"Hurrah!" (It's finally over.) as quoted by Connor concerning CC this year.

In the course of  everyone's life, (especially in school), there are those certain times when we are just waiting for the trial, misery, and boredom, of said trial to end.  Fo Connor, this was one of those years.  He HATED  this year with the Classical Conversation class....not the people, just the program.  They use the Trivium or classical method, which means the first years of education are heavy with memorization, they focus on creating pegs of information--learn the dates and grammar of a subject, and later learn how it all works and applies.  This, I've come to find out (wish I would have know this sooner) is not the way he learns.  He need immersion into the subject, learning not only the grammar of a subject, but how and why too.  

However, he did learn much---perseverance, enduring to the end, even when you just want to quit. How to accept "no" as an answer graciously and not pout when you've begged and begged Mom and Dad to quit, . I hope he comes to realize these learned lessons  in life and  use it to his advantage to help him through similar situations, which will undoubtedly come.  He learned how to push through on a subject he just doesn't like--anatomy and Latin (yes, Latin the one subject he hated--he learned he didn't like it so much after all, but he did finish)

His tutor, Mrs. Quek sent these photo's of him and his classmates...pretty cool!  I'm also impressed, she got a semi-smile out of him.

Anthea, Sarah, Asia, Connor, Noah, and Mrs. Quek

Mrs Quek, his tutor sent this to summarize what they have learned:

Latin
• a total of 170 vocabulary – nouns, verbs, prepositions, adverbs, interjections,
pronouns
• different cases of a noun
• how to identify a noun (which declension) and to decline it accordingly
• how to identify a verb (which conjugation) and conjugate it accordingly in the
active present indicative tense
• using the flashcard method to help memorizing the vocabulary
• English derivatives from Latin to help with learning the vocabulary and widening
their English vocabulary
• learning to translate simple Latin sentences to English and vice versa


Exposition:
• 1st semester – starting with key words outline and one paragraph, we introduced
ways to dress up sentences, ways to begin a sentence, clinchers and various
structures and styles.
• vigorous writing every week starting from one paragraph progressing to a 5-
paragraph paper at the end of the semester
• 2nd semester – read a total of 7 Newsbury award books
• Introduced literary terms and device; discussions about plot, conflict, theme,
characterization, point of view of a piece of literature
• Every other week, students wrote a paper ranging from compare/contrast,
characterization, changes in characters, opinion, to plot and conflict.
• Students learned to develop a good thesis statement in their 5-paragraph paper,
supporting their topic sentences with quotations and examples from the assigned
book.

Research:
• 1st semester and part of 2nd semester – students researched, wrote and illustrated
about an assigned topic starting with the simplest organism to the most complex
mammal.
• Students learned to cite the sources using the MLA format.
• Students were encouraged to use only one internet source and one other paper
source.
• Students presented their research orally using only the fused key word outlines
• 2nd semester – students studied the human anatomy, defined the terms and were
quizzed every week.
• Students were expected to draw from memory the parts of the body learned that
week.

Rhetorics:
• Studied and discussed the book It Couldn’t Just Happened.
• Students used key words outline and summarized a chapter every week.
• Students memorized questions and answers pertaining to the book.
• Read and discussed Don’t Check Your Brain at the Door.
• Students were brought to a higher level of thinking about what they believe in, their
faith and their relationship with God.
Study skills learned:
• the ability to study a new subject
• the ability to do research and cite references
• the ability to handle larger quantities of material
• the ability to manage their time
• the ability to integrate all the subjects learned
I hope they have learned to use the tools well. Like garden tools, educational tools make
a job easier. But the more you use a garden tool, the more it’ll get blunt and has to be
sharpened. Educational tools are different, the more you use them, the sharper they will
get. So keep using those tools and keep them sharp. Study hard and study smart.
"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth."
--2 Tim. 2:15.