Teaching the Classics?

I’ve heard Adam Andrews speak at our homeschool convention and listened to his free downloads on his website. I really like him and think our homeschool could benefit from TTC. Although I adhere to much of CM’s philosophy, I’m not a CM purist. I still have some classical tendencies from my earlier homeschooling days.

I’ve had my eye on Teaching the Classics for a while now, but my husband isn’t convinced we need it, especially for the price tag! I sent out an e-mail to my local HS group asking if anyone had a set they would like to sell, rent, or loan me. Unfortunately, I’ve had no response, but we do live in a pretty small area.

Let me know if you end up not wanting to keep yours, and I’d be happy to take it off of your hands!

I have TTC, so maybe I can offer some input. I’m not sure how old your kids are, but I think that will factor in to how much you would use it. I don’t think it is in contradiction to CM…at least depending on how you use it. 

At its core TTC is about discussing and understanding books, and at a minimum I think it is a great resource for moms in better understanding literature. The thing I have always loved about TTC is that it teaches you how to understand and analyze literature, any literature, as opposed to getting a “literature guide” for this title and that title that are “guiding” you to the conclusions that author of that guide has pre-determined.

It is based on the Socratic method, and these are some of the reasons why (quoted from the book):

“[This method] doesn’t claim to tell students what to think about literature…. No matter what your convictions about appropriate reading material, no matter what your idea of the good, the true and the beautiful, this method will work for you. After learning the techniques presented here, you will be able to carry on an informed discussion of literature from the standpoint of your own worldview.  …[It focuses on] teaching the student how to think. The Socratic method does not begin with the answers; it begins with questions. Students are therefore never told what to think before they have a chance to develop their own powers of observation, deduction, and evaluation. In this way, the Socratic method encourages good reading.”

I really enjoyed the story chart format used in discussing a story and have done that even with my early elementary students. (Covers setting, characters, plot, conflict, theme, with style & context covered in the book but not specifically on the chart.) This is a great visual, as well, for those who learn well that way. We have had some good discussions on what the theme of a story might be, etc. We do not all agree, but it opens up to seeing another point of view. 

The pages in the back of Socratic questions are very helpful as well and generally flow from a more straightforward observation or retelling into explainging cause & effect, relationships between story elements, and finally into things like how the author’s own world view affects his handling of the themes, etc. So it is useful to a full spectrum of ages. The  questions can also be developed into ideas for essays for older students. 

Ultimately, I think it becomes more useful in later elementary and beyond, rather than early elementary. My biggest concern with the elementary years would be getting too caught up in the TTC way of doing things in lieu of CM-style narration. If you were to use the TTC list of Socratic questions, for example, as a list to cut through and have your children answer, that would feel very “wrong” to me from a CM perspective. However, I think it is useful at all ages if used as a tool/resource, and certainly useful to the mom particularly if she doesn’t already feel really competent to seeing how these elements all work together in a story and analyzing/discussing those.