Classical Conversations Homeschool Co-Op Q&A: You asked! I answered!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

If I missed a question that you have, leave it in a comment! I also have a CC playlist with all my videos about Classical Conversations! Lots more Info here! Classical Conversations kzbin.info/aero/PLSGIl3wBXjD8e2rVy5d0_1wW7u21WgVt9

[@tiffanybradley6226]

Thank you for such a humble and transparent analysis of your CC experiences. This was very encouraging, and I will be recommending this video (and your pros/cons) to potential CC families who attend our information meetings and open houses!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Thank you!! 😊

[@Jessiemadanat]

I like the idea, but I love the freedom to choose the curriculum.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

It’s definitely a conundrum! I’m still choosing our math and since we’re not doing Latin, we’ll be doing something else for foreign language. Still doing Bible study together. And maybe some life skills added in to requirementa. But yeah….you can’t choose much else or else you’re wasting your money on the CC experience.

[@bestlandhomeschool]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I feel like with CC it does't get any better than that. Especially in the challenge years. They have the best literature selections, a solid writing programs (IEW and LTOW), college prep science (apologia) and you can do your own math. If ppl are choosing different they're not leveling up.

[@bethanytaylor7656]

The COST. It is still so much cheaper than you’d pay for a classical private school. Or just a private school in general. (From my experience) Even with inflation. It feels like a lot up front. But the gain. The wealth you gain from a thriving group is so worth it.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

It’s cheaper as a total to total. But when you consider 5 days/week vs 1 d/week, it’s pretty expensive. But there’s definitely a a reason even homeschool families are willing to pay for it….. there’s something wonderful about community and even the classical model and the way that CC does things. I actually heard of a private school a few hours from us, that not only is a classical private school, but they use the CC curriculum!! That would be an interesting option! If you love the CC model, but maybe cannot homeschool the kids yourself. I don’t know what that schools tuition is…. I only learned about it when I was interviewing moms to be a practicum worker one summer.

[@thekangaline2914]

The reason we decided against CC is because even if I'm not a tutor I have to pay for my 2 year old to go to the nursery because I would have to sit with one of my other 2 kids in their class. It just seemed counter intuitive when the main reason I wanted to sign up was for social interaction with other homeschool students. We decided to allocate the $2k+ to a sport for each kid and then a conference sometime next year instead.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

That’s a bummer!!! I don’t think they’re supposed to REQUIRE you to pay for the daycare. You are supposed to be able to bring the young ones to class with you, even to class. I’ve heard Leigh Bortins herself say that as part of the original vision.

[@emilythompson7857]

Yes in ours we are given the option. So sad this wasn’t the case for you! 😢

[@michelegioffredo8811]

I honestly say to get on connected and look around. It's not just worksheets and jingles anymore. There's books, magazines, tidbits, helps, the MathMap companion. There's a ton of information on there... videos to understand the charts and the instructions. It's more than just homeschool clutter. So take a look.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I will take a look eventually. But even just seeing what you’ve listed sounds overwhelming. Death by information overload! 🤪😁 there’s never an end to info. But my point is, if I WANT that extra info, great!!! But I have to work hard to clear my mind of all the info overload to keep my homeschool simple. That’s just me.

[@EverydayArmyWife]

Thank you so much for answering my questions!! this was a great video and between all three of your videos, this helps to explain CC! man this gives me a lot to think about!!! Thank you

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

You’re welcome!! Glad it was helpful!!! 😁

[@barbaracozens3999]

I think I've mentioned to you before that the co-op we belong to came out of a local CC group. I am not sure why they left CC, but our co-op is structured very much like you describe the structure of CC, without the cost. We only have a minimal admin fee of about $50 per family to cover costs to run our website, copies, parties, etc. When I looked into CC, the cost was what deterred me from joining. This video really gave me some more insight into why our co-op is structured the way it is. 🙂

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

That’s awesome!! Maybe they should formalize what they do and sell the vision!!! 🤔 I know another community structured the same way also and using different curriculum than CC. The benefit to CC is the music, etc and products they e already created. That is harder to compete with. But creating a classical community on itself…..that’s where it will start. Someday, like I said, CC may get some competition.

[@cortneymckinney9215]

Our group is the same way. I came from CC and started my own version and tweaked it however I wanted without the cost. It is so nice to have freedom and flexibility without the costs.

[@cortneymckinney9215]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlanClaritas in my opinion is more well planned out than CC. We are actually switching over to Claritas this year. CC still has the best timeline cards and song as well as more additional resources. 😉

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@cortneymckinney9215 I think that might be what my friends are doing too! (The ones who are creating their own classical co-op! I need to ask them!)

[@sarahe7515]

I am not sure where you are from but the one in Illinois by me is very tight lipped (country club like) and high fees. I asked if I could see how they ran and I was told that would interfere with community privacy. I didn’t want to video or take photos. I didn’t know what I was paying for and wanted to see. Does that make sense? The cost is steep here.

[@shayj3373]

TY!! Excellent Vid. As always, extremely informative. We're considering CC....for our youngest, super motivated, talkative, DD (9 about to turn 10 next month)... Looking to getting our feet wet in all things CC at home this year and than possibly transitioning to a group for grade 5 next year. 🙂🙂

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Homeschooling_with_the_Riveras]

Totally unrelated but I just bought that same blue shirt today at the CM! 😂 We are doing the scribblers at home curriculum with CC. It’s super simple, stick in the sand. It’s called scribblers but is for Foundations students. Working on simplifying school this year to Bible, Memory Work, Math, lots of read alouds, and keeping a daily journal. Plus great books for my one independent reader to explore on his own. So excited for your family! Have a great year 🥳

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Scribblers wasn’t much when I left. What does it have now? I think the things I saw were more like copy work. I love your simple plan!!! You’re in such a sweet phase of your homeschool! So fun about the shirt! 🩷 I wear this shirt all the time! It must be that Bella Canvas material bc it is so soft!

[@Homeschooling_with_the_Riveras]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlanso CC released the Scribblers at Home curriculum last year. It takes all the grammar plus phonics, math, writing, reading, and gives daily “recipes” of what to do with them. Now that I have this I really don’t need a phonics curriculum. It’s there. So is grammar, diagramming, writing, geography, math facts practice, etc. all that would need to be added are books to read. A family can could just do CC and Scribblers at Home and be good to go until Challenge. It’s awesome!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@Homeschooling_with_the_Riveras oh wow!!! I have a lot to learn about what’s changed! That sounds great! But you incorporate McGuffy readers still??

[@Homeschooling_with_the_Riveras]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlanyes! Still doing McGuffeys. Any reading material will work. It gives a read aloud conversation guide that can be used for any book. I also got the Prescripts writing for the boys age levels and the CopperLodge read alouds. Those are recommended by the Scribblers at Home curriculum. There is also Nature Walk guides, learning about moon cycles and constellations, drawing maps, Bible reading plans, Latin lessons that are all singing or playing games. Each day the family prays together, plays together, reads together, explores together, and serves together. Pick and choose what to do in each of these sections.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@Homeschooling_with_the_Riveras that sounds wonderful!

[@lorieitel5294]

The "competition" tease...my brain is swirling! 😳

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

😂💕 I’m just saying!!!!

[@Learnedhandknits]

I know Classic Academic press has communities but how many are out there I don't know. 😊

[@chaeliackerman1394]

Thank you for answering my question- that is SO helpful!!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

You’re welcome!!! ☺️

[@elisabethquigley7399]

I think it’s important for parents to know that the tuition doesn’t stay in the community. There are “licensing fees” directors have to pay to CC out of the tuition. Last year’s Challenge licensing fees were $335 per student (including for your own child if they are in your class).

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

License fee goes to SR to pay for the training that they do for the directors. The SR is not getting rich, by any means, supporting the ditectors. Having said that, some SRs probably support the directors more than others. But a license fee is like getting a “permit” to be able to teach. I did list in the video that the directors get the tuition - (license fee + director fee) = director pay. I’m not sure the new director fee is for though. 😬

[@elisabethquigley7399]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan The directors and SRs definitely aren’t getting rich! It’s a huge investment of time and money to prepare for class each week. I appreciate your videos!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@elisabethquigley7399 I’m so glad!! 😊 thank you for supporting me as well even with a simple comment! 😘

[@MamaSchopfer-vy4km]

@@elisabethquigley7399 Challenge Directors (grades 7th-12th) pay a $100 licensing fee to the SR, and an additional $335 to CC corporate. This fee comes from the tuition money paid to the Director from the parents. So you are correct; 100% of the tuition money does NOT stay in the community when it comes to the Challenge levels.

[@bestlandhomeschool]

@@MamaSchopfer-vy4km this is really sad because my son's Challenge A director is absolutely amazing and she doesn't get paid enough in my opinion. Even when I though she was getting all the money, I felt like it wasn't enough.

[@margiedenavarre7919]

lol, a “wardrobe change.” I love your personality. 😂 Regarding “taking away a child’s love of learning,” I couldn’t agree more. My son is not academically minded. He does what he’s made to do but he’s not excited to do it. That’s true for CC or Abeka or any other curriculum. However, I’ve seen so many kids who just love learning the CC “grammar” (memory work). Obviously, these are often your “type A,” self-motivated, want-to-learn kind of kids. Nevertheless, those without this type of personality are getting out of it so much more than they would in a public school setting. I appreciate your approach because we can still say that CC is excellent even if we ultimately decide that it’s not the program we want to use at a given time.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I think the memory work being put to song makes it so much more fun. And each weeks being just a little bit, also makes it more manageable and less intimidating!!

[@faithfullyinfertile]

This was very informative for anyone looking in to CC! I would also add that while CC could be better suited to students who have strengths (vs weaknesses) in the language arts, the overall goal of Challenge is to teach kids HOW to think for themselves, which is a skill ALL students need to learn (and yes, CC isn't the only way to teach your kids to think). I think it is important to note, especially for students who might struggle with the language arts, that YOU are still in the driver's seat of your student's education and you can scale the work as needed. My oldest is going into CH 1 this year and she is very, very strong in language arts. Avid reader. Can't wait to get her hands on all the literature and even asked me to go ahead and purchase the Shakespeare books (which are CH 2 or 3- I can't remember haha!) this year because she can't wait to read them 😂 I have scaled nothing for her as far as essays and literature go. However, we both despise Latin, so she has just done the vocab and that is IT. No issues with scaling that for her at all. Her weaknesses are math & science. She is not on grade level for math and I scaled some CH B science but did not have to scale Ch A science at all. I might have to scale some Ch 1 science. Although I just discovered there are video lessons for the Apologia Physical Science that they do in Ch 1. I think that is going to be a game-changer for her since I've heard those videos help a lot in explaining the concepts taught. Anyway- It is totally okay to scale the work if needed. I appreciate that and know I always have that in my back pocket if I see something arise that I need to tweak for an individual student to make the learning more meaningful/manageable for them. I absolutely love the outcome of Challege which is students who know how to think and argue from both sides. The Lost Tools of Learning is my favorite part of Challenge and I love how their essays from Ch A,B&1 are basically setting them up for formal debate and then their big thesis presentation in Ch 4. It is a brilliant scope and sequence when you look at the BIG PICTURE of Challenge from A to 4! I think you are very wise to put N in B vs 1 this year so she has more of a foundation moving forward if Challenge is a good fit for you all and she keeps going through highschool. Challenge has definitely been a good fit for my oldest daughter! I see her continuing on through 4. My younger daughter struggles somewhat with language arts, but I am prepared to scale as needed to hopefully make Challenge a good experience for her too. I am also not married to Challenge for each of my kids and willing to do totally different approaches for each of my four kids if necessary! It sounds like you have a fantastic community that you are joining. I do believe that makes a HUGE difference. We did CC in community when my oldest was age 6-9 and then pulled out because we had horrible tutors (for Foundations) three years in a row and I was just over it! We are in a fantastic community now and I am thankful both of my girls have wonderful directors for this year. It makes such a difference! I'll end this novel here and say that I hope you and your family has a wonderful school year this year with CC 🤩

[@faithfullyinfertile]

Ok you basically said you can accomodate your child as needed RIGHT after I wrote this comment and then continued watching. :) I want to add that I have a friend with a daughter with severe dyslexia and she is going in to Ch 2! She does all her "reading" of book via audiobook and has an app that scribes her papers. Her mom does have to help her some here and there and be creative in accommodating assignments to make it meaningful for her, but it is very doable and they both love CC, because the overall goal of the Challenge program is always on their mind (learning to think well) and that is something any kid can learn to do!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Great points!!! Also great tip on the scribing app!!

[@amanda_faithfamilyfitness]

What would you recommend for a student (thinking next school year) who has 3yrs IEW SSS under their belt, taking as a high school freshman, who doesn’t have the foundations from the lower levels? Also would a 4th grader do better in the Foundations level starting out? What subjects does CC cover for elementary, middle, & hs? Not seeing it on the CC website. Side note question-after going through Shormann w/ your son, would you choose it again for him if you had to do things over, & is this a math curriculum you would choose for your daughter in hs? We are almost through quarter 1 of Pre-Algebra, & I just am unsure

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

This is a lot of questions! 😂 maybe I should make a video that’s basically a CC info meeting. 😁 there’s a lot to explain that would be impossible in a comment. For CC upper class years, you don’t really get to choose what curriculum you use except math. You CAN add curriculum, but in community day, they discuss from the assignments worked on the previous week. I think I’ll do a video soon explaining the CH years bc there’s too much to explain…. For your 4th grader, foundations is separate from essentials and I’d definitely do it. Foundations is fun and it’s amazing all the things they learn from what feels like so little. It’s not little. And it’s all dove into deep in the challenge years. Essentials is an ADD on program for 4th - 6th grade (so you can do foundations AND essentials). Essentials is all about English grammar, writing, and math drills. Shormann-I feel like I’ve heard of even more math curriculums that are online now so I’m not sure I’d choose it again. It’s advanced, in my opinion. And that can be challenging. I’m not sure I wouldn’t choose it bc it is very nice to have somebody else teach it. And it’s not super expensive. But I’d look into others like Mr D math, for example. That’s one that has my attention for future with my daughter bc it also teaches and has an element of fun in it. But I’m not sure on the price and how it’s taught. Teaching textbooks did not work for us.

[@tkcrew7039]

Would love to hear your opinion on the math map...my oldest is in challenge A this fall and the math map is required. My understanding is that is will eventually be required for all levels... Im not thrilled about it to be honest

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I have no opinion on it at this time. I don’t understand the program. And my community doesn’t have a CH A class this year. So I don’t think any of us will be exposed to it yet. But we’ll see!!! 🤪

[@tkcrew7039]

I'm hoping I'll eventually understand it. I've been to TWO workshops and still do NOT understand 😂 I attempted it with my kids and all of us were just 🫠

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@tkcrew7039 we flipped through it at the practicum and I was immediately overwhelmed. I’m not even going to attempt it. Regular math curriculum for me!

[@gardenia77]

I have to say, years ago when there were CC Tutors doing videos on ideas for organization, games, etc I was so drawn in by them, lol. Did you have a video about how to tab Henle? I didn't even have any way to use any of the tips at the time but I just loved all those videos for some reason lol.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

That is awesome! I didn’t have a KZbin channel when I was in CC back then. But I wanted one and had thought about it for three years before I finally did it. I might do some CC specific videos this year. I’m just trying to get the school year going right now!! 😁

[@gardenia77]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I feel like I'm transitioning into the school year until December 😆

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@gardenia77 😂😂😂 that’s how I felt last year. Hopefully this year will be better. That’s always the hope!

[@1986kimberlyg]

Thank you for clearing the air on the MLM thing. That gets thrown around a lot but there is never actual information to back it up. A few other thoughts: I think it’s worth emphasizing how much facility and supply fees vary. Ours are substantially less than yours…$35/family per a year. And while I don’t have any experience, I’m under the impression there is a price break when you have more than one child enrolled in foundations at one time, right?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

It’s not even close to an MLM! 🤪 No price break for more than 1 child in foundations. Supply fees can definitely vary. They have a suggested fee, but your director gets to set it and some of it might depend on what the community typically does with it. And the facility fee….yep! All depends on what the building manager charges.

[@katie7748]

Idek where the notion that it's an MLM came from. Wow. This is the first I've heard of that. MLMs ruins lives. I avoid them like the Plague!!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@katie7748 me too!

[@MamaSchopfer-vy4km]

Don’t SRs make more money when they recruit moms to direct, though? The more Directors they recruit, the more communities they open, the more money they make off the application fees from e rolling students. And SRs are given bonuses if they meet certain recruitment numbers. SRs also make more money off each Director they recruit because Directors pay a fee to the SR, which the SR gets to pocket (100%).

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Directors pay the SR a license fee (and this part of how the SR gets paid. Fee is a little more than an app fee….its not a lot compared to the amount of hours the SR will have prepare for just to do the training FOR their directors) No, the SR doesn’t get paid even that, from directors they “recruit”. Only directors needed for their own communities. So even if an SR talks a friend into being a director, but that friend goes to a community outside that SR’s….the local SR is who does the training and the support. SR’s are not recruiting directors. They are filling the needs within their own community. “Our community needs a new CH A directors this year, is any mom willing to do it?” The SR might be asked by corporates if there is a growth potential in the area to start a new community so that people don’t have to drive a long distance for a CC community. Or bc communities within the area are consistently full. But they aren’t looking to just form new communities for new reason. Most of the time, those communities start organically anyway. It’s the mothers who want something closer or even at all! The SR is assigned to support them based on geography. But like I said, if I were to start a new community….if I already had 15 directors to support, and another community would start, they consider hiring another SR, rather than continue to ask me to support even more directors bc it’s a lot! I had 1x1 support calls with directors. SRs have to visit each classroom….the more directors, the more work. It’s in everybody’s best interest to have a “cap” on how many you can support. As for bonuses….i never got any bonuses. Any incentives they tried to give out….the juice was never worth the squeeze to me to even try. So I never even paid attention to them. It’s not a money maker like you are insinuating. .

[@MamaSchopfer-vy4km]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan oh, I am not trying to insinuate that SRs make a ton of money. Being in CC for six years as a F/E Director, and having been asked to be an SR, I know for a fact that Directors and SRs make next to nothing when you consider all the time they put into their communities. I was simply trying to point out the other ways they make money that ordinary mom’s singing up for CC don’t know about. It was my experience that SRs received bonuses for opening up new communities. Our SR was super pushy about constantly starting new ones and breaking up full and thriving communities. She told me straight up that she gets a bonus if she can meet her quota (opening up new communities). SRs also made money off how many people they could get to sign up for CCC (which isn’t an issue now that CC requires everyone to sign up for it). They’d also make a percentage off the sales from books sold during Practicum, as well as, books sold during ACBC nights disguised as mom’s nights. My SR was over multiple communities, not just the one she attended with her own children. She was constantly trying to recruit moms to direct in order to grow each community, but a lot of times she came off as being very pushy and manipulative. The fact is, you have to have moms step up to direct in order to keep communities growing. They won’t last if moms don’t step up. Most people coming into CC don’t realize this. Each Director would pay the SR a $100 fee per year, which she got to keep. This was paid before we could attend our one-day Director Licensing Orientation. She told me this when she was trying to recruit me to become an SR so she could try and become an AR. All this to say, I’m not trying to argue with you. I’m just attempting to offer more transparency when it comes to how CC makes money and where the money goes. I believe if CC as a whole was more open and honest about this, there wouldn’t be so many people questioning their tactics. (This is and was my personal experience.)

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@MamaSchopfer-vy4km I wonder if some of what you’re mentioning as an SR duty/bonus changed after I left. I never fully understood even HOW I got paid as an SR besides the app fee percentage. All the bonuses I heard about didn’t seem worth my effort to even try. So maybe they changed it. I was more about supporting my directors than trying to grow communities. Infact, the push for that part of the job is what I hated. I just wanted to homeschool my kids and support our communities. Everything else didn’t sit well with me. 😕 i like organic growth! But splitting apart communities doesn’t feel right unless there is a need or desire from the moms themselves.

[@MamaSchopfer-vy4km]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I completely agree! The pushiness and what seemed like a constant focus on growth ultimately made me burnout. I’m with you; I just wanted to homeschool my own kids in a community of like-minded families. When my SR began pushing me to hold info meetings with potential families even though my own community was full with a waiting list, I told her I wasn’t comfortable “selling CC” and then telling the families they’d have to join one of the other communities that didn’t exist yet. By this I mean that my SR was advertising communities in locations that she didn’t even have Directors for yet. The communities were listed on the CC website! Like, what?! This part of CC is why my family ultimately left. Our area now only has one CC community, down from at least six at the peak. The fact that you were an SR and didn’t understand how you were even being paid is very concerning. This is why I believe CC needs way more transparency when it comes to how they do business. Not being transparent causes confusion and frustration, especially if you’re in a leadership position within CC and start asking questions. Anyway, not trying to bash CC or you. I LOVE your channel! You’re hilarious and very, very real!!! I pray you have a better experience in CC this time around. ❤️

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@MamaSchopfer-vy4km thank you so much!!! 💕 I want to be fair to CC. And sometimes there is misinformation out there. But at the same time….like you said….there are definitely things that don’t make sense. Thank you for clearing up what you meant!!! 🩷 sounds like your SR was very aggressive. And that can definitely turn people off. I was very conscientious of trying to do my job, but at the same time, the relationships within the communities and keeping the directors feeling as supported as possible was the most important to me. If you don’t have directors you don’t have community. And if you don’t support the directors, they won’t stick around. And that can turn off families too. I’m so fortunate that the community we e joined seems to be very focused on relationships. So I’m optimistic about that part!! Thank you again for the discussion. It’s all good info for any key asking questions!!

[@VW777]

Thank you. Are you saying your sister pulled all of her children out of CC, or just the child who was struggling? Is it possible for a child to start CC for the first time in Challenge I? We visited a community and my 14 year old found the Challenge B Math work too easy. Maths is his favourite subject. Could we fill in the gaps with Latin in our own time? What is the workload like for Challenge I vs Challenge B?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

My SIL pulled all her kids out. It’s possible to start in Ch 1 but Latin will definitely be a challenge. The book they use for Latin, they do 1/2 of it in CH a, the other 1/2 in CH b, and then they repeat the entire book in CH1. So it’s possible. But it will be a lot of work. When my niece and nephew did it, they started the summer before learning some basics. The workload from B to 1 is definitely more. I’m not sure how many more hours per week though. They read a lot more books and much more quickly. They write more papers. And like I said, they do Latin at a much faster pace.

[@RockSimmer-gal4God]

I don’t want homeschool cutler so unless extras are awesome I wouldn’t download them!!! Sorry I can’t spell!!! I agree there needs a cap for younger classes!!! 12 is a good number!!! I agree that tutors can change the environment!!! We love the classical method of learning!!! We probably pace ourselves differently than CC!!! We use the apps tho!!! We memorise memory work orally often and we find it helps!!!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

You use the CC memory apps?!?! That app is so wonderful for independent learning!!!

[@gardenia77]

I've also wondered why there were no other programs out there similar to CC. CC looks amazing, but I could see someone doing some things a little differently.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I agree. They could use a little healthy competition!!

[@margiedenavarre7919]

I’m just confused about your last point about not learning anything besides CC work. Are you referring to Foundations grammar or would that also apply to Essentials work as well?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Ok so I haven’t gone back to watch and see what exactly I said!!! So let me know if this doesn’t answer your question. My first year in CC, when we went to practicum, there was a CC mom panel and several on there who had challenge students. The one thing they all said was that when you’re in foundations, you’re always wondering, “is this enough? Or should I be adding more?” And they emphasized, “trust us! The memory work is enough! And it’s effective!” The foundations memeory work is for the purpose of starting them with a little knowledge about the challenge topics they’ll cover when they get there. And the memory work is so effective, challenge students do well with that memory recall. But if you bog them down with so much more info, and neglect actually memorizing it, they may not be set up as well for challenge if they can’t recall those details. Does that make sense? So in other words, if you make “memory maste” a goal, even if they don’t fully achieve it, they will be still be in good shape for challenge. For essentials, I also think that’s enough. Essentials grammar and writing is actually VERY thorough! And there’s so much you can do (memorizing the charts) that very few actually accomplish in the three years. The thing I love about essentials is that the grammar and writing is repeated for three years in a row, so by the third year, hopefully it’s really solidified!

[@margiedenavarre7919]

@ thank you for such a good answer. But would you say that you also have to add a science, history, and health class in addition?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@margiedenavarre7919 I’ve never added science or history when we’ve done CC. Part of the CC community day also includes science experiments which is in addition to the memory work. So there’s extra science being snuck into each week. For essentials, they also do a big paper at the end of the year called “Faces of History” where they research a historical figure, write a first person paper, and dress up and do a formal presentation about them as well. NOT TO MENTION, most of the papers written are also from historical texts. So there’s some history snuck into essentials as well. That’s doesn’t mean we aren’t doing any other science or history through education videos, library books, read alouds, nature walks, etc. But I’ve never added a formal curriculum.

[@sarahe7515]

I looked into the CC near me. It seemed too much like a country club for me.

[@michelegioffredo8811]

Dyslexia... your child will qualify for Learning Ally app which has all the Challenge books. Internet Grandpa here on KZbin also has read almost all (If not all) of the challenge books.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Oh wow!!!! Thank you for sharing! I’m gonna have to check that channel out bc listening to audio books is such a great alternative!!!

[@lindsaysimplified]

I haven’t watched the whole video yet, but the biggest pushback I get when I say I’m considering CC is that CC uses tax exempt churches for a for profit business and then puts all the liability on the director if there was ever an audit. I know some make it out to be that CC is operating the business in a very sketchy/potentially illegal way. This has probably been the biggest 🥴 for me. I really want to join CC because I love the classical model but also looking to ease my hesitations. I don’t play games when it comes to the IRS. They scare me way too much. 😂😅

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

There’s a lot of CC haters out there who for some reason are determined to be vengeful. During the pandemic when CC was trying to run zoom information meetings, some people were hopping on them just to cause trouble. The tax exempt rumor began around 2019. Every state is different. I don’t really know enough about it to explain it. When O was an SR, I knew more. But it’s nothing that’s ever come up or even been an issue where I am. Your local SR would be able to assuage your apprehension on this bc she would have more info on what the controversy was about and how it was actually resolved.

[@SunnyLee-s4j]

I always feel being pressured by the director or community to be a tutor. That’s what I don’t like about cc. I wish I can contribute to only one subject or just a couple of weeks. As homeschool family we travel whenever we want. It’s hard for us to commit 24 weeks.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Definitely sounds like CC may not be a good fit for you then. Unfortunately without tutors, they can’t have a community. And if it’s always the same people doing all the work, then they burn out easily which also leads to no community. That’s what happened in the last community I was in. It was the largest one year and non existent the next bc there was nobody to lead the classes.

[@user-bn7dg2km2d]

Ouch. Spendy. 😋🥴

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

It’s not cheap! But there’s a reason people are willing to pay or work to pay for it.

[@user-bn7dg2km2d]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan makes sense. 😊