Classical Conversations in St. Louis

Classical Conversations in Maplewood, MO 

The Maplewood campus of Classical Conversations will begin taking applications for new students for the 2010-2011 school year on March 8, 2010. 

What is Classical Conversations? That's a great question. If you haven't already taken the time to visit the main CC website, please take a few minutes to do that now. The Foundations program is explained here. The Essentials program is explained here.

Classical Conversations is a community, not exactly a co-op, not a school.  What happens at our weekly classes?  Parents, you have nothing to prepare - come and just show up with your kids once a week, learn from a paid tutor how to classically educate yourselves and your children for the eternal purpose of sharing Christ with the world.

Spend the mornings on fun, high-energy, fast-paced Bible memorization, public speaking, Latin, timeline memorization, geography, English grammar, a science experiment, a fine arts project, math drill games, history, and science.

 

In the afternoons, our students (3rd graders and older) work on intensive English grammar, math, public speaking, and writing skills using the highly acclaimed Institute for Excellence in Writing program. (This is our Essentials program.)

 

Foundations begins at age 4 and goes through 6th grade. 

The following video is actually one I made last fall for a promotion I participated in with Chevy, but it happened on one of our CC days, so I'm posting it here as it gives you a little glimpse of one of our days:

The following video was produced by a local CC group in Memphis, TN. It gives a pretty good idea of what the classes are like and what you can expect.

St. Louis Area Foundations Programs:

Currently there are two Foundations/Essentials programs in the immediate St. Louis area. The West County group is led by Keri Stoner. Email her for information about the West County campus.

There is a strong possibility that another group will form in the South City area as well as the Wildwood area for the 2010-2011 school year. Email Vicki Jensen for information about the South City area. Email Nikki Sawyers for information about the Wildwood area.

The Maplewood campus is directed by me, Megan Dunham. You can email me for more information about this campus.

The Maplewood campus meets at Crossroads Presbyterian Church 2640 Oakview Terrace Maplewood, MO 63143.

• We will be meeting on Tuesdays for the 2010-2011 school year.
• We will kick off the year with a family "Back to School" potluck picnic on Friday, August 27.
• The fall semester will begin on Tuesday, August 31 and go through Tuesday, November 23. We will be taking October 12 off for fall break.
• The spring semester will begin on Tuesday, January 11 and go through Tuesday, April 12. We will be taking March 22 off for spring break. 
• Note: The spring semester has a built-in snow day. If we do not need it, our semester will conclude on Tuesday, April 5.
• Our end of the year banquet will be on Friday, April 15.

Registration is now open to the public for the Maplewood campus. The following spots are available:

• Abecedarians (PreK-K): Waiting List Only
  
• Apprentices (1st-2nd grade): Waiting List Only
  
• Journeymen (3rd-4th grade): 2 classes, 14 children (2 official spots, 2 possible exceptions)
• Masters (5th-6th grade): 2 classes, 16 children (0 official spots, 2 possible exceptions)
  

St. Louis Area Challenge Programs:

Challenge A - Both the Maplewood and West County campuses are planning to launch Challenge A programs for next year. If you would like to enroll in Challenge A in conjunction with the Maplewood campus, please email Dana Hui for more information on that.

Join Us as a Challenge Director/Tutor All groups in our area are looking for folks to join us as a Challenge Director/Tutor. Please contact any one of us if you have questions about this position.

Informational Meetings Look for another information meeting to be scheduled soon. If you are interested in attending one, please email any of us and we'll be happy to set another one up.

A common question I get from prospective families is this: What do we need to buy?

There are some resources you will need to make this program a success with your family.

Foundations Curriculum Guide

Veritas Press Timeline Cards (all five sets)

Tin Whistle (one for every child)

These items come in a handy Foundations Package which is nice if you don't already have the timeline cards. You will need to order extra tin whistles if you have more than one child.

These items should last you the entire time you are involved with the Foundations program.

There are some extras – not all of them necessary.

The extra that really is necessary for you to do this well at home is the audio CD. There is one for each of the three cycles we do with CC. We will be doing Cycle 2 next year, so be sure to order the Cycle 2 audio CDs.

There are also Cycle 2 flash cards (nice to have, but you can do without) them and the Cycle 2 Memory Resource CD (again, not really necessary, but some like it). The Memory Resource CD is not compatible with Mac computers.

Program Costs:

The Foundations program has an annual $50 registration fee and $50 supply fee per enrolled child. The tuition is $312 for the year per child which breaks down to $13/week. The Maplewood campus has an additional $25/child building use fee.

Bottom line: $437 per child.

The Essentials program has a separate registration fee of $50 per child, a $20 per child supply fee, and a tuition charge of $312 for the year. There is no additional building use fee unless the child is not also enrolled in the Foundations program.

There are necessary resources to go along with this program as well. You can see the entire line of recommendations here. I will come back and list what is absolutely necessary very soon.