Classical Conversations

A year and a half ago, while at a homeschool curriculum fair, I came across a new group in our area (although the national group was not new) called Classical Conversations (CC).  I knew immediately that I wanted Nicole to be a part of this group, except she had to be at least 4 years old before she could begin.  She had just turned 3, so we had a year to wait. 

To make a long story short, this past week, we found out that there was a group in Ft. Myers that had a spot open for a 4 year old.  Nicole and I went up on Tuesday for our first class, and we have decided to continue this group for the rest of the school year. 

What is it you ask?  It is a a program that help parents educate their children using the classical method, called the Trivium.  Classical Education trains students to learn any information through a
3-step process:

1) Memorize vocabulary and rules (also called grammar);
2) Process new concepts (also called dialectic or logic);
3) Clearly, persuasively and logically use grammar knowledge

to influence others (also called rhetoric).

—Leigh Bortins
from her book Echo in Celebration:
A Call to Home-Centered Education

Classical Conversations give parents the tools and classes to help educate their children at their respective learning levels.  Nicole is just beginning the program in a system called "Foundations".  She will spend the next 4 or 5 years working through three year long cycles to help her memorize a ton of information.  Then, she will begin Foundations "Essentials" where she begins taking the information she's memorized and begin processing the concepts and adding understanding to her knowledge.  Finally, when she is in late middle school, she will learn to take the knowledge and understanding to the next level of being persuasive in her thoughts through reports, debates and other writings.  Up until the early 1900s, all students were taught in a classical way...stressing the importance of memorization and knowledge before you can have understanding and before you can persuasively argue your point. 

This has been a big decision for us, because it works in a way contrary to the typical American school...the school you and I were brought up in.  There are some serious gaps in the way we teach our children today in America.  Now...I don't know how this is going to go.  We are going to give it our all and hopefully have a good grasp by the end of the year if this is the way for our family to educate our children. 

Classical Conversations is broken up into three cycles which last one year each.  It's really neat how it works because the children are learning all subjects in relation to each other. 

For instance, this year we are working through Cycle 2. 

History and Geography :Pre-Reformation World thru today

Science: Ecology, Astronomy and Physical Science 

Art: Impressionist. Drawing

Music: Composers, Musical theory (they are playing tin whistles right now.  I already know more about music than I did last week)

English: Pronouns, Adverbs, conjugations

Latin: Verb endings (conjugations)

Math:Multiplication tables, conversions, geometric formulas

Bible: Ephesians 6.

Each week, they are given a set of information to memorize.  Now, Nicole is 4....obviously she is not going to understand much of what she is memorizing...right now.  But, in a few years, she will already have the basic knowledge of historical timeliness, mathematics, science, grammar and Latin...so that when her mind is developed further into reasoning, she will be ready for it.  I know that I spent most of my high school and college years just trying to figure out what the grammar rules were, or who lived in what time period.  I was not able to think about why something happened, or why the mathematics laws worked...I was just trying to remember them.  The goal is that the knowledge is memorized, so that when they are older, they are able to move on to the "whys" and not just say "I don't get it".

According to the foundations flyer, these are the goals for ages 4-12....

To provide foundational instruction
for K-6th graders to enable them to
know God and to make Him known
• To participate in a rigorous memorization
program capitalizing on the
young child’s ability to absorb facts
• To instill a comprehensive understanding
of Providence by mastering
a timeline of significant historical
events
• To teach students to draw and label
continents from memory
• To develop a strong science
vocabulary, to participate in science
projects, and to teach the scientific
method
• To help students develop oral and
written presentation skills
• To model for students a respect for
God’s Word, the USA,
and one another
• To memorize the
major grammar rules of
the English language
• To demonstrate how
to learn Latin
• To master common
math tables, conversions,
squares, and cubes
• To encourage women to form
friendships and provide accountability
for educational excellence

This certainly is not right for everyone...and hopefully by the end of the year, we'll know if this is right for us.  It's an interesting way to teach your children, and I am really excited to be a part of it.

For more information, check out www.classicalconversations.com