So here I am as we are coming to the end of our school year, and I really do want to do a recap of how things went this year. This was our first year with Classical Conversations and it was amazing! We all learned so much, made great friends and look forward to doing it again next year! If you would like to see what curriculum we used this year you can check that out here.
I would first like to go over how our year in Classical Conversations went for each of us. For our youngest, Zach, who had just turned 5 at the beginning of the year, it was a challenge. He enjoyed going every week, but really wanted me to be with him all day. He was the youngest in his class, and so that was also a bit of a challenge, although you couldn't really tell he was the youngest by the way he interacted with the other kids. One aspect of CC that I really love is the public speaking part, each week the kids give a presentation (at Zach's age its mostly just a glorified show and tell), I was truly wondering how he would handle that. He did awesome! The kid has no fear of talking to anyone and had a great time sharing what he brought with his friends.
Noah, had quite a different experience. At the end of last year we found out that he is dyslexic and had heard that Classical Conversations is a great fit for kids who are dyslexic because it's all memorizing and verbal. He made some really good friends but about half way through the year his tutor (that is what they call the "teacher") moved out of state, so he had to say good-bye to her. That is very hard for our little soft hearted guy. He was so upset and didn't want to go back. He got a new tutor, who was great, but she did things a little bit differently. He struggles with change and if things are too hard he tends to shut down. All in all I think he had an amazing year and learned so many things!
Elijah, who is 12, did the Foundations program, but also the Essentials program. In the morning he was doing the same memory work that his little brothers were doing and then in the afternoon we focused on writing, grammar work, and math facts. I am so amazed at how well he did this year, he comprehended things so well and came so far in his writing. At the beginning of the year he struggled to write a single sentence and at the end of the year he turned in a five paragraph paper! It is on to their Jr. High program next year for him, Challenge A, and I know that it is going to be a very challenging program for him and he will have a lot of growth.
For me, this is exactly what our family needed this year! Classical Conversations is a great community of like minded parents who are striving to teach their children classically at home. In our local community I found friends, support, and a great group for my kids to grow with and feel accepted. At the beginning of the year I was determined to just sit back and take it all in. Well when Noah's tutor left and they were looking for a new one, I was considering it. Someone else stepped up and I really felt relieved because I didn't think I could do it. A few weeks later, over our Christmas break, they were once again seeking out a new tutor because our community was growing. So with a lot of prayer, I offered to do it. I am so glad that I did! It was a great experience and I loved it so much that I am going to be doing it again next year!
Here is my overall review of the Classical Conversations program:
Pros:
- Community-having people to support me on the days when I want to quit
- Consistency- meeting weekly for 24 weeks with the same families
- Classical
- Price- it is quite expensive
Honestly as far as the cons that is the only one I can think of for our family. Thankfully I am able to tutor and that covers most of our tuition, which is a great blessing!
This is getting kinda of long so I will stop for now, and continue our year in review in another post. If you have any questions about how Classical Conversations works you can check out their website and get in contact with a local director!
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