I've been quiet here lately. Not because I have nothing to say, but I've been focused on my family, and I've been doing a lot of thinking - about our country, the world, the body of Christ, about what my children need to learn before launching them into adulthood (having a ninth grader will do that to you). And one of the thoughts on my mind lately has been that phrase Soli Deo Gloria. Even those who haven't taken Latin probably recognize the meaning - glory to God alone. Yesterday was Reformation Day, and the Five Solas of the Reformation were all over my social media feeds, includ ..read more

Well, we are finally here. We began homeschooling when our daughter was in kindergarten, and nine years later, she is ready to enter high school. Serious, how did that happen?? We've had many people asking us, "So, is she going to high school?" Our enthusiastic answer has been, "YES! At home!" While this is a point where many parents do choose to hang up the homeschool hat and send their children to private or public school, we are excited about continuing our homeschooling journey. It is amazing to watch our daughter's thoughts and skills unfold like a flower opening to the morning sun, and ..read more

Classical Conversations, Inc. ("CC") is well-known among some homeschool circles for its so-called  "classical" approach to education that involves homeschool students gathering for weekly classes using CC-published materials, as well as others chosen to support CC's educational goals. What is less well-known are the details of the "business opportunity" CC offers homeschool parents: the opportunity to be a "Director" of a CC-affiliated homeschool tutoring service. Eager to support fellow homeschoolers, many parents, especially moms, enter into a legal agreement with CC unaware of m ..read more

At the beginning of our homeschool journey, we decided to look for a co-op or other group program, believing that such would add an important element of social interaction for our children and support for me. There were a few programs near us. One was called Classical Conversations ("CC"). It met five minutes from our home and seemed to provide what I was looking for in that it was half a day and I could be involved, as opposed to a drop-off program we had also looked at. We paid our tuition and fees, and I even agreed to tutor that first year. Only a few months into our first year of homescho ..read more

​I keep hearing criticism this year of a beautiful Christmas song, "Mary, Did You Know?" So I wanted to take a minute to think about that. I am a list girl, so here is my list of what Mary knew and didn't know. What we know that Mary knew She knew that she had found favor with God. (Luke 1:30) She knew she would conceive as a virgin (Luke 1:31). She knew she would have a son (Luke 1:31). She knew what his name would be (Luke 1:31; Matthew 1:21) She knew he would be called the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32, 35). She knew he would be given the throne of David (Luke 1:32). She knew he would re ..read more

When we first started our homeschool journey with our daughter in kindergarten, we chose a popular program that was  said to be a classical, traditional approach. There was a sale going on at the homeschool conference we attended, so we got the first three years and the early elementary manipulative kit and dove in. And for my daughter, it worked great - so great that we bought the next level and the next, right up through Algebra 2, which she will tackle next year.  When our son was ready to begin homeschool, we were excited to use the same approach, and the same books - not having ..read more

Twenty years ago, where were you? That was the question of a poignant song by Alan Jackson. Where were you? ​What do you remember? ​I remember being in my car that morning, listening to the radio as I drove between schools for my itinerant ESOL teaching job. I had several meetings that morning in different locations, and I remember the news being worse every time I left a meeting and got in my car and turned on the radio again. I remember crying when I heard that a tower had collapsed. I remember walking into a school and seeing it on the TV in the office. I remember we had a hard time a ..read more

We've spent the last four days looking at how children learn in different ways at different ages, and using the instruments in a string ensemble to consider how that impacts their spiritual journey from infancy to young adulthood, but a child's education is not neatly compartmentalized with spiritual growth isolated from all other learning - which is why the classical approach to learning captivates me so. I've shared recently about my current take on classical education, but I keep wanting to find the simplest way possible to explain it to others. Today, I want to share the template I've crea ..read more

We've looked at the VIOLIN years, from birth to age nine, and the VIOLA years, from age ten to age thirteen. Now we are ready for the mid-teenage years, from age fourteen to seventeen - the CELLO years, during which we will focus on issues of Character and Conviction, Eloquence of expression, Leading with love, Lifelong learning, and O​wnership and obedience. Character and Conviction As our children grow more and more toward adulthood, our role with them changes. Just as they have been learning not to coast on our faith, they have to develop their own convictions ..read more

To see this whole series, click below: Part 1: Guiding our children spiritually intro Part 2: the VIOLIN years Part 3: the VIOLA years Part 4: the CELLO years Part 5: adding in the academics Yesterday, we discussed the VIOLIN years, from birth to age nine, when children learn in some very concrete ways through their senses, when vocabulary is exploding, and a time marked by their tendency toward mimicry and imitation. Now we move on to ages ten through thirteen, the later elementary and middle school years. It's a time of immense physical change, but also real changes in how children think as ..read more