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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Balm for the Soul

Heart So Full

We spent our annual day in the mountains with family and life-long friends yesterday. It is a renewing of the spirit that I crave all year long. I had a huge grin on my face the whole drive up. The weather was gorgeous, the company lovely, and the water frigid (as usual).

Swimming, wading, jumping, floating, climbing, hiking, rock stacking and throwing, hot dog roasting, homemade goodies eating, chatting, reading, stick and rock collecting, exploring, fire building and poking, card playing, and basking in the sun.

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There were more than twenty of us, and most everyone else is camping overnight for several nights.

It’s difficult to tell from this next picture, but that log is so high. Can you see Lola at the top? The girl is fearless. And crazy.

Crazy Lola

And so stinkin’ cute.

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Russ had to work and coach (he works so hard and crazy hours!), but he surprised us by coming up for the last hour or two. We were all so happy to see him.

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Twins. [I’m wondering when Leif is going to pass up Luke in size. Probably not long now.]

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“Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it…”

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Our Summer Reading

Or “Harry Potter—The Gateway Drug Books”
Or “The Spell of Words”

Weave a Spell 

This post has been percolating for some time. I’ve been meaning to finish it, but I always end up reading instead! So today is the day.

Must. Finish. Book. Post.

Because each day I procrastinate it becomes more overwhelming to tackle.

Let’s just get to it.

We’ve been reading.

Let’s start with Harry Potter. This series really deserves a post of its own, but perfect is the enemy of good. Or half done is better than not at all.

Levi finished all 4,100 pages in four days. Luke took a little longer. I took longer still. But we’ve all finished. (Leif read four books and is begging to continue, but I’m trying to hold him off a little while since he’s only seven.)

I won’t go on and on (though I could), but let me just say something about the end: Rowling really sets you up for it. Sheesh. I even had an idea about what happens at the end, but I was still an emotional mess. I think I held off the tears until Mrs. Weasley went at Bellatrix. Then there was no hope for self-control.

"It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well."

(P.S. That’s why I hate politics. One really has to want leadership, as in will do anything including sell their soul to get it, don’t they? I think this is why I love George Washington. And Prince Albert (known to me only through the movie The King's Speech).)

After finishing the series, I read How Harry Cast His Spell, which I mentioned in this post, and Harry Potter's Bookshelf. I’d be hard-pressed to choose a favorite between the two. How Harry Cast His Spell covers the Christian symbolism in the books and Bookshelf is like the English Lit Major’s Guide to Harry Potter—or maybe a Western Lit Survey Course taught by a Christian Latin and Great Books professor. I loved the analysis of many of my favorite books and authors (A Tale of Two Cities, Jane Eyre, Jane Austen, Wilkie Collins, and so many more), and I’ve added a few more to my (endless) to-read list.

The day after Luke finished the series, he was sitting on the couch with a dazed look on his face. I asked him what was up. He said, “I need a new series to read.”

Luke is a good reader, but he hasn’t been particularly tenacious in his reading of longer books or series. But Harry Potter. Since then? He’s read all five of the Gregor The Overlander books by Suzanne Collins (author of Hunger Games), all five of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books, four of the Heroes of Olympus books, and the last book of the The City of Ember series (we’d been waiting for it at the library). And he has started the Seven Wonders series. This was after he read a bunch of Edith Nesbit books earlier in the summer, not to mention the various shorter books he has picked up here and there. Whew!

Levi (re)read most of the above as well as the Earthsea Quartet and I have no idea what else. [Oh, I forgot he also read Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra, the first two books of The Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis.]

Leif has discovered the Treasure Chest books by Ann Hood. He loves the time travel, historical fiction sort of books such as Magic Tree House and Imagination Station, so these are right up his alley.

Read. 

Now for my book stack…

For ChocLit Guild (my decade-long book club), I finished Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain. Don’t let the title of this one put you off. It is a murder mystery, a classically hilarious Mark Twain, and a fascinating look at both human nature and the culture of antebellum South. This would be an excellent book for discussion with a group of middle or high school students!

This month we’re reading Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold (fiction) and The Weight of Glory (non-fiction), both by C. S. Lewis. I enjoyed the following articles when I had finished Till We Have Faces:

::  Why Does Nothing End Well? @ CiRCE

“The class of two was captivated by the book, although, as we entered the two final chapters, their interest strayed and I worried. I worried that a sad suspicion which had originally struck me on my second read of the novel, many years ago, would finally be proved true on this reading. The ending of this book is not very good.”

::  Till We Have Faces @ The Well at the World’s End

“We are like a block of marble, unformed, and our life becomes the means by which the marble takes form, slowly, chip after painful chip. God works in us and through us by his love, wanting to turn us into those people we are meant to be: to grow up, to love and be loved. Until we are, our experience of the world is imperfect and we go stumbling about life as if we were blind. We cannot truly see until we have faces – until our eyes are fully formed, capable of seeing things beyond the cataracts of our daily existence.”

(The author of this blog post mentions Theosophy, which I had not heard of until it was mentioned in Harry Potter’s Bookshelf. Bit by bit I’m learning, and I love the interweaving of ideas when I’m deep in reading.)

Next up for ChocLit Guild is The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne. Did you know that the author of Winnie the Pooh wrote a mystery?

I also belong to a book club for local Classical Conversations moms, and this year we are deep-reading through Hamlet. I first watched these videos:

 

We then met in my studio (15 of us that evening) for a movie night. We only made it through the first 2.5 hours of Branagh's version, so we’ll meet again next month for the final 1.5 hours and the beginning of our discussion.

Speaking of book clubs, our Book Detectives met up again this month (also in my studio) for a lovely reading and discussion of one of my all-time favorite picture books, Corgiville Fair—a perfect choice for summer reading.

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Oh, and one more book club. Local CC moms also gathered to discuss The Question by Leigh Bortins. (We’ve just finished going through The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education over the past year, and we’ll be taking The Question a chapter at a time as well.)

If you’ve been counting, yes, this equals four book clubs. Luckily The Question meets at a local coffee shop each month, and I host ChocLit Guild only once a year or so.

Other than book club selections, I read a review of The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde and snagged a copy at the library. It was tough for me to get into the story, oddly, but I was delighted when the book was unexpectedly also mentioned in Harry Potter’s Bookshelf. Everything is intertwined, people.

A friend recommended The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, and I’m hooked just a few chapters in.

I’ve been meaning to read some Chesterton for years now, and I bit the bullet with In Defense of Sanity: The Best Essays of G.K. Chesterton. Oh, how I wish I had not wasted so much time! Every essay is delightful, hilarious, accessible, and profound. Most are only a few pages long, so they are perfect for reading one at a time each evening or in between other books.

Chesterton is immensely quotable, and my book is already filled with pencil marks. I should not make this post ridiculously long by sharing all my favorites, but I think it is apropos, considering the opening quote by C. S. Lewis, to end on a few choice bits from Chesterton’s essay “Magic and Fantasy in Fiction.”

“There runs through the whole tradition the idea that black magic is that which blots out or disguises the true form of a thing; while white magic, in the good sense, restores it to its own form and not another.”

“…In short, in so far as humanity became once more heathen, it believed more and more in the old dehumanizing spell, the freezing of the will by trance or terror, and less in the other legend of the hero or the helper who can break the spell.”

“…The Magician is the Man when he seeks to become a God, and, being a usurper, can hardly fail to be a tyrant. Not being the maker, but only the distorter, he twists all things out of their intended shape, and imprisons natural things in unnatural forms. But the Mass is exactly the opposite of a Man seeking to be a God. It is a God seeking to be a Man; it is God giving His creative life to mankind as such, and restoring the original pattern of their manhood; making not gods, nor beasts, nor angels; but, by the original blast and miracle that makes all things new, turning men into men.”

 

While we are on the subject of books, let me share a few links before closing.

::  The Virtue of Unread Books @ Story Warren. Yes. Yes. And Yes. This is our house.

“I’m not a poser; I’m prepared.”

::  Guilt Piling Up on the Nightstand @ Story Warren

 

Just for fun. [grin]

 

What are you reading this summer?

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Family, Friends, and Water

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We attended a wedding/family reunion on the Willamette River yesterday. It was a grand time of celebration and conversation—and swimming for the kids.

Today we joined friends for a birthday party at Foster Lake. More celebration and conversation—and a wonderful few hours of swimming for the kids.

Ahhhhh, summer bliss.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

On Friendship, Community, and Happiness

Friendship 

Russ took the three boys to a swim meet out of town this past weekend. They’ve been missing their boys’ camping trip the past two summers due to scheduling issues, so this was part swim meet, part camping, part adventure, part hanging out with the “swim team family.”

Lola and I had some girl time. We played. We read. We ran errands.

Saturday morning, Lola played with cousin Rilla at Bambi’s house while I spent a delightful few hours at a coffee shop with lovely friends, drinking hot chocolate and talking about education and life. [Officially, we are reading through The Question by Leigh Bortins and discussing one chapter at a time.]

That afternoon, I met up with one of those friends for a few hours of canoeing on the lake. Her husband was willing to let Lola stay and play with their two girls at their house, so we were given the gift of time for thoughtful, edifying adult conversation as well. And Lola loved the girl play time!

It was after this full day that I, once again, felt extraordinarily grateful and just plain steeped in happiness because I am blessed by such a rich community of friends and family.

We may not be taking exotic vacations this summer, but our days are full of the bounty of summer and good friends. Boundaries blur and overlap as we see people in various activities.

We spend Friday evenings in my sister’s garden, eating with friends, playing volleyball or tether ball, talking, roasting marshmallows, marveling over the sunset, and watching the kids play.

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Monday evenings are spent at the free concerts in the park, where we sit with family and bump up against friends.

Fourth of July weekend was spent, as is tradition, at our friend Bob’s house on Lake Oswego, visiting with many friends we see only once a year. Bob is part owner of the company Russ worked for in the Portland area about 8-14 years ago and we’ve maintained our friendship. It was fun to see the kids (twins) of the other owner, as well. We’ve watched them grow up since they were four years old—and they graduated this year!

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VBS is always a highlight of the summer. The boys usually participate at three different churches. This week is our home church VBS (or Kids Kamp) in the evenings. I took Holly’s place as a camp counselor on the first night while she was still on vacation, but I have the rest of the week off. Levi volunteers with the puppet crew.

I spoke at two Classical Conversations Parent Practicums, and they are simply wonderful three-day parties full of information, encouragement, inspiration, and conversation. This week I had a chance to visit our local practicum for one day and listen to a guest speaker (whom I’ve had the chance to get to know a little recently). It was a blast getting to relax and soak it up instead of being in speaker-mode. And I made a few new acquaintances as well as visited with friends.

After a long break, we had another Book Detectives meeting in the studio last week. The kids and parents seemed excited to get back in the swing of things.

A new Hamlet study group is meeting in my studio this week for the first time. We are watching the movie version as an introduction, and then we will be going through the play in depth, a little at a time, over the course of the coming year.

We have a big family wedding/reunion to attend this weekend and a birthday party the following weekend.

Our Challenge A group (I love these people!!) is meeting for a BBQ/swim party/orientation the following week, and I’m hoping to get up to our favorite place in the world and spend time with family and close friends later that week, as well. Oh, and another book club meeting (my ChocLit Guild full of close friends and family that have been meeting for over a decade now!!).

I think that takes us through July. August will be a blur.

My reading stack is towering. More about that in the next post, but I was particularly struck by an essay by G. K. Chesterton titled “On Running After One’s Hat.” In this essay, Chesterton makes a strong point for choosing an “adventure point of view.” He states:

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered."

Very soon after reading that essay, I began a book by C.S. Lewis in which he states:

"I begin to suspect that the world is divided not only into the happy and the unhappy, but into those who like happiness and those who, odd as it seems, really don't."

Point taken. And I am embracing a spirit of happiness and adventure this summer—come what may. [grin]

I have a couple links to share that go with our theme today.

::  “Do you long to cultivate wisdom, truth, and beauty in your home? Do you desire to teach from a state of rest, to delight in your role as an intentional mother, and to raise passionate, interested learners?” Do you desire to be a part of a beautiful online community? Try Schole Sisters!

::  what if you chose to believe the best about yourself? by Danielle (part of my own community of dear friends) @ Further Up and Further In

"No matter how many compliments we receive, we all know what we're really like when no one is around. But what if we could take these compliments and simply say, this too is a part of who I am? What if, instead of comparing your days and letting your worst invalidate your best, you held up your best days as shining examples of the self you are trying to become?"

And because I seem unable to post without sharing a link from CiRCE…

::  Echoes of Celestial Harmony by Andrew Kern @ CiRCE

“I’m suffering from an embarrassing problem. It boils down to this: I believe that Christ makes sense of the cosmos and of life, and that without Him life doesn't end up making sense.”

What adventures and happiness are you embracing this summer?

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Classical Conversations Challenge ~ Q&A with Holly

Holly CC Challenge Answers

[I’m so glad we decided to do this Classical Conversations Challenge Q&A because it gave Holly and me an excuse to chat for hours. I’ve taken all the notes I made from our conversation and written them up from Holly’s point of view. I had her read over the answers and approve them, I promise. You can read more about my sister Holly and her family at this link.]

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Q: How is History incorporated throughout the Challenge levels?

 

A: This was one of my concerns when we were first introduced to Classical Conversations.

The kids and I had just finished a full four-year history cycle (as outlined in The Well-Trained Mind), and I was ready to return to the Ancients! At first glance it seemed as if the syllabus included no history studies. I wish I had known then just how much history was integrated within the strands and how I could best organize and amplify the historical content.

This is a basic overview of where Challenge students are most likely to encounter history:

  • Challenge A: Literature/Exposition and Composition (fiction, historical fiction, and two books based on true stories—from Ancient to Modern History)
  • Challenge B: Literature/Exposition and Composition (non-fiction, historical fiction, and a wide range of short stories from Milton to Hawthorne) and Science/Research (famous scientists)
  • Challenge I: Literature/Exposition and Composition (a great deal of American literature—fiction and non-fiction) and Debate (American Documents)
  • Challenge II: Literature/Exposition and Composition (many British literature selections from Medieval to Modern) and Debate (Western Cultural History—history through the lens of fine arts and philosophy)
  • Challenge III: Literature/Exposition and Composition (Shakespeare—including Julius Caesar and Henry V), Rhetoric (World History through the lens of philosophy), Debate (American History), and Grammar (Caesar and Cicero within Latin studies)
  • Challenge IV: Literature/Exposition and Composition (Ancient literature), Grammar (the Aeneid in Latin), Debate (World History through the lens of discoveries), and Rhetoric (Old Testament)

What I discovered as my kids progressed from Challenge A to Challenge II is that there is less surface reading and learning and more digging deep and asking questions as they write papers and discuss ideas in class. They write. And write. And write. And they have to learn about the historical context and what came before and what came after in order to write deeply. I believe the point of the Challenge levels is to integrate rather than isolate the subjects.

I’m a very linear person, however, and in retrospect I can think of ways of organizing the historical content that I wish I had done with my kids. I would highly recommend that a student:

  • Memorize the Classical Acts and Facts History Cards (if students haven’t already memorized the timeline in Foundations) and read through the back of the cards each year (several cards each week). This will give the student a chronological timeline of “pegs” for a frame of reference.
  • Create a physical timeline in notebook form. Every piece of literature (whether the time-period or events from historical fiction and/or the life of the author) can be written on the timeline. Every scientist studied can be written on the timeline. Every idea, work of art, discovery, or document can be written on the timeline. This serves as a chronological, visual representation of all of history and how events and people and ideas all fit together.
  • Read Famous Men of Greece, Famous Men of Rome, and Famous Men of the Middle Ages (all by Memoria Press) as well as D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths when the Challenge year is over (May and June) to add in some Ancient History and enhance the Latin studies in Challenge.

[UPDATE: A Challenge tutor has added helpful information in the comments. She said that students are required to create a world history timeline each year in Challenge II-IV. It would still be a great idea to keep a timeline notebook for Challenge A-I—possibly a notebook that students can begin in Foundations.]

While it can be frustrating to wait until Challenge III or IV to dig deeper into Ancient History (or not get there at all), the content is more complex than American History or World History (Medieval to Modern), so it makes sense to wait until the student has more maturity. So Challenge A and B are like slight pauses in the historical content while students adjust to the dialectic stage and gain responsibility and independence. Then the timeline goes backwards in Challenge I-IV according to the complexity of content: American History, World History, (American History, World History, and Caesar and Cicero all during Challenge III), and then Ancient History.

[Students will also study economics, mock trial, and policy debate for additional Social Studies credits, and cultural studies could be added to the geography strand if desired.]

An excellent diagram of the Challenge courses can be found on page 37 of the Classical Conversations catalog, and a very helpful diagram of how the Challenge I-IV courses translate to high school credits can be found on page 75.


 

Q: Did you make any adjustments to the assignments based on the strengths and personalities of your children?

A: Yes, but it sure was hard to gauge sometimes!

There was only so much time in a day and in a week. I had them do their best in what time they had, and then we had to let some things go. My son absolutely needed time outside and time spent in physical activity in order to maintain his sanity, but he often worked evenings and weekends to get assignments done according to deadline (especially in Challenge I and II). The deadlines were good for both of us. The quality of work differed between my son and daughter according to their ages and strengths and weaknesses.

I had ideas about which assignments I would and would not have my son complete, but I wouldn’t tell him ahead of time. He’d have to give it his best shot. Often he astonished me and completed assignments and was capable of things I never dreamed he’d be able to do (such as the logic studies). We did have him drop Latin in Challenge II. He fell behind in science this year, but I’m having him finish the work over the summer (and we’re finding out just how much deadlines motivate!).

My daughter completed all of the assignments in Challenge A-I. She was two grades ahead of my son, however, and she took extra time to increase the quality of her work.

The Challenge Guide is just that—a guide. We made adjustments to fit my kids and our family.


 

Q: When you had a high school student in Challenge A and B did you give full high school credit? Did you add anything during those years?

 

A: I didn’t create a transcript for Ilex in high school.

A transcript wasn’t necessary because she transferred to a dual enrollment program during her senior year and will receive a high school diploma through the community college. We put much effort into simply adjusting to CC during Challenge A and she spent extra time doing quality work, so we didn’t have time to add a bunch. I read quite a bit of Ancient History literature while they drew maps in Challenge A.

For high school credit in A and B I would suggest adding cultural studies to the geography (for social studies credit), completing a higher level of math, and beefing up the science with dissections, labs, and videos at the end of the year. The quality of the writing assignments should reflect the high school level as well. Consider adding Health and P.E.

(If students go on to complete Challenge I and II, they will get American History/Literature, government/economics/policy debate, and Western Cultural History/British Literature.)


 

Q: In your opinion, what are the most beneficial aspects of CC Challenge?

 

A: Accountability. Schedule. Challenge. Discussion.

Accountability (for both parent and student). Schedule. Being accountable to someone other than parent. Challenging kids beyond what you think you can do as a parent-teacher (policy debate, mock trial, philosophy, papers on every book they read) and what you think your kids are capable of (policy debate, logic, art and music, sheer amount of reading and writing). Discussion in groups (rather than just with mom)—a class of kids doing the same thing (why do I have to do this mom?) and contributing to conversations.

 

 

Q: I would love specifics on how CC looked on Ilex's transcript. I'm considering trying Challenge A with my upcoming 9th grader in a brand new community as well, but I can't wrap my mind about how it all looks on a transcript. Is there time to add extra stuff? I keep getting conflicting answers about this -- some say the Challenge materials are, um, challenging enough, but others (specifically those who've used the WTM model) say it's not enough.


A: It is really going to depend on the student. And credits are rather arbitrary. They are supposed to correspond with the time spent in class on each subject. But how does homework figure into that? And do all students learn the same material and complete the same amount of work in the same number of hours? Nope.

An official credit is based on the work done during high school at grade level. 120-180 hours = I credit and 60-90 hours = 1/2 credit. Usually this is the same as 1 hour per day, 5 days a week for the school year.

As far as adding extra stuff, try doing the basic Challenge schedule for a month. If it seems easy, add to it!

Challenge A might look like this on a high school transcript:

Algebra (instead of Math 8/7) = 1 Math Credit

Literature/Discussion/Persuasive Writing = 1 English Credit

(Add some sort of history research project*, create a timeline notebook, memorize timeline and read through cards = 1/2 History Credit)

Latin A (do more assignments, continue through May and June and/or add in more Roman history) = 1 Foreign Language Credit

Geography (add cultural studies) = 1/2 or 1 Social Studies Credit (depending on how much they do for cultural studies)

Biology and Natural Science (require longer research papers, watch videos or do more reading about the body systems they draw from memory, add in labs/dissections in May and June) = 1 Science Credit

Rhetoric/Clear Reasoning = 1 Logic/Elective Credit

Add Health/P.E. and possibly Fine Arts (sports, music lessons)

*An example of a history research project would be to require additional historical research of the time periods in which the literature books are written about, with this information possibly added to a timeline notebook. Or the student can discuss the information with a parent or at least inform the parent of what he or she learned about the time period of the book—including a list of important events around this period, important people who were alive, discoveries, inventions, artists or composers, and rulers.

 

Q: Did having her kids in Challenge create more work for Holly as a homeschool mom or did it make life easier or stay the same? For example, do you get a million emails and need to volunteer like parents who send their kids off to school do? What is the relationship like between the parent and the tutor?

 

A: Both.

It made life harder because we suddenly had to tackle things that I would have never attempted on my own, and we had to complete assignments according to schedule. It was easier because everything was all spelled out for me (which I personally appreciated) and someone else was telling my kids what to do and when to have it done. (Why is it that they take instructions better from other adults?) The whole syllabus was provided (easier), but I had to keep kids on track (harder).

In the end, it made life easier because I could not have given them this education on my own.

The only volunteering needed was for mock trial judges/jury in Challenge B and science fair judges in Challenge A (neither of which I ended up doing). There is no fundraising. The kids cleaned the room at the end of the day. Parents did help with the protocol event at the end of Challenge I, but that will vary depending on the community. There is a Challenge information meeting before the start of the year so that the tutor can communicate with the parents and students. Other communication and relationship will vary widely depending on the tutor (we’ve had different experiences with each tutor). I am not a tutor, so I cannot speak to what is actually required/recommended/encouraged.


 

Q: Looking back on their years in Challenge, what things does Holly wish she or her kids had done differently?

 

A: A few times I slacked off on checking weekly that all assignments were completed. This year, I made sure I read most of the books and had a discussion with Drake about the book and assignment before he started writing to help him organize his thoughts and approach to the assignment. (Ilex didn’t need that help as much.) I checked in weekly to make sure that assignments were being completed and that long-term projects were making progress. It’s also very helpful to read all the way through the syllabus and be familiar with what’s coming up.

I also wish I had been able to better see the big picture (how all the Challenge levels work together and what they cover) when Ilex was in Challenge A. I would have added in the previously mentioned supplements to Challenge A. I wasn’t thinking about how Challenge A would translate to her transcript. I also wasn’t thinking about what qualified as a completed credit and how to grade classes (and how to transfer that to a transcript with course descriptions).

 

Q: Any specific advice for joining a community that is just starting?

 

A: Get very familiar with the syllabus. Establish good communication with the tutor. Have a lot of grace for tutors, parents, and students as everyone is trying to figure it all out. Read the books in the summer.

Honestly, it’s the same advice for anyone, whether the community is new or well-established.

 

 

Q: I would love to hear Holly's thoughts on choosing between Classical Conversations and a Classical Christian School in the area. If she had a true classical school in her area, would she still have chosen CC? Why or why not? Any thoughts about what she thinks might be the differences between the two would be helpful. For example, one classical school I'm aware of tackles really hard topics and they don't really skip anything, but I often wonder if CC only tackles what the tutor for Challenge is willing to tackle and from their perspective only. Thoughts? Thanks!

 

A: If I thought my children were capable of the work, and I had the financial resources, and Veritas School was 30 minutes or less from my house instead of 60+, I would have been (and would be) sorely tempted to enroll my kids there.

Yes, I think learning complex material from passionate experts (including male teachers) in a classical, Socratic environment with increased accountability would be a superior education. But there would definitely be a downside: less time spent with kids, less time spent wrestling with big ideas and having epiphanies together (or, more accurately, me having the epiphany and them rolling their eyes), less accountability to redeem my own education, less sibling bonding, less modeling the “education is a life-long process,” less flexibility to meet the individual needs of each child, still a substantial time commitment (commuting and volunteering and helping with homework), and a huge financial sacrifice.

 

 

Q: I'm two years away from Challenge and I'd love to know if she thinks there is anything she'd recommended to prepare. Maybe there isn't anything and the memory work is enough, but It's a thought that goes through my mind a lot. [How do we prepare our Foundations students for Challenge?]

 

A: Focus on the Foundations memory work and master all 3 cycles in 4th-6th grades (particularly the history timeline and Latin conjugations and declensions). Complete the writing assignments and English grammar in Essentials.

Complete at least one year of formal Latin if at all possible (I happen to love Prima Latina, Latina Christiana, and First Form Latin all published by Memoria Press).

As Heidi and I were talking, we decided that a 3-year history cycle beginning in 1st grade roughly using the corresponding CC history cycles (particularly tied in with the history-themed writing in Essentials, but not perfectly tied to the history sentences) might be ideal. Cycle 1 = Ancient History. Cycle 2 = Medieval/Renaissance. Cycle 3 = Modern (and American) History. If a student begins in 1st grade, he or she would complete chronological world history twice before Challenge A regardless of what cycle the student begins with. Simply read good books. Read or listen to The Story of the World. Read excellent picture books, chapter books, biographies, historical fiction, poetry, and literature corresponding to each historical time period (especially Ancients). Read throughout the year, not just over 24 weeks. (Allow the geography, writing, and mastery of content to be tied to the Foundations and Essentials content and schedule. Do crafts and projects only if you love doing them!)

Create a physical timeline (such as a notebook) in 4th-6th grade and enter all of the Foundations memory work and whatever else comes up in your reading in any subject. The student can then take the timeline along into the Challenge level and continue to add to it.

Classical Conversations Foundations and Essentials programs are meant to work together in an integrated and efficient way, preparing the student for Challenge!

 

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I hope this is helpful for some readers here. Thanks for joining the conversation, Holly!

Friday, July 4, 2014

Glorious ~ Take 2

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It was also Rilla Grey’s first time playing on the beach. She was thrilled. And fearless.

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Luckily, there was a lot of beach to explore.

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