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For us (and I’m sure many families) we don’t always have time to spend 6 hours on school work every single day of the week. One hour of individual work is a hefty load. Time- It is recommended that students spend 1 hour on each strand per day.I am sure that this really depends on your child and your community- do you have a kiddo who will be ok feeling a little “lost” during one of the class strands? Do you have a tutor who is ok with kids not participating in one strand? There are lots of other curriculum options that I would love to use, but ultimately when committing to CC Challenge there is not time for much else. If you choose to completely eliminate a subject, you are ultimately limiting their ability to participate in class. Yes, as the parent you can make certain tweaks within the framework of the CC curriculum but for your student to participate in class you have to commit to doing the CC selected assignments, books, papers, and projects. Lack of Subject Choices- Everything is laid out for you- which can be a comforting pro but it also means you have less ability to customize your child’s education.Make sure you meet the tutor for your community. However, I have included this on the pros and cons list because every community and every tutor is different. Tutor- Having adult mentors (other than mom & dad) can be such a positive influence in a child’s life! I love that my children have gained so many wonderful role models in our community.This is one of my favorite aspects of the Classical Conversations program as a whole. Presentations/ Public Speaking- Learning to speak in front of a group is a skill that simply cannot be duplicated at home.This is a pro and a con in my opinion as you will see below. If your child is completing the work in Challenge they are getting an excellent education. You in no way need to worry that something is being missed. Subjects- Everything is laid out for you.She appreciates the fact that when she reads or hears a news story she knows the location! Also, it has given our daughter a great sense of accomplishment. Geography- Again, left to our own devices I’m sure my daughter and I would not choose a geography program that requires learning to draw the entire world!! She despises drawing! But this has been such an amazing and worthwhile endeavor! The knowledge she has gained will benefit her throughout her lifetime.That “due date” set by the Challenge schedule ensures that we get the presentation, the paper, the science fair project, or whatever it is done in a timely manner. Illness, travel, work, animals, family- all these distractions can take over if we are not careful with our time. Accountability- For her and me! Life is busy! While I would love to say that left to my own devices I would ensure that my daughter was writing a paper every 3 weeks or creating a science presentation every week, the truth is I am not that disciplined.Sure we can discuss the books she is reading at home (and we do!), but it is invigorating for her to hear the different views of her classmates. Discussion- If you already have a tween you know their need for discussion- they enjoy bantering and debating topics, they have opinions and want them to be heard! My daughter loves getting to discuss what she is reading with her Challenge classmates.Every community is different and this is why it is imperative that you and your child visit to see if you are comfortable with the group. We are also new to the area- CC gave our daughter an instant friend group. Community- We live in a very small town so our group options are limited.I am providing this list in hopes that it will trigger ideas and thoughts to help other parents as they make curriculum decisions for their own family. A pro for us may be a con for you and vice-versa! Every family and every student is unique. Please remember that these are the pros and cons for OUR family, OUR lifestyle and OUR homeschooling style. To help others in their curriculum planning, here is a list of our pros and cons for CC Challenge A. It has been a wonderful year! There are things that we love about the program and some things that we have not enjoyed as much- after all, no curriculum is perfect. Our daughter is 12 years old and in the seventh grade. We have experience with Foundations and Essentials, but Challenge was new for us. This past year was our first year in a Classical Conversations Challenge program.
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