We are halfway through our first “official” year of homeschool. I say “official” because in Indiana, children do not have to be enrolled in school until the fall of the school year in which they will turn 7, so I don’t technically have to keep records this year (although I am). We have twelve weeks of Classical Conversations under our belt, and we’re gearing up to start the next twelve. Community days start up again next week, and I’m not sure who is more excited: me or the Little Man!

I have learned a ton this past semester, about my son, about homeschooling, and about Classical Conversations.

First, I cannot say enough great and positive things about CC. I love the structure of the curriculum, but at the same time, I love that it’s unstructured enough that I’ve tailored it to our (developing) style. I love the community – I have never felt more loved, welcomed, and embraced by a group of families anywhere else, ever, including the numerous churches I have attended in my life. These families have embraced us completely, and they love my child.

They love my child. That, right there, makes CC worth every penny.

I also love that I am learning alongside our son. My early childhood education was slightly classical in nature, so I am remembering some things, but others? I’m pretty sure I never actually learned the Presidents of the USA. The kid can rattle them off, in order, along with almost 200 world events. It’s pretty impressive. And, he’s tying together things he hears in church and while we’re out and about with the things he’s learning in CC.

Second, I have learned that our child is an auditory learner. While I believe there is only slight truth to the belief you can only learn in one way, it is true for him that if something is set to music, he only has to hear it one or two times and it’s set deep within his brain. CC works well for that, as almost everything can or is set to music. Also, using Saxon Math is working well for us, because I just read the teacher’s guide instructions out loud and he gets it. Yay!

Third, I have learned to be much more flexible than I originally set out to be in August. I had initially planned out what a school day should look like for us, but as the semester progressed, I learned that I had to find our natural rhythm for learning. I had to pay more attention to moods and cues. Doing that has made all the difference. For example, today, neither one of us was really ready to do anything this morning (he still wanted to play with new Christmas toys; I had a migraine and hadn’t slept well). We had a low-key morning. About 2:30 this afternoon we had a reading lesson, progressed to writing, did some math, and finished with our CC review. All said and done, it took us about 90 minutes, with some breaks, and now we’re both “doing our own thing” until Daddy wakes up 🙂

Yesterday we did everything but reading first thing in the morning. We did reading right after dinner.

In August, I would have forced us to sit at the table and work through everything first thing this morning, regardless, and school would have taken twice as long, at least, and ended with yelling and/or tears. I am so glad I have learned to let go a little, and I know our son is as well!

How is your school year going?