Why We've Fallen in Love With Classical Conversations - Part 2

 Classical Conversations has added joy and purpose to our homeschool. 

Two years ago I was tired, frustrated, and wondering if my oldest would need to attend middle and high school. Our family was searching for structure, accountability, and a challenge.

We received all of that (and more) when we joined our local Classical Conversations community. 

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As I prepare for a student in Foundations/Essentials and another in Challenge B, I thought it fitting to share MORE reasons why Classical Conversations works well for our family.

No More Curriculum Concerns

Being in Classical Conversations has eliminated the myriad of curriculum choices available to me. Choices are good, but not when they cripple your ability to make one because there are so many!

My daughter's curriculum in Challenge B  (roughly the equivalent of 8th grade) is 100% prescribed (although completely flexible should I so choose - I LOVE that!). I am confident  she is getting a Christ-centered, rigorous education, and I have more time to actually LEARN WITH HER instead of spending time researching (or writing) curriculum. 

My son's Foundations and Essentials curriculum is almost 100% decided for me - with the exception of math and a few extras. I can supplement as I like, which satisfies the urges my son and I have every now and then to go off on interest led tangents. 

I spent many years piecing together curriculum, and while I look back on those years fondly, I now see more purpose and continuity in our homeschool because we are on one PATH that will hopefully take my children through their graduations. 

Accountability/Camaraderie

The value of being in community with other like-minded homeschooling families should not be underestimated! 

My children have friends whose parents all subscribe to the same educational philosophy. Kids get into my van and ask me to turn on the Timeline Song! My daughter's Challenge friends come over and have a common "language"- Latin, math, debate and more!  

Having a shared homeschool experience with these families is a blessing.

I don't believe we are to educate our children ALONE; Classical Conversations brings us together.

Literature in Abundance 

We are a family of readers. We love reading alone and aloud. We enjoy many different types of books and have bookshelves in our home in every room. 

I am able to pull in beautiful literature and incorporate it into the Foundations memory work. 

(Download the Cycle 3 weeks 1-12  history booklist if you'd like!)

My daughter is being slowly trained to read the classics in the higher levels of Challenge. 

Any homeschool method I chose for our family needed to be literature rich and Classical Conversations fits the bill! 

Fine Arts

In addition to learning to play the tin whistle, several pieces of music are introduced each Cycle in Foundations.  (It's been a perfect way to incorporate my SQUILT curriculum into CC, actually!)

The area I've been most pleased with, however, is art. This is NOT my area of strength, and I was thankful Grant received art instruction for several weeks in Foundations, and also learned about famous artists and their works. 

(My kids also have ample opportunities to notebook in CC -- the example above is from Notebooking Pages, our favorite homeschool resource!)

The Proof is in the Pudding

So many times in the past year we have been in situations where my kids just KNOW THINGS. The knowledge they have gained through CC is easily retrievable. The kids now have "pegs" upon which to place everything they learn. 

A woman from church was talking with Anna about being from Latvia. She asked Anna is she knew where Latvia was and Anna described in detail its location and then told her the capital and its spelling! 

We were at a baseball game and one of the pitchers (in Grant's opinion) couldn't make up his mind... Grant proclaimed, "He's acting just like Woodrow Wilson!".  Plus, he could tell you the dates of Wilson's presidency, which war he was president during, and the years that war started and ended.  

My daughter is defending her faith so vehemently now - thanks to many debates and discussions in Challenge A.

We all see certain English words and now know their Latin origins.

I could go on and on....

It is  astounding to me the amount of knowledge that can be crammed into young people's brains. 

It's SO simple and effective.

(Read The Core if you want to learn all about the awesome ways kids learn and how to teach them classically!)

Classical Conversations is so full of RICH material. I am so proud of the education I am able to give my children... an education that is a gift from and inspired by God.

This post is part of the iHomeschool Network's Not Back to School Blog Hop!  This week is curriculum week!