Susie-Q&A

• Jun. 19, 2009 - All Things Made New

I've just spent the last three days learning a great deal about a new direction we will be taking in our homeschooling. I am so grateful to God for his answer to our prayers.

I wrote my first check today, so I guess that means I'm committed; thus, dear readers, I can tell you that we have decided to enroll the children in Classical Conversations this coming year. This week I've been learning about the language arts class my older three children will take, and my husband very willingly and graciously took on all the child care and my usual errands, while I drove an hour to and from the Parent Practicum each day.

What dedicated, gifted, home educating moms these ladies are! I was so blessed by all the presentations, and by all the hard work that obviously goes in to setting up these practicums (which are completely free for parents, although they do offer children's camps for a small fee).

I'm so impressed with this curriculum and the support it is to parents who want to educate their children according to the Trivium. I've always been impressed by classical education, but felt it was far beyond me to organize and teach. This program streamlines everything for me. All the children will be learning the same content, but it will be at their appropriate developmental level. So when we review during the week, we do it all together.

The children will meet one day a week with a group of other children for tutoring from a homeschooling mom contracted with CC. In the morning, they will drill facts related to every subject area. I will be able to observe and learn how to drill them myself the rest of the week.

After lunch, the three older children will be in Essentials class, where they learn...well, the Essentials of the English Language: grammar and writing skills (and a little math practice as well). During that time, the younger ones can either join in nursery and an art class (if I have the cash for it that week) or be picked up by their dad, or dropped at a friend's over lunch by me, if we can arrange that. (I may figure that out on a week by week basis.) Meanwhile, I get to sit in on the Essentials class, help the tutor, and learn right along with my older students! Much of what we covered this week in the Parent Practicum had to do with how the Essentials class is run and what it covers, but we also learned about logic, and each stage of the Trivium.

What seems so great about this is that it's structured, and rich in content, and yet it's still homeschooling with good ol' mom. You would not believe it, but today I witnessed a group of students reciting the history timeline from Creation to Modern America without missing a beat! Not only will they learn the timeline, but also history facts, geography facts, scientific classifications, math facts, etc. It's truly amazing what they can retain! Yes, it is rote memorization, but it is laying the groundwork, or as they put it, "pounding in the pegs" on which the children can hang future knowledge. And the tutors find lots of ways to make it fun and kinesthetic for the little ones. We will also be putting on family presentations periodically, which will be such good experience for all of us! We tend to be a bit hermetically sealed on our little homestead here. It's good to learn to get up and speak before others.

The beauty of this is that *I* get to be their teacher, but I also get the benefit of support from the tutor and other mothers, who are all on the very same page as me. The children get to catch the enthusiasm of the other students for the work. So even though it might be challenging for them in some areas (though mom has full purview to eliminate any work a child is not capable of), the group participation adds a real dash of excitement to the whole thing.

Add to that, it's just an excellent method of education. Teaching to the Trivium means respecting the child's developmental stages, but also not underestimating what the child can do. It also falls right into line with daddy's mission at the college, which has a classical emphasis. When a student graduates from CC, she will be fully prepared for any college she may wish to attend, but especially one that is classically oriented.

The weekly accountability will be very good for me, and the structure will shore me up in the areas where I'm weak (planning, organization). I think it will add so much to our homeschooling!

I've always loved ideas that are fully thought through by others, that I can implement right away. This is one of those ideas, along with the workboxes by Sue Patrick. (I can still use the workboxes to organize our work, by the way, so it was a good investment.) I am so grateful to other homeschooling moms who blaze the trail for me, so that I don't have to struggle alone.