How to Plan Foundations with Challenge in Mind, Part 1

Part 1: Gain Perspective

Does the Classical Conversations Challenge program seem like a dark, unknown path that you can’t risk looking at while your kids are in Foundations? That was me! Maybe you can relate.

A Little Background

When we jumped into Classical Conversations (CC) for the first time, I didn’t realize the beautiful flow from Foundations to Essentials to Challenge. I didn’t “get” Foundations because that was the only program in my view. Due to life circumstances, we took two years off after our first year, and by God’s grace returned to our community two years ago as our oldest was entering Challenge A.

As I see more clearly the purposes of CC, it helps me plan my days at home with kids ranging from Foundations to Challenge. Even if you have only one child, or all your children are young, thinking about this now may help you down the road.

I’m by no means an expert, but I’ve tried many things in eleven years of homeschooling! This method worked for us last year, and I plan to use it again this year. Perhaps it will provide a helpful perspective for your family!

Starting Point

It can be overwhelming to consider everything you hope to accomplish with each child during the year. Every lesson to teach, every assignment to complete, every skill to master, every memory peg to nail down. Even if you know what to do and how you want to do it, when are you going to get it done? Multiply that times the number of kids you have, and the responsibilities just keep growing. At least that’s me… five kids… easily overwhelmed! Please tell me I’m not the only one!

The Destination

It has helped me tremendously to understand where we are going. Challenge is the meat of CC. It encompasses what we want for our kids before we launch them into the world. What you may not realize (because I didn’t for a long time) is everything you are doing now in Foundations is indeed the foundation for the Challenge program.

It’s Never Too Late

Before you panic because you are starting CC at a later age and fear your child will fail… my oldest jumped into the deep end of Challenge without a solid Foundations/Essentials background, and he learned to swim fast. He’s completed A and B and will begin Challenge I next month. He is also the reason I know that Foundations and Essentials are so important! He will hear his sisters reciting memory work and often tell them, “Remember that! You’re going to need that for Challenge!” I’m glad he is making those connections even if he didn’t get it from the beginning. He is learning how to learn, and he’s appreciating the process.

Resources

There are many resources out there to help you know what to teach and how to teach it during the Foundations years. My goal is to help you see how and when you can fit everything in during the week. I hope to provide a viewpoint from which you can order your time at home effectively.

I’m starting with the assumption that we are teaching our kids using the classical model, from a Christian perspective, within a local homeschool community having one community day per week and four days at home. If you are not familiar with Classical Conversations, I recommend these resources: