Classical Education

I am a die hard classical educationist. Is that even a word? I wholeheartedly believe in the classical education model as described by Susan Wise Bauer in The Well Trained Mind. I have read and reread our copy so many times there are portions I could recite from memory - almost. 

In a perfect world I would follow The Well Trained Mind model exactly, crossing every T and dotting every I. Unfortunately my world is not perfect and for this upcoming academic year I will be unable to do so.

Why? 

We simply don't have the funding. 

While the classical education outlined in The Well Trained Mind isn't outrageously expensive per say, we are at a point in our family life (nearing the end of my husband's residency after almost 13 years of training, only two left!) where money is tighter than ever before. Sigh. 

So when my husband and I both felt the prompting that our children needed to be homeschooled, we struggled at first, not knowing how we were going to afford this endeavor. We were serendipitously led to the point we are at now. 

Our school district works in conjunction with a charter school that offers the Calvert Homeschool curriculum and all other necessary supplies (computer, printer, internet, etc) at no cost to those enrolled. Yep, that's right, free. And the beauty of this virtual charter school is that my kids can still go to their public schools for their electives if they so choose. John will be able to continue his beloved orchestra and Madi will be able to choose which electives she would like to do. There was much rejoicing in the land when the kids realized they would still be seeing their friends at school. Not that they haven't spent almost every second of this summer running around with their neighborhood friends already, but apparently seeing their friends at school is important to them. :)

While it isn't the Well Trained Mind, I do like the Calvert curriculum. It follows the classical model and is so far above and beyond what my children were being asked to do in public school, how could I not be pleased? After researching what Calvert has to offer, I am very excited for John and Madi to begin this journey.

And, frankly, I am also thrilled that there will be very little prep work on my part. Our two little whirlwinds keep me so busy I'm not sure I would be able to prepare adequately enough for the older kids. 

So that's our plan, we'll see how it goes!