CC Parent Practicum

We had an awesome CC Parent Practicum this week!  It was such a wonderful time of learning and sharing about classical education, learning about Rhetoric, and getting to know new CC friends.  I was blessed by our speaker, Deb, who shared tons of information about classical education and especially the Rhetoric stage and skills for that stage of learning.  I learned about things like the amplification, schemes, and tropes.  Our CC book store was open and I was able to look through pages of books that I had been wanting to skim through in person and make my purchases of curriculum for this year.  I talked to experienced Challenge A parents and asked questions as I plan for our jump into Challenge next year with my oldest child.

As a director of a new CC community here in my home town, I was thrilled to see all of the moms of the families joining our community in attendance.  We talked about how to get started, what books and resources they need, and they were able to ask many questions and look at the books in person.

I purchased The Lost Tools of Writing for our use in Challenge A this year and after I had time to sit down and read through part of it, I recognized terms that I had just learned in our discussions on Rhetoric this week!  A light bulb turned on when I could see charts in the book that were similar to the chart we were filling out in our Practicum.  I am a grammar student of Rhetoric, so it made me feel good that I knew what some of those words meant!

Jo, Deb, and Christal portrayed how to ask your students good questions when they don't want to talk

Tutor training in Foundations was also a blessing for me as I prepare to direct our new tutors in a new community next year!  I was the Tutor Trainer, so I have been reading, watching webinars, and "marinading" in classical thought for a few weeks.  Our discussions were rich and helpful.  We had a great group of trainees, some who have tutored and some who are brand new, so it was great to watch the discussions going on between them and to hear different perspectives.

Children enjoyed the CC camps, too!  Young children learned about shapes and art in Play camp, other children learned about maps and the world in Geo Drawing camp, and our older children gained tons of experience with small presentations and games in Public Speaking camp.  I watched my own teen son work with the preschoolers as a volunteer helper and he really learned a lot of patience and understanding this week, too!

The Geo Draw campers share what they have learned

My son is the helper on the far left.  What a great group of Play campers!

CC Parent Practicum is a fantastic way to get re-energized, encouraged, equipped, and connected to other home educators in your community.  If you have an opportunity to attend a Parent Practicum, sign up!  It will bless you!