I am transitioning my DS (entering 8th) from our longtime standard spiral math curriculum to Foerster’s Algebra 1. The spiral has been effective but not efficient. I’m hoping to get a better balance there this next school year, but moving to a new textbook and format, I could use some practical tips. What should I be prepared for in terms of making the transition from a spiral to a block approach? Specific to Foerster, I do see review built in to the units... Should I plan for more? Resources? Im sure there are other questions I should add here, but feel free to share what you know I should know! 😉

I think, at the very least, a break is in order. From there, it may be easier to make a decision to re-engage, or step off to one of the different teachers in your area. When a teacher’s reactions are undermining your priorities, that’s a red flag. Disengage, get perspective without the obscured emotional/ attachment lens, and decisions become a lot easier!

The drive thru window for picking up holds/returning books!

After giving DS (13) and two of his friends a ride to a meet-up, my DS reflected: “I should’ve given one of them the front seat.” A thoughtful human being is emerging! Ahh! And this week... he began organizing his schoolwork and pens. Also, loving Latin. Never saw that one coming.

Written narrations of science/history are my only cursive requirements for my seventh grader. But my goal at this stage is maintenance not development. While DS was developing his ability to write in cursive, it helped to assign it as much as possible, gradually increasing those expectations. I gotta say, I would find it difficult to prioritize developing cursive in middle school. Perhaps that's more of a reflection of my student than a universal truth... but I do think there's an element of adolescence that requires easily discerned meaning in their assignments. Just throwing that out there... it is absolutely permissible, and sometimes best, to pass on cursive to reach for other fruits!

You have some very reasonable concerns about this school. To ask questions would be my one encouragement. Get course specifics and see if they align with your goals. I've been surprised to find my weakest homeschooling subject is better still than what appeared to be good looking programs. Your son's performance is not something that would even weigh into my decision. The school has motivations which are outside of your son's best interests... populating a summer writing class being one of them.

Do you have details about their comp program? I once asked a UM school my DS was attending about their composition curriculum. After my motives were scrutinized for asking the question, I was told I place too great a value on composition. There was no formal comp syllabus. No comp curriculum in use at that time. They waved an impressive lit list around, but composition consisted entirely of "Write an essay on what you read/this prompt." And even those essays were handed back with little feedback. Comp is a huge time investment for the homeschooling parent and schools alike. A gain in instructor expertise can easily cancel out with a large class size. If the instructor is great, the syllabus solid, and the class size reasonable, you may have a great program there. My experience is that those things rarely align. More importantly, if the school isn't willing to talk to you about the details of your DS's placement as you anticipate joining their ranks, it's safe to assume you can expect more of the same when you have questions about his general performance. This is a dynamic the UM model must address. A part time institution offers no one full time commitment (feedback is a benefit of a full time admin/teaching staff). Off my soapbox and back to my full time commitment of homeschooling.

With tankless, my big old cast iron bath tub fills to the brim with hot water. Just say no to tepid bath water! lol! My husband (handy) installed ours. We’re in an old home and it did take some doing.

We have used this planner this year with my DS. It has a great weekly layout that's already dated with blank subject headings. It has a monthly calendar to record student activities. It is colorful, has a hard cover, and is very simple to open and use. And $10. But, I don't see a 2019-2020 version yet. I will say that for my DS, juggling various planning formats as he's learning how to schedule/organize would've been too much. Keeping things very simple keeps him on board (not overwhelmed) in our weekly planning meetings. It also means he's more likely to actually pick it up and use it through the week.

I'm aiming at a loving humble boy man who will exercise his gifts to God's delight, and for the world's good.

@forty-two This resonated so very much. The rigidity is what gets my attention. However, it brings with it the dawning realization that I am pushing into what I believe is the deeper territory of wisdom as a lone ranger--and this is what makes me incredibly uncomfortable. Especially as a Christian. Ideal and imitation are significant facets of faith. The person of Jesus, the Word made flesh. Philosophy with skin. It may be wrong, but I want some skin on my educational philosophy. Being unable to find any is not a comfort. Rather, it sends me into checking my ego and evaluation mode. And here we are. 🙂

Thank you thank you thank you. I have a cake in the oven for a birthday and a niece and nephew waiting for me... But these were so helpful to read. I'm in the middle stage of homeschooling... which means my reading time isn't what it used to be... and when I do have that time, I'm tired and my brain doesn't cooperate. I find I'm more vulnerable to the messages I encounter. (Joan, I think we're getting the same emails. LOL!) I'm trying to hold on to what I started with, which is what you clarified, 8. But it isn't what classical education providers are promoting, and I'm not exactly at the place yet where I can confidently say, "Rubbish."

Yes, I think I'm asking the impossible of a forum. I have no name for the model, other than *they* put the name "classical ed" on it. It makes it impossible to communicate, and real life conversations with those who have experience with it wouldn't be wise, or likely productive. So, I think I'm definitely missing something, and I know I'm hacking this all to bits as I attempt to communicate it. When I say classical ed prefers antiquity, I mean that it is the place we reach back to for our definitions. We then use those to recognize the present system working upon us. And yes, precisely because culture is pervasive, and we can see ourselves and the things of culture in full view. I'm tracking with you. It is the constant evaluation of philosophy and motive that I find exhausting. As an artist, especially. There's a tension classical education presents an artist with regard to time, presence, and the position we assume as evaluators of culture, as opposed to participators. I don't know when I'll get back to this thread... a full weekend and week ahead! But I do appreciate so much all the contributions and food for thought.

You know, I really want to agree with you re classical education not preferring antiquity. That would tie this up for me, and it would make classical ed what I need and want it to be. However, here's my issue... Classical education sees antiquity as the place from which we receive the time tested-truths (and their counterparts) of language, culture, virtue, etc. Classical education prefers antiquity, technically speaking. I do see the distinction that we can appreciate the time-tested truths of antiquity without preferring antiquity. However, the school model which is causing me some heavy thinking is one which most definitely camps out in antiquity feasting on its truth, but then looks at modern culture with such a critical eye that I wonder if a student can ever see his place in it. This model functions according to a more technical definition of classical education than I ever have as a homeschooling mom. But oh my... how I prefer your definition.

I've been reading through the posts which seek to define classical education. Very helpful, as I realize it isn't just the modern assumptions I'm struggling with... I love so much about classical education, how it grounds us in a history/culture. What I don't love about current models: It seems I must be a citizen of antiquity to the extent that I cannot see beauty in the place and time I have been born. Classical Education in my time and place. This is my struggle, and the loudest voices calling for an ultimate commitment to antiquity... this kind of extreme thinking has appealed to me in the past, but is one I've experienced as unhealthy. Blue, this describes it a bit... We must have a foundation to start from, but that seems to me for the purpose of exploring/connecting with ideas and people and things -- this is where we live out a philosophy and its fullness takes hold. To render ourselves incapable of desiring connection, because we use the ancients to sustain the ideas built in pride -- to our own isolation. This is a dead end. Still working through it.

I so enjoyed reading this: "There wasn't a really robust epistemology or theory of the person or education behind it, but it did have some dim memory of a tradition." Beautifully said! @Mimm I think Bluegoat is making a great point that aligns with your observation. There is a de facto philosophy at play in one who only inquires about the ingredients and steps involved in an education and is overly concerned with implementation of the system. I don't have many friends with children who would tolerate that, thankfully. LOL!

I agree that if something is worth doing, especially something as important as a child's education, it's worth investing time to understand it. And yet here I am on this Monday morning hoping I find a what-to-do list for exercise/diet to care for my middle-aged fluffy body. Someone just tell me what to do! Confession: I just "did" Latin. I had no idea it would carry with it the culture and history of early western civilization--nor did I have an appreciation for why that might be important. I'd read of such things (Climbing Parnassus) with my first/second grader singing his little ending chants, but understanding the "why" wasn't enough for me to keep it going as a homeschooling parent. We dropped it for a few years. Time spent doing, observing, and reflecting has allowed me to more fully apprehend the philosophies I read back then. And we're doing Latin now, knowing more of what it offers, but it certainly didn't happen in the purely linear way I'd anticipated! With regard to "I felt the question was kind of insulting to people who are spending hours teaching, mentoring, and reading, and learning." I don't mean to pull more from that statement than I believe you intended, but it presents an opportunity I'll take--thank you for being open with it. I believe this is how some in CCE justify scoffing at parents openly. As a private instructor beyond my homeschool teacher status, I've battled with it, too. But I've come to this... I am insulted by a parent's questions (the good intentioned or the bad) when my specific area of knowledge is no longer the gift for which I'm thankful, but my power. I'm so thankful for those in CCE who display generosity over and over again, answering the same questions, and delighting in them. I see a lot of responses have gone up since I began this. Apologies if there have been clarifications. I'm a slow thinker. Smiley

Thank you for the links, 8!!! i spent yesterday afternoon going through a google search of Ester Maria’s posts, but I had to stop at page 4. 😊. Thank you for pulling those specific threads forward!

Thank you for this, 8. Yes, I am the one who posted on your blog! This is a topic that is winding its way through my life right now... and as things do, it comes from new directions, and I'm surprised/disheartened all over again. I hope it doesn't seem as though I'm beating a dead horse... I'm genuinely working through my own thoughts and reactions so that I can make wise life/school decisions. With regard to definitions... Sayers' essay, even that is a conundrum for me. I read it as a new homeschooler and remember being struck by her message that students are no longer taught how to think. That still resonates! But, I revisited that essay recently and earnestly wonder how/why it launched so many classical ships. It's hard to write that, because I'm not well read on all things Sayers, and feel as though I'm missing something vitally obvious. But while I'm chewing on all of this, I might as well hang it out there. I read that essay now and think: Tools are good. But where we start matters. Who we believe we are matters. What we believe of children matters. I will search EsterMaria and read up on defining classical ed. Thanks for sharing that!

Well, I can tell you from personal experience that 10 years ago, my reasons for homeschooling were not well fleshed out! My philosophy rested in loving God, my neighbor, and whole heartedly pursuing what was in front of me. So, I read the books, because I'm the type to take responsibility a tad too seriously. And, I love learning. Somehow, that all begins to add up! Add in the normal joys and blows of a life lived, and here I am, a seasoned schooler, taking a look around and realizing I have an opinion about what I see. Not that my opinion matters! It matters not one iota! However, it does cause me to sit back and consider the state of things and my role in it. I think you're right re the issues you've shared. The landscape has shifted with regard to what homeschoolers need and want. And, I suppose it's only natural that CCE would change as it struggles with how to accommodate it. But what I see emerging from CCE today is a step taken away from something Christian (humility), toward something powerful that can "save the world." This concerns me. Not because I want to call anyone into account, but because it is so darn appealing to humans, including me... and so I grapple. And I would've never guessed you were a newbie. (I'd love to add a smiley, but it would be the size of Texas, so...) Thank you for the bolded, and for cracking me up. My MIL's dream was for my DH to find his profession in a workplace where worn elbow patched blazers were the norm. Instead, he's a programmer wearing comfy clothes, and at times he entertains an unhealthy skittle addiction. LOL! Oh the snob appeal! It's real. I bolded the statement above because it helped me clarify the issue. The market is now vast and diverse. So whatever identity CCE began with, perhaps it is now struggling to hold onto under the weight of so many expectations. Even my own expectation that things would remain as they were. Personally, my desire is that as my teen grows in his love of God, he grows in wonder for the things God has made. And conversely, as he encounters the great things God has made, I pray that he grow in his love of God. This is how my farmer grandparents did life and they modeled the most beautiful humility and generosity. Learning requires this humility. Teaching requires this humility and generosity of spirit. Sigh. Thanks for your response... I needed to work through my thoughts, and it was helpful!

I'm not part of a group... other than my community and the homeschoolers I'm aquainted with locally (large homeschooling area). The issues I'm referring to are coming out of articles, podcasts, etc in the broader CCE world. The tone has changed significantly since my early days.

Goodness. I wish someone would stand on a wall with a definition, even a wrong one. Instead, I see people standing on a classical school/program, or on the people behind those schools/programs. I do see the byproduct aspect, however -- the vacuum created by a plethora of method-less parents reacting to a local education system they're displeased with--cue the CCE saviors. So, you think this is the herd driving the market and not the other-way-round? I can see that, but I don't like what that means for me, or those like me who haven't yet found the joy of *this.* I've stopped attempting to connect with others re education. Most people aren't interested, but then you've got those rock throwers.

I've been in the classical homeschool community for at least a decade. Compared to some of you, that's nothing. However, even in my time, I've seen so much change. Part of that is likely because I'm growing, too, and thin veneers are easily seen. But I'm now thinking it's something more. There seems to be an overwhelming insistence that classical education become something less... humble and free? (I'm talking deeper than pyramid schemes, here.) Based on the smattering of reading and listening I do, there seems to be growing "push" in a direction that's more rigid, wears knowledge as pride (as opposed to gift), and scoffing at parents has become sport. What is up with this? Is this some collective phenomenon, or is there more to it that I haven't put together (a broader influence)? I came to classical Christian education because it gave me a playground. Many caves to explore! And those became places our family explored together, finding treasures and marveling. I'm still on that playground discovering, but there seem to be more "kids" on the playground throwing rocks, butting, and giving the appearance of a take-over. I'm nonplussed. However, I'm curious about the shift. Thoughts?

Because I contributed to this thread prior to details that have since been shared... because I support parents making wise/ hard choices on the behalf of their children... and because you seemed to want genuine feedback about measuring your own response in relation to this experience, I want to gently add that I see a lot of reacting in this thread. Your frustration with this teacher's approach is understandable. Pulling your DS when he has weeks left in a school he likes, is doing well in, AND you've satisfactorily seen three children through... Gently, that's 1/8 frustration and 7/8 reactionary. Arguing about the type of conference and its merits, or lack thereof... reactionary. If you're making the teacher and her ineptness the center of your energy (as opposed to making a plan for your DS)... reactionary. This mode is helpful when I'm dealing with anger, but from experience, I think your S&*^ has hit the fan (maybe b/c of an entirely different stressor) and this thread is looking like anger/reaction splatter. Said with all the empathy of one who has been there. ((((Meadowlark))))

I understand your frustration because I'm a teacher, too. After a really disappointing meeting with a school my DS attended, growing concerns about the academic, emotional, and spiritual direction of the community, DH and I agreed to pull DS from the school when the school year ended. This was helped by the fact that DS wanted to come home, too. We used the remainder of DS's year at the school to come up with a plan, and it has been a truly enjoyable school year. I've watched him regain lost ground in math, latin, and writing. Socially, I've watched him go from reserved and anxious, to laughing and reading his papers for his class. Just sharing this because those meetings, the ones where you walk away with your head spinning... they're disorienting. Take some time while DS is finishing his spring semester to evaluate if this school is meeting his academic needs. If it's not, start thinking about options. Let that conversation evolve with your DS and show him what next year could look like at another school, homeschool, co op, etc. You may find he simply can't imagine an educational environment outside of the one he's in currently. Heck, it's hard for ME to imagine an educational environment outside of the one we're in... so thinking about options gives me room to breathe, too. And you may find it lands you right back at your current school.