Why We Chose Classical Conversations

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                As you have read in a previous post I once said, “I would never home school”.  I went to public school and was raised by two public school teaching parents. When it came time to put our oldest in school the Lord laid it on my heart to home school.  I didn’t fight it but didn’t quite know how it would work. I was chatting about homeschooling with my friend at church and she mentioned Classical Conversations. She had 3 children all of whom were in the program at the time. They were wonderful kids, well spoken, polite, and a joy to be around. I wanted to look farther into this program because I was very overwhelmed at the thought of curriculum and figured her kids were turning out pretty well! She recommended I read Dorothy Sayers essay “The Lost Tools of Learning” (and I encourage you to do the same). 6 years later I am so blessed by Classical Conversations. I know it’s the reason we have enjoyed our homeschooling experience so much.

                I spoke with the director of our local campus and she told me a bit about the program and community. Mister and I discussed it and decided we would try it out and attended an orientation meeting and met the other families.  We left the meeting still a bit overwhelmed but excited to have finally made a decision about what we were going to do in the fall.

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                Our orientation came up and we met our class, tutor and new friends. We were very excited though I had no idea how my little 5-year-old was going to remember these things. But he did! Even Mr. 2 was remembering the memory work. We did most of our review listening to the CD in the van and practicing a bit at home. We used to be able to judge how much traffic between our house and the gym based on how far into the timeline we got each morning.

                6 years later I Mr. 1 is in Foundations and Essentials and Mr. 2 is in Foundations. This is our second time through Cycle 1 and even though it is now a new edition Mr. 1 has retained much of the Cycle. We are a part of our 4th community since we started and each group has been different and wonderful in a variety of ways. I feel that the major reason we have enjoyed it is the community.  Our boys always look forward to seeing friends on community day. I look forward to it too! There is so much support and encouragement that comes from meeting with other homeschool moms, both seasoned and new. I truly enjoy the flexibility this program offers. It can be structured where you do lap books, experiments and specific study based on that week’s memory work or you can simply listen to the memory work while doing jumping jacks or on a family walk. Both methods will help students retain the information, it all depends on your family.  The simplicity of the method and program is a beautiful thing.

                A classical approach to education has afforded us many things.

• Teaching all ages of children at one time (think one room school house)
• A biblical worldview
• Integrated subjects that saves time while schooling creating time to do other things like play and read together.
• The trivium is a more natural way to learn for children and parents.
• As a mom I am truly reclaiming my education in ways I didn’t realize possible.

If you are considering homeschooling with Classical Conversations, I encourage you to contact your local Support Representative or Director. Attend an open house and your local Practicum.  These two events will give you an idea of the community and the program as well as connect you to other homeschooling families. I have worn many hats in our years in CC. I have been a classroom mom, tutor, director and support representative. All of these roles have shown me how much this program has to offer. The discussions our family is already having and processing are refreshing.  The friends we have made are truly a blessing on this, sometimes rocky road, we are all trying to navigate as we strive to serve God and educate our children.

If you would like getting in touch with your local community or if you have questions please let me help you! Check out my Contact page!