Our Atlanta GA Chapter meets once a week, three weeks on and one week off. The year is divided into four, six-week quarters (24 weeks total between September and May.)
We currently offer two levels of the program, Grammar and Dialectic. Grammar is ages 3 or 4 through age 11 or 12 (6th grade). Next year, we will offer four grammar level classes: Pre-Grammar (ages 3&4), Early Grammar (grades K-2), and Lower Grammar (grades 3-4); and Older Grammar (grades 5-6).
Dialectic is Grade 7 through Grade 9. The last level is Rhetoric (Grades 10-12), which we are currently not operating this year. (We may next year.)
Pre-Grammar works on items related to the memory work, but on a much easier and more hands-on level.
Grammar stage is all composed of Classical memory work. The goal of the program is family unity. Students are introduced to the memory work songs and facts (for eight subjects) in a fun way each week and the parents decide how much in depth they want to go with the material at home. We learn about Saints, artists, and composers as well.
Pre-Grammar and Grammar students each have a 30-minute art class and a 30-minute science class each week.
Dialectic stage involves a lot of the same topics, but deeper reading, writing, and discussion. Students learn to speak in front of each other, have literature discussions, write essays, cover geography, and history timeline each week as well. This year we also have Dialectic Science class as well, which involves completing very interesting and challenging experiments.
We meet at Saint Monica’s Catholic Church on Friday mornings. Class day begins with optional Mass at 9:00am, followed by the pledge of allegiance, prayer, and chorus at 10:10am. Our classes/memory work begin at 10:45am. We finish at 1:45pm and the families usually go to a nearby park and have lunch and let the kids play.