My New Homeschooling Curriculum

In August of this past summer, during a visit with an old friend down in Kansas City, I stumbled upon a christian homeschooling co-op in my area. “Classical Conversations” it was called, which I thought was a little odd, but the fact that my friend in Kansas City is a successful homeschooler sparked my interest. When we arrived home from KC I got in contact with the director of Classical Conversations Eden Prairie immediately and, despite having no idea what the classical model of education really was, I felt sure and certain that we should become involved. For the most part, I was seeking a social network for myself and for Elijah and Zeke.  I guess I really didn’t care so much about the curriculum so long as my two older sons got to hang out with kids their own age.

Since September, though, and even with my very limited understanding of what classical education is, I have fallen in love with it! It is perfect for our family in every way. What I love most of all is that every student – from age four through 5th grade – learns the same material…only how the students interact with the material is different. The youngest students are in the “grammar stage.” Since a young child’s mind is able to absorb tons of information, that’s what they do. They memorize the “grammar” of different subjects like science, math, geography, English, history and (my favorite!) Latin. Next is the logic stage, when children are able to understand how the facts that they’re memorizing – and have memorized – all fit together into a logical framework.  Finally comes the rhetoric stage, when students learn to speak and write with originality. They use the grammar they’ve memorized and the rules of logic they’ve learned to express their conclusions in strong, clear language. Wow!  (Thankfully we’re a few years away from this stage!  It’s not till high school.)

Oh! And also? It’s really, really fun! Most of the grammar is set to music. Here are Elijah and Zeke singing their “Week Seven History Sentence.”

Isn’t that great?

There are so many other things I love about Classical Conversations…I could go on and on.  Like the fact that every student prepares a 2-3 minute presentation every week.  The topics are different each week; from “What Country in Europe Would You Like to Visit and Why” to “Tell us About Your Favorite Stuffed Animal.”…

Here is a photo of Zeke during his presentation from this past Thursday (Thursday is the day we meet). The presentation time is especially good for Zeke. He has a very real fear of public speaking – as many of us do! – and this fear has been slowly subsiding. He actually enjoyed doing his last presentation, as you can tell from the picture.  It’s been good for Elijah too.  Each week the students focus on a different aspect of public speaking.  Things like eye contact, posture, volume (which certainly isn’t an issue for Elijah!) and adding planned gestures.

And did you notice the music notes behind Zeke? They’re learning the tin whistle!  Which, in my opinion, is infinitely cooler than learning to play the recorder.

And this, to me, is the clincher: that the classical model of education is less about teaching students as much subject matter as possible, and more about teaching them how to learn…for themselves.  It’s about giving them the tools -”grammar,” logic, and rhetoric – to grasp any concept.  As a homeschooling parent, the one thing that I’m sure of is that I will leave gaps in my children’s education. What if I don’t have time to teach them, um… the five different groups of vertebrates, for instance?  What then? Well, my children will be able to fill in those gaps for themselves one day. And that relieves a lot of pressure!

P.S. I have an opportunity to host an informational-type meeting about Classical Conversations if any of you homeschooling moms around here are interested.  Let me know!