The Latin-Centered Curriculum

Andrew Kern was just in the Sacramento, California area speaking on classical home education. It was excellent, and I would recommend the CDs from that conference (you can email this address with questions on ordering: ; the association website is http://cche.info)

I also purchsed his Celebration of Order conference CDs and would recommend them. Some are for the big idea kind of thinking, some of them get very practical. I enjoy the mix. Martin Cothran, Vigen Guroian, and Kern himself were my favorites. A great CD is a discussion between Cothran, James Taylor (no, not THAT James Taylor (-:) and Ken Myers from Mars Hill Audio Journal on The Man Who Was Thursday by Chesterton.

So, I highly recommend CiRCE CDs. My older three children (ages 13, 14, 15) all attended the Sacramento conference with us, and we are just getting deeper and deeper into the topics as the weeks go by.

Looking forward to this forum. Lots to learn,

Diane

Thanks for the recommendation, Diane. I will definitely give a listen to some of the conference cds you mention. What was the conference you attended recently? I've been turning over the idea of going to one, but I think I'll have to wait for something closer to home. It is great to hear that your kids enjoyed it as well.

The discussion of The Man Who Was Thursday sounds very interesting. Ken Myers does a great job with the Mars Hill audio, doesn't he? I recently found a box of back issues at a library book sale, and they've been a great inspiration.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

CCHE is Classical Christian Home Educators, and they are in Roseville, California. They have had four annual conferences (or seminars might be a more accurate term) featuring one or two speakers. This year was Andrew Kern, so he spoke six times. His topics were 1) The value of a classical mind, 2) From good to great books, 3) The power of reading, 4) Logic across the curriculum, 5) Socratic discussion, and ...something else that I am blanking out right now (-:. Some of the best material was in the question and answer time (and most of that was recorded as well.)

~Diane

I went with Diane to this conference and it was remarkable. It re-energized me, made me glad for all we have done, and inspired me "without putting a boulder on my back" (Diane's great word picture).

I don't have any brilliance to add to Diane's comments, but I would say this: I have found that the best conferences for me are ones like this one in Sacramento (I flew in from Seattle to attend) precisely *because* of the single-speaker format. When one person presents 6 times, you get to go deep and really tackle an idea with that person. At "regular" conferences, where you hear 6 speakers each one time, you spend half the time establishing the framework for the talk, and the rest of the time hearing a little bit about it, and in your own mind, evaluating whether or not you agree with the basic premises to start with.

I think I need to order the CDs that Diane recommended. I am stuck in the past with my son, that is, thinking that he can't listen alongside to these things. But he can. He may not "get it" but he won't die for listening.