Classical Conversations AFTER Week 24

Clap! Cheer! High-five your kids! Pat yourself on the back! You finished 24 weeks of Classical Conversations' Foundations program.

You worked hard for 24 weeks. You did whatever it took—drilling, practicing, and reciting, reciting, reciting. You packed lunches on community day and hustled your kids into the car. You played the Timeline song on repeat and survived the tin whistle. 

You humbled yourself to learn with your children and constantly encountered new information. (Honestly, mamas, learning to skip count in the double digits is HARD! And did anyone know where to find Turkmenistan on a map before Cycle 2 geography?)

But now community day is over. The cycle is complete and it's time to rest and transition to something new. The question is... how do we go forward? And how do we not forget?

Go Forward

First of all, go forward. There is true wisdom in Classical Conversations' schedule of six-week sessions, limited to 24 weeks. The minds and bodies of children and mothers alike require rest and variety.

Classical Education Made Approachable, published by Classical Conversations, tells us to:

"... focus on catechism, the memory work which prepares them for their future studies, and on stories which feed their imaginations." 

We just completed 24 rigorous weeks of memory work. Consider how—in this beautiful spring season of budding trees and mud puddles—you might give extra time for imagination and wonder.

Build a fairy garden, start a new read-aloud book, or plan a nature walk during the time once occupied by community day. Explore a new topic or a skill. Chose something you never have time for! Dig deep into something that blesses the littlest member of your family (you know, the little one who worked so hard to keep up with big sibs all year).

Whatever you do, focus on building joy and relationships. My favorite quote about education is attributed as "an old Finnish saying":

"Those things you learn without joy, you will easily forget."

How wonderfully true!

Do Not Forget

Classical Conversations' Foundations program often reminds me of brick laying. Week by week, cycle by cycle, we add historical dates, Latin verbs, algebraic equations... we add and add. Each year is a new layer. 

But we live in an information-saturated world and our minds are finite. Latin conjugations are quickly replaced by Pokémon characters and Parry Gripp song lyrics. Few of us have the capacity to perfectly remember dates, names, and numbers. 

We need some measure of review to prevent the summer slide.

Quick caveat: The purpose of memorizing historical events, scientific facts, etc. in Classical Conversations' Foundations program is not to produce mega-brained super genius children. Sorry. 

 

Rather, the act of memorizing teaches us how to memorize. By working to memorize Latin noun endings or the parts of an animal cell, we (a) learn lifelong strategies for memorization and (b) strengthen our memorization-brain-muscles. It's like taking our brains to the gym. Each memorization "rep" clenches the brain muscle and builds it up. 

How can we keep our memory muscles in shape over the summer? Here are some ideas...  

• Listen to cycle CDs in the car.
• Choose one fact that stumped you during the year (higher number skip counting, presidents, a particular history song, etc.) and master it. 
• Play a review game once-a-week. 
• Invite a Foundations classmate to your house to play too! 
• Print out workbook-style pages from "The Sandbox."
• Sing history songs while hiking. 
• Skip count while dunking your head in the pool.  
• Draw "blob maps" of continents, states, etc. on the sidewalk in chalk. 
• Recite the major groups of vertebrates and invertebrates when you spot examples at the beach.
• Plan a field trip that directly connects to some memory work. 
• Etc. Etc.  

Geography for Abecedarians

My 4 year-old is working on properly forming his ABCs... is now really the time to teach him the countries of Africa? His 2 still looks like a S... should be really be attempting to draw Chad and Niger?

Tools for Memorization: Hands-On Activities

• picture line
• "my own" weekly memory book
• 
  

"Katy No-Pocket" and Kindness Kisses

For the past two weeks, the kids and I have been "rowing" Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne from our Before Five in a Row curriculum.

We're a Classical Conversations family, a My Father's World family, and a Before Five in a Row family. You can read about our curriculum choices (and why so many) here.  

Normally, we row one Before Five in a Row (BFIAR) book a week. But last week, our decks were stacked.

We spent time with a friend who we really wanted to reconnect with... we made dinner for someone with a new baby... we went outlet shopping for the kids' summer clothes with my mom... and so on and so forth.

Each time I opt to skip a school lesson, a part of me cringes. The strict-school-ma'rm sitting on my shoulder tsks, tsks and whispers in my ear, "Kids in traditional schools are learning right now! They don't ignore their lessons and go shopping instead!"

But then, the quieter and calmer voice of reason softly reminds me, we want this---this chance to derail our schedule to love a friend. This flexibility for my kids to shop and spend time with their grandmother. This opportunity to choose what is most needful each day.

And really, each day is full of fresh new possibilities. When the next Monday rolled around, we dove deep into Katy No-Pocket and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly!

About the Author and Illustrator 

Each time we begin a BFIAR book, I start with the book cover. I point out the title, the cover art, and the author and illustrator. Those terms (title, cover, author, illustrator) can be vocabulary basics, even for preschoolers.
  
Next, we talk about the author and illustrator. Emmy Payne came from a literary family. She co-wrote 18 mystery novels with her mother, Christine Noble Govan. Katy No-Pocket was Emmy Payne's only children's book.

Katy No-Pocket's illustrator, H.A. Rey, is, of course, the famous author and illustrator of Curious George. The kids and I looked for Rey's signature style and bold color choices in Katy No-Pocket.

Reading the Book 5 Times

Katy No-Pocket started as a bedtime book before we began "rowing" it. My kids discovered it in our library bag and pulled it out immediately.

• Read 1: Bedtime story.

• Read 2: Bedtime story.

• Read 3: Read aloud at the school table.

• Read 4: Kids "read" the book to mom. I turned the pages and kids explained what was happening and naturally, recited any lines they could remember. Asking kids to retell stories develops key literacy skills, moving them from passive listeners to active storytellers. 

• Read 5: Each kid summarized the book orally and I typed their summaries. We printed them and glued them into their lapbooks.

Learning About Kangaroos 

So obviously we used Katy No-Pocket as an opportunity to learn about kangaroos.

Skip Counting with Littles