WHY WE LEFT CLASSICAL CONVERSATIONS || Storytime & how it changed our homeschool for the better!

Leaving CLASSICAL CONVERSATIONS was almost a forced decision, but it changed our homeschool!
I'm a homeschooling mom of 7 years, and for 4 of those years, our family was a member of the Classical Conversations Co-op. We enjoyed the Foundations, Essentials, and the Classical Conversations Challenge program. But in those years, something changed. I was a part of the Classical Conversations leadership for our area and it definitely contributed to the overall Classical Conversations burnout. CC burnout is a real thing that happens to many homeschool families.
This story is personal. This is my own experience. It's not to say that this would definitely happen to everybody. (I mean, you could probably avoid this if you knew how to set some boundaries... :). homeschool mom life, right? It's common to struggle with boundaries. But I hope this story will help you not feel alone if you are feeling weighed down by responsibilities
outside of your homeschool, or if you are in a Classical Convesations community and wondering why it doesn't feel so magical anymore.
If you are a part of a Classical Conversations community and this story sounds completely foreign to you....congratulations! You have what many of us long for, and it is a gift. Cherish it.
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OUR HOMESCHOOL PLAN VIDEOS THAT MAY INTEREST YOU:
CLASSICAL CONVERSATIONS PROS & CONS:
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WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND A HOMESCHOOL CONFERENCE:
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TEACH YOUR MIDDLE SCHOOL OR HIGH SCHOOL HOMESCHOOLER TO USE THIS STUDENT PLANNER: look inside the MARDEL SIMPLE LIFE STUDENT PLANNER:
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#homeschoolcurriculum #homeschool #classicalconversations

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

What sold you on Classical Conversations? Or what made you say, “Nope!”? Can anybody relate to my story???

[@crystaltimm7379]

I can relate to so much of your story. I have tutored all 3 cycles, 3 years of Essentials and just finished my first and only year directing Foundations and Essentials. I became so burnt out and even hurt by other families. I am looking forward to having an actual summer break and focusing on my children this summer. I have signed up to join another community as a mom for a year of rest. My new direction knows my story and wants me to rest. After this year I’ll know if I’ll continue through but it’s a blessing to feel like I’m finally choosing CC and not shackled down. My oldest is in Ch B and it’s all we have known as a homeschool family so I do fear change.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I hope this year, you do, indeed, find rest!! That is so important for MOM! CC leadership can be so rough especially if those in the community are not understanding of what you’re trying to do. The conflicts really ruin it…. It’s sad. 😢

[@theguerrerofamily9699]

This is my third time listening to your video I think. I first listened as a regular Cc mom. Then as a tutor. Now I’m listening as a director. I want with all my heart a community that develops relationships.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

❤️❤️❤️ that is an admirable desire! I hope the Lord blesses it!

[@Dcan10327]

Thank you once again for opening up. My oldest has been in CC since she was 4 and has been really close to her classmates. We moms have been so close too for the past 7 years. We get together regularly and have even traveled together. No masks in our community. CC kept my sanity during those crazy times. We were gearing up to begin challenge this coming fall and I was shocked when my daughter decided she wanted to explore the local charter school. She needs more structure than I can provide her with expecting my 5th child and we were overwhelmed by what it would cost to homeschool 3 of our 5 with CC next year. I am burnt out after years of tutoring and sacrificing what we do at home just so I can be prepared for class once a week. My oldest has also had to be so independent so I can work with my other two just on their reading and math while keeping a demanding toddler out of trouble. I am lucky to look over her math on a daily basis and hear her read her paper in class. We show up to CC but there is no room for it outside of community day right now. I’m so tired of paying to not do it well even though I fear we will lose out close relationships. It was a beautiful season of life but the strain no longer seems worth it. I appreciate your courage to let go and let us other struggling CC moms know that we’re not alone.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I feel for you. Unfortunately, you might lose some of those relationships bc as you said, there’s not much room to do anything BUT CC or develop the CC relationships. It’s a sad reality. I think not having time to ad creativity into our school was what enticed me to leave it. And it’s one thing that makes me not want to go back. That freedom, and time to add those things…..is priceless. Or everybody needs that freedom and that’s ok too. The accountability at CC was huge! But in the end, every family is unique and has to do what best for them!! I hope you have a blessed year and that your reinvigorate!! I understand that burnout so much. Sometimes, I check myself and say, “yep! Two years later…still burnt out! Not going back! Lol!” It’s not the end all be all. I just hope you find your school year has a new kind of joy infused into it!! ❤️

[@karens2898]

😂😢y😅

[@rebeccaamador6679]

I understsnd!!!

[@CalmintheChaosHomeschool]

Yes! Freedom of curriculum would be a big factor for me. I love curriculum so much and I love picking and choosing what will work best for our family and each child.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I love picking out curriculum too! And there’s so much to choose from! 😜

[@cococui5458]

Thank you for sharing. Our family has just applied to CC last week as a new family for the upcoming school year. I watched both of your CC videos. I completely understand how you felt, and I appreciate you reminding everyone that we need to show more appreciation for all of the people who work tirelessly to keep the communities running. 💐

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I sincerely hope you have a wonderful experience!!

[@zuriama88]

We will be starting cc this fall and I was sold the same way. The kids are so smart, the community day is amazing. Watching your videos have helped me understand my part in the community. I do not want to be a consumer, but a part of the community. We will see where God leads us, but I'm thankful I found your videos. Thank you for not bashing abs being objective

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

You’re welcome!! I do not like the CC bashers! It was a wonderful experience when we were a part of it and it’s ok if it doesn’t work for every family! For the ones it does, great!! I still miss the community sometimes! I hope you enjoy your experience and so glad I was able to provoke you to contribute!! ❤️

[@perfectpeace352]

Sometimes when there's a "leader" you think they are too busy to talk to you or they have an elite group that you aren't in. Good reminder to take care of our leaders.

[@purplecabbage825]

Oh sweetie, I know exactly how you feel! I was in 9 years, Foundations & Essentials tutor & SR. I am so grateful to you for sharing your story! Many hugs to you!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

😘❤️ thank you so much!!

[@txmap]

Being a Texan was so awesome during the pandemic where we did have 6 weeks of Zoom classes in Spring of 2020, but when the Fall semester started, we went on with life as usual, meeting at churches and not wearing masks.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

God bless Texas! 😉 we had many who were against the coverings, but as long as there’s just one, people do that to not offend. I think eventually they made the masks optional. But i wasn’t going to take a chance. (I could go on about how much I “dislike” this particular “covering” practice, but I must remain civil. 😜)

[@Dreblueskies]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan 🙌 solidarity sista!

[@heatherjohnson1569]

Show off. Lol😆❤️ I live on the conservative farm side of Washington. I so wanted to ditch this state and move to Texas, or just about anywhere but here. What miserable memories.

[@Dreblueskies]

@@heatherjohnson1569 Come on down!

[@mmv10]

I am so grateful for you and other homeschool moms that make videos on youtube (you being my favorite). I would have also joined a group for advice, tips, and community. Now thanks to all of the wonderful information you can find online about homeschooling it really helps not feeling alone or lost in this journey. Even though I have many good friends that homeschool also and are happy to share what they know, the truth is they have their own family to manage and don't have the time to answer all of these questions I may have. I like the idea of a structured community like CC but I love more the freedom to be able to choose and change my curriculum.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Yes what you described with your friends is a conundrum. It’s difficult sometimes to ask friends if their family dynamics are different than yours. But if I feel like I can’t answer questions (bc one of my friends is a new homeschool mom) then I usually know which direction to point her in. And homeschool conferences are SOOO helpful for any situation you’re struggling with in a given year. I’m glad you found me!! And I agree! There’s a lot of homeschool help online now and it is so nice to find somebody only that you can relate your experience to. 😉.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I loved hearing your story. We had a fantastic community that I still miss. I think community is the primary reason people are drawn to CC and the primary reason people stay or leave (although it wasn’t why we left).

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Thank you! Yes, I agree! Community is huge and is usually the reason for all the complaints I’ve ever seen about CC also. Did your community have moms nights out to watch the Essential’s IEW videos? That was one things they always suggested for Essentials. And especially my first year in CC, I wanted that so badly. But our community never organized them. Even when I was a tutor, we didn’t do them during the year. Partly bc so many of our moms were already experienced. But as a moms night out, I always thought it sounded fun.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan we had several moms night out events every year including a Christmas party, which was always a big hit. The first year of “Popcorn and Pudewa”was fun. But, let’s face it. If someone says there will be popcorn, I’m there. We were all new to Essentials moms and our kids played while we watched. But after that year it was torture because we had already seen the videos and it took SO much time. Same for Essentials for Katie snd me. I wish we would’ve done Essentials at home the 3rd year. Our community fell apart because we only had a small core group of moms willing to serve as directors. And we turned people away from Foundations because I couldn’t get more than 5 moms to tutor. By then we had Ch A-1 plus foundations directors. Our last year, I moved down from Ch A director to foundations director to have more time with my daughter who has special needs. That was the year I realized that 1) Sophie couldn’t be an Abecedarian again and wasn’t ready go the class above and 2) Katie was being held back with math and science but found the huge amount of reading in Ch 1 (21 novels!) unbearable. She was truly miserable. We were so desperate to fix this that I let her quit Ch 1 in December of her 9th grade year while Sophie and I continued for the rest of that year. I realized I needed a much more customized educational program for each of my daughters, and that’s why I started homeschooling in the first place.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@simplejoyfilledliving I agree that Essentials isn’t fun after you’ve done it a couple years. As a tutor, it was much more fun. But when I was SR, and I didn’t tutor, I hated going to class. CC has so many complexities and I have no idea what the solution is. Like you said “Popcorn and Pudewa”…a fun time if your new to Essentials. And not having enough tutors….that’s a bummer but is definitely that consumer mentality that ends up hurting everybody in the end. Mom’s night out is so important! We had those for a few years and it was so much fun! Being away from the kids and getting to know people In a completely different way. One time we did a couples game night. We only had about 5-6 couples show up but it was a blast bc the husbands shared their perspective on why they chose to homeschool and some were so funny! But all were so interesting to hear. It was by far my favorite event ever. I so wanted more of that.

[@yrossignoli]

I went to parent practicum and saw 2 high school students debating a topic and that sold me! It was unbelievable! ALso, when we went to the first community day for open house, I observed little kids sitting around the US map and pointing to the states and saying each state's capital and they were like 6 or 7 years old! I couldn't believe my ears! Certainly my kids were not at that level and we were using Abeka and studying hard core many hours each day... so we switched to CC. I just wanted my kids to KNOW information, not just keep learning it without retaining it. I think that's the biggest reason for why we've been in CC now 5 years. Don't know about Challenge, but I would highly recommend Foundations as the best program academically in the US.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I agree. memorization gets such a bad rap for some reason, but when you’ve seen the kids constantly recalling it….it’s hard to not be a believer!

[@GrainsandGrit]

You are very brave for making a video like this. I am a die hard CC fan. But I didn’t join because of the community although that is a huge plus and very important. I joined and tutor because I love the classical model of education. What I have seen in the past 4 years of being part of CC is those that join just for community usually leave for various reasons. Those that actually join because they see the value of a classical education and know WHY they are doing this, stay. When you have your why and you see the end goal in mind, you will buckle up during the tough times and ride it out. Not blasting you at all. I think you pointed out some things people just need to know and understand. Homeschool parents typically don’t go with the flow. So it’s SO crucial to know our “why” and our goals. Every family is different. Your goals aren’t necessarily my family’s goals and that’s not entirely bad so long as we are all following the Lord and doing what is right in HIS eyes! 😀

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

When I was an SR, they had surveyed families and found that most join for the community. That’s probably why they are finding it difficult to keep them around for the challenge program. And if you don’t have a challenge class, you still don’t really have the full aspect of the “classical” model either. Nobody to debate with or discuss the ideas.

[@GrainsandGrit]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan Yes, I think an emphasis needs to be made about the actual Classical model. Again, I'm all for community. It's so important as Christians to have a community of fellow believers. But when you or your child struggle, and you just don't get something or understand why it's even important - community isn't enough. The Classical educational model does require more from parents. We need to be redeeming our own education in the process of teaching our own children. This is NOT a model of educating your kids where you can just open up a workbook, give it to your kids, they do it, and you check off "done." This is where, I think, CC does well in encouraging parents and helps to teach them what to do - but the parent has to take advantage of these resources. I think you brought out an excellent point - we all need to be actively involved in our community. Same thing with churches. Any body of believers need to have everyone actively involved doing SOMETHING otherwise it can really burn out those who are having to do all the things because no one else will. Not everyone leads. We need followers as well as leaders! Even the person who "just" encourages the directors and tutors on a regular basis is a wonderful asset. And honestly - 2020 jacked up A LOT of things.

[@naomahmiller]

I’m so happy I found your channel Rachel. I have been on the fence about CC for a few years and just in the past week I decided we’re either going to go for it or drop it. Deep down I have felt like it wouldn’t be a fit for us but friends and family and the support reps in my area have talked so much about it that I felt I should to join as well. Last night after praying more I KNEW it didn’t feel right for us and today I found your videos related to CC and it feels like such a confirmation that I could cry. So thanks for sharing!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Awe!!!! That’s so awesome when God gives us that confirmation that we just KNOW is from him!! CC is not right for everybody. And even for every time. Maybe it’s just this time that’s not right, but later it could be. Or maybe it’s the community….there’s so many things to consider. But you have got to feel peace about it if it’s right! (Full disclosure: I’m actually rejoining CC this year. After 4 years….. I announced it in a recent video, but since you just found me, I wanted you to know. My oldest will not be doing it, however. And I will NOT be diving into all the roles like I did before.)

[@naomahmiller]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I just found that video and I appreciate your openness. Best of luck on your year!🙌

[@fayececco3787]

Im a CC Director for Challenge currently. I have chosen to tailor the curriculum for my son for his learning style. I want him to love learning. So we dont do everything that is suggested. The key is to customize each strand with your child. We as the parent's know what is best on any given day or week! Having community to grow with on this journey is key!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I’m Actually thinking about CH again for my younger two. I’m at least keeping the idea open. So I’m curious how you’ve tailored challenge???

[@LCharg]

This video was so beautifully done. Thank you! I appreciate all that you shared in your honest, gentle, and positive (rather than bitter) manner. Very well done! While we will be entering our 8th year with CC in August, I can definitely not in agreement with everything you shared.

[@LCharg]

**Last line should read, “I can definitely NOD in agreement…”** (KZbin wouldn’t allow me to edit!😬)

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Thank you for clarifying!! 😂😂😂 I’m not bitter against CC at all. Sometimes I miss it (and then I get exhausted thinking about it! Lol!)

[@Dreblueskies]

Glad you found your channel. Thank you for sharing, this was very helpful. I love having the freedom to choose curriculum so that’s a big one for me. Freedom all around is our #1 😊 We are fortunate to be in a very relaxed social only homeschool group.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Freedom is definitely a big perk of homeschooling!! A social co-op sounds wonderful!

[@Dreblueskies]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan We feel very fortunate. Can’t wait to explore your other videos.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@Dreblueskies I’m glad you found me! Explore away! 🥰

[@AngelHawksUnhingedCreativePlan]

I loved your honesty in this video. I'm finishing our first year in CC. My son is going into 6th grade. I love the curriculum of essentials but our class was really chaotic and my son and I are both burned out on that. This year I'm trying to decide what to do. I can teach my son the essentials curriculum at home and just join foundations for the year for the friendships. You gave me a lot to think about.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Thank you!! There are so many good things. And so many challenges. I’m glad I was helpful!

[@SevenInAll]

Loved listening to your story and found it very interesting. I think with being overseas...having a local homeschool community is not normal for us. I'm glad since we live in a urban area, it's easier for kids to make friends because of playgrounds and such (no one is playing in their own backyard when backyards don't exist). Back in the day, we met our best friends because they were playing badminton in the street. :) Making new friends as an adult and as a mom is a lot harder, so I can definitely understand the appeal of wanting that community. It's sad that it got to the point where you didn't enjoy attending the community day any more.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Yes, I think for little ones, having this type of community isn’t as necessary. But as you say, as you get older, even older you want deeper friendships. Even older students, they need friends. I can’t imagine how hard it might be ti find community of like minded adults when you’re in a foreign country whose culture is also very different.

[@amaz3624]

It’s good you found balance in your life. I love CC, but my family will come first. I can see how they will heavily rely on “whomsoever will.” I think the pandemic helped many people stop and evaluate how burned out we are for so many different reasons.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Yes….the pandemic had a one redeeming quality, I guess. 😉

[@andreaaguila1]

I was Tutor for 2 years... and It was great but also was my worst experience. ... I send you a big hug and ID like to be your friend.

[@intoalivinghope]

I can relate to so many of the things you mentioned, but we had such a hard decision in leaving our community this year because we have so many friends and such great relationships there. But we were honestly only there for the community. The increase in prices really caused me to take a step back to reevaluate my goals in homeschooling my kids. I wanted my son to move into the challenge program because I felt he was ready to move on from essentials, but his birthday is 2 weeks after the CC cutoff so he would have to wait another year. Anyway, I've got a long story, too long for the comments section 😅 At the end we decided to join Scholé this coming school year, it's a much more restful dynamic! Thanks for sharing your story!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I’ve heard of Schole’ but I don’t think there are any groups near me. It’s another community,right? Did CC raise their tuition or are you speaking of the cost of challenge?

[@intoalivinghope]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan Yes, Scholé is another classical community. I think each one gets to choose the way they run it, it's more Charlotte Mason style. And each mom is assigned a single class to teach, so there's not a tutor responsible for the entire 3 hours of instruction. The kids are divided by age group: first school, lower school, bridge school, middle school, and upper school. At least that's how our community does it, others may be different. It's a lot cheaper, we paid $350 for the entire year (I have 4 kids). CC increased their prices for the 22-23 school year. We paid around $2400 last year and it was increasing to around $3500 this year, but that was going to be with 2 in essentials instead of just 1. But like I said before, I wanted my son to go into challenge so paying for him to do essentials again was another reason I started looking elsewhere. I'm excited to see how this new community goes, I think it's a much better fit for our homeschool. I was in the same boat as you with wanting the freedom to choose our curriculum so I wasn't 100% sold on challenge the more I learned about it. Our Scholé community is going to be studying and performing a Shakespeare play so that was another draw for us, my kids really want to do that. So I know God worked everything out for us, even though it was so hard for us to leave our CC friends. 🙂

[@PerseveranceMama]

The verse Hebrews 12: 1 really spoke to me. Thanks for sharing your journey.💜💖

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

You’re welcome!!! That verse comes to mind so often in homeschooling!!💕

[@hannahthehomesteader]

I have yet to start cc as my oldest is only 3.5 but I'm going to start him in the fall. Your videos are really balanced and helpful, thank you!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

You’re welcome!!! Awe!! You’re gonna love watching him learn soooo much!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[@amberc.2840]

I enjoyed CC for the young ages. Foundations was FUN, and my kiddos looked forward to it. However, when it was time to move up to Challenge...we said "goodbye" without ever looking back.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Yep! There are many that do that! That’s one of the complexities of being a part of a community also because if you WANT to stay in challenge…..it’s not necessarily guaranteed that your friends will stay also. Did you leave because you wanted curriculum freedom?

[@amberc.2840]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I wouldn't say that we wanted "curriculum freedom." We did other things at home aside from CC, so I never felt constrained. However, I know that many families who were in Challenge felt that they were "constrained" -- especially in Latin!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@amberc.2840 that is a common one. You either see the value or you don’t on Latin. 😉

[@LittleOwlHomeschool]

This is my plan. We’re in foundations and have a few more years before we hit challenge but I 100% will be saying goodbye when we are of challenge age.

[@amberc.2840]

@@LittleOwlHomeschool This is my plan for my youngest! He loves the games, memorization, and interaction of Foundations.

[@faithfullyinfertile]

You are about the only KZbinr I will watch a video of over 30 mins. hahaha! Been looking forward to this video! I'm 8 mins in.....and my experience is identical to yours so far. Yes! Community does make or break your experience.....unfortunately, in our four years of CC we did not have a "good community" for a variety of reasons. I should have stopped CC after year 3.... That's what did it for me. I realized I don't HAVE TO have CC to homeschool well... We stopped after four years and I said I would go back when my oldest was able to do Essentials.... I quickly realized....again....I don't need CC to homeschool well. I am so glad we got out of CC when we did. I do love the idea of CC...but the realities just don't line up with my goals for my children and our homeschool! Yes! I love the freedom to choose the curriculum that fits my children and our homeschool! And...I would love to be your in real life friend. :) Thanks for this video.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Awe!! I’m Blushing! I would love to be your real life buddy as well! It’s funny you mention 30 minutes bc I always try to get it as close to 20 because of what you told me last year when I asked you. But sometimes it’s just impossible. I always have an outline when I record and yet I’m still astounded at how many minutes I end up recording. But I do my best to cut it down for you! 😜 Do you have a new homeschool community of friends? I have a few close friends who homeschool from my church and they’ve met me for coffee! So I have my coffee dates now! 😉 it’s the simple things in life! ☕️

[@faithfullyinfertile]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan yes as a general rule I don’t watch anything much over 15-20 mins. 😀 This video was very purposeful and engaging and I really did enjoy hearing your CC story especially since it is very similar to mine minus being SR/director/tutor. And then ultimately I realized I loved the freedom too much to go back and be held to the CC curriculum. Like you, I still think CC is wonderful….if it fits your goals for your kids and homeschool! No, we don’t have a homeschool community ☹️ It’s been hard…but I’m hopeful next school year will be different. I do have a Bible study at church that I am involved in and that has been wonderful.

[@faithfullyinfertile]

@@Toutuu98 how?!? I didn’t know you could do this 🤯

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@Toutuu98 this is hilarious. I actually did speed up a couple of my own videos early this afternoon on because I felt like I was talking to slowly and didn’t want my video to drag on. But then i had people telling me the audio was weird. So I stopped if. But I’d love to speed up my speech by 25% so my videos could be shorter. I’ve never even thought to speed them up while watching. 😉

[@jessiemadanat5455]

Glad u made this video. I was tempted to join but i love my relaxed life giving co-op. We do iew video led.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Well, every community is different. But if your co-op is working, and community is what you want…..if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 😉

[@juliewright1895]

We’re in our 20th year of homeschooling now. I’ve talked to so many people over the years who have loved CC but it has always sounded too intense for our family. I’ve always wanted to be able to tailor my childrens’ education. Out of 5 children, we had 3 with challenges. We’ve had the blessing of a co-op that’s just 19 weeks (Fridays only, 9:00-1:00) out of the year (9 weeks in the fall and 10 weeks in the spring, along with some park days and field trips) and more of a social focus than academic. I’m sorry you had a difficult experience and didn’t develop the friendships that you had hoped to. That’s hard. Thank you for sharing. 🙂

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Yes, CC can be intense for many! It’s a lot of work the further you go into it. Thank you! I appreciate your sympathy! 😉 I have friends from CC. We just aren’t “close” friends. And that’s really what I wanted to find. Somebody who wanted to double date….or go on a girls shopping trip with,or who’s kids were the same age as mine so our families could hang out. But I’m not on bad terms with anybody from my former communities. We just don’t have “next level” friendships. 😉

[@salishheights2320]

That co-op sounds like a dream! What sorts of subjects do you cover?

[@juliewright1895]

@@salishheights2320 there’s a wide variety and it changes each session. We’ve had science and history classes, choir, dance, improv acting, drama, art, hand crafts like knitting and crocheting, cooking, outdoor sports, writing, Bible, character classes and so much more! All of the classes are taught by parents. Each child from age 6 and up has 3 classes per session. The littles 0-5 just stay in one class the whole day geared towards their age groups. It’s a great set up. :)

[@mrs.robin.ludwig]

We’ve done CC since my kids were 4 & 2 (2016). I’ve tutored foundations the last 4 years. Now that we’re on the verge of joining Challenge A, I’m realizing the little bit of freedom I had to tailor to my boys’ personalities is about to be gone. I’ve LOVED our community for the last 8 years, but it doesn’t feel like the Challenge program will be a good fit for us. Our free time and freedom will be very limited if we continue down the Challenge path. Praying through the possible BIG change, because I don’t want to force a square peg in a round hole. Appreciate your insight!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I’m glad to help you consider things. I’ve often thought, “should we go back?” Bc it REALLY IS a solid program. But there’s so much more to consider! 😉 considering prayerfully is a great place to start and I hope you find peace in whatever you decide. 😉

[@LittleOwlHomeschool]

This is our first year with CC. We love it. I simply use CC for memory work and community/friends. We use completely separate curriculum for all our subjects. Yes we may be crazy but I am not a one and done curriculum family. We’re eclectic so I use what I want when I want. But we very much enjoy our CC community. I don’t plan to stay past essentials though. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Many people use Cc for memory work (they call it their spine) and add in more history and science, etc. I mean, you have to add in English and math anyway! It’s very doable! 😉 do you try to coincide the history and science with the memory work?

[@LittleOwlHomeschool]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan nope we do our own thing throughout the year. However if we come across something she’s memorized a lightbulb goes off so she gets excited. I started following their plan for using SOTW this year and we quit in November when we did our thanksgiving unit, didn’t pick it up in December either and now it’s like meh. I’m enjoying SOTW but I prefer to do things my own way. I wish I could just follow sometimes. It would make my planning much easier. I use too many pieces from other curriculums so it’s a mishmash most days.

[@RockSimmer-gal4God]

This seems stressful!!! I’d be burnt out as well!!! I couldn’t do a curriculum that leave gaps!!! We love freedom of curriculum!!! Our 1st year of homeschool, we did a curriculum that reminded us of public school and we felt boxed in.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

The Essentials program does addresse grammar. So, it wasn’t suppose to leave gaps. I just didn’t realize that he still couldn’t do that on his own bc I always helped him with his papers. I had hoped by 7th grade, he could be more independent in writing. It just wasn’t quite there yet. For some it clicks sooner. For us, it didn’t. 😬 but yeah, going into Jr High and High school, the only grammar practice was from writing papers and editing them.

[@kaiyueutc11]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan Thank you for sharing your experience. I just enrolled my children to foundation and challenge A programs. Do you have any suggestion for how to enhance her learning experience in terms of the writing skills and other subjects that CC students may need to be enhanced with other resources?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@kaiyueutc11 what each child needs is dependent upon the child. I think Lost Tools and IEW are fantastic programs. But there are all kinds of great programs. It just depends on what your child needs. Some of the women in Your community may have suggestions for you.

[@NovasYouTubeName]

Fantastic video thank you for all the detail and I love the funny little bits with the high voice 😂

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

You’re welcome!! Lol!! You know some people have told me they love the voice and others find it annoying and have asked me to cut it out, but I’ve decided, “you can’t please all the people all the time, and so I’m just gonna be me!” 😜💕

[@NovasYouTubeName]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan it made me laugh out loud - which was nice when I’m stressing about curricula ;)

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@NovasKZbinName oh I’m so glad!! Laughter is a great medicine and stress reducer! 😉

[@kb8990]

This is super helpful. We’ve done the memory work at home this year and, as a parent, I love the schema that we are building from a young age. (Kiddo, on the other hand, could 100% leave the entire CC concept and not think twice.) I am incredibly hesitant to put down $800 next year to join a community. Fear is truly fueling my motivation to join because I’m afraid my kids don’t have enough friends. But I think your video drives home that CC doesn’t equal friends and the idea of lifelong childhood friends isn’t there considering that many people leave CC before Challenge.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I think some communities can be really strong in this area. So the friendships is really dependent on that. I think a lot of people leave by challenge because of the curriculum freedom rather than friendships,, honestly. My sis in law who also left CC, has some close friendships she’s maintained bc she met mamas who had same values and Same age kids. I just didn’t find that magical combo. The parents who had kids the same age as mine, they were the super busy parents. So I don’t want to discourage anybody from checking it out. Have you visited a community? I think the memory work is so much more fun for the kiddos when they know they are learning it with friends and playing review games with friends. My daughters did not want to leave CC. They loved it. They loved the “recess” time. But I totally see why you might be hesitant to out the money down. It’s so hard to decide when you hear not so great stories from others. But there are also some communities who are are very good at the friendship building! . Have you done the memeory work with the music this year? Or just rote memorization? The music and hand motions and other memory tools make it easier. We mostly did our memory work in the car whenever we were just running errands or going anywhere.

[@s.lynnmckay6814]

Thank you for sharing. I can relate to nearly all of your positive and negative points. I needed community and structure to get started. We were in CC for six years. I tutored the last two years and it really burned me out. Students weren't studying. Other tutors were leaving. They were cracking jokes about having me tutor Essentials and I'm NOT a ball of energy. The last straws were when Essentials kept conflicting with ballroom dance lessons for me/husband/my boys, and I had started a paid-for artist mentor program that I wanted to really commit to. Flexibility want there. Fast-forward two years, I'm still a little lonely (slightly) but we get to dance and I get time to make art!!!! I miss the face time, practice with public speaking, and a chance to debate other view points. I don't know how to fit that in well. Have you found ways to do that in your area aside from joining a debate club?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

It’s hard to find a co-op that is exactly what you want unless you create it yourself. We joined one last year, but it wasn’t exactly all I wanted. I invite my parents to our home regularly for my kids to get public speaking . But nothing is perfect.

[@jerilyn-ourhomeschooltable]

I went to a CC informational meeting. I went with a friend who was looking to help start a new community at her church. I liked it fine, but I was not wanting to give up a whole day every week. My daughter was only going to be a Kindergartener, and I didn’t think she needed all that. Plus, I had lots of homeschooling friends etc. so I didn’t feel the need to have the mom time. Needless to say, I have lots of friends who go to CC’s (there are 3 within a 16 mi radius from me), but I never joined. 😊

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

That’s nice that you have lots of homeschool friends! I can’t imagine starting a community brand new but I know some who’ve done it. I think if your kids are young, it’s more doable so that’s usually how they start. (Not always, but usually) We do have lots of homeschoolers in our area and I’ve been a part of now 4 co-ops.now! And I feel like I know a lot of people. But I don’t have a lot of, “hey! Let’s go have dinner!” Friends. I guess I want girlfriends like I had in high school and college! 😂😂😂 or a group who we always get together for breakfast for somebody’s birthday type group. I just don’t really have that (aside from my sis in law)

[@jerilyn-ourhomeschooltable]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan gotcha. All of my good friends are from church. 😊 I go to a big church though so there are a lot of people. 😂

[@taramccreary8997]

I totally get everything you have said. I stepped out of everything. You can still do IEW at home! I use their Structure and Style with the videos and it's fantastic. The Fix It Grammar is great. We also do the Phonetic Zoo. This is all things they can do self led with me around to help!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Absolutely! I’m actually looking at all of that for next year!

[@juliemiddleton9940]

I was part of a community for 2 years and it was great. The third year none of my friends came back. I love Cc so I joined anyway. I also decided to tutor. It was a fiasco and I’ll never do it again. I quit mid year. It was so sad for me bc I enjoyed cc so much. I’m thinking about joining again a different community, as the previous one has dissolved. I’ll have a daughter in challenge a so after watching some videos im concerned about the time it would take her to do her work. 6hrs a day is way longer than we’d want to do. Thanks so much for your video and I can totally sympathize with you.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you either! I really do hope you change better luck with a new community!

[@misfithomemaker3683]

Time stamp 25.00. the ability to tailor an education to the needs of my child and a longing that I had to spend alot of time in conversation with my child are the reasons I never looked into any kind of set programs or co ops. It sounds like it was hard for you, but it turned into a new beginning. Timestamp 27:00 .... Great advice for lots of different situations. 👍 Thank you 🙂

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Thank you!! And yes….new beginnings is a great way to put it! I didn’t even realize what I was missing! 😉

[@joselynequinonez8245]

I’m on my first year of homeschooling with my first kid he is 6. I liked cc because of the community mainly, my son liked the songs aspect to it when it came to history timeline and math. I did had a bad experience with the director of the first community I joined. Unfortunately things changed and I left that community and decided to join a different community. With time it was starting to get kind of tiring to get up early since I had to take a drive to the community I had to go to. I have a four and 7 month old so it was becoming tiring to get out of the home especially during winter time and snow. Something else is that my son and myself weren’t enjoying it as much. He didn’t find it as fun to learn the same thing during the week. I also felt there could be more for my son to learn. It was starting to get boring. My son is more hand on things and I wanted more variation for him. So that’s why I decided to stop halfway and try something different!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Traveling with a toddlers and babies would make it a lot more of a “DAY!” Well…when it’s not fun anymore, then that’s a good indication.

[@ginasenaijc]

For me was the fact that I had a guide that could tell me what and how should I teach my kids. Coming from public school and English not being my first language. The community of CC was great for me and my family. We were so happy in there. However when I became director I did feel lonely. And I had to make tough calls and suddenly you are the bad guy… I guess happens in any leadership tho. We moved out of the country without community and after 6 years on CC and not community CC was very hard. My two oldest were not enjoying it and it was so hard for us… I tried doing CC international but it didn’t work. We are doing something else. I discovered Charlotte Mason and we are so happy. Still no community but we feel so free.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

The community is what most people really want, right??? That’s the hard part about leaving. But like you said, having to be a bad guy…changes things. I hope you find community soon and glad you are enjoying Charlotte Mason style.

[@bcasas1115]

Same for us Sister, we also left CC during pandemic. We now use TGAB and IEW for language arts.

[@holywarriorforthekingdom613]

I've just now recently understood what Classical Conversations is. I'm being really drawn to it. I dunno of that's good or not. The vision I have for my girls is to raise them to be virtuous, God fearing women who look well to tha ways of their household. Not sure if CC fits that vision. I would be so blessed to have you as a friend. I need one.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Oh you are sweet!! I’m glad we can be friends virtually! 😘 CC is a wonderful program if it fits your child’s learning style. 😉

[@genabrady1348]

Lack of freedom, regarding scheduling and curriculum. The nearest group is an hour and a half away. 3 hours sitting in a car, plus hours and hours of sitting in classes, is a huge NOPE. Also not a fan of memorizing for the sake of memorizing. I want history to mean something more than just memorizing facts. But I do think Latin is an essential foundation for MANY subjects and topics. Memoria Press puts out a great program that we can do at our own pace.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

3 hours in the car is a lot! I don’t think I’d have the stamina for that either. To be fair about the memory work… The memory work is actually strategically chosen. It’s a foundation for later learning. For example, the grammar memorization sets them up for sentence diagramming and correct grammar they really dig into by 4th grade - 6th grade. The history memory work was my daughters’ favorite and tells little stories each week and many families use that as a jumping off point to explore that time period during their week. Each cycle is themed so for example, cycle 3 is American history. So they memorize mini stories from pilgrims through modern American history. Lots about the revolutionary war. And all of the science is themed also. 1 year is mostly botany. 1 year is about animals, etc. and the science experiments went along with that. And because of the math memory work, my 2nd grader is almost to 4th grade level math bc she already knew her multiplication tables, so we’ve breezed past all of those math units. I assure you, the kids remember these things as they come up through other books and curriculum even years later. I’m astonished at the memory work that continues to come up in our home that my children have never forgotten even though it’s been years since they formally learned it. Strategically chosen because, if you stuck with CC to challenge, that’s when the memory work kicked in. It’s amazing what they had already recalled and didn’t have to re-learn because that foundation was set. And because they didn’t have to re learn the facts, they could debate the ideas. 😉. I think the memory work is more difficult for us as adults to understand the reason bc we were all educated with the modern educational approach. And also…adults stink at memorizing. 😆 but kids a sponges and remember it much better than we realize.

[@mchobbit2951]

I'm glad that you said the thing about the masks. Sometimes I feel like I'm all alone because so many people that are against still "put up with it" so to speak so they can do x, y, z. I couldn't do it.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

You’re not alone!! 😉

[@Dreblueskies]

Ditto!

[@outcultured]

Every communities are different.

[@CalmintheChaosHomeschool]

CC were the first people to reach out to me when I was thinking about homeschooling… I never joined. It didn’t sound “right” for my kids. It seemed like some of my kids would have gotten anxiety in the way they do things. We ended up doing a more Charlotte Mason eclectic approach on our own. I found enough community outside of CC.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

You are lucky to have found plenty of community!! That’s huge for homeschoolers!

[@CalmintheChaosHomeschool]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I agree. I was lucky. One of my friends who I always wanted to be better friends with, but we were too busy in our different lives, had already been homeschooling for four years when I started. So, when the pandemic happened and we started homeschooling, her and another new homeschooling friend became our regular Friday "community".

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@CalmintheChaosHomeschool that sounds wonderful!! I also have more homeschoolers in my church now then when we first started and it is so nice just to have somebody to talk to who “gets it!” 😜

[@lorimast]

Everyone has their own learning styles. Also I always hated memory work. If my mom sent me to something like that I would have hated that more than regular school!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I don’t disagree. However CC’s memory work is more fun than just memorizing boring lists. They do it to sing. They make up chants and hand motions. I’ve actually adapted a lot of what I learned there to helping my kids e memorize scripture. I almost always try to think up hand motions now. It’s so helpful!

[@tammyh6735]

We did CC in a community my daughter's 4th and 5th grade year. The pandemic hit the last bit of 5th grade, so were started doing CC over Zoom. For 6th grade, they really didn't know if they would be able to be in person. We decided not to join, but continued doing Foundations at home. I'm thankful for those years of learning through song and movement, because my daughter has a kinesthetic and auditory style of learning. I am an older Mom. (We adopted in our 40's.) My older 2 children were traditional style learners. Traditional curriculum, such as Abeka, has not worked well with my youngest. I could not see her doing the work load you mentioned that's involved with the Challenge classes. I have mixed feelings about CC. I'm really curious as to what you mean by the term consumer mentality? Do you feel all Moms should tutor at some point or are you referring that every person should help in some way? With me being older, I never felt I could tutor a class. That would have seemed very overwhelming to me. Just curious about your thoughts?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Anybody can tutor, I promise. Because you’re trained and the director would be providing additional training and direction. AND the moms in the class would be helping. But what I mean by consumer is that they come looking for their needs can be met only. But a community comes from the word “commune” which means “sharing responsibility.” Not coming and just being a taker. That may be to tutor. Or it may be some other way to contribute to the needs of the community. Like I mentioned, cleaning classrooms. Assisting the director in other ways. Planning events for the community. But not just coming in only to take care of your family’s needs, but looking to help out and share responsibilities to run the community (which can be so many different things) I hope that makes sense.

[@tammyh6735]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I understand what you mean. I did participate in helping the tutors with cleaning up at the end of class, vacuuming the carpet, taking tables down, moving chairs, etc. We didn't seem to be short on tutors, but I can understand how hard it would be for communities that did have a turnover when ppl left the group.. Thanks for clarifying.

[@rachelbarreto2997]

Did you change to a different classical style curriculum or totally move away from classical altogether? I've heard of some people using the CC curriculum but not being part of a community but I don't hear a whole lot about other classical curriculum

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I ended up as an eclectic homeschooler. We still play memory work and use the app. I still utilize IEW for writing instruction. My oldest still does Latin bc I didn’t want to waste the hours of work he’d already put into that. So there are elements of classical education in how I do things. If I hadn’t had the community days, though, I’m not sure if I would’ve ever stuck to the CC memorization. There is something to be said for the accountability that comes from being a part of that group. I know people do it, though. 😉

[@mayag8469]

memoria press has great classical curriculum

[@intoalivinghope]

Classical Academic Press is another great publisher, they make the Song School Latin curriculum along with lots of other resources 🙂

[@amy_6768]

I hope you know both IEW and LTW are available outside of CC!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Yes,. Of course they are. Technically, all of the curriculum CC uses it available outside of community. If you are talking about the streaming from IEW and and LTW online classes, the LTW classes are so expensive. But either way, my point was really that I missed practicing that together in a group. The community is what I miss.

[@familybees]

I appreciate your perspective. I've been asked to tutor, and I don't want to. I don't think I am "just a consumer," and I loved being in class helping our tutor last year. She is returning, but they need someone to tutor another class. So, I wouldn't be tutoring my child's class. How can I be a contributor and help lighten the load without being a tutor?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

You should ask your director how you can help other than tutoring. It could be helping set up art and science for the director, planning field trips or moms night out, maybe helping run some info meetings for inquiring families, or planning special parties for your community….ask your director! I’m sure she could think of something. 😉

[@familybees]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan Thank you

[@Fernandomilkys]

We are looking at starting this year possibly. It will be 6th grade. Is this too late to start? I have two kiddos in that grade. You mentioned lacking in grammar during Challenge which they will be in 7th- . I also heard that come Challenge its at least 6 hrs a day?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

There’s no grammar in n the CC curriculum in 7th grade. But if your child is strong there, then it shouldn’t be a problem. For us, it was just one more thing we needed to add. Yea, 6 hours a day is about right. 6th grade isn’t too late to start. The foundations memory work is just facts that will be revisited in the challenge years making it one less thing for challenge students to learn. But it not crucial to know it before. Just helpful.

[@Fernandomilkys]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I don't know how strong they are in grammar, I have taught it and they can do the work. However if I give it to them out of the blue...yeah Id rather supplement. Next year 23/24 is 7th for mine. 6 hrs that's allot...esp with having to supplement. hmmm my kid doesn't even have 6hrs a day available due to other commitments. Is there any loop holes to make it 5 hrs - for real honestly asking...

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@Fernandomilkys you can discuss with the directors or other challenge moms in your community. They may have ideas. You are the teacher, so really, you can timebox. Its different for every student.

[@Fernandomilkys]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan thank you. I really only am looking at it for the community factor, I am still waiting to find out the cost for the co op. I have the materials list and will want to supplement some literature, history and science for F/E 6th grade.

[@dawnwingard1788]

Time stamp @27:00….Hebrews 12:1b…..”what is my race?” That hit me in the heart. My race IS to homeschool my kids. What freedom! My race is to homeschool my kids, not to do CC (just as an example.) My race is to homeschool my kids to the glory of God. Time stamp @30:00….I hear you 💔I’ve been grieving several friendships that didn’t survive our leaving our CC community. And I wasn’t expecting those relationships to end. It’s been so very hard.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Yep! I was just telling somebody that there are homeschool moms who want friendships. But a lot of times it’s just for the kids. It doesn’t feel like they want me, an adult, as a friend. It’s different. And perhaps that’s why these didn’t survive. And sometimes it is just a season where we giving time to friends is hard! There’s so many factors!

[@matthewcaruso4956]

Amen sista

[@sandrabracken5324]

Have you ever use the A.C.E curriculum?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

No I haven’t

[@cristinezilkeserafim978]

Fui coordenadora do CC em uma comunidade e só aguentei 6 meses, é um cargo que nem todo mundo está preparado, fora a perseguição as famílias educadoras no nosso estado aqui no Brasil, era horrível, tinha que marcar encontros em locais públicos e ter certeza de quem era a pessoa por medo de denúncias. Não é culpa do CC em si, mas da realidade aqui no Brasil no nosso estado, Santa Catarina é o estado que mais persegue famílias educadoras, me sentia como os cristãos perseguidos da janela 10/40. Me mudei e entrei na comunidade mas sem pegar cargos, faz 1 ano e até hoje tenho angústia em pensar no trabalho, acredito que para algumas pessoas seja mais fácil que para outras, mas as vezes por necessidade alguns entram nos cargos, pq não tem mais ninguém que queira. É difícil isso realmente. Ano que vem meus filhos começariam no Challange e estou preocupada se isso será bom. Preciso orar sobre isso.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I can’t even imagine the kind of persecution you have to handle! God bless you! There are definitely those people who go out of their way to cause trouble. Even here in the states, during the 2020 lockdowns, many CC leaders were holding their “public” meetings over zoom (online). And there were “haters” intentionally joining the meetings to cause trouble and say nasty things about CC. As in everything, you have to count the cost. Sometimes the cost is worth it as just being a part of the body of Christ and is for a bigger cause. But sometimes, it could be God prodding us that He wants us to spend our time elsewhere and this isn’t a burden he wants us to bear. Prayer is definitely a great start to finding that peace in whatever decision you make. And I also find that scripture is what I ultimately need to feel confident in that decision. And God knows how to speak through it to make it plain. 🙏 thank you for reaching out!! You’re my first Spanish comment that I had to translate to English! It’s very humbling to think my videos are having any kind of impact across the globe! ❤️

[@christyeast1434]

You could still teach IEW or Lost Tools without CC. I have different friends that used both curriculums many years before we had heard about CC.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Yes! We’ve done IEW for the last two years and haven’t been in CC for 4 years! CC definitely helps with the accountability though! And the kids get more excited to read papers in front of friends than just to mom! 😂😂😂 But we often invite Grandma and Grandpa over for some presentations!

[@user-fb5ze9fx7e]

I looked at CC online before I even started homeschooling and decided against it because it seemed so rigid and that was the antithesis of what I wanted homeschooling to be.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

It’s actually very flexible for the elementary years. It’s the Jr high and high school years that have a lot more work.

[@tracyprice4210]

Perhaps home school families want to pour themselves into their families rather than an organization??

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Yep! But it’s not pouring into the organization itself so much . I mean all the work and hours etc are for OTHER families. Helping them get the most out of the co-op….. making sure the leaders feel prepared and supported…..giving information to new families looking into this….promoting community and relationships within your own group. Thats why people join classical conversations. And That’s why it’s easy to want to get involved. If I didn’t have wonderful homeschool mom mentors around, if they only stuck to their own families….I’d still have a ton of questions. So it’s a balance. And CC doesn’t balance well for everybody.

[@MrScubajsb]

Our story start similar to yours. We started doing homeschool around the pandemic and the first year. It's like you don't know what to do. We grabbed a few books from different curriculums and just went with it. And I believe it was in our second year that my wife found classical conversations. I work full time so she is the one that is there doing most of the school work. I can honestly say from my standpoint it does not work well for our family. My wife is very busy. She does not organize well and she is easily discouraged. CC is very involved and it's like you're saying here. Everyone in the community is focused on everyone else in a sense. So you're pouring a lot of your time into others. It's not to say that we're supposed to be selfish because you only meet with your CC group on Mondays or that's how ours does it. But the curriculum itself is good but it's also strenuous and I believe my children struggle with it because of how intense it is. Some people do not learn well with a certain curriculum. I have a friend who has a daughter who is in fourth grade and she is teaching her from a third grade math book. And she said look I'm not going to move her into something that's going to discourage her. She said she's catching on with the third grade curriculum and really between 3rd and 4th grade. Math is not that big a difference she said so we don't have to do things like public school. We can work things in as they are needed. I would love to do something different to try out but my wife has it in her head that this is the only way to do homeschool. She is completely sold into it and now she has just become the director of our group. And the director before her told her that it was pretty easy but my wife has literally been on the phone on her computer running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Trying to get everything ready for this upcoming school year and I told her I'm not going to let you do this again next year because she has had zero time to do anything other than prepare and do stuff as the director for this CC group. So there are people who are able to do this and they thrive and they can still take care of their family. But my wife has put more time into being the director and getting things ready for all of the other families and our group and she has had zero time for our family. Any advice? Very hard to change her mind once it's made up

[@hayleerobinson3328]

@@MrScubajsbI don’t have a lot of advice other than try to help her, be supportive, pray for her. It probably is going to be stressful at first because it’s new. Once she gets the hang of it maybe it will be easier! I just said a prayer for yall

[@jessicamerkert6392]

When you say foundations costs $350, is that per session, per month, per year?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Per year. Today it’s $395. But there’s also other fees associated now. Theres an app fee, tuition fee, and then an enrollment fee (which gives access to all kinds of online resources). But all those fees are required. And then the individual communities will also have a facility fee (if their building requires a rent) and a supply fee (bc there are some things the community supplies for art, science, parties, etc). And so today….since the price has gone up since 2020, the overall cost, with all those fees is more like $700 for foundations. If you did both foundations and essentials, add another $600. It’s definitely not cheap. And then the cost of curriculum……

[@jessicamerkert6392]

Thanks! Wow I didn’t know that didn’t include the curriculum too

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@jessicamerkert6392 for K-6th, there are is 1 manual that covers all 3 cycles. So once you have it, you don’t need anything more (except a tin whistle) . There are supplements of course that can help you, but they aren’t NEEDED unless you want them. And then if you also add in Essentials for 4-6th grade, also 1 manual for all 3 years. And then you’ll just buy the IEW writing curriculum new every year. So yeah….and then of course, you add in your own math and for K-3, your own language arts. It’s not a TON of curriculum. And I’ll also say this, it’s fairly easy to resell.

[@elent557]

There was no need to push you to do all this jobs when you had a full community, much easier to delegate to other moms.

[@danahall1282]

Is CC like Memorial Press?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I’m not sure what Memoria Press is like. I think I might have a copy work book from them. I believe they’re classical in style. But beyond that, I don’t really know anything about MP. So I’m not sure.

[@mardilla7]

No, it is not.

[@AJ-ki2ne]

If you love IEW why not just do IEW at home? It's probably not worth it to join CC just for IEW?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I agree. You can totally do it at home. The appeal, however, to essentials is also the grammar instruction (it’s still probably the BEST grammar program I’ve come across) and the math drill games. The kids LOVE that part. They love playing review games together. And then the faces of history presentations at the end of the year. So that community aspect is the draw. But yea, especially now that IEW has the style and structure with video to teach the child, that portion is taken care of.

[@nicolentwiga7049]

We went to a visit day at a local CC group. Everyone was so kind but it did not make sense to my brain. Why was my 5 year old memorizing these random history or math facts when she had no base to make sense of the information? I believe in the benefit of memorization but the implementation there didn't make sense to me. Add to that, i would have to spend more money on seperate curriculum to fill that void. The science class was horrible. It was a boring probability class (which isn't even science). It just felt like it would be a waste of our money.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Well, to be fair to CC, their memory work is chosen very strategically. They refer to it all in the challenge years. So it’s facts they will remember. My daughters remember so many of these “random” facts when we’re reading non-CC books….they’ll start singing the songs. (They literally sang 3 of the CC history songs today as I read to them about events of the American revolution. And they learned those 4 years ago.) It’s really amazing! The vision of Classical education is very different than modern. So many don’t believe in piling on a lot of science and history to homeschoolers until they are much older anyway. So Cc jives with that. But it’s not for everybody! It just depends on how you want to teach your child. Mama’s teaching style matters a great deal! 😉

[@mchobbit2951]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I actually feel like most of my time in public school was spent memorizing and parroting. But it was the kind of memorization that went in one ear and out the other. It was all forgotten again after the test, especially in science and history. I found that I was always better at memorizing things when I wasn't told that I had to memorize them and learned them in a meaningful way. Of course that's why I'm more Charlotte Mason leaning...but also not sold on doing Shakespeare to death, starting in 3rd grade. The thing with CC is that it all leads up to Challenge. If you aren't really sold on your kids doing Challenge, that's a tough one. Learning is never a waste, but you end up investing in something you won't see through and/or get the full benefit of. That is one reason I'm glad we didn't join. I wouldn't want my high schooler to have such a heavy workload when it's not even a full curriculum. There is so much you can do homeschooling highschool--dual enrollment, CLEPs, explore your passions...but if all that time and money goes into Challenge instead, you can't.

[@VW777]

There seems to be an issue with the business model. Why doesn't CC train up and employ tutors in communities, instead of putting pressure on homeschool parents?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

It doesn’t have to be homeschool parents. It can be grandparents, former homeschool parents, homeschool grads. But the hourly rate….whom would do it if you don’t have a vested interest (current parent)? Very few would. And in order to raise the hourly rate to entice others, the tuition cost would have go way up. Then we’re talking private school tuition levels. So it’s not quite that simple. This is why homeschool co-ops exist. The parents of the children “cooperate” together for little cost and mostly volunteer bc the community is what they want.

[@VW777]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I do agree, however homeschool co-ops are usually flexible. CC imposes rules on each community, even though they are not the ones employing anyone directly. It is very strange for a curriculum company to do this, almost like a franchise model. Yet no matter how hard the parents work they will never make real profit, of course many do not intend to set up a business but that is what they are doing. They also can't employ anyone, or outsource services so the parents tutoring always take on the pressure. I was recently looking at joining a CC community, it was these reasons that put me off. Like you said community is not always guaranteed, families leave or you could be asked to Direct/tutor as a parent new to home ed or classical education. The rules state that all your children of school age must be enrolled in the programme, which puts financial pressure on parents. Another option would be perhaps to set up a co-op independently and use CC materials, but not sure the Challenge course guides can be purchased if your not a Director. The Challenge programme looks really good. Do you know of any other curriculums that have something similar?

[@charityneverfaileth22]

I went to an information meeting, and it was not inspiring. I think it was the director... it just felt very high stress and guilt trippy. I was given an old foundations book and we listened to the musical memory work and loved that, but the community near my home felt super wrong, and we didn't have a lot of money, so I couldn't do it. I think the idea sounds great, but unfortunately the community wasn't a good fit and I've never looked at it again.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I’m telling you, sometimes it might just be the community. If there’s another community near you, maybe you’ll have a different feel if you loved the memory work. That memory work really is wonderful for the younger ages! It’s amazing, actually! 😉 But…. Yeah…CC isn’t going to be for everyone. It’s an investment and you really should LOVE your community in order to get the most out of it!

[@chdao]

Too big to fail is the tower of Babel.

[@gabriellaschneider2614]

It more seems to me that it is not CC but all the jobs you put yourself through.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

If nobody from CC does the work, then how does it exist. That’s the issue. If you have a community full of leaders and people who will do the work, this may never be an issue. But if nobody will do it, it falls on a few. And they burn out.

[@gabriellaschneider2614]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I agree with you. We have to step up to leadership in some kind of level, even if to support leadership. But we also have to learn to say no. If we never say no to CC’s asking of our leadership, the the top leaders (CC itself) will not change a thing. And things need to change. I, however, think that it is also ok to say no and be mom. The same thing can happen to you in anything. In your family, at work, etc.

[@gabriellaschneider2614]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan Also, it is not that “nobody will do the work”. Someone will do the work. Maybe someone whose season is to work in it.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@gabriellaschneider2614 what they told me is that it’s ok to say no. And if the community doesn’t have leaders, that’s ok. Which means the community will not be able to exist…which happens. It happened to my community. They never got a foundations director. So those people had to split into other communities (which 1 of the 2 were already at capacity). And the following year, the entire community dissolved. So you can absolutely say no. But there may not be a community. Also, many have to say yes for financial reasons. It’s a double edged sword. Bc as a leader. You don’t get paid enough anyway for all the work to keep a community going. But if the price were lower, it wouldn’t be what it is. Nobody even at the top is rich.

[@karenbrumley8095]

Who will.ever need to know how to speak Latin???I mean where and when would you ever need to speak 8t..

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

You don’t use it to speak. But here are 3 reasons why it’s useful. Learning Latin makes its significantly easier to learn any other language more quickly bc so many languages (especially European ones like Spanish or French) have their language derived from Latin. That’s why I’d you look at the languages sre forefathers know, many of them not only knew more than 1, but sometimes 3-4. They probably learned Latin first. Latin helps work vocabulary for those reasons also. You don’t realize just how many ENGLISH words are derived from Latin. So when you know the Latin roots, you’ve already expanded your vocabulary and understand of meanings of words even in English. My own son has experienced this on multiple occasions with English words. (This is also why learning the other languages is easier). Latin is very analytical. You have to understand structure of sentences and the purposes, etc in order to interpret it. You need to understand types of verbs, patterns of sentences such as (subject - transitive verb -indirect object - direct object or subject - linking verb - predicate nominative) because the first step is finding the verb in Latin and determining what yup of verb it is and going from there. So learning Latin requires a grim grasp of English grammar. Those are just a few reasons why it’s not useless. 😉 Latin is not for everybody. (I’ve thought of more as I was writing this but I’m sticking to this.

[@maggielynn9863]

What I continually am asking myself as I listen to this, and you continually saying you did it because you wanted friends, is why friends through cc? It reminds me of a sorority/fraternity type of things where you pay for friends, and then can rely on the fact that you will have things in common. But this is wrong. We don’t have to pay a corporation or organization to have meaningful friendships, and sometimes the most meaningful relationships are found in diverse settings, not where everyone shares the same ideas, but places you would least expect it. Jesus didn’t hang out with the religious elites, but spent time with diverse groups of people, without requiring anything of them for friendship, and there was real meaning and substance in that. I will never be able to understand the paying for your friends thing.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

Ok. And where do homeschool moms meet this diverse group of people? I didn’t pay for friends. You pay ti join bc organized groups don’t run themselves. They take work. Just like joining a gym. Somebody has to run it. The co-ops that are all based on volunteers are the ones more likely to fall apart. We’ve had several of those co-ops in our area as well…. And people come in as a consumers and take advantage of the moms who will run themselves into the ground to keep it going until they’ve got nothing left. It’s not that simple.

[@maggielynn9863]

Actually, I have met a very diverse group of homeschooling moms at my church. It’s ten bucks per quarter to attend their co-op! Everyone volunteers and helps, and we can submit our expenses for teaching a class to the church, and we are reimbursed! It’s not elite. It’s not expensive. Anyone can join. Many families that haven’t been Christian’s in the past joined the group wanting to find fellow homeschooling friends to network with, and then starting praying and reading their bibles! CC does nothing like this. They exclude Christ. This church homeschool group has gone to extreme lengths to make everyone feel welcome and to help everyone succeed. The kids are learning so much, enjoying PE, cooking classes, stem and science classes, bible study and even archery! It doesn’t have a legalistic overseeing body like CC. It is so much better. And so much cheaper. $40 per year and the church supplements what is needed. But CC makes a killing, and asks the church to turn a blind eye on their not-for-profit profits. How is this not obvious to everyone?

[@maggielynn9863]

Also, what you describe is called a CHURCH. Not a corporation called CC. Jesus will be turning money tables at these groups where people pay to meet other like minded people very soon. Just wait for it! He came to seek and save the lost, not to make them pay to participate, in order to “know and make him know” 😳

[@maggielynn9863]

It is that simple. Find a place where everyone helps where you are serving JESUS. You will burn out quickly serving anyone else. For his yoke is easy and his burden is light!! 💡 🐣

[@marleenmejoa6442]

So it became about you 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I don’t understand your comment. Of course it’s about me and what’s best for my family. What else would it be about?

[@JPalms-hd9jg]

I felt so bad hearing your story! I hate you had this experience. I think maybe you joined for the wrong reasons to begin with. What if you joined an adult book club or something like that.?

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I joined for the reasons that most CC families join. Community. (CC itself did a survey my last year there and that’s what they reported as the #1 reason people join).And the friendships and the community really is the BEST part of it. If you were just showing up for the “class” but had no friendships, it would not be the same experience at all. The reason I burned out was bc of the business. The community didn’t burn me out. Leadership burned me out. And it burns our many and it’s actually a common problem for CC. But I can’t get too much into that here. We’re actually rejoining CC this year after 4 years and we’re so excited for our new community. And I will NOT be taking on so many leadership roles this time. 🤪 We’re very excited!

[@JPalms-hd9jg]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I totally understand I you were disappointed because you had unmet expectations. You expected to have lots of fun fellowship with adults your age and that expectation was unmet but probably this wasn’t the place for that so not the right reason to join cc.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@JPalms-hd9jg not exactly….adult fellowship wasn’t the main reason I joined. Homeschool support-yes! Friends for my kids-yes! A top notch educational experience-yes! Adult fellowships outside of community was a bonus and yes, something I desired. But that’s not the reason I joined at all bc it wasn’t even sold like that. It also was not the main reason I quit. I quit because it became too stressful and not enjoyable. And bc I didn’t feel any strong relationships, it made it easier to walk away. 😉

[@JPalms-hd9jg]

@@OurHOMEschoolPlan ok I see it’s not that important only reason I said that is because you said in your video very plainly that fellowship with other homeschool parents is the main reason why you joined. You literally said this in your video!

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@JPalms-hd9jg but there’s a community around homeschooling at a co-op. And a community outside of co-op around friendship. Two different aspects. It was definitely a reason I joined. But there were other reasons as well. So maybe I misspoke.i thought i had also talked about when I visited, how blown away i was by the kids and what they were learning. We have other co-ops in our area that I didn’t join bc of what the co-ops offered, though I could’ve made “mom friendships.” I left a co -op this year bc it wasn’t right fit for my kids even though I met moms there that are now my friends. Anyway-sorry if didn’t articulate very well. But I agree with you, if I was ONLY looking for mom friends, there are other routes. It’s more than JUST that. It’s the kids friends, it’s the academic quality (meaning is it worth our time), it’s the homeschool support, AND it’s the adult friendships.