CC - First Impressions

In an earlier entry I wrote about my reasoning behind choosing Classical Conversations (CC).  As I mentioned in that entry, this year was to be our trial year.  I am a perpetual skeptic who doesn't generally jump into something without testing the waters first.  Below I will discuss my first impressions of the program after our first year.

I'll start with my son's opinion.  He is 6-yrs old, and is enrolled in the youngest group of the Foundations program.  He told Grandma on the phone the other day that he loves his "school".  He says his favorite part is singing the timeline song, and he often requests to play it in the car.  He was devastated the times we had to miss class.  I am surprised by how much he enjoys all the memorization and how quickly he is learning such a vast amount of information.  

My 4-yr old is picking up on it too.  It cracks me up to hear him come wandering down the stairs singing, "Minoans and Mycenaeans", partly because it sounds more like, "Minomes and Mycemeens".  He doesn't even actively participate in any of our CC studies, he's just picking it up by being around.  He's so proud to be able to recite some of the same information his brother is learning.

As for me, I am overall very pleased so far.  I have mostly positive comments regarding the program with only slight criticism listed below.

Pros: 

• My son loves it, and he is very motivated to study the topics covered at CC.
• Students give a weekly presentation in front of the class (although my son says this is his least favorite part!).
• Attending the weekly classes has helped me to visualize how to tie in memory work with our lessons. 
• The community is wonderful.  It is just fantastic to have this weekly fellowship with like-minded families.
• The memory work, songs, and history cards are fantastic.
• The art and science projects are beneficial, and the kids enjoy them.
• I feel like my son benefits from the peer interaction in a school-like setting.

Cons:

• The curriculum moves through history at an accelerated pace, a 3-yr cycle vs. The Well-Trained Mind's 4-yr cycle. 
• It can be expensive for families with multiple children.

We are definitely going to continue with the program next year with both boys enrolling in CC classes.