One of the great things about homeschooling is it lets you use a variety of educational styles—project-based, classical, Montessori, unschooling, and more. Plus, you can incorporate as much or as little of each as you choose. While that flexibility is wonderful, it can also be intimidating for parents who are considering homeschooling. Fortunately, no matter which path you choose, you don’t have to do it alone.

That’s where a program like Classical Conversations comes in. Started in 1997, Classical Conversations (CC) is a Christian program that meets weekly to help students grow in the classical skills of recitation, logical thinking, and persuasive rhetoric.

Classical Conversations is divided into Foundations (ages 4+), Essentials (9+), and Challenge (12+). Each program has a specific purpose within the classical education framework. Foundations lays the factual basis; it focuses on memorization, public speaking, and science experiments. In Essentials, students learn language structure and analysis, the structure and style of writing, and arithmetic speed and accuracy to help prepare them for the Challenge levels. Then the Challenge program helps students progress from knowledge to understanding to wisdom.

Laura Amon is a Challenge director in western Pennsylvania. She started her local Classical Conversations chapter in 2013. Laura and her family used to live in Florida and her children attended the local public school. When it wasn’t working for her son, she attended a homeschool conference where she learned about Classical Conversations. She was so impressed that she decided to begin homeschooling and join CC.

“We loved CC,” says Laura. “It was an adjustment for my kids, but having the weekly meeting really helped them transition from the public school. It was great for them to have the strong Classical Conversations community and make new friends.”

When the family moved to Pennsylvania, there was no local CC group. She enrolled her kids in the local school district, but her sons soon asked to switch back to homeschooling. Laura wanted the supportive CC environment, so she started a group in her town.

“The Classical Conversations leadership was very helpful, and the materials are very thorough using a timeline of historic events as a foundation for learning. This made it as easy as possible to get a new group up and running,” Laura recalls. “They really want you and your community to succeed because they want to help spread classical education.”

Laura would encourage anyone who is considering homeschooling to look at Classical Conversations. “It let us get many of the benefits of a classical education without having to commit to a full‐​time classical school,” she says. “My favorite part is that my kids are learning how to learn as opposed to just learning content and then moving on to next thing. Classical Conversations certainly has strong content, but it also gave them these important tools for any subject they want to learn. They know to start at the beginning by defining the terms, then ask questions, and then put it into practice by writing or trying to teach it to someone.”

Whether it’s Classical Conversations or another program, you don’t need to go it alone if you want to homeschool. Be sure to check out Cato CEF’s Friday Feature each week to learn about more of the great educational options parents are using.