Classical Education for the High School Years – Review

|
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure and privacy policy for more information. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

I know what you’re thinking. She doesn’t have high school kids, why is she writing about homeschooling high school? I love to read almost anything I can get my hands on if it’s about homeschooling. This, my friends, is my career. I’m a homeschool mom. No, I can’t say without a doubt we will homeschool through high school, but I am definitely considering it. I was given the opportunity to review The Conversation by Leigh A. Bortins. It’s from Classical Conversations and it’s all about homeschooling high school with the classical method.

What is The Conversation?

Classical Conversations Review


This is the third book in a series written by Leigh A. Bortins about classical, home education. You may have heard of Classical Conversations. There are homeschool groups all over the country who meet once a week to work together. The classical model of education is followed. I personally have not looked into the classcial model, so this was all brand new to me. Apparently, there are three stages of learning that children go through. The first is grammar, the second is dialectic, and the third is rhetoric. The Conversation focuses on the rhetoric stage in which teenagers are able to synthesize information they have learned and apply their own ideas in a way that others can understand.

The book is written in three parts: High School at Home, The Rhetorical Acts, and Appendices.

In High School at Home, the first chapter focuses on confident parents and what it takes to homeschool a high schooler. It is quite inspiring and helpful especially if you feel afraid to homeschool the high school years. The next chapter actually focuses on rhetoric, what it is, and how it is used in a classical education. How is rhetoric used? To perceive wisdom, pursue virtue and proclaim truth.

The next part, The Rhetorical Acts, actually goes through all of the subjects you would be teaching in a classical education and how to implement them in your homeschool. Bortins covers everything from reading, writing, math, science, Latin/foreign language, etc. 

The last part is the Appendices. This is a very helpful section because Bortins gives directions for games you can play with your high schooler, as well as an explanation and definition of several rhetorical devices.

How I felt about The Conversation

Okay, so I will be honest, when I first started reading this book I felt like I was in over my head. If you have young children like me and you’re just starting out, you will definitely benefit from reading this series in order. I just have to read the first book now! Also, when you take into account that I do not personally use the Classical approach to homeschooling, I really had a lot to learn!

There is so much great information packed into this one little book that I think anyone who is contemplating homeschooling their high schooler will get lots of great ideas. It is organized in a way that you can easily find the information you need without having to read through the entire book. For example, if you’re considering teaching Latin and you don’t know where to start you can flip right to the Latin chapter and learn all about it.

The Conversation is a book that will stay on my shelf and I definitely see myself coming back to it in later years!

Classical Conversations Review
Crew Disclaimer

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *