Our Classical Curriculum - The ABC's of Homeschooling
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 7:00AM 
A classical education, then, has two important aspects. It is language-focused. And it follows a specific three-part pattern: the mind must be first supplied with facts and images, then given the logical tools for organization of facts, and finally equipped to express conclusions.
But that isn’t all. To the classical mind, all knowledge is interrelated. Astronomy (for example) isn’t studied in isolation; it’s learned along with the history of scientific discovery, which leads into the church’s relationship to science and from there to the intricacies of medieval church history. The reading of the Odyssey leads the student into the consideration of Greek history, the nature of heroism, the development of the epic, and man’s understanding of the divine.
This is easier said than done. The world is full of knowledge, and finding the links between fields of study can be a mind-twisting task. A classical education meets this challenge by taking history as its organizing outline — beginning with the ancients and progressing forward to the moderns in history, science, literature, art and music.
- History - we are following the 4 year history cycle as prescribed in The Well Trained Mind. To this end, we are using The Story of the World Volume 1 right now, and will be using Volume 2 next year. History is the peg upon which we hang everything else in our homeschool, and WHAT FUN IT IS!
- Grammar - my youngest does First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind and my oldest listens each day (she uses Easy Grammar and loves it, so I'm not changing!)
- Math - we have used Horizons Math from the start. I selected it because it was what came with our Sonlight package the first year of homeschooling. Sonlight has never disappointed me and I feel that they recommend Horizons because of its rigor, mastery, and short spurts of new activities. My children both do well with it and I don't see the need to change. It seems that Saxon Math is the recommended course of study for Classical education - correct me if I'm wrong! I found a very interesting article entitled "An Apology for Latin and Math" - if you have a minute it is quite interesting.
- Latin - this is where I'm taking a leap! I just purchased (for $17 for BOTH, I might add!) Prima Latina and Latina Christiana. I think we will start gently (since I will have a first and fifth grader next year) with Prima Latina together and if all goes well progress to Latina Christiana.
- Writing - I'm struggling here, so could use some suggestions. We used Writing Strands this year and it was pretty much a flop. I'm thinking of Writing With Ease next year. I also am confident that lots of reading produces good writers, so I don't harp on writing too much right now. As my children get older will get more serious about this.
- Science - This is my weakest area. Currently we are very Charlotte Mason where science is concerned, with a lot of nature discovery and eclectic science units thrown into the mix. I don't know that there is a need for change, because it's working for us, but I wouldn't call our approach to science "Classical".
- Art & Music - I try to pull in artists and composers from the time period we are studying. Since I have a music degree the music part is fairly easy, and with research, the art falls into place. I don't have a set curriculum for either of these subjects.
Reader Comments (11)
Our curriculum choices are very similar. We love TWTM model here. Horizons is awesome. Sheridan is very accelerated and it has proved to be an excellent choice for his math. We have done WWE 1 and 2. You won't disappointed if you switch. FLL and SOTW are also favorites. We used Answers to Genesis Life Science this year and really liked it. It would work well for you as it is multi-leveled (grade 1-8). Next year we are using their Heaven and Earth series and really looking forward to it. I will be interested to see how your Latin goes. Right now we are studying Mandarin and Spanish, but I know I need to get the Latin started! We must get together sometime as I think we are really on the same page with so many things!
It's so funny, when I started homeschooling, I thought I would be eclectic, but the further we get the closer toward Classical I get. I love Story of the World. We've been using The Complete Writer (I did the accelerated for years 1-2; we are taking our time with 3 where we need to, as my girls BOTH put WAAAy to much detail in a summary; and next year we will do Year 4 for both). We are starting Latina Christiana in a few weeks---where did you find it for $17!! Also, there is a FANTASTIC Book of Roots that goes along with it.
We use a lot of the same curriculum. I prefer Mystery of History and Apologia. We haven't started Latin yet...:D
Good choice Mary. We are somewhat classical as well, mainly in the humanities and language. I have done FLL with my oldest. took a break this year but will go back next year along with WWE. We also use TOG which is very classical and I supplement it with the STW audiobooks. I have also been doing Prima Latina, slowly. I am still yet to do more art and music, but he does do violin. I am hoping to do some composers studies next year.
I believe in the tenants of classical education for a well rounded mind and education, however because my oldest is not your typical child (a bit on the gifted side), I have to make some adjustments which I do for Math and Science.
Thanks for sharing! I liked The Well Trained Mind. She gives a lot of great information and the why's behind her recommendations. We don't follow a classical program but we do history chronologically and use SOTW as one of our resources, in large part because I read that book.
Thanks for linking up today!
(Oh btw, you have the wrong link for my site, it is www.5kidsandadog.com not "fivekidsandadog.com". :)
Awesome Info!
I wanted to do Classical with my kids- but it wasn't working, so I went with what did work with them- so I will add a mini-class/lesson from time to time.
http://kabersblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/c-is-for-cookie.html
The Well Trained Mind is not a good fit for our family but I have a great friend who adores it. I love that we can fit our homeschool methods to our family and choose what works best for us!
Loved sneaking a peek into another family's homeschool. :-)
I love everyone's thoughts today, and hope you had a chance to visit 5 Kids And a Dog to read about curriculum. Dawn -- I fixed the link!!
Hi! Following you back from the hop! Looks like I can learn a lot from you and your experience! YAY! Glad to have found you!
teachingtwostinkers.blogspot.com
Thanks for the glimpse into your homeschool. I have used quite a few of the same resources you have used. I like a great deal about some of them, and still use some of them today. Funny how I began with the Classical method and have gradually modified to more Charlotte Mason and eclectic as I have tried to figure out what would work for some of my children. It is wonderful that we can all find what works for our own families and own children. :)
Thank you for sharing your curriculum ideas. Please see mine at http://ordainedpraise-homeschoolmom.blogspot.com/2011/04/curriculum-ideas-for-sixth-grader.htmle. I hope it can help some of you. I'm not real good at blogging so please have patience with few pictures and mostly text.