May Postcards from Classical Conversations, Inc.

Issue: 35

May 2012

Greetings from Leigh Bortins, Founder of Classical Conversations

Greetings!

This week, I conducted the final training session for our new support managers to help them prepare for our 3-Day Summer Parent Practicums. I am excited about this year's theme "Meeting the Challenge." Like you, I have been so proud of the Challenge students in my own home, my own class, and my own community. They have truly met the challenge this year.

I have often said that teachers over-estimate their students' experience and under-estimate their abilities. This is a good description of the Challenge program. We set high expectations for our students and rejoice with them when they accomplish great things. Challenge directors and parents across the country have worked hard to hold our students to high standards this year.

Now, I am excited to turn my attention to parents and help them meet the challenge of homeschooling through the high school years. I have learned a lot since I graduated my oldest two boys. My younger boys continue to benefit from my lifelong learning. The Summer Parent Practicums give me the opportunity to share these lessons with all of you.

This year, our morning sessions will give you the opportunity to learn the basics of Latin. I have structured these sessions to give you plenty of opportunity to practice translating Latin sentences with small groups of parents. It should be a wonderful time of fellowship and learning.

Finally, we will cast the vision for how to homeschool successfully through high school. The sessions will benefit parents of even the youngest children as you have the opportunity to explore the road ahead of you and learn from parents with older students. For more information, click here to view our 2012 Practicum video. For a detailed description of this year's schedule, check out our Practicum flyer. To register for a 3-day event near you, click here to see our Events Calendar.

Love,

P.S. Classical Conversations was featured recently in Parents magazine thanks to Liesl Den, one of our dedicated parents. Click here to read her interview.

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Love Learning

The Core of Classical, Christian Education

Classical Acts and Facts History Cards: a Firm Foundation

by Courtney Sanford

I just opened my new Classical Conversations history cards and I just love them! They are beautiful! I am reading Abolition of Man and Climbing Parnassus, and both are convicting me to immerse my children in truth, beauty, and goodness. The history cards are one of the ways I am going to do this. Each card links artwork with history. Art not only illustrates events, it reflects the worldview of the artist which may be unintentional on the part of the artist, and of course, it hints at themes which the artist intended to communicate about the event.

Families new to Classical Conversations sometimes ask, "Where is history in the Challenge programs?" There is not a textbook titled World History anywhere in the catalog, so how could we possibly learn history? We put the history timeline into the students' long term memory during the Foundations program.

This year I will be reciting the new timeline with my Foundations-age child and my Challenge-age children so that they can see how their studies fit into the history of man.

Everyday Classical, Christian Education

The Challenge of Finals: Lessons from the End of the Year

by Jennifer Courtney

On Tuesday evening, we breathed a huge sigh of relief in our home. My son had finished his final exams in Challenge A and I had completed final exams with my Challenge III students. We experienced the satisfaction that follows hard work and a job well done.

Lesson #1: Work hard to conquer subjects that do not come easily. (Otherwise Known as Perseverance)

For the first time, my twelve-year-old was mature enough to reflect on his own academic accomplishments. (After Memory Master testing in previous years, he was too young to realize what he had achieved.) At the beginning of the year, geography was a struggle. He has a quick memory but has never liked to draw, so his inclination was to finish this subject as quickly as possible. In the last few weeks of the year, this course came together for him.

Please Submit!

Have you had an exciting year in your community? We would love to see and hear all about it. Please send us pictures and stories of your successes this year.
We would love to hear about science fair, Mock Trial, Face in History, service projects, etc...

Please submit your stories and pictures to the Classical Conversations Facebook page or Email us. Be sure to include your community name and location, the name of the event, and a brief description. Pictures and stories may be used in upcoming issues of Postcards or in next year's catalog.

We can't wait to hear from you!

Parting Words

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity." (I Tim. 4:12)

"The problem we have is with the modern understanding of adolescence that allows, encourages, and even trains young people to remain childish for much longer than necessary. It holds us back from what we could do, from what God made us to do, and even from what we would want to do if we got out from under society's low expectations."

-From Chapter 6 "The Myth of Adolescence" in Do Hard Things, Alex & Brett Harris

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references in this [book] are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® (NIV).