Does Classical Conversations need to be Supplemented?

I’ve recently led (or co-led) a few meetings with Classical Conversations families in our area. These meetings were held to discuss how Classical Conversations could be used at home as a full program. Many people have misconceptions when it comes to CC, and I’ve been working to help expose the myths and present the truths about using CC. I’ve come across many parents who are interested in CC but felt they still had to purchase and use a whole other curriculum for their studies at home…that CC was a “supplement” that they could add to their schooling.

To read a FAQ about Classical Conversations….click here.

Classical Conversations is Flexible

CC is a very flexible program. If a family wants to join CC and use our program as a supplement only, they certainly can do it that way. However, I suggest using the Classical Model of Education and using CC the way it was intended. I admit that learning this was hard for me. I tell people all the time that it wasn’t until I was starting my 3rd year of CC that I really understood HOW to use it to the fullest. Retraining my modern education brain to understand the Classical Model of Education took some time!

I wanted to simplify our homeschool

Options are everywhere. Even when using CC in a “classical” way, there are lots of paths one could take. I wanted to simplify my life as much as possible, so I looked for ways that I could use what I already had on my shelves, what I was already learning at CC, and how I could combine those things to create a predictable schedule and pattern for us to use at home. With that, I also wanted to incorporate some key parts into my home: copywork, read alouds, love of literature, etc…

I can’t say what would work for everyone, but what I can say is what I found works for us. I have rising 5th and 2nd graders. If I explained each subject in detail (which is what I plan to do), it would be a very long post! So this is part one!

Copywork:

I found this definition of copywork from a website (www.homefires.com) under their “Dictionary of Homeschool Terminology for the Totally Confused

This technique is used to help students learn to write from the initial skill of forming alphabet letters, all the way through learning to write sentences, paragraphs, poetry and more. Once students have the ability to copy sentences and paragraphs, they usually copy excerpts from good/classic literature. The idea is that by copying, they learn the techniques of great writers that they can then apply to their own original writing.

I totally believe in the importance of copywork! At first, I admit, that I wasn’t sure how much of an impact copywork would make for my children! You can read all about my trials and accomplishments of copywork here.

Memory Work Review:

This part of our day is dedicated to practicing our memory work. The source for our memory work comes from our Classical Conversations program. The entire Foundations Program at CC (4-12 years old) is made up of Memory Work in each subject.

To read more about what the Classical Conversation’s Foundations Program is visit the Classical Conversations website!

We spend one day a week with our CC Community learning the memory work for each subject for that week. Even more than that, we also see the tutors model for us (the parents) how to teach the memory work in a fun, fast-paced way! Watch this video to see some clips from a CC Community.

Memory Work Review at Home

The time each day at home is spent orally reviewing, playing review games, and singing our Memory Work. I spend anywhere from 10-30 min doing this each day. Okay….okay….so I don’t do it EVERY day. Don’t tell anyone!! But…I am able to say that we do this at least 2-3 times a week at the house. To give me some credibility, we also listen to all our Memory Work on CD in the car during the week whenever we leave home! So we actually review this A LOT! I mostly just use the ideas that I saw modeled for me at CC.

Math:

I’m going to start the with the math as the first subject. I felt it was best to talk about math first just because math is one subject that is not fully incorporated into the CC program. We have math memory work to work with each week, but it’s not a math curriculum. The math memory work is awesome and should NOT be neglected no matter what! However, you will want to find a math curriculum that works for you (or if you feel confident, you can piece together your own stuff…especially for the younger years). We use Math U See. I love this program.

To see my post about Why I Love Math U See…click here.

To be continued… in my next post I will discuss Science and History!

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