations program. Next year, Shane will be staying in the afternoon to do Essentials as well. Younger siblings have the option to play in the supervised nursery while their older brothers and sisters are doing CC. Logan loves playing with his friends each week!
We meet weekly as a Classical Conversations community. (Since Theo has been born, my mom [bless that sweet, wonderful woman!] has been taking the boys to CC for me, and I've come to realize what a huge blessing our weekly community days are. Not only do I truly miss the companionship of my fellow homeschooling mom friends, but I also find that I'm not as diligent about doing the CC memory work with my children when I'm out of the loop.) Our community happens to meet at the church we attend, but there are other CC communities in our local area. The morning of our community day morning is divided into half-hour segments. Each class's schedule may differ in regard to order, but the elements are all the same. Here is a sample schedule:
9:00 - Large Group
All the Foundations students gather in a large group. We answer the question, "What are we here for?" ("To know God and make Him known!") We observe a family presentation, pray, and say the Pledge of Allegiance together. We work on Bible memory work, celebrate birthdays, and listen to any necessary announcements. The children then break into their classes (of no more than 8 students per class), which are assigned loosely by age. Parents go with their children to their classes. (This is not a drop-off program [at least, until Challenge]. Our community days are just as much about equipping parents to teach classically as they are for the students' benefit.)
9:30 - New Grammar (think "grammar school," not English Grammar)
For each of the 24 weeks that we meet each school year, a tutor (one of the moms who is contracted to teach) introduces children to facts/ideas for each of seven subjects: Timeline (from Creation to present day), History, English, Science, Geography, Math, and Latin. The tutor keeps instruction simple (stick in the sand), and often chooses fun ways to introduce the material, depending on the children's ages; for example, using songs, silly voices, movement, stacking cups, etc.
*Note: There are three cycles of CC memory work. Cycle 1 generally focuses on the Ancients (Greeks, Romans, Mesopotamia, Africa, etc.). Cycle 2 focuses on the Middle Ages (Joan of Arc, Hentry VIII, Europe). Cycle 3 focuses on the Modern Age (Christopher Columbus, Neil Armstrong, the 50 United States and their capitals.) These cycles repeat, helping the material to be embedded into the children's long-term memories. The children can go also go into the material in greater depth as they mature.
10:00 - Presentation
The children love presentation time, because it often means they get to eat a snack! During this time, children take turns going to the front of the room and presenting on a topic. (This is to practice their speaking and presentation skills.) For the littlest children, this often looks a lot like "show and tell," but the children are encouraged to present on more complex topics as they mature; for example, recite a History sentence with inflection or tell about Charlemagne.
10:30 - Fine Arts
At this time, we often head to a different room. Our Fine Arts topics are broken into quarters. During the first quarter, the children learn basic drawing techniques using OiLS. In the second quarter, the children learn music theory and play tin whistles. The children learn about great artists in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter (the favorite of most of the moms!), the children learn about the orchestra and listen to classical music.
11:00 - Science
The entire class will often move to a different location again. The tutor will introduce this week's topic (which aligns with the science memory work in the new grammar), and the children will perform a science experiment, with an emphasis on the scientific method. This will be followed by discussion and often journaling about the experiment.
11:30 - Review Game
The children return to their original classroom to play a fun game that helps reinforce the new grammar presented that morning and the grammar that has been presented in previous weeks.
12:00 PM - Lunch
We head to the park or a spot indoors to enjoy lunch and fellowship with our friends!
1:00 - Au Revoir!
Our family heads home at 1:00, but next year we will need to stick around for Essentials, which Shane will be beginning. (From what I gather, he will be working on higher-level English Grammar, Writing [through the Institute of Excellence in Writing], and Math drills.)
What does Challenge do during the day? I have no idea. Challenge is a giant mystery to me, and I'll worry about it when I get there. From a broader angle, I see the Challenge kids present at our end-of-the-year ceremony, and they are AH-MAZING. Amazing. (Just one quick example: they can free-hand draw a map of the world from memory in front of an audience.) Whenever I see the Challenge students, I feel affirmed that my children are in an awesome program. I will also say that I am super-excited for the Challenge years. I learned a little about the Challenge program at our annual summer CC Practicum (I told you this program is all about equipping parents!), and it got me chomping at the bit to teach about Logic, Creationism, and MOCK TRIAL!!! (Can you tell that I like Mock Trial a teensy bit?)
Aside from our community day, parents are expected to follow-up with and expand upon the weekly memory work. We do this in lots of ways: including listening to the memory work in the minivan (CC offers audio CDs for each cycle), reading corresponding literature, such as Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer, and watching Bill Nye videos. I also cover CC memory work after our morning group time. (Another post for another day.) I follow this schedule:
Monday - Fine Arts/Timeline
Tuesday - Community Day {no extra CC work}
Wednesday - History/Geography
Thursday - English/Latin
Friday - Math/Science
You guys, Classical Conversations is just fun! As a community, we challenge our students to trace lots of maps. For every 500 maps the children bring in, we have a fun theme-day, such as "Crazy Hair Day" or "Sports Day," or--my favorite--"Pajama Day!" We have lots of parties. There's a Christmas party, Valentine's Day party, Pi Day party, etc. This year, we even had a Renaissance-themed pot-luck! We also try to do an annual field trip as a community. For cycle 3 (in which the science emphasis is human anatomy), we saw Slim Goodbody in Green Bay. (And I was shocked that it wasn't the same Slim Goodbody I remember from my childhood. This one looked a little like Aaron Rodgers. Maybe A-Rodge has a side-job?)
Lastly, CC is about relationships. One of my greatest fears about homeschooling was that my children and I would be living in our own lonely little bubble. CC allows my kids to regularly interact with and learn with children their own age. And I have no words to express how much the relationships I've made in CC mean to me. Some days, those ladies are my sanity. (For example, yesterday, they reminded me that Dan would be coming home soon to help me after Logan declared, "Snowball fight!" and starting chucking green kinetic sand around the kitchen. Yep, that happened.) My fellow CC moms are some of the most admirable people I've ever met, and they inspire me to be Christ-centered, diligent, and loving.
Phfew! Thanks for hanging with me! I know I was a bit long-winded, but that's a question that requires a long-winded answer. So... Did I do it? Do you have an idea of what Classical Conversations is? If you have any questions, fire 'em at me! I'll be able to answer them or at least point you in the right direction.
If you want to know more about classical education, check out these resources:
The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer. This is my favorite book about classical education. Bauer makes a strong case for classical education and is very encouraging. After reading it, I felt confident that I could teach my children classically at home.
The Core by Leigh Bortins, the founder of Classical Conversations. She is a rocket-scientist. (Just thought I'd throw that out there!) I never made it past the introductory chapters of this book. (I found her discussion of modern education to be a little too ominous.) A lot of my CC friends love it though!
Classical Conversations - Check out the CC website for more information about the program and how to get started!
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