My Classical homeschooling journey, Part 2
So, if you were with me in part 1 (if not, catch up here), you'll know that our homeschooling journey was a surprise. We were planning on doing everything but homeschooling: we favoured private school and saw the local primary school as a less-than-ideal, but possible, option.
But, about a year since we started seriously considering our daughter's education, we are firmly decided that homeschooling is for us. Let me take you on the next part of our journey...
My husband and I were disillusioned with the options before us. We didn't think that the state sector could offer the rounded, mastery that we craved, and we were put off by the costs and travel of the closest and ideal private school. So, our minds went back a few years to 2013.
We were on holiday in the US. My husband was attending a Christian conference in Washington DC and we'd contacted some friends to ask if they knew any families that would be able to offer accommodation for a couple of nights before the conference started. We ended up staying with a lovely Canadian family who happened (cue God's wonderful kindness) to be homeschooling their children.
We settled into their home and were aware that the kids were being homeschooled, but just got on with our days. However, about two days in, the mother asked if we wanted to join them on the homeschool co-op day. I wasn't massively keen, but my husband wanted to give it a go. So we went. And what an experience it was...
We saw 5-year olds reciting John Chapter 1 in biblical Greek, 15-year olds doing complex Latin translation and 17-year olds learning to label the skeleton, not only in English, but also IN LATIN! Wow! I couldn't believe it. Our concerns that our education had failed to give us the knowledge we craved were compounded. We had no idea! These kids were head and shoulders above us in confidence, eloquence, and knowledge. And the answer wasn't an exclusive private school but homeschooling!
This was a surprise. But a surprise that wouldn't rear its head for about 5 years.
Cue our conversation about schooling and our concerns with private and state education. "What about homeschooling?" my husband said. My head was spinning: "What? No. Surely not. That's not us. No one homeschools in the UK, do they?" He reminded me of that day 5 years before where we'd both been staggered by the education of those young people at the co-op in Washington DC. I couldn't argue with that. That was the kind of education we were looking for.
So I started to look into it.
The only curriculum we'd heard of was Classical Conversations (CC). So I started there. I looked on their website and learned about the foundations of Classical Education, the Trivium: the three stages of learning, grammar, logic and rhetoric, paralleling the stages of a child's development. I began reading, (The Core). I also read The Well-Trained Mind which I'd highly recommend to anyone looking into homeschooling. It all made sense. So I started looking into the curriculum a little more. We thought we'd purchase the foundations manual. There seemed to be an awful lot for the kids to memorise, a good foundation to be had.
Well, that was my first thought. I did look into CC a little more. I even hosted an information afternoon as I was keen to go to one but when I contacted them, they said they didn't have a venue, so would I host it. Well, making a few cakes and hosing a few people didn't seem like a problem. So, I did it. But this was the start of the end for us. We decided against CC. Our journey continued but began moving away from its beginnings.
In my next post I'll explain our reasons for not choosing CC.
But, about a year since we started seriously considering our daughter's education, we are firmly decided that homeschooling is for us. Let me take you on the next part of our journey...
My husband and I were disillusioned with the options before us. We didn't think that the state sector could offer the rounded, mastery that we craved, and we were put off by the costs and travel of the closest and ideal private school. So, our minds went back a few years to 2013.
We were on holiday in the US. My husband was attending a Christian conference in Washington DC and we'd contacted some friends to ask if they knew any families that would be able to offer accommodation for a couple of nights before the conference started. We ended up staying with a lovely Canadian family who happened (cue God's wonderful kindness) to be homeschooling their children.
We settled into their home and were aware that the kids were being homeschooled, but just got on with our days. However, about two days in, the mother asked if we wanted to join them on the homeschool co-op day. I wasn't massively keen, but my husband wanted to give it a go. So we went. And what an experience it was...
We saw 5-year olds reciting John Chapter 1 in biblical Greek, 15-year olds doing complex Latin translation and 17-year olds learning to label the skeleton, not only in English, but also IN LATIN! Wow! I couldn't believe it. Our concerns that our education had failed to give us the knowledge we craved were compounded. We had no idea! These kids were head and shoulders above us in confidence, eloquence, and knowledge. And the answer wasn't an exclusive private school but homeschooling!
This was a surprise. But a surprise that wouldn't rear its head for about 5 years.
Cue our conversation about schooling and our concerns with private and state education. "What about homeschooling?" my husband said. My head was spinning: "What? No. Surely not. That's not us. No one homeschools in the UK, do they?" He reminded me of that day 5 years before where we'd both been staggered by the education of those young people at the co-op in Washington DC. I couldn't argue with that. That was the kind of education we were looking for.
So I started to look into it.
The only curriculum we'd heard of was Classical Conversations (CC). So I started there. I looked on their website and learned about the foundations of Classical Education, the Trivium: the three stages of learning, grammar, logic and rhetoric, paralleling the stages of a child's development. I began reading, (The Core). I also read The Well-Trained Mind which I'd highly recommend to anyone looking into homeschooling. It all made sense. So I started looking into the curriculum a little more. We thought we'd purchase the foundations manual. There seemed to be an awful lot for the kids to memorise, a good foundation to be had.
Well, that was my first thought. I did look into CC a little more. I even hosted an information afternoon as I was keen to go to one but when I contacted them, they said they didn't have a venue, so would I host it. Well, making a few cakes and hosing a few people didn't seem like a problem. So, I did it. But this was the start of the end for us. We decided against CC. Our journey continued but began moving away from its beginnings.
In my next post I'll explain our reasons for not choosing CC.
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