Classical Conversations Spruce Grove

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Classical Conversations Spruce Grove

A Classical, Christian Community of home school families learning and doing life together in Spruce Grove, Alberta.

Classical Conversations (or CC for short) seeks to know God and make Him known as we learn about God and His creation through the classical model of the Trivium: Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric stages of learning.

06/18/2026

How do you teach your child to experience and examine God’s creation? By learning alongside them in a community with a common goal. Classical Conversations empowers you to guide your child’s educational development at every age (and equips you, too!). Our Christ-centered curriculum is rooted in the classical model and is in tune with the way children naturally learn.

The classical learning model incrementally shapes how children think and learn by building on how they naturally develop. We begin in the early years with children’s natural inclination to imitate others. Your child builds a rich vocabulary “grammar” by repeating and chanting rhymes and songs. As your child grows, we help you channel his or her curiosity into asking questions and investigating through dialogue “dialectic”. Finally, we provide opportunities for your maturing student to become a critical thinker and problem solver through writing and conversation “rhetoric”.

Together is the best way to learn. Here, you belong to a close-knit group of parents and students developing lifelong friendships and lasting skills, side by side. Your local community gives you and your child a weekly touchpoint for connection, guidance, and growth. As your child’s teacher, you’ll work alongside equipped parent-Tutors who are poised to offer wisdom, provide direction, and build relationships. Simultaneously, your child will learn the value of teamwork, personal accountability, and essential academic habits.

Email us at [email protected] to learn how our local classical, Christian community could help you achieve your goals for your family.

06/11/2026

Delivery (Pronuntiatio)

Guiding Question: How should I present this truth in speech and action?

Action: Deliver ideas in oral or written form.

The last of the Five Canons of Rhetoric is delivery. Delivery is most recognizable in speeches, presentations, and lectures. It involves careful consideration of when to make eye contact, when to use hand gestures, and when to smile. Delivery also involves attire. For example, students in our Challenge B program argue a case before judges in Mock Trial. During a presentation, it would be inappropriate and distracting if a student wore a t-shirt and sweatpants instead of business casual.

Read more about the 5 Canons of Rhetoric: https://classicalconversations.com/blog/five-canons-of-rhetoric

06/04/2026

Memory (Memoria)

Guiding Question: How should memory inform my presentation?

Action: Add memorable features to your essay or speech. Commit ideas to memory.

In ancient times, great orators took the canon of memory literally by actually memorizing their speeches. Although students today may certainly need to memorize their work of rhetoric depending on the situation and audience, there are several other ways to incorporate memory when crafting their speech, lecture, or essay.

The first is to draw upon what they already know about their subject to establish context and to find common ground with their audience. Second, a student should craft their speech or essay in a way that will make it memorable. This may involve including humorous personal experiences or to structure their argument into three main points (like a five-paragraph essay). Finally, a student may choose to memorize their speech or presentation rather than reading it or using notecards. Doing so can help them focus on making good eye contact and using hand gestures to connect with their audience, which are both elements of the next canon, delivery.

Read more about the 5 Canons of Rhetoric: https://classicalconversations.com/blog/five-canons-of-rhetoric

05/28/2026

Elocution (Elocutio)

Guiding Question: How should I say it?

Action: Express ideas in the style that is most persuasive in appealing to the audience.

Elocution is just a fancy classical term for “style.” This is the stage when a student decides how to say what they want to say about their topic. Again, their audience is crucial, and will inform decisions as to whether their work should be spoken or written, formal or informal, source-dense or experience-based. It’s also in elocution where a student may compose stylistic devices such as metaphors, similes, and parallelism to include in their work. However, it’s important not to overuse fancy stylistic devices. This will only confuse the audience, since the argument will get lost in all the extra fluff. As a student should always prioritize clarity over decoration.

Read more about the 5 Canons of Rhetoric: https://classicalconversations.com/blog/five-canons-of-rhetoric

05/21/2026

Arrangement (Dispositio)

Guiding Question: In what order should I say it?

Action: Arrange ideas in a logical and organized manner.

In arrangement, a student takes ideas from the invention stage and organizes them in a logical manner. As a popular example, arrangement may involve creating a formal outline for a speech, lecture, or essay. However, arrangement is necessary even when creating something like a poster board for a science fair.

Audience is just as important in arrangement as in invention. For instance, many pastors begin their sermons with a joke rather than jumping straight into a Scripture lesson. This is an intentional choice made in the arrangement stage to grab the congregation’s attention immediately and to connect with them emotionally.

Many students think they can ignore the arrangement stage. After all, they can just figure out in what order they will say things when it comes time to say it, right? Wrong. Arrangement is just as important as any of the other canons of rhetoric. Spending time in arrangement will give a student clear direction for what to say when it comes time to say it. It also ensures a logical flow to an argument so that the audience will be able to follow along when reading the essay or hearing the speech.

Read more about the 5 Canons of Rhetoric: https://classicalconversations.com/blog/five-canons-of-rhetoric

05/19/2026

Join us for Practicum 2026! Practicum is a day-long live event for parents, containing richness of content and conversation.

The classical model of education is for everyone, for learning every subject. At Practicum 2026, you’ll discover how the fifteen tools from the classical model can help you engage your student with the Latin conversation that transcends the ages, walking away with the confidence to make your family’s home-centered education more satisfying and effective.

Guided by a trained Classical Conversations leader, you’ll have the chance to practice these classical tools in group discussions with local homeschool parents. Throughout the full-day event, you’ll gain valuable insights and practical tips that can lead you as your child’s best teacher throughout the upcoming academic year and beyond.

Ready to join other homeschool families, discover the classical model of education, and enter the Latin conversation at Practicum 2026? Register at www.canada-cc.ca/events

Saturday, May 23 in Spruce Grove
Other dates & locations are also available

05/14/2026

Invention (Inventio)

Guiding Question: What should I say?

Action: Discover ideas, research, and plan.

The first of the Five Canons of Rhetoric is invention. This is the stage when a student decides what to say before sitting down to write their speech or essay. Put simply, invention is the brainstorming, research, and planning stage of rhetoric.

To brainstorm ideas and narrow in on a specific topic, a student might use a technique like mind mapping, freewriting, or having conversations with others to generate ideas. After selecting a topic, they might conduct research online or in a library to understand what others have said about that topic. The canon of invention may also include planning as a student creates a rough outline, although the bulk of organizing thoughts, ideas, and research comes in the next stage, arrangement.

In each of the Five Canons of Rhetoric, audience matters. In invention, a student must not only select a topic appropriate for their audience, but also research sources that will appeal to that audience.

Read more about the 5 Canons of Rhetoric: https://classicalconversations.com/blog/five-canons-of-rhetoric/

05/07/2026

In her book The Conversation, Leigh Bortins defines rhetoric as “the use of knowledge and understanding to perceive wisdom, pursue virtue, and proclaim truth.” In other words, true rhetoric involves the expression of truth, goodness, and beauty through speech or writing.

The skill of rhetoric is just as important today as it was when ancient orators like Cicero, Demosthenes, and Quintilian gave their great speeches. It’s a skill necessary to practice to become a great communicator, which is why our Classical Conversations Challenge programs have students practice these tools consistently in community with others.

The skill of rhetoric is best practiced by understanding what are commonly known as the Five Canons of Rhetoric. These canons, or stages, give students of rhetoric clear direction in crafting their speech, essay, lecture, presentation, or other work of rhetoric so that it appeals to their intended audience and persuades them toward truth, goodness, and beauty.

Read more about the 5 Cannons of Rhetoric here: https://classicalconversations.com/blog/five-canons-of-rhetoric/

04/30/2026

Applications are open for the upcoming academic year! Contact us to explore how our Christian, classical community can equip and support you as you homeschool.

04/23/2026

Finally, we arrive at the fifth common topic of testimony. Practicing testimony is hugely important because we need to train our children to recognize when a testimony, authority, or source is credible or not. For example, is a given historical document trustworthy or should we take what it says with a grain of salt?

CATEGORIES

Testimony can be divided into six classes — authority, testimonial, statistics, maxims, laws, and precedents.

Authority – An expert in a subject
Testimonial – Given by someone who witnessed an event firsthand
Statistics – Quantitative data supporting an argument
Maxims – Common knowledge
Laws – A type of testimony encoded in writing and said to be binding
Precedences – Evidence through past examples

EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

Use the following questions as a guideline for practicing testimony to better understand a subject:

What type of testimony does this argument rely on?
Should ___ be considered an authority or expert?
What are this authority’s biases? Do they invalidate his/her testimony?
How recent are these statistics? How were they gathered and by whom?

Read more about the 5 Common Topics at https://classicalconversations.com/blog/five-common-topics-of-dialectic

Address

Spruce Grove, AB

Website

https://www.canada-cc.ca/

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