Are you curious to learn why participating in Stoa is so beneficial for CC students ages 12-18?
What is Stoa?
Stoa is a national Christian homeschool speech and debate league. Stoa prides itself on the freedom provided to families in planning their own schedules and involvement. While Stoa organizes the annual national championship, Stoa allows considerable autonomy within local clubs across the nation to plan their own meetings, host and attend tournaments, and utilize training resources as they see fit.
Coaches and parents use club time to guide students as they learn and practice the skills needed for competition at Stoa tournaments. Far more than just being a classroom, clubs provide opportunities for teamwork, fellowship, and friendships that last a lifetime. Stoa clubs are small communities, where coaches, parents, and alumni alike work together to train students toward the goal of Speaking Boldly and Changing the World for Christ.
What makes Stoa and CC such a great combination.
It does not take long to see that both Classical Conversations and Stoa are rooted in the same foundational grounding. Both programs emphasize the discipling of children to know God and make Him known. Where Classical Conversations provides an excellence in parent-led curriculum with a basis in strong community support, Stoa builds on this with the application of the classical pillar upon which Classical Conversations stands. In any given week a student in both activities will read and discuss through various material then in their Stoa group continue to converse, reason, and debate through either the same or similar topics. Attending Stoa groups in tandem with Classical Conversations motivates students to engage with and find ownership in knowledge at a level that many are not motivated to come to on their own. Really, Stoa and Classical Conversations form a synergy that provides students with the abilities to boldly make Christ known.
“Both Stoa and CC are our educational non-negotiables. In our 8 years in CC we have come to find that Stoa is the application to everything that we have our children in CC to learn. Stoa amplifies the CC curriculum in such an exceptional way that we are completely dedicated to the two.”
Ande Geer
Foundations Tutor and Challenge I-IV Director, Arkansas
“In CC we not only practice the art of rhetoric, but we also spend time studying the great orators that shaped thinking and history. It is beautiful how Classical Conversations and competitive speech and debate complement each other. CC projects such as interpretive recitations and research papers flow naturally into the competition year. Stoa takes the five canons of rhetoric that CC teaches us and adds layering to those tools. This layering, when set into the competitive lens, heightens their skills. My children stretched themselves in organizing their thoughts, research, speaking, and writing through competition. They still note that the skills they built competing are used almost daily in their lives. Honing the art of speaking and writing are two of the essentials in knowing our God and making Him known.”
Laurie Heiney
Area Representative Southeast Georgia
Challenge IV Director
“Stoa and Classical Conversations are a perfect combination for your child. The same skills are learned in both organizations but Stoa allows the student additional practice with the skills which in turn makes the course work in Classical Conversations easier. Many assignments in Classical Conversations can also be used as speech events in Stoa. We have loved our involvement in both Stoa and Classical Conversations and enjoy the benefits of both programs. Our students learn to know God and make Him known in Classical Conversations. Then they can use this knowledge to practice speaking boldly and changing the world for Christ with Stoa.”
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