Jyniffrec Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 (edited) I am very attracted to the concept of the program but am wondering if it is compatible with our faith since I've heard about so much religious content in Classical Conversations. Are there any Orthodox CCers on this board or does anyone know any? TIA! Edited December 11, 2010 by Jyniffrec Dh thought I should claify. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA6336 Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 I don't know of any Orthodox Christians that participate in CC (I probably just haven't met them yet) but I'm Roman Catholic (I'm a director). My tutors vary, but to sum up they're Presbyterian, Evangelical Christian and former-Baptist-turned-Episcopalian-turned-I'm not sure what exactly. :001_smile: Our families range all over the Christian spectrum, and I am aware of a child in Challenge at another local community whose family is Buddhist. As a Catholic I can honestly say there is nothing in the Foundations memory work that contradicts Church teaching. The Veritas Press history timeline cards are the usual point of contention and my answer is that we only use the titles/pictures (the front of the cards) in CC and never look at the back (which is where it does actually contradict Church teaching). In our homeschool, we do not use the back of the VP cards. Few of our families do, actually, most use some other history program than VP at home. The only religious content in the Essentials program (afternoon English grammar and writing program for 4th-6th graders) is that the sentences they're diagramming are things like "Jesus loves me" and "For God so loved the world He sent His only begotten Son." Challenge can be a little different, simply because God made a universe, not a multiverse, which means that truly no individual subject can be learned/taught without having something to do with the rest. Therefore, religious topics do come up in Challenge classes, and the directors are trained to encourage the students without indoctrinating or pushing them to a particular conclusion. The individual director at the Challenge level makes all the difference. That's not really the answer to your question. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyniffrec Posted December 12, 2010 Author Share Posted December 12, 2010 I don't know of any Orthodox Christians that participate in CC (I probably just haven't met them yet) but I'm Roman Catholic (I'm a director). My tutors vary, but to sum up they're Presbyterian, Evangelical Christian and former-Baptist-turned-Episcopalian-turned-I'm not sure what exactly. :001_smile: Our families range all over the Christian spectrum, and I am aware of a child in Challenge at another local community whose family is Buddhist. As a Catholic I can honestly say there is nothing in the Foundations memory work that contradicts Church teaching. The Veritas Press history timeline cards are the usual point of contention and my answer is that we only use the titles/pictures (the front of the cards) in CC and never look at the back (which is where it does actually contradict Church teaching). In our homeschool, we do not use the back of the VP cards. Few of our families do, actually, most use some other history program than VP at home. The only religious content in the Essentials program (afternoon English grammar and writing program for 4th-6th graders) is that the sentences they're diagramming are things like "Jesus loves me" and "For God so loved the world He sent His only begotten Son." Challenge can be a little different, simply because God made a universe, not a multiverse, which means that truly no individual subject can be learned/taught without having something to do with the rest. Therefore, religious topics do come up in Challenge classes, and the directors are trained to encourage the students without indoctrinating or pushing them to a particular conclusion. The individual director at the Challenge level makes all the difference. That's not really the answer to your question. Sorry. Thank you for responding! I know many Orthodox Christians have problems with the statement of faith. Did you find anything objectionable in it? Our area is very conservative and evangelical. This isn't a bad thing at all, but it isn't what I teach my kids and not what I want them being taught. My concern about the emphasis on evangelical teachings is likely quite valid because of this. I plan to visit with a friend before I make any decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA6336 Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 The statement of faith is something that only directors and state directors have to "sign." Tutors are asked to verbally agree to support it. It's fairly generic. I personally don't like it, but there's nothing that is directly contradictory. It's more like it starts a line of thinking and then stops just.barely.short of a point of contention. I wish Leigh Bortins could simply provide the Nicene or Apostles Creed as her statement of faith, but that's a whole other conversation. I have agreed to support it and do so. From a CC family point of view, it basically means that the community will be led by a Christian and the guiding ethical principles will be Christian. CC families do not have to be Christian to be in CC. I wouldn't say that the Foundations memory work is evangelical. It is definitely Christian. The closest it gets to being deliberately Protestant is one week in the current cycle, it's the history sentence regarding the Protestant Reformation. The fact they memorize is true. It is correct. There's just a whole lot more to it! But then, trying to condense any piece of history into a single sentence/sound bite is darn near impossible. This one sentence is very simple to explain to my kids, that yes, that action did lead to Martin Luther's excommunication but it was not that sole action that did it. Being in an area that is outspokenly against your faith may reveal itself in the CC group, too. I think that's where going to an Open House, talking to other moms and declaring yourself to be Orthodox (and then explaining what that means!) will pretty much show you if that community is right for you or not. I would hate to think that any Christian community of homeschoolers would be standoffish or offensive to anyone, so I hope that you find a group of tolerant families! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest frankandcathy Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 An Orthodox friend of mine (I'm an enquirer) just told me of an Orthodox yahoo group for classical ed. Apparently, Andrew Kern just made an announcement that someone higher up in the CC organization just got charismated. I have been doing CC for several years and LOVE it. We are obviously exploring Orthodoxy as well. Also have several Orthodox friends who do CC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest frankandcathy Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/orthodoxclassicalhs/info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco_Clark Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 You could ask on the orthodox group. There are several people there that don't frequent these boards very often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco_Clark Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 You could ask on the orthodox group. There are several people there that don't frequent these boards very often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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