We joined Classical Conversations for our second year of homeschooling. I had looked into it my first year, but I was intimidated and nervous to commit. Although it felt like a big leap to say yes this year, we have been so blessed by the program and our community.
In this post I’d like to take you through my fears before starting. There were a few things that caused me to hesitate, and I hope to share them with you in case you have the same thoughts. In a separate post, I will share what a Community Day looks like and how we add it into our homeschool day each week.
It’s important to note the age of my children. Right now I have two children in Foundations that are 6 and 4 years old. I also have a 2 year old and a 5 month old. If you are not sure what the Foundations program is, check out the Classical Conversations website here for a brief outline.
The Classical Conversation Blog has a great article on the joys of the Foundations program. You can find that here.
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At first glance, Classical Conversations can be intimidating.
The program is jam-packed full of INCREDIBLE information. When I first looked into Classical Conversations, I was scared to have to teach all of the information to my children. What if we couldn’t keep up? What if I was unfamiliar with the topic? What if my children do not enjoy the material? Can we even afford it?
Well, I was wrong to question it on all parts. Once we started, I realized my fears were unnecessary. God has provided us with a lovely community, a beautiful curriculum, and a confidence I didn’t know I needed.
This post is based on my opinion and my experience with Classical Conversations. Please note that every community is a little bit different. So some experiences may differ from mine. For some questions, it is important to contact your local community director for a specific answer.
The Tutor guides us each week on Community Day.
Every Monday we show up for Community Day and there is a Tutor there to help my children (and especially me!) learn the memory for the week. There are songs and motions for the majority of the subjects. We practice all of the new grammar together in class.
The name is “tutor” because YOU, sweet mama (or dad!), are the teacher 🙂 The tutor is there to help lead you into your week.
As my child learns, I am also in the room learning as well. My children are in separate classes, and I go back and forth between the classrooms throughout the day.
Even though they are in a different room, they are all learning the same thing. It’s one of my favorite parts of the program. Our whole family is participating in this together.
Classical Conversations has a guide, an app, and a CD to make practicing memory work so easy.
If I don’t have something memorized, it’s not a big deal. I’ll be honest, there are many weeks where I know absolutely nothing about the topic! It’s nothing to be scared of because I know I’ll learn it with them.
When I used to teach, I’d get asked questions all the time about things I didn’t know. That’s when you say something like, “Wow! That’s a great question. Let me show you how to look up your answer.” My point is…You do not have to be all-knowing!
There are three ways I can provide the memory work to my children. First, is the Foundations guide that breaks down every subject week by week. Follow the previous link and you can actually download the first five weeks for a preview!
Second, is the app that has all of the memorization organized by week. Pick your subject and the week you are studying and the app recites it for you. This is mainly what we use to study each day. I can even connect it to a blue tooth speaker and play it for the whole room to hear.
Last, is the CD. We listen in the car on the way to and from Community Day. Sometimes, we even practice on the go during the week. The CD has more than the app and is set up differently. It comes with three discs. One is songs for the semester. Another is weekly memory, and the third is separated by subject.
I enjoy having both the CD and the app. If you can’t afford both, I’d recommend purchasing the CD on your phone. That’s really what I should’ve done at first, but sometimes I just make spontaneous purchases and then realize later I could’ve saved a little money in the beginning!
All of these tools make it easy for me to provide memory practice for my family.
My children love learning the material.
There is so much to learn, and I’ve loved seeing my children developing interest in certain topics. Our favorite right now is the history songs. Learning about history was never a strength of mine growing up. Honestly, I had no interest in history. I was a math girl… but lately we just want to know more!
We love talking about all of the people and events mentioned in the songs. Everything has a catchy tune. Many nights I wake up singing the timeline song or something from history, but I don’t mind it!
My 2 year old has been singing the timeline song since she was 18 months old! It’s just such a blessing to be able to sit down together with my children while we sing and learn all together.
It’s not about “keeping up” in Foundations.
At this age, they are really just soaking up information and being exposed to so many different topics and subjects.
It sounds odd to some, but once you get to know the classical model, it makes more sense. If you are unfamiliar with the classical model, check out the following books:
“The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education” by Leigh A. Bortins
“The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home” by Susan Wise Baur
These books are constantly recommended to me as a new member to CC, especially the first one.
So, back to the topic of keeping up with the memorization…One of our history sentences this year was about the Boston Tea Party. We sang the song, made up some fun motions and memorized it during the week. That’s all. At this age, we don’t go in to detail about what every little thing is and why it happened. We are just laying the foundation (get it?) for a deeper learning in the future.
Do my children ask questions? Of course! I answer them the best I can. Sometimes I’ll find a YouTube video or a library book if they are interested in the topic, which is a great way to practice interest-led learning. In Foundations, there’s nothing to “keep up” with. It’s just opening their eyes to a world full of knowledge!
When my children are older, I will want to challenge them more, but right now, at ages 4 and 6, we are happy dancing and singing and learning bits of knowledge throughout the year.
Everything is laid out week by week.
I was nervous about teaching all of the material, but there is a Classical Conversations guide that has everything laid out week by week. It’s so organized and helpful! I encourage you to look at the preview of the guide so you can see for yourself how it’s broken down. It makes planning so easy!
Plus, if I do get confused, there is a huge community of Classical Conversations members that are supportive and helpful.
Our own community is like a family, ready to help me as we need it. There’s even bigger communities on Facebook and the Classical Conversations website. At no point do I feel alone in this journey. I know there are so many people out there studying the same things, and it’s comforting to know I can get help if needed.
The cost may seem like a lot at first, but as a big picture, I don’t mind it.
The website sums up the cost as $14 a week for the Foundations program. (I believe it changes once you move beyond Foundations.) That cost is per child, and there’s a couple of reasons I don’t mind it.
First, I had plans originally to put my children in a Christian school. The cost of that is substantially more than $14 a week. So, I feel like I’m saving quite a bit of money…but my children are still receiving the Christian education I desired.
Second, I have 2 children in Foundations, so technically that’s $28/week. That’s less than what it costs for me to feed Chic-Fil-A to my family in one sitting. So….educate my kids or eat chicken? (ha!) I don’t really think that each week, but it definitely puts it into perspective.
I’ve heard if you tutor, you can receive a discount, so that’s definitely something to keep in mind as you consider costs.
I will warn you that at the beginning of the year, especially the first year, the costs do add up and come at you fast.
It’s kind of like a hit-you-at-once sort of thing. It would be helpful to prepare mentally or financially for that.
There is a registration fee, a supply fee, and usually a campus fee. Check with your local community to know for sure what these are. There are also books/supplies you will need to begin.
At the Foundations level, I bought four things, and I’ll explain what they were and how we used them.
First, is the guide which was $99. I won’t have to buy it again and will use it for all of my children. So, it’s a one-time big ticket.
I also bought the CD, which is not necessary, but it has helped us. The CD is $35 and it is specifically for Cycle 3. We will get to use it each time we are in that cycle…as long as my children haven’t scratched it to death by then. (Also another reason I should’ve just downloaded it to my phone…learn from me!)
I purchased the Cycle 3 Trivium at the Table Placemat Maps ($12). This will also be a one time purchase for this cycle. I do not pull these out every week, but we do use them. They are really nice and match the maps we use on Community Day. As my girls get older, I am positive they will be used very often.
The app should be included in this list of costs. It seems pricey, but we use it EVERY DAY. I believe it was around $15. It is specific to Cycle 3.
Finally, each girl needed a tin whistle. I bought them from Amazon for about $12 each. The tin whistles can be reused, as well.
I did not buy anything else, although it was tempting! You will be tempted too! Just remember you don’t need it all at first!! Slow down and stick with the basics. Hopefully this gives you an idea of book costs. If I do my math right, I think that totals books around $85 for two children in Foundations.
I will say that I do wish I had the timeline cards, but we’ve done fine without them. My plan is to start purchasing them a little at a time when I can. That way we will eventually have the whole set.
One more thing about saving costs. Since we cover science and history in our memory each week, I do NOT purchase a separate science or history curriculum. We use library books or videos to learn more about the topics we cover, but I do not feel it is necessary to add anything else at their age or even a bit older.
Making a big decision for your family is a difficult task.
Ultimately, you have to decide what is best for your family. Some of my opinions may differ from yours, our financial situations may be different, and our goals of homeschool may not look the same. You know what’s best for your family.
I encourage you to pray about Classical Conversations if it’s on your mind. I didn’t join my first year, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. As we got closer to the second year, I knew I was going to have to make a decision. Sometimes, I feel like God uses those thoughts of “Why can’t I stop thinking about this…” to push us to new things.
After a lot of prayer, we felt led to go for it. We took the leap and became a part of a Classical Conversations Community, and I am so thankful we did!
What’s holding you back? Is there something you’re thinking about that’s not mentioned above? Leave a comment and let me know! I’d love to talk to you more about it.
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