Last summer we returned from Colorado excited about beginning our dialectic classical studies.
FEAST
One weekend in May, I attended my first homeschool convention and curriculum fair, sponsored by FEAST, a homeschool organization in San Antonio. This organization was so well planned, that they had a book store where we could look at product for our homeschool and then immediately purchase to take home to use. They offered classes and contests. And they put together an impressive homeschool convention.
Ending A Beka
Previously we had used A Beka, which I had heavily supplemented with the unit studies I had created. (beaches, literature, Texas history, geology) I adjusted the pace of the 3Rs as needed, but really liked the layout that I could simply pick up and go.
I liked A Beka best for the youngest grades for the 3Rs. By the 4th grade the worksheets were no longer cute, but I did like all the mental math drills that I turned into different games.
In the months prior to attending this bookfair, I had done lots of research and had pretty much decided on a plan. The bookfair gave me an opportunity to look at these options in person.
Our grammar studies were behind us; we were ready to start our dialectic studies. So the curricula mentioned below, reflect the dialectic curricula we chose.
Institute for Excellence in Writing
For writing we chose Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW). Although they’ve been around for years, I had only recently heard of them. I wish we could have started with them years ago because my kids would have deeply benefited from its amazing gentle yet deep diving approach in the early years. Never before have I seen a helpful writing program, despite all the classes and seminars on writing I’ve attended over the years.
For literature I purchased from IEW, Teaching the Classics, for guidance for all the books we planned on reading.
Latin Road to English Grammar
For Latin I chose Latin Road to English Grammar which looked more attainable than any of the other options I found.
Science with Dr. Jay Wile
For science my son was going to continue his science kits, until he started 7th grade. For my daughter (and later my son) I purchased Dr. Jay Wile’s science text which was a perfect fit for the ancient history studies we were to begin. I loved the integrated approach this would naturally take.
For history we bought a classical curriculum. (Hmmm.)
Epilogue 2024
In a nutshell, I wasted a lot of money on a classical history curriculum that caused HOURS of agony trying to trace answers to questions that didn’t exist and provided ideology opposite that the Bible teaches. I realized I was capable for assembling our own booklist to read, think, and write, especially with the amazing guidance of Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW).
Glad I knew how to write my own Texas history and literature studies!
Moving on from that curriculum, we continued with the original goal of read, think, write. I found better books to read, which made our thinking time much more beneficial, to pick up our Institute for Excellence in Writing for the writing portion.
I taught with my own history outline, unique from others, built from what we learned of simply reading real books while integrating all the subject areas, historical era by historical era. That became our own unique curriculum.
So with that history outline with the overarching message, we still read, think, write. I was so thankful we found IEW for our writing portion. We had a lot of catching up to do since I found it at the beginning of our dialectic years, instead of starting it in our early grammar years.
Classical education is freeing, and the Lord freed us to trust Him week by week and day by day as I began our days with prayer, devotion, and Bible study. I began each day with my own quiet time, then we opened our homeschool day with my leading my children in Scripture. Then we simply pulled out great books to read, discuss, and write about, on our own time table and through our own activities.
Something else I’ve learned is that classical education is to NOT get in the trap of assigning every single book on the Great Book list. The point of classical education is quality over quantity. Because of the quality, the quantity of Great Books read will grow over the decades, after the student graduates formal schooling, because they have learned to teach themselves.
Feel free to adapt as needed. My son had various health issues that kept us busy with doctor appointments and my daughter had developmental delays. A pure classical homeschool didn’t happen. Instead I adapted it the best I could to fit our needs, from which my kids greatly benefitted. That is perhaps the fresh take I bring to the homeschool world, how to adapt to fit specific needs…and that is how this blog came to be. It’s not about how we were wonderful. We struggled. This is our journey.
I also learned that a classical journey is a bit of a struggle to figure out because our progressive world puts the classical world into a box. Thus it’s our job to unpack the secrets of the past to revive in this post-modern world. (as previously mentioned, stay tuned for more blog posts on that)
At our last history presentation, we shed tears. At that time, my kids commissioned me to write out our homeschool studies for them to use with their own kids…who are nearing their own homeschool journey. Stay tuned!
