Inside Parent Practicum 2013

Every summer, Classical Conversations holds free Parent Practicums across the country to encourage and equip parents in using the classical Christian model in their home.

From their website:

Come with us as we Return to Roots and Reason. Join veteran homeschooling parents for three days of encouragement and inspiration as we seek to understand the classical model of education and learn how to apply it in Christian homeschooling. This year we will be digging deeper into the beauty and reason that can only be understood through mathematics. Morning speakers will present practical tools for giving your children a classical, Christian education at home. See the grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric stages of learning in action as we rediscover roots and reason through mathematics.

This was my first Practicum, and all I can say is - WOW!

Math was the focus topic this year (last year was Latin). So, in addition to learning general classical, Christian education how-to, we played with numbers and learned how to approach math Biblically - because it is not neutral.

Colossians 1:16b says that all things were created by God. Yes, math was created by God, and because our Lord chose to create math, we should look to discover Him in math. He's all over it, friends!

I don't want to say too much about the Practicum; I know many of you are planning to attend one this summer, and I don't want to spoil the fun for you. But, I will share some pictures of our event in Harvest, Alabama earlier this week:

Above, Kelli Van Pelt, a CC Director from Destin, Florida, was our fabulous Practicum speaker. She was so approachable and friendly, and she really knew her stuff!

Her friend, Tammi (also a director), helped with mapping out the grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric stages of various seminars (I learned we don't say subjects, but we use seminars instead. Subject sounds too compartmentalized, and classical educators believe all subjects are interrelated since all were created by the same awesome God.).

We broke up into small groups each day to play around with numbers.

A quick glimpse inside CC tutor training! After lunch, tutors and directors broke away for their separate training. Everyone else stayed in the sanctuary for a deeper discussion of the Classical Conversations program model. 

And here's a birds-eye view of the bookstore set up in the church lobby. This picture really doesn't do Sandra, our fantastic CC bookseller, justice. She had so many great resources on display! Oh, yes, I got to know Sandra. ;) Here's where I bought my Saxon 1 Math the first day.

Quick note on that:

So, the week before Practicum, I placed all my orders for Mary's kindergarten materials, including Math-U-See (MUS) Primer and Alpha. I have lots of friends who use and love MUS, so that's the way we went. I knew that MUS had just rewritten their curriculum to align with Common Core, which I abhor, but I thought there really wasn't any way around this beast. 

Then, I go to Practicum. On our first day, Kelli (our speaker) and Leigh Bortins (via a taped message) talk about the Saxon Math program and why CC endorses that particular curriculum:

the lessons are classically taught with an abundance of repetition for mastery,

goes from K-12 (not all math programs do),

click here to see other reasons why CC endorses Saxon,

and - here's the selling point for me -

although Saxon has aligned itself with Common Core, it's keeping one edition 'pure' for Classical Conversations families (3rd edition)!

Yes, that did it! 

Don't know how Common Core affects math? Well, take a look at some math work from a Common Core-aligned book:

Click on these to enlarge, and then prepare to be dumb-struck by the sheer insanity of this logic. Really, click on it and check it out. I'll wait here. . . 

I'm really at a loss for words here, friends. These images are from the wonderful watchdog site Truth in American Education. Click here to see what they have to say about this mess. And here's one more for you:

Who can learn this way?! 

Conservative commentator and mom Michelle Malkin has a great blog series explaining exactly what Common Core is and what it's going to do to our nation. Something interesting she points out:

Stanford University professor James Milgram, the only mathematician on the validation panel, concluded that the Common Core math scheme would place American students two years behind their peers in other high-achieving countries. In protest, Milgram refused to sign off on the standards.

She breaks it down:

Under Common Core, as the American Principles Project and Pioneer Institute point out, algebra I instruction is pushed to 9th grade, instead of 8th grade, as commonly taught. Division is postponed from 5th to 6th grade. Prime factorization, common denominators, conversions of fractions and decimals, and algebraic manipulation are de-emphasized or eschewed. Traditional Euclidean geometry is replaced with an experimental approach that had not been previously pilot-tested in the U.S.

Click here to read her excellent posts on Common Core.

So, when I heard that Saxon was saving its 3rd edition from alignment, I knew that's what we should use. If you're thinking of switching to Saxon, I encourage you to purchase from the CC website or at a Practicum (20% discount on Saxon through August 31). We want to encourage Saxon to keep the 3rd edition for us, and, as we all know, money talks. 

Sorry for taking you down that rabbit trail, wow! Where were we?

Oh, yes, the Practicum! It was just awesome, and I learned so much and met so many great CC mamas!

About math not being neutral, our speaker recommended visiting Christian Perspectives, a wonderful resource for learning to teach math Biblically. I purchased the audio download and the e-book Beyond Numbers by Katherine Loop. The book is outstanding! 

Here's a little excerpt:

His consistency in keeping one plus one equaling two serves as a continual testimony to us of His loyalty, faithfulness, and loving kindness. Just think, every time you use math to count or add something, you witness the fact that God is still consistently sustaining the universe. It is as though math were shouting out to you, "God is still in charge! He is faithful. He will keep His covenant of redemption with you." (Beyond Numbers, p. 5)

One more:

If math is independent from God, then all the incredible order and consistency in math points us, not to the Creator, but to math and human intellect. This view of math is not just unbiblical; it is actually naturalistic and humanistic. It teaches us to trust the creation (math and human intellect) instead of the Creator. My "neutral" view of math was really a very worldly view, steeped in unbiblical thinking. (p. 19)

Isn't that awesome! Ooooh, I could go on and on, but I really don't want to ruin the fun for those who have yet to attend their Practicum. So, if you can, go, go, go to one of the free Parent Practicums. They are so worth it! 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on math! Have you thought about using it as a way to discover God and His attributes? I never have, so this experience has been so exciting! I'm really getting into math now, so I just may do a separate post about that in the future. Stay tuned!