classical conversations when you are an unschooler at heart...

[happy1nluv]

Ok... I'm not radically unschool-y, but I do heavily lean that way... BUT, my husband is completely anti-homeschooling (although he reluctantly agreed to try for K). There's a meeting next week for a classical conversations group which I think I could sell as part time private school and dh might go for it (fingers crossed). I don't know much about it yet.. but it seems like a LOT of memorization -- although the mom that was inviting me to the info meeting said it took only 30 min a day plus a once a week 3 hour meeting (i'm assuming 5 days a week, not 7). Which.. in the scheme of things, isn't much...and WAAAYYY better than sending them to public school... but i'm not sure i want to go there... do you think it could kill the natural born learners they are? Or should I just look at it as insurance that they learn all they should? I don't know why I'm so wishy-washy with this...

[Starflower]

It sounds like you are saying you need some concessions to keep DH on board. I would look at this as research on your options and go to the meeting to at least find out what it's all about before you make a decision about how it would fit into your family's values. If it's just an info meeting, I don't see how it could hurt to go.

Also, consider the personalities of your children. Is this something they might enjoy? And, if you do it, are you locked into it? I like having the freedom to change my mind as needs change.

[SundayCrepes]

Originally Posted by Starflower

It sounds like you are saying you need some concessions to keep DH on board. I would look at this as research on your options and go to the meeting to at least find out what it's all about before you make a decision about how it would fit into your family's values. If it's just an info meeting, I don't see how it could hurt to go.

Also, consider the personalities of your children. Is this something they might enjoy? And, if you do it, are you locked into it? I like having the freedom to change my mind as needs change.

I agree.

Also, have you looked at the books at www.sonlight.com? I buy the secular books and don't use the instructor's guides. I just buy the books I like and read them with my kids. You can also join a secular sonlight users group at yahoo. There are many usnchoolers there. Maybe your husband would like something like this?

[OTMomma]

I would go and find out about the program.  I know some people that have done similar sounding programs, I think whether it will work will depend a lot on the details of how your child learns and whether its a good fit.  You might not even know if its a good fit until you try it for a few months- so go and find out if you can choose to quit if it isn't working for you.   The kids I know of, loved this type of program for K- had a great time, and the homework was no big deal.  As they got older, one child continued to like it, another family found that the school expected too much work during the week for their second grader.

I do not think it will kill your child's desire to learn- if it seems to be soul crushing- you can always quit at that point.