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Pamela, what a perfect example of what I was saying! Even in the same family, sometimes it's a fit and other times it's not. Thank you so much for sharing!
Blessings
Lee

We have 2 daughters. Both went trough Foundations and loved it. That being said, one daughter (and I) knew Challenge would not be right for her and 1 couldn’t wait to start. So there you are. It depends on the child. The one who couldn’t be wait is an avid reader, loves classics and does well in Latin.

Any created tool to teach (or to do anything in life) is just that a tool. Something created that takes too high a place in our lives and we begin to "worship" it over the CREATOR GOD, then becomes an idol. This can happen with any "method" of education or basically anything in life. It can be very very good, if used to glorify God and very, very, bad if not. That said, our family has been very blessed by classical education for the last 10 years. It is an education that is strongly rooted in a "Christian Worldview" and when introduced to Classical Conversations we found it a great "tool" to use with our youngest child. Again, it is a tool, NEVER to be worshiped, but used to glorify God. Their motto is "to glorify God and make Him known". What other over-arching goal could we want for our child's education? I think "horrid" is a word that could be used to describe many methods of education, just not sure it is the right adjective in this instance. Obviously, what you witnessed first hand, was a wrong priority of the "tool", not the "tool" of classical education itself.

I switched to classical this past year, after reading The Well-Trained Mind. It was our toughest year ever, but I finally felt like we were learning something. It seems to be a great fit for our family, but I do get how it would be a disaster for some - if your children were very hands-on and not as cerebral, they'd be miserable. ("Miser," in Latin lol.) My kids loved the challenge of logic and Latin. My daugher even admitted, "Mom, even though I've argued about Latin all year, I've really loved it!" I've seen their self-confidence increase as they've mastered the harder subjects. So, it's working for us, but I am glad not everyone has to do this anymore!

Kelly,
Any great curriculum can be horrid if it is a mismatch with the student and/or parent. Think about math: Saxon may be a great curriculum, but it's just not a fit for every child.
Blessings,
Lee

This is kind of how I view the Thomas Jefferson Education Fad that has been going around here in Utah. I have read the books and gleaned what I found useful to my homeschool, but it is amazing to me how the fads take over sometimes.

Lee, I would totally agree with your assessment. The Classical Conversations communities are booming here and I help that along by creating a list for the greater Charlotte area (this includes two states and it can be confusing to navigate the CC website when looking at multiple sites). The leaders here are so very cooperative and there is a heart for giving that I see. However, it is a certain kind of approach that will not work for everyone as it is quite demanding and rigorous from what I can tell. It is also not the cheapest way to homeschool (good value for price and you can get it for less through teaching but it is still $$). It would not be suited to my students that I am currently teaching. But I do have a lot of friends who absolutely love it. What I wouldn't want to see is someone being convinced that it is the "right" way to homeschool and thereby trying to squeeze their family into that mold when it may be a bad fit.
.-= Karen Davis´s last blog ..Teaching Jane Austen =-.

Can you please explain how a classical education can be horrid?