My Top Three for CC

 

 

If you've been reading here recently you know that I'm loving Classical Conversations.  There are numerous reasons for that, from simplifying our homeschooling schedule, to the free training and encouragement CC provides, to the quality of the academics, etc. etc. etc.

However, there are 3 reasons that I'm especially thankful for this program this year....3 reasons why our school year looks so very different from last year.

#1.  RETENTION

The definition of retention is "An ability to recall or recognize what has been learned or experienced; memory."

My CC Director told me that after just a few weeks of doing the work I would feel like I have a new brain.  It's true!  Our brains crave order and "pegs" to hold information.  Without those pegs, new information enters and exits our brains rapidly, but when we have a memory peg, that information has a place to hang...like a lost hoodie on a coat hook.

As a child/teen I had an incredible memory like my dad.  My classmates called me The Living Dictionary.  I have often wondered how big of a part memory plays in IQ scores, good grades, and success in life.  Is it actual smarts, or just recall of information?  Can someone have a photographic memory, but not be very intelligent or can someone who is extremely smart be forgetful?  Ahhh, that's another question for another day! 

For those with an excellent memory, it is easy to saunter through the school years, getting straight A's without working very hard.  Growing older and having kids (I think each child kidnaps more of Mom's brain cells when they are born) has made my brain a lot fuzzier, and I have to work harder to memorize these days.  So, while I did learn and memorize a lot of information growing up, I could have been learning soooooo much more, and could have been challenged to not just learn it short-term, but also to retain it for life.  A great short-term memory gets you 100% on tests and then the information is quickly dumped.  At the end of the year, one is only able to recall the things that were practiced again and again.

A huge difference between My Father's World and Classical Conversations is that there is retention with CC.  I've talked in other recent posts about learning less and learning it well as opposed to learning more and not retaining it.  I loved the content of My Father's World.  We read tons of stuff in the Bible, made adorable crafts, learned a lot of character qualities, and read loads and loads of excellent, living books that engaged the kids and drew us in.  We read about every state in the USA and made foods from each of the states and learned about things in God's world that corresponded with each letter of the alphabet.  Yet, just 5 months after finishing last year's curriculum, I am hard-pressed to remember anything we learned!  The things that I can recall are the things that we reviewed constantly, like "The letter A stands for apple,....If I stay in Jesus, I will bear much fruit" or "S stands for sun....Jesus is the light of the world."  All of those neat facts about the states and things we learned about pioneers are gone!  I'm thankful for the beautiful States Notebook we have as a memento that we can re-read to remember things about each state and for the fun books we read together that we can go back and re-read, but there isn't a whole lot in the noggin to show for last year. 

  
Though I went through the Kindergarten curriculum TWO YEARS in a row, loving it and delighting in my little ones' excitement over the animals they were studying and the crafts we were making, I recall very little of the facts we learned.  There were just too many!  Every day we were moving on to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing.  At one point, my mind, which I now realize was desperate for some memory pegs, was crying out to find a list or something in the curriculum guide that we could memorize to review the info from the year and try to retain it.  I was even thinking of making my own list, but I didn't know where to start because the information was so vast.  My brain was begging me to figure out a way to retain....I was frustrated. 


There is no doubt in my mind that CC is the best homeschool curriculum there is on the market today in regards to retention.  I've looked at it all, and I've chatted with kids from scads of different homeschooling backgrounds and I've seen and heard the evidence.  In Junior High, CC kids can draw a map of the entire world, with countries, capitals, rivers, mountains, etc. from MEMORY.  Our 4 and 5 year olds can recite a Timeline from creation to 9/11 with over 160 key historical facts.  Skip counting up to 15, as well as other math facts and equations are reviewed yearly.  They drill together, drill at home, listen to CDs with their grammar on it, learn songs to remember facts, and do memory work tutorials on the computer.  Memory masters must recite over 500 pieces of information perfectly at the end of the year...remembering everything they learned over the entire year.  The retention is INCREDIBLE!  What's also great is knowing that my little ones may not catch everything this time, but they will review each of the 3 cycles at least once before they get to Junior High.  Katrielle will review it 3 times!  If you want to remember something for the rest of your life (like your alphabet, multiplication tables, Scripture passages) you must review it again and again until it is in the long-term memory bank.

#2.  ACCOUNTABILITY

Homeschooling is hard.  There are days when you just don't feel like giving it your all.  Even for an extremely-driven person like me, it can be tempting to cut corners in some areas.  The homeschooling mom needs accountability, and so do the kids.  In all honesty, I have to admit that if I wasn't doing CC we would have skipped a lot of the science projects that require time and effort.  "Let's imagine how big the universe is and look at a book about planets instead of building the scale model."  It's easy to let your homeschooled kids off the hook because we're weary and they can be persistent.  "I suppose you can write that report tomorrow and go bike with your friends."  Knowing that you have to show up to community weekly with your work done, your grammar memorized, and your presentation ready is an excellent motivator!  It provides accountability for the parents as they are teaching their kids to not slack off, and also inspires the kids, who want to be on the winning team and get a prize during review games.  They want to keep up with the pace of their peers.

#3.  CONSISTENT FELLOWSHIP WITH HOMESCHOOLERS

In addition to accountability, it's important just to share life with a community of friends who are "in the same boat."  Before we were involved in CC, our family did have some fellowship.  My kids wanted to do playdates with friends, I had a weekly fondue date with my buddy, I helped lead Pray and Play, and we attended church and AWANA faithfully.  Yet, due to busyness, circumstances, illnesses, etc. often playdates would be cancelled or rescheduled, Girl's Nights were rare treats, and weeks would go by before I'd see this or that friend as they'd have to stay home from church with a sick kid.  My homeschooler friends were the hardest ones to connect with, understandably so, because they were all so busy working at home teaching their children.  So, there was a definite lack of unity and consistency amongst most of my friendships with other homeschoolers.  As I've written about before, investing in CC is a commitment.  Because you are paying for your child to be in the community, you have a financially-backed drive to be there every week unless you have a very good reason not to be.  Tuesday mornings are set aside to be with our community, and we're not just wasting time that we could be using to do school because we're doing school together!  This consistent, united, fellowship with other homeschoolers is such a blessing.  We swap ideas, encourage one another, rejoice over each other's children and their growth and successes, eat together, and share laughs.  Some folks in bigger cities have excellent homeschool co-ops where they meet weekly for this kind of fellowship, so this is not limited to Classical Conversations, but in our area, being a part of CC is the only option we have for this kind of consistent homeschool fellowship.

Classical Conversations Conference Part 7

Home-Centered, not Home-Bound

 

 

Homeschooling doesn't have to mean holing up at home and hiding from the outside world.  It doesn't have to mean you never leave the kitchen table or have adult conversation.

 

 

Leigh Bortins describes "home-centered education" in her book, Echo in Celebration. 

The family unit is strong, and home is the base where we launch learning from,

but other people and instructors can be a big part of our children's lives too.

For the CC family, the weekly community is a huge part of the home-centered education.  Having positive peer-pressure among their peers in class and reinforcement from other parents about school expectations is delightful.

Going to weekly worship and church activities is a vital part of our children's lives and therefore, a part of their education.

Children benefit from music lessons, and/or sports teams, dance, hobbies, clubs, and extra-curriculars. 

We are blessed to have a local library that puts on all kinds of fun events, like Lego Club, Reader's Theatre classes, Creative Writing groups for kids, Origami Club, and plays. 

The Missoula Children's Theater comes to town each year and puts on an amazing show; Ali enjoyed being a part of it last year and hopes to do it again

 

.

The sky is the limit when it comes to extra learning opportunities for our children.  One of my friends has a child who is a die-hard historian.  He volunteers weekly at the local Pioneer museum and cleans the Trapper's Cabin.  Another friend's son is obsessed with mushrooms.  I didn't know anything about mushrooms until I met him and now I take notice of them when I see them.  He would love to intern on a mushroom farm 40 minutes away from here and he collects them wherever he goes.  Other kids are in orchestra, 4-H clubs, or Nature camps.

 

 

Leigh talks about how important it is to find quality friends for your kids and also wonderful mentors.  She says when she finds a godly person that she wants her children to emulate, she would be willing to pay that person just to have her children haul dirt for them if it meant they could hang around that person and learn from their wisdom.  As children grow older, they begin to search knowledge outside of their relationship with their parents and it's important that there are excellent people in their lives to enrich them.  I firmly believe this, as my mentors in Child Evangelism Fellowship were some of the biggest influences in my life and people I have utmost respect for and still want to emulate.  I hope my own children join the CEF team when they are teens and travel around the state teaching 5-Day Clubs!

 

 

Don't ever think that because you are homeschooling your kids that you have to be all things for them.  If there is an area where they are struggling, it is wise to seek outside help.  I am so thankful that my mom is not teaching school this year.  It is so nice to see her more often and have her emotional support.  Once a week, the two older kids ride their bikes to her house for handwriting lessons.  It is amazing how much that one hour helps us out and boosts my own teaching in that area with them, as handwriting has always been something I intensely dislike teaching!  If you have the ability to hire a tutor to help your children with a certain skill that is difficult for you, then by all means, do it!  If you'd like to but don't have the funds, consider a bartering arrangement.  Maybe your "Math whiz" friend would give your children lessons in exchange for you teaching her children to sew/bake/garden/write/play piano, etc.

 

 

Some school districts allow homeschoolers to participate in part-time classes and also to join in public school sports.  Many homeschooled high schoolers take community college courses.  Internships and apprenticeships are valuable learning experiences for teens that could help jump-start their career goals.  Having your teen get a paper route, a job, or start their own business are also opportunities for them to mature and build character.

 

 

In previous posts I've talked about simplifying homeschooling and maintaining consistency.  I realize that taking on too many activities sabotages these efforts.  Activities and learning outside of the home can be great things so long as they are done in moderation, taking into account the child's age, abilities, your own "busy-ness threshold" and finances.  The challenge is to keep the "home" in home-centered, without making it home-bound!

 

Classical Conversations Conference Part 6

Consistency

 

In my opinion, you cannot give your child a decent education if you cannot be consistent. 

This is not to say that I think homeschoolers need to achieve perfection. 

None of us are perfect people, perfect Christians, perfect wives, perfect parents, or perfect homeschoolers. 

Even though perfection alludes us on this earth, consistency with schoolwork is possible.

 

Another word for consistent is harmonious.  Remember that word from this series?  *w*

 

Consistency means dependability.

 

It is the opposite of erratic and irregular.

 

One way we "find harmony" as homeschooling parents is through being consistent with our teaching of our children.  An example from Leigh Bortins book "Echo in Celebration" (available free in PDF form online) that really stuck with me was this one:

(I'm paraphrasing and adapting it to illustrate my point here.)

 

Jayne's grandma had a cow.

The cow got milked every day.

Whether it was raining, snowing, or the sun was shining the cow got milked.

The day Jayne's grandma died, the cow got milked.

The day the relatives came for the funeral the cow got milked.

The day after the funeral the cow got milked.

 

Are our children's educations of less importance than the cow?

 

Though we would initially say "No!" to this question, our actions will tell the true answer.

We always have time for the things we want to have time for.

A person who owns a cow makes time to milk that cow.

 

 

Do we consistently make time for the kid's lessons even when it cuts into our own agenda?

Do we model a love for learning and reading for our children on a regular basis?

Do we demand excellence from our kids or let them do just enough to scrape by?

Do we strive for school to be "easy" and fun above all else?

Do we cancel school when we're having a rough day or feeling lazy?

Do we allow our kids 100 days off from schoolwork and reading and learning during the summer months?

 

 

I know many, many homeschooling parents.  While the majority are doing their best to teach their children and give them an excellent education, I know that consistency can be a struggle for many families.  Life is full and there are many interruptions.  If it hard for people to commit to events and groups, then you can imagine how hard it is for parents to not want to give up when schoolwork demands sacrifice and struggle.

It isn't easy, and it takes a LOT of discipline.

Consistency is of extreme importance to our children's education.

If you can't provide consistency for your children, I think your children are better off in public or private school.

 

Some families will approach academics more rigorously than others.  Some will spend 8 hours a day doing school and others only 2.  Some will want to include lots and lots of extra-curriculars or foreign languages and other families will stick with the basics.  What books you use and what teaching method and what extras and crafts you do are less important than the fact that you remain dependable about carving out time for learning on a regular basis. 

 

When moms ask me for advice on homeschooling I tell them that, after reliance on the Lord, personal discipline is the key to successful homeschooling.  There are lots of great curriculums on the market, but it won't matter which one you buy if you are not faithful to use it!  I knew that I lacked discipline when Ali was a preschooler.  My life was pretty chaotic, with 3 kids 3 and under, and how each day went depended largely on whether or not I got any sleep the night before or how many kids were sick or had diaper blowouts.  It was an exhausting season of life. 

 

However, I knew that in a couple of years, Ali would be starting school.  I knew that jumping in from "uber-flexible mode" to daily schooling would be hard for me.  So, I slowly began to build school time into our days.  We did morning Bible stories and songs together.  My parents paid for Ali to attend Christian pre-school for a year and that helped us get into more of a "school mode."  When she was 4, we did a little bit of school each day, working on fun projects, crafts, and reading lots of library books together.  By the time she did start homeschooling officially we were in a habit of making time for school studies in our busy days.

 

Each year, as my kids get older and need to spend more and more time on schoolwork and reports, our time spent homeschooling grows.  This means we have less time for some of the activities and playdates that we used to enjoy.  I ignore the phone during school time and have to put chores and laundry on hold for later in the day.  It requires my own committment first and foremost because I am the model my kids will follow.  If I am ready and excited about school every morning, they will get on board and join me.  I have found that 8am-11am is the best time for productivity at our house, so if we waste those hours, getting schoolwork done becomes a much harder task.  I have found that for our own family, jumping into school immediately after breakfast is the best way for us to get on task and accomplish what we need to for the day.  Dirty dishes may sit in the sink, but they will wait.  We can get to the chores later; studying and learning are more important ways to utelize our best hours of the day.  There are times we have to be flexible, like our 2 weeks of homeschool swimming lessons every fall, but this is our plan for the majority of our school year.

 

An excellent education requires consistency.

I love that Classical Conversations helps parents remain consistent with weekly support and accountability, yearly training practicums (which are offered for FREE!), and outstanding content that truly raises the bar for kids in our culture today, who have little, if any, understanding of History, English Grammar, Latin, Science, Geography, and also have a lack of ability to speak well in front of an audience.  By consistently working on memory work and memorizing a little each week, CC students come away from their school year retaining most of what they've studied and knowing more than most people learn in college.

 

 

If consistency is a problem for you, get some help! 

Talk to some experienced homeschool moms about what has helped them to be consistent with schoolwork.  Find a trusted person you can pray with about growth in consistency.  Join a homeschool co-op or a CC group if you have one in your area.  If you order curriculum packages, join an online forum or fb page related to the program and check in with people weekly, sharing joys and struggles.  Put your phone or internet in lockdown for certain hours if it helps you avoid distractions. 

 

The kids will model your behavior. 

If you make studying a priority, they will follow in your footsteps!

 

Milk the cow!

 

 

 

 

Classical Conversations Conference Part 5

Investment and Accountability

 

 

If there's one thing I've noticed over the last several years, it's that few people today are committed to things they start.  I've seen it in every single group that we've been involved with in a social setting.  Whether it's AWANA, Youth Group, Pray and Play, Bible Study, homeschool events, Kindermusik Group, Frugal Friends Club, Book Club, exercise group, sports activities, 5 Day Club, Library Story Time, etc. it is rare to find folks who stick with a group and make it a priority to be there on a consistent basis.  To be fair, rearing children is truly exhausting, and many times our kids' activities and illnesses dictate how committed we can be.  I am a busy mom so I understand how busy moms are and how full life gets.  I know that being flexible and caring for your family and their health comes first and that there are many interruptions to life as a homemaker that are unplanned.  Also, things like pregnancy, having a special needs child, health concerns, having preemie babies, etc. can completely de-rail one's life and committments.

 

But it is disappointing when people don't show up.  I've planned or been a part of countless get-togethers that have had a poor showing of attendees, even if several people said they were going to come.  I've seen my husband plan many things that fell through when people backed out at the last minute.  While some have great reasons for missing, a lot of times it comes down to "I didn't feel like it" or "I forgot" or "I committed to two things on the same day and had to pick one."  I think oftentimes there are so many good choices, that people fail to choose the best things over the good and load their schedules so much that they end up having to back out of some things.

 

 

One thing I had drilled into me as a kid was to be a person of your word.  To be faithful.  Hence, the title of this blog...Faithful Homemaking.  Sometimes I think that all you need to be a leader nowadays is to be consistent at something, because consistency is so rare.

 

 

One thing I LOVE LOVE LOVE about Classical Conversations is that it requires an investment.

Because you pay tuition in advance and sign a contract saying you will actively participate, you are obligated to be at the weekly class time unless you are very ill.  Because the kids learn so much during class, a parent will not want their children to "miss out" unless it is absolutely necessary.

For someone like me who enjoys interaction with other homeschoolers and desires for my kids to have great fellowship with their friends, it is a dream come true to be in a group where people are truly invested.

 

 

At one point someone asked if we could do the CC material together as a group, and not be registered with the official CC, and therefore, not charge tuition.  It sounded like a great idea considering that for most homeschool families money is very tight.  But, the truth is, if CC were free, there wouldn't be as much incentive to be faithful.  If you didn't get your schoolwork done, or if the weather was dreary, you might just want to stay home.  I think the same few people would get stuck doing all of the work, and then would end up feeling bitter about it.  In the CC model, the parents who do the majority of the work, tutors, are compensated financially.  People have to INVEST in it to join and therefore, only those who are serious enough to back their intention with cold, hard, cash are a part of the group.  Although it's expensive for us, I feel that it is worth every penny.  And I'm speaking from a stand-point of being at the bottom of the totem pole regarding incomes!  Though CC costs more than our former homeschool program did, it still costs only 1/10th of what Christian school tuition is here. 


Another reason I love being a part of Classical Conversations is the accountability as a homeschool mom.  One of my student's moms and I were talking over our picnic lunches yesterday about how having to be prepared for our group time each week pushes us to do more schooling with our kids.  I'm a very disciplined person, and I care about my children's education, so whether or not I am in CC I will be working hard to ensure that they get a quality education.  However, there are definitely some things that used to get put off or skipped because there wasn't a deadline on them.  Now there is a deadline: our CC community time on Tuesday mornings.  So the kid's oral reports had better be researched and ready to go!  They better know their memory work and have practiced their map tracing, fine arts, and math facts at home!



Accountability isn't just good for the moms, it's great for the kids too!  Positive peer pressure is a beautiful thing!  I have two students who are pushing each other to become Memory Masters.  This is no small undertaking, but their friendly rivalry will hopefully keep them going so they earn that prestigious title.  (A Memory Master is one who can perfectly recite all 24 weeks worth of grammar at the end of the year.)  It's great for the kids to give weekly oral reports in front of the class and to practice the memory work at home so they can ace the review games in class.  I don't have to beg my kids to work on memory work.  The LOVE to memorize.  One evening when I was at a Missionary Dinner they persuaded Daddy to play the memory work CD for the whole year (he didn't realize they aren't supposed to "jump ahead" but are supposed to only learn the current week's grammar) because they wanted to learn more history songs.


So, this is why I'm glad that CC costs.  It does cost some money.  It does require agreement with the statement of faith and the students' signed statement of cooperation.  It does demand that you be involved because you are the primary teacher of your child.  You must either tutor or be observing in class and aiding the tutor at CC community each week; you can't just drop your kid off so you can have free time. 
However, the return on investment is amazing!


Anything worth having is worth investing in!


Would my students have spent so much time on their biome projects if they hadn't had to do a speech on them in class?  Probably not!

 

Classical Conversations Conference Part 3

For the past few weeks I've been writing a weekly post (just me being rhetorical!) about what I learned at the recent CC conference in Casper.

Today's post is on what makes classical education different from modern education.

 

I'm not trying to criticize those who do things differently than I do, or to say that teachers in public schools don't teach well.  Most teachers out there are pouring themselves out and spending countless hours working to instruct kids and invest in them.  You may disagree with me, and that's okay!  I'm just sharing information from the conference that I found to be interesting.

 

 

Modern education has the student at the center, with the various fields of study (subjects) being taught separately.

 

A poor Christian education mimics the modern educational model exactly, except that Bible is thrown in as an additional subject.

 

 

A good Christian education will have God at the center, rather than the student, and will showcase God's role in each of the subjects.

 

 

 

A great Christian education will have God at the center and show not only what God's role is in each of the subjects but will also teach how we can know more of God from each of these subjects.

 

 

A classical Christian education will have God at the center, and will study God's supremacy in each study, as well as discovering more of God through that art, and will show the unity of each subject, both with God and with all other subjects.

(I realize my pic only shows 4 studies, that was just to make my drawing simpler, not because classical education skips out on the other areas of study!)

 

This is THE MISSING LINK for me personally regarding education! 

 

All of my life this lack of interconnectedness has been an irritation, and I'm finally having an epiphany about the unity of all subjects!

 

Most of us were trained to cram for the test, pass it, and then dump the info we had studied.  We knew how to jump through the hoops at our respective schools to pass the class, get the grade, get the transcripts, get into the college to get the job, etc.  But if you ask most High School Seniors to tell you about the 8 rules of speech, who Charlemagne was, how to conjugate a verb, or to give a discourse on whether or not truth is relative, most couldn't do it.  We have a country full of kids who can regurgitate info in their short-term memory on demand, but who can't think for themselves or teach others. 

 

 

God designed us to find harmony.  When we find harmony (whether that is learning to play a beautiful piece of music, building something with wood, doing math calculations, recognizing constellations, cleaning up our kitchen, sewing a new dress, writing a lovely essay, preparing a logical argument, figuring out a puzzle, excelling in a sport, writing a blog post explaining the methods of education, etc. etc. etc.) we are acting like God.  We were made in His image, and therefore, we were made to calculate and create!

 

Even as Christians, sometimes we want the "easy" answers.  One example given by our speaker, Andy, would be the Life Application Study Bible.  We don't want to discover things for ourselves, research, look things up, etc.  We want to be spoon-fed the answers.  "Oh, that's what that Bible passage means and that's what I should take from it.  Okay!"

CRAM

PASS

DUMP

 

We are conditioned to expect a practical sermon, rather than a normative one.  Our pastor consistently preaches normatively, but it has been hard for many people in our congregation to get used to because most have had years and years and even several decades of practical teaching.  This is not to say there is never life application in normative teaching, rather, you have to work harder, and actually think about what God's Word is saying instead of just being "spoon-fed" by the pastor each week and told to do these 3 steps to be a better person, etc. etc.

 

Recently a friend of mine was sharing with me how her 12 year-old granddaughter is so frustrated in public Jr. High school. She says, "Nothing makes sense, nothing is related to anything else, and I just don't understand why I have to sit there and learn this irrelevant information."

A classic case of D.I.

Disharmony irritation.

 

Perhaps some kids get so used to the way things are that they don't notice the irritation anymore.  It's like wearing an itchy wool sweater--eventually you won't notice the discomfort if you wear it daily.

But for this young girl, and for myself, the discomfort is noticeable and hard to ignore.

 

 

Disharmony has been irritating to me both as a student and as a teacher of my own children.

And let's face it, as parents, when our kids act disharmoniously with each other, doesn't it drive us absolutely out of our minds?  We crave harmony, in our world, in our homes, in our churches, in our communities, and especially in our studies.  If you don't have the tools of learning, namely, a foundation in the Truth, then when you set out to become educated you do more than just fail....you do harm!  (See Dante's quote in the picture above).  You can leave God out of your life and go to the best schools in the world, but you will not find harmony in education, research, or study without Him at the center.  As Augustine said, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Him."

 

 

Because of The Fall, and our subsequent human condition, we are all "brain damaged."  Some have more damage than others, and we all have it in different areas, but as we find harmony, or in other words, "get educated" we repair the damage.

 

 

 

So, seek today to find harmony, and as a result you will discover more of God and make more of Him known to others.  When your child asks you, "Why do I have to do math?"  remind her that math relates to harmonics (another term for music) and that music is just numbers moving, just as astronomy is shapes moving.  When your child complains about having to research, remind him that "The Greeks studied astronomy not only for naviagtion but for interest in TRUTH, WISDOM, and VIRTUE."  Tell him that knowing the star patterns, or his math facts, or how to write in cursive, makes him a better person. 

 

 

"A mind that has studied the stars is conditioned to see things that cannot be seen any other way...."

 

 

 

Did you miss the first couple of posts in my series?

 

Part 1  Freak-Out Homeschool Moms

 

Part 2  The Way We Learn

 

Classical Conversations Conference Part 2

 

Last week I wrote about the CC conference that I recently attended in Casper.  I learned so much there that I'm breaking down the info into 6 parts to share with you here on my blog. 



One of the things we talked extensively about at the conference was the trivium.  I've read The Well-Trained Mind and studied a little bit in the past about classical education, so I knew what the trivium was.  For those of you who don't know what it is, the word trivium is Latin for "the three paths."  In medieval times, students were trained via the trivium in preparation for the quadrivium.  The quadrivium means "the four paths."  Together the trivium and the quadrivium comprise the 7 liberal arts.


Trivium
Grammar
Logic
Rhetoric



Quadrivium
Arithmetic
Geometry
Music
Astronomy



Classical Conversations follows the model of the Trivium by training younger children grammar (words and facts), the older children logic (reasoning and understanding how facts work together), and the high schoolers rhetoric (understanding and the ability to express/teach/debate).

Leigh Bortins, the founder of Classical Conversations, puts the Trivium into today's computer lingo in this way:

Input
Processing
Output


Our conference speaker, Andy, declared that EVERYTHING we've ever learned has been learned in this manner because this is how our brain works.   We learned to speak as infants from hearing words over and over and memorizing them.  We learn to read the same way, using the "grammar" of phonetic sounds, putting them together (logic), and understanding the words that they make (rhetoric).  In order to become rhetorical on any subject, you first need to have the grammar base.  Some people get confused by the term grammar and assume it means English grammar.  But grammar in classical education simply refers to "building blocks" or the foundations of education.


Think of a puzzle:

Grammar = puzzle pieces
Logic = putting the pieces together
Rhetoric = completing the puzzle


We had a math emphasis at the conference and as we were working through some math problems together, some us were feeling a bit stupid.  Andy told us that we are not dumb, we didn't know how to solve some of the problems because we didn't have the grammar (building blocks) for them.  So true!  The things I struggled with in school were things I had no grammar for.  I had not been taught the lingo or facts of science, or algebra, but was expected to figure out problems and come up with answers! 

You are never too old to become a grammarian.  If you want to learn to dance, to cook, to speak Chinese, to sew, to change a tire on your car, to homeschool, to ride horses, to do equations in physics, etc. you need to first get the building blocks before you begin to put them together and master them.  I am preparing to tutor my CC kids in Latin by immersing myself in as much of it as I can so that I can learn the terms, eventually understand them, and in turn, share them with my children.


In biblical terms, the trivium could be described as:

Knowledge (grammar)
Understanding (logic)
Wisdom (rhetoric)



Even as I write this post, I'm being rhetorical.  I've gained the information at the conference through taking notes, remembering things I heard and took into my memory bank, processed the info to understand it, and am now sharing it with my blog readers. 

I could write pages and pages about the trivium and the way we learn.  However, others have done far better than me at explaining the trivium in depth.  I suggest you read this article for more grammar on the subject! 

Also, Leigh Bortins has a WONDERFUL, free ebook online called Echo in Celebration, which is a great read!

Our Homeschool Curriculum 2013

I share our curriculum plan here to inspire and encourage, not to guilt anyone into thinking they should do it like us.  Every homeschool family is unique and there are a variety of ways to homeschool and many wonderful resources to choose from.

 

This year, we are trying Classical Conversations for the first time.

 

 

This whiteboard, a fun freebie I scored when our church was throwing out old junk, sits on our homeschool table and contains all the info the kids will memorize each week.  Each week, every student is required to give a presentation.  For the little kids, this is like Show n' Tell, but for the older kids, it is more like a speech, requiring thought and preparation.

 

The Foundations guide is ONE book, containing all the info the kids will learn from age 4 until the 6th grade.  Each half-page contains the week's worth of memory grammar.  There are 3 cycles of information so my 3 younger kids will end up going through all of the cycles twice; they will know the grammar well!

(I jotted down some notes to remember which color I am using for each subject on the white board and where each subject is placed so that I can be consistent each week).

 

 

My wonderful director, Kristi, totally spoils her tutors with laminated schedules, maps, etc.

The schedule contains the plan for our 3 hour school time together each Tuesday morning.

Kristi blessed each of the tutors with monogrammed Thirty-One bags specifically for CC.  These totes are LOADED with fun school supplies and projects for the kids to do.

 

 

Our geography and history focus this year (Cycle 2) is Europe.

 

Kristi made up little geography folders for each of the students so that they can trace the maps each week when we learn our new geography grammar.

 

 

 

 

I borrowed the 200+ Timeline Cards from Kristi not only so I could show the kids the picture that correlates to the Timeline info they are memorizing each week, but also because we are thirsty for the background info contained in the Timeline song.  I played the Timeline song (on our CC memory work cds) on our family camping trip a couple of weeks ago and now the kids beg for it every morning while I make breakfast.  My husband has surprised me by getting really into it and he is always googling different events from the song to find out more.  Now we have the cards on hand to study as we learn the song!

 

We have a Fine Arts lesson each week at CC.  There is a 6-week focus on drawing, a 6-week focus on playing the tin whistle and learning music theory, a 6-week focus on orchestra, and a 6-week focus on studying great artists from history.

 

A friend gave me this book as a gift and I can't wait to delve in.  This will be our first read-aloud to enjoy together after lunch and before Rest Time each day.  It's not part of the CC curriculum but it follows along perfectly with the Cycle 2 work on the Middle Ages this year.

 

 

 

For Phonics/English Ali and Jer will each do 2 pages per day in the Explode the Code Series.

Ali will also do 2 pages in her Prescripts Cursive Writing Book.

Jer will practice handwriting by copying sentences from Bob books.

 

 

 

For Math, I have several Math workbooks we've collected over the years and they will each do about 1 hour of Math per day in their grade level.

 

 

 

Daddy reads a few chapters of the Bible to the kids each evening before they go to bed.  We will practice Bible memory work and do a morning devotional over breakfast.

 

 

 

For reading, we will be doing the Book-It program again, with monthly reading goals.  Ali loves to read, so it won't be hard for her to read a lot of chapter books.  Jer will continue to build his skills by reading aloud to a parent or sibling for 15-20 minutes per day.  One book that is perfect for first graders is the Bible reader from MFW.  I plan to have him read from that daily.  I will read aloud to the kids after lunch.

 

 

Justus will not be doing anything formal beyond his CC memory work and practicing a little presentation for school each week.  He recently taught himself to read simple words, so sometimes he enjoys reading word lists off the white board.  He likes to practice writing his name and loves the little electronic handwriting game we got at a yard sale this summer.  Katri will be coloring pictures, doing puzzles, magnet dolls, watching Dora, etc. during our school time.

 

 

 

Borrowing from the incredible wisdom I've gained from Leigh Bortins, founder of Classical Conversations, this is how I plan to structure our school days this year:

 

Wake before the kids for prayer/Bible reading

Shower and dress

Kids wake and get dressed, make beds, use the restroom, and come upstairs

Play the Timeline song while Ali puts breakfast on the table

Practice Scripture memory and read a devotional while the kids eat breakfast

Meet in the living room to review the grammar for the week (use songs, review games, hand motions, etc. to make the memory work fun) approx. 20-30 min.

Work on Math lessons (1 hour)

Recess and snack

Phonics/Handwriting/English time (1 hour)

Reading (30 min)

Chores

Lunch

Read-Aloud time

Rest Time

Free Time

Dinner

Brief Review of weekly grammar (5-10 min)

 

 

 

We are on the online community of CC, called CC Connected, so I can go on and pull up the computer-version memory work tutorials.  Since my kids love computer games, this will be another fun way they can learn their memory work during their free time.  I'm glad that all of the memory work is on cds and online so that if I get sick, school can still go on without my voice being tortured, like last year!

 

 

 

Since most of the memory work is learned through songs, I don't feel the need to include extra music lessons.  Because we can't afford piano lessons, swim club membership, or ballet right now, our schedule is pretty simple and that's okay with me!  The kids will likely be involved in Lego Club and a creative writing class offered at the library this year, Ali will be in AWANA, and they will all be ecstatic about homeschooling swimming lessons this fall, but we will take each activity in stride as our schedule allows.

 

 

 

In my CC class, I have 8 students, ages 8-12.  Ali will be in my class this year.

My boys will be in my friend Lori's class with kids ages 5-7 and KK will be in the nursery with my friend Mindy and all the little tots in our group.

 

I haven't decided if we'll do school 3 or 4 mornings per week in addition to the morning of school together with our group.  I guess we'll see how things go.

 

I'm excited for a great year and can't wait to learn alongside the kids!

Classical Conversations Conference Part 1

 

 

I've only been homeschooling for 4 years, so I'm still new at this, but if there is one thing I've learned in my short time of homeschooling, it's that the homeschool mom has to be flexible.  Life circumstances change from year to year and not every method meshes with every child.  No homeschool mom out there can successfully make a 10-year, or even a 5-year plan, and expect things to go smoothly.  Homeschool plans need to be tweaked yearly, if not monthly!

 

 

This year, God has led us to do Classical Conversations.  I'm so excited and inspired by the recent CC convention that I attended with my friends, but I'm still open to whatever He has for us down the road.  There are days when I'm quite sure that my two strong-willed kids will find themselves in public school in a year or two.  Homeschooling is hard!  Being around your children day in and day out can be rugged, no matter what awesome curriculum you are using!

 

 

When I began homeschooling, I just assumed that we'd stick with My Father's World for the long haul.   I loved all of the fun projects we did together during our 2 years of MFW Kindergarten studies.  I still highly, highly recommend their curriculum, but know that with the number of  kids that I have, and their personalities, I personally am unable to do MFW anymore.  For my sanity, I need a more-streamlined curriculum.

 

 

I was soooo blessed by the recent CC parents' practicum in Casper that I drove home with eyes misty with gratitude at the encouragement I received.  Our speaker, Andy, was excellent and my fellow homeschool moms there were so helpful and amazing.  I was refreshed by the teachings and fellowship (and let's not forget time away from the kids!) and came home with over 23 notebook pages of handwritten notes from the 2 days I was there.  I was able to pinpoint where I could grow and how I'd been making my life harder than I needed to in my last year of homeschooling.

 

 

 

Because I have SO MUCH to share from the conference, I will break it into a 6-part series so as not to overwhelm you here!  So, expect a new post on Classical education every Tuesday here for awhile!

 

 

 

One of the first things our speaker, Andy, did was make fun of us.  There he was, in a room chock-full of zealous homeschool moms, and he began to rib us.

His affectionate term for homeschool moms, his own wife included, is "Freak-Out Homeschool Moms."  He described the typical enthusiastic homeschool mom with great ideas who wonders if she's doing enough for her kids.  He even caught some of us being "FOHMs" right there, frantically taking notes so as to absorb every word he said and planning homeschool book purchases from an ear-marked catalog.

 

 

 

Andy did a little skit in which he showed us a History timeline card and what the typical FOHM does.  Instead of just training their child to memorize the phrase (for example: The Fall of Rome) and perhaps read a brief description of it, the FOHM goes ballistic trying to get their kid to understand everything there is to know about the Fall of Rome.  They build a model of Rome, and/or read 10 books on Rome from the library, and/or try to do a play on the subject.  Meanwhile, the child's brain, in the grammar stage, is a sponge, ready to easily memorize the phrase in the timeline, but not ready to absorb all the extra info.  Later down the road, as the child matures and grows, he will enter into a stage where he can process more details and have an understanding of what we can learn from history, and if he has memorized the facts as a younger child, he will have the memory "peg" in his mind from which to start from.

 

 

 

Andy's little example really hit home for my friend Lori and I.  Lori has used Sonlight for many years.  We both try to make school as fun and interesting as we can and we go overboard trying to immerse the kids in literature and information, without realizing how simple school really can be!  Lori will be teaching my 2 boys this year in CC and I will be teaching 2 of her kids!  So, it was fun to learn together at the conference.  When Andy talked about how LESS IS MORE and KNOWING FEWER THINGS WELL rather than many things vaguely, I felt as though a 50# weight had been lifted from my back.  You mean, I don't have to add a bunch of extras to the weekly lessons to be doing an okay job as a homeschool mom?  You mean, we don't have to learn all of the "Why's?" right now, and we don't have to understand everything we are memorizing or studying?  You mean we don't have to do everything the curriculum suggests to succeed in homeschooling? 

 

 

SO.  FREEING.

 

Andy's solution to Freak-Out Homeschool Mom syndrome is:

 

BREATHE

Love God.

Love your husband.

Love your kids.

 

A few times during the conference, he had us repeat this with him to remind us what is truly important.

 

Regardless of what schooling method your family is doing.

Regardless of what curriculum you choose.

Regardless of how organized or academically proficient you are.

 

Love for God and our families is what is truly important.  Because we care about our families deeply, it's all too easy for us homeschool mamas to become FOHMs and forget the basics. 

Sometimes we need to just breathe and consider what is eternal.

 

 

This year, because of the conference, I am being the least like a FOHM than I have ever been.  Normally by this time of year, we'd have started school with a huge sh'bang and I'd have an hourly schedule neatly typed and ready to follow.  I'd be scouring the library for all kinds of supplemental books that I could read to add to the curriculum and trying to get a head-start on the school year so we don't fall behind.

 

 

But this year...I'm not.  I'm so thrilled with CC's simple method that I'm content to wait until mid-September when we start school with our group, knowing that we will still finish 6 weeks ahead of the public schools in the Spring.  I'm confident that my kids will learn everything they could possibly need to know with this program in our 24 weeks of school.  As for Lori, Kristi, and I, and the 6 other moms doing CC with us, we are excited to be learning along with the kids.  I have a college degree, and I do not know 1/24 of the information that my kids will be memorizing this year, so I can't wait to dive into it myself and learn, learn, learn! 

 

If you are a FOHM, or just a FOM in general, take a quiet moment to breathe deeply and focus on what really matters.

Love God.

Love your husband.

Love your kids.

 

 

God is with you friend!

 

 

Next Tuesday:  Part 2--The Way Our Brains Learn