Doing Classical Conversations at Home ? with a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old .

[Guest WhiteHouseHomeschoolMom]

I was recently introduced to Classical Conversations and I really love the concept and the program . I have a son who is turning 4 yrs old this month and was going to join a CC community this fall . I have started reading through the Foundations Book and I am thinking that CC could be done at home as a supplement to the phonics and early math that we are already doing . Just wanted to hear from some other parents who may be doing CC at home and any thought , suggestions , etc .

Thanks ! :)

[Terabith]

Honestly, the whole appeal of doing Classical Conversations is that it's a communal experience with other kids. I would rather gnaw my foot off with my teeth while having my innards chewed by a wildebeast than try to do it at home with a four year old!!!! Even for older kids, the group dynamic is a big part of the motivation. Honestly, I tend to think of it as developmentally inappropriate for little ones; it's just throwing too much spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. Sure, get the cd and stick it in the car, but there's only so much random information I can stomach having them memorize with zero comprhension.

 

If you want to do it so you can meet more homeschooling moms and your kid can make some friends since all of his are off at preschool, then have at it. But don't try to do it at home. Honestly, I would go with a nice play based preschool as a supplement to phonics and early math if I was going to pick one. But I think Mommy and Me skydiving would be a more positive and productive use of time and energy than trying to do a full Foundations program at home with a four year old.

[mrs.m]

Our community doesn't have a class for 2 year olds. The K4-5 year old class is mostly for children with older siblings. Personally, I think it's better to let them play and explore the world through playtime than to start memory drills. They have many years of school work ahead of them so there is no need to rush. But, yes, it can be done at home and I have heard about the younger siblings picking up on the memory work while their older ones are learning it.

[staceyobu]

Buy the cd and do just the songs if you are really wanting them to do part of the program. Part of the reason we dropped cc was because my sweet 4 year old told me he was dumb at school because the memory work was so far beyond his abilities. FLL 1 has some really sweet poems to memorize if you want memory work. I would do something like that with the songs if you want memory work. Otherwise, spend your extra time on read alouds and other fun stuff... science experiments... cooking projects... crafts.

[PeterPan]

Granted we haven't done CC, but that seems totally bizarre to me to put a 4 yo in there memorizing the VP cards, etc. They have NO way to relate to that information whatsoever. Spend another year (at least!) reading to her. Fill her bank with good literature. 2 hours a day if you can. Read her the Lang's Fairy Tales and the Chronicles of Narnia and EB White and other great lit. THAT is where you want to put your time right now. The language you put into her now will show as her reading takes off and she begins writing.

[mazakaal]

I've just started doing some of the CC memory work with my 9yo and 10yo this year, and I'm really glad that we didn't do it any sooner. I think doing the timeline memorization and memory sentences after covering the information with SOTW has been great because it's all review to them. I don't think I'd want to do it with a 4yo. It would just be words with no meaning to them.

[monalisa]

I agree with all the earlier posts, and have done 2 years of CC with my dd when she was 1st and 3rd grade. I really think it is best for kids who can read, and are about 3rd grade and up. I also completely agree that the group dynamic is a big part of it. There is SO MUCH else to be doing with a 4 year old. Read, read, read, read read. cook, art, crafts. etc!!!! Now my dd is 10, and I wish we had done so much more fun stuff, vs "academic" stuff at those early ages (K-2). If you just can't resist CC, I agree with pp who said just buy the CD. I felt like CC was almost too out of context for a 1st grader, so for a 4 year old, I honestly don't see the point unless you have an older child in Foundations on a campus too. This was my opinion when were in a campus also, because we had a number of families with the oldest child being 4 or 5.

[craftyerin]

I sat in on our local CC's class last year, considering it for my kids who would have been 4 and 5 if we had signed up. I thought the all day class part looked fun, but I had no interest in doing that much unrelated memory work with such young kids. Just because they *could* memorize all of that stuff didn't mean that's where we should be putting our time and energy, IMO. We are skipping CC. It's just not for us.

[mrs.m]

I think 7 or 8 is when they really start to get something out of it. They may not understand all of it but my youngest learned a lot this year and I felt that was the case for the students I tutored as well. Our 6/7 year was ok and more about learning to make it through the class period. 😥 he did memorize and has retained much of it.

[ThisIsMeYouareYou]

Interesting reviews. I have my 4 year old in CC. At 2.5 we started homeschooling (the basics, it was fun, there was a routine, it was pretty much all play). She's very social so I put her in Montessori at 3 (part-time). The teachers worked with me actually, it was a hybrid of homeschool and preschool the teacher welcomed the parent involvement. She graduated from that at 4 and now at 4.5 we have her in CC (we moved out of state and tried this community that had an opening). She loves it and recalls the songs and has corrected me on some of the facts. We do a lot of story telling with her so she gets curious about history and religion. I almost want her to be in the group older than her because she's always been advanced and the older children will help her along. I do have writing and site word reading program I do with her and I don't push so much memory work on her. I think it also depends on your child and perhaps the subject.