As the mom of two Classical Conversations graduates, I never thought we would ever reach the day of graduation! I started homeschooling them at 7 and 10 on a wing and a prayer.

Where on earth did that saying “a wing and a prayer” even come from? According to Grammarist, “On a wing and a prayer describes doing something difficult or dangerous while relying on divine help or luck.” This phrase came from a fighter pilot in World War II who petitioned his crew to pray as they were coming in for a rough landing. Later, John Wayne would coin the phrase, “She’s coming in on one wing and a prayer!” in the 1942 movie The Flying Tigers. Coincidentally, today my now 21-year-old son is a pilot!

As I dug deeper, I discovered in that 1943 Harold Adamson and Jimmy McHugh wrote a song called “Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer.” The lyrics are simple yet powerful:

Comin’ in on a wing and a prayer

With our full crew on board

And our trust in the Lord

We’re comin’ in on a wing and a prayer

How many parents have you encountered that would describe their homeschooling journey as “on a wing and a prayer”? When it is time to land that plane on graduation day, where and how do you plan to land?

Attend the 2025 National Commencement!

Attend our 2025 National Commencement for your graduate to celebrate with other Classical Conversations students and parents around the nation who—just like I did—desire for our homeschool journey to go out with a bang!

The Classical Conversations National Commencement is a formal graduation ceremony designed to celebrate and affirm not only the hard work and perseverance of graduates, but of their parents, too! This upcoming year in 2025, National Commencement is a two-part event, with a graduation celebration and rehearsal on Friday, May 16, where graduates get to meet and fellowship with each other before the official ceremony in the morning and afternoon of Saturday, May 17.

At the official ceremony on Saturday, Leigh Bortins, founder of Classical Conversations, will address and commend graduates and parents for their hard work and perseverance throughout their years of homeschooling. Each family will have the opportunity to present their diploma to their graduate and take a photo with Leigh and Robert Bortins, CEO of Classical Conversations.

Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to join us in Southern Pines, North Carolina, from May 16th-17th! Let’s celebrate together with you and your graduating student, land that plane, and go out with a bang!

What Parents of Graduates Have to Say

Sandy Spence, a homeschooling parent of a Classical Conversations graduate, said the following about attending our 2021 National Commencement:

The National Commencement experience went way beyond my expectations! I loved having everything wrapped up in one package: decorations, cake, gifts, college representatives, high-quality cap and gown, and personalized diploma. Even though we didn’t know everyone, we were all on the same journey. We felt like honored guests! One of my favorite parts was hearing from the student speakers. My daughter is graduating next year, and we will not miss it. It brought high school graduation to a higher level. Make it a priority for your family to be part of this!

Read what another parent, Rachel Thompson, and her graduate, Wyatt, had to say about 2023 National Commencement: “National Commencement: A Time to Commemorate and Celebrate.”

Register Now!

We hope to celebrate with you and your graduate this spring at our 2025 National Commencement! Registration is now open..

The post National Commencement 2025: Go Out With a Bang! appeared first on Classical Conversations.

Since its legalization in South Africa in 1996, homeschooling has experienced a resurgence, offering families a powerful alternative to public education. In this evolving landscape, one mother’s search for a meaningful education for her children led her down an extraordinary path. Chantelle Miles, a South African parent of ten, shares her journey from initial skepticism about homeschooling to becoming a passionate advocate for classical Christian education. Her story bridges continents, challenging cultural expectations and redefining what it means to educate in the 21st century.

Join us for Chantelle’s inspiring narrative, which not only changed the course of her family’s life but also introduced a new educational paradigm to her community. This blog post offers valuable insights for parents worldwide who are considering their educational options and seeking to instill a love for learning in their children. Discover how embracing the unknown can lead to unexpected treasures in both teaching and personal growth.

The Unexpected Journey: From Germany to Homeschooling

Boarding a flight to Europe, headed for Germany, I had no idea where I was going!

Once I saw the map on the inflight entertainment system, I noticed the little plane travelling to Munich in the south of Germany. I was heading to an unfamiliar destination. Albeit a very common one. The country, nestled between Italy, Austria, and France, was merely a vague figure in the primary school history books I had never read. The business of wars, the people involved and the places affected went right over my head.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference. —Robert Frost.

When the road veers off the main track, do you turn off, or do you stay where it’s familiar?

Confronting Educational Doubts: A Mother’s Dilemma

The homeschool journey began with a nagging question: “What reasons would I give my firstborn child when she came home from school, and some kids were doing the things we didn’t want her to do?” If she were anything like me, my explanations would be insufficient. I needed more than a rule; I needed the why, and time was running out—she was set to start first grade. My bankruptcy was not just in the lack of understanding and knowledge but, more importantly, in grasping my purpose.

Why do we do what we do? What do I believe about the world and our place in it?

The unknown was beckoning in answer to many anxious prayers. One day, while driving to work, I heard a woman speaking on Focus on the Family about homeschooling. This was as foreign to me as the idea of having soup for breakfast; it had simply never occurred to me. I had never met anyone who homeschooled; I felt like an unreached people group.

Analysis Paralysis!

If we homeschool, how will we teach our children, and what will we teach them? I am intelligent and love learning, but my experience abroad testified against me. As soon as I started considering the possibility, every conceivable reminder of my inadequacies came to mind, confirming that it wasn’t an option for someone like me. Only trained teachers were qualified to educate our children.

Public school felt like being lost in a crowd, unsure of the direction we were headed, pressured to perform, and trapped on a never-ending hamster wheel. I had a loving family, attended a thriving church, and was in a great school—the best in our city. Yet, as we closed that chapter and headed into the next, I was, as far as preparation goes, unprepared, unqualified, and unequipped. My education had the depth of a puddle!

I could only expect a similar outcome using the same ingredients as were used with me.

Discovering Classical Conversations: A New Educational Frontier

I was introduced to Classical Conversations by a missionary friend from the States.

She had a whiteboard with subject segments written on it in her sitting room: Latin, Science, History, Geography, English, and Math. She spoke of a community she wanted to start and how everyone used the same curriculum. This fascinated me. I didn’t need more; I had been battling the implementation of home education despite my enthusiasm for it.

She brought the gospel to areas in our country, but to me, she also carried something else. Her culture is different from mine. I recognized it much later, after reading about the Mayflower and the Pilgrims. In the US, there is an inborn sense of freedom, a challenge to tyranny, and an openness to self-determination and inalienable rights. We had lived under a totalitarian regime for many years; apartheid ended when I was getting ready for middle school. We did not challenge authority, nor did we doubt the experts. I’m not saying that as a people we are compliant and docile, but we are certainly not as free to consider alternatives as our friends in the States are—more like the elephant held with twine.

Even so, the hope within spurred me on. I wanted the golden goose: a love for learning, a passion for freedom, and a commitment to the pursuit of truth for my children. Determined to see a different outcome for them, I began exploring this strange concept of home education, wholly unprepared for the personal benefits that awaited me.

We tried a couple of programs, from boxed curricula filled with rich literature and checkboxes to more eclectic approaches involving lap books and unit studies. My poor mother-in-law, trained as a special needs educator and passionate about children thriving, must have prayed nonstop for her offspring to survive their mother’s experiments.

The opportunity to start a Classical Conversations community in South Africa was at hand, and we leapt at it.

The Classical Christian Curriculum: Wisdom from the Past

A classical Christian curriculum offers wisdom from our elders!

I have ten children, and whenever I try something new, from sourdough to soap making, I imagine my forebears enduring too much fluff in addition to merely staying alive, which becomes my guardrail against becoming overly delicate or pernickety.

When I realised how simple yet profound this education system is, I was convinced of its value. Stick in the sand is a saving grace. Suddenly, I could offer a robust education to all my children without losing some along the way. This method trained my mind in simplicity and efficiency. I have always prioritised relationships over other aims, but learning how to utilise this method has truly equipped me to have the best of both worlds.

Building Community: The Power of Collaborative Learning

Community is the ground in which character and love are cultivated.

When we homeschool alone, we can still do a fine job, but it is life-giving to do it with others. We trade with others because they possess something of value that we don’t. God made us unique, with varied gifts, especially not to all be alike.

This diversity enriches us and provides for us. People can be messy—parents and their progeny alike—and nothing is quite as inhospitable as a mother guarding her own. It creates the perfect terrain for cultivating love. We need each other, both to encourage and to settle ruffled feathers. I’ve had my fair share of those. In the economics reader; I saw the theory put into practice. In each individual He hand-picked for me, I was being equipped, if I chose to receive the good with the bad. We were made for fellowship and to share; God’s economy is brilliant.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Discovering new things, making connections, and growing in my understanding has become an unexpected personal treasure. Where learning was a chore during my youth, it is now an adventure. Like Vespucci venturing into uncharted seas, it is a delight to discover new horizons, to embrace failure, and persevere in trying again.

My dad always said, “Darling, you don’t know what you don’t know.”

When we started a family, we didn’t realise it would lead us to take responsibility for the education of our children. We didn’t understand we would serve the Lord with all our heart, mind, and soul, and in doing so, He would reward us with communion with each other and with Himself in the discovery of all He has made. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honour of kings is to search out a matter (Prov. 25:2); in seeking to know God and make Him known, I have travelled another route, and it has made all the difference.

The post From Homeschool Hesitation to Classical Education: A South African Mother’s Journey appeared first on Classical Conversations.

If you are thinking about starting your homeschool journey, it can seem like a lonely endeavor. Making the switch from traditional public or private school to home education is a big transition, but reclaiming family-centered learning doesn’t have to be in isolation.

Homeschooling is better with a friend. At Classical Conversations, you are connected to a local community of fellow families, all walking the homeschool journey together.

Shifting perspective is often the first step when wrestling with the decision to start homeschooling. But once the decision is made, finding community can be sparked by serendipitous conversations in the grocery check-out line or at a birthday party. We look back at our homeschool journey’s path, and we see God leading those life-changing chance interactions.

Take a look at Classical Conversations dad and CFO Rex Elliot’s homeschool journey from a mainstream educational mindset to a family culture of innocent individual learning.

Is There An Alternative To Traditional Education?

“‘Get off my lawn!’ reflects how middle-aged people often feel about the younger generation. The younger crowd disrupts the carefully manicured achievements of a lifetime. They also seem to grab the fruits of that hard work before they’re fully ready.”

As people grow older, they begin to wonder why their parents’ generation refuses to step aside. This hesitation creates a crucial moment. It’s a chance for the younger generation to learn what was never taught and restore the natural cycle of life. But society is nearing a point where this transition may not happen smoothly, leading to new and unexpected challenges, especially in education.

Parents of preschool and school-age children can reconstitute their own family culture by homeschooling their children through high school. Most parents today have mistakenly accepted that the only option to educate young people is through a modern public or private school.

The recent growth of homeschooling has only begun to question that premise, and the degradation of social norms promoted in modern schools has only added fuel to the fire.

The Typical Traditional Education Model

My two oldest children began their elementary education in a parochial school in Massachusetts after I was relocated to Boston by my former employer. The school was filled with well-meaning teachers who shared our faith and values.

For five years of pre-K – 3^rd-grade experiences, I felt that they were receiving a reasonable education, and my daughter’s behavior challenges, as well as my son’s lackluster math scores, could be attributed to their genetic deficiencies likely passed on from my side of the biological collision that spawned them.

It did not occur to me that any learning environment with a student-teacher ratio of 18:1 would be problematic for almost any child.

Sparking the Homeschool Journey

After I decided to semi-retire following years of frustration with a corporate culture that did not align with my family values, I moved the family south to be closer to friends and relatives.

Like many American parents, we placed the children into the local public school without hesitation. In fact, we selected our new neighborhood in the north Atlanta suburbs primarily because of the ratings that the schools there had received. They were an A+ school, but it didn’t take long to figure out that the devil had literally beaten us to Georgia and issued his own report card.

In an initial review of a single section of a 3^rd grade Social Studies textbook on the topic of American Colonialism, I found almost a dozen examples where European immigrants were characterized as white opportunists who only came to the Americas to dominate the native population and exploit the land and its resources.

Meanwhile, the natives were described repeatedly as peaceable people who lived at one with nature and only wished to be left alone.  Since this was occurring only six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the children began the semester at home with personalized iPads.

From the machine, I was alarmed by the sound of my son’s teacher’s elevated-pitched rebuke of him slouching in his chair while staring at Pandora’s version of Brady Bunch boxes. I began to pay more attention to the content distributed through the state-issued screens.

George Orwell would have been undisturbed to find Bill Gates explaining the benefits of online learning, Anthony Fauci instructing kids how to protect their teachers from disease with masks and social distancing, and Bill Nye summarizing the dangers of climate change. I, however, was a bit surprised and not amused.

Providing A Homeschool Community

I was 90% there already, but a little research into the Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum the school was planning to roll out later in the year completed the task of pushing my family out of the modern school nest. But where would we go? Public school was out of the question. The Parochial schools did not have enough places for both children in their assigned grades for the spring semester.

On All Hallow’s Eve of 2020, God would provide the answer. As I enjoyed the Covid modified Trick-or-Treat festivities throughout our new neighborhood with my impending truancy-problem children, my far more sociable wife welcomed the other Covid shut-ins by giving them all much-appreciated candy, mostly my favorite chocolates, in anticipation of extra inventory.

One such wayward group belonged to a beautiful family that lived just half a street away. As it turns out, they shared some common history with my wife, and their lengthy conversation turned to schooling. They were a Classical Conversations family, as the Holy Spirit would have it. With no other viable options immediately in front of us and only dread and despair behind us, we desperately waded into the homeschool ocean.

Homeschool Dads Can Lead

Since I had stepped away from a corporate career—another worthwhile story for another day—and my wife had a complete lack of knowledge or experience with homeschooling and considerable skepticism, I became a homeschooling dad for our children in their first CC Community.

My own ignorance was astounding, so much so that I taught that first semester having only stepped into one Community Day with the family. I was able to muddle through using the e-zines and my own ingenuity. Luckily, my wife attended every Community Day with the children and, after seeing how it was supposed to be done, offered to take over that fall. All were grateful.

Classical Conversations Communities Equip Families

What I witnessed with my immigrant wife, whose first language was not English nor home culture even within Western Civilization, still has me transfixed. I grew to love her even more as I watched her innate organizational skills and personal drive to succeed in building a thriving education environment.

She was successful in large part because of the support she received from the CC community, our neighbor, and our new friend. They not only gave her tools for her newfound teaching career, but they also gave her a social outlet and network of co-collaborators in this incredible parent-led educational journey.

Most importantly, I saw my children regain their innocence and grow into the unique individuals God had designed them to be. We have avoided at least some of past generations’ errors regarding our children’s education and are building a family culture of our own choosing. As a dad, I can only say, “Thank you.”

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Classical Conversations believe?

Classical Conversations emphasizes that all subjects are deeply interconnected, with God as the ultimate author and creator of each one. As we explore each subject, we gain a deeper understanding of God’s nature, and in turn, knowing more about God enriches our understanding of every subject being taught.

What curriculum does Classical Conversations use?

Classical Conversations Foundations curriculum, grounded in memorization, equips parents and tutors to guide children in building a solid grasp of essential subjects such as history, science, English, geography, math, and Latin, all presented through a Christian lens.

Challenge programs offer a curated curriculum in the six strands of grammar, reasoning, research, logic, debate, and exposition.

Why homeschool with Classical Conversations?

Homeschooling with Classical Conversations connects you to a supportive network of families who grow and learn alongside one another. It provides parents with the resources and encouragement they need to nurture unique, engaged students who embrace learning throughout their lives.

Final Thoughts: The Homeschool Journey

The decision to create family-centered learning in your home is usually marked by tiny realizations and perspective shifts over time. Reclaiming your family’s values at the heart of learning is a blessing that will have ripple effects for generations.

Are you looking to connect with like-minded families along your homeschool journey who are focused on classical Christian education? Find out more about Classical Conversations and join an Information Meeting near you.

The post One Dad’s Inspiring Homeschool Journey to Classical Conversations appeared first on Classical Conversations.

The post Nurturing Growth in Homeschooling: Lessons from South Africa appeared first on Classical Conversations.

The word classical always painted a picture of classical music in my head—Mozart, to be specific—because in high school, I was part of the choir and sang classical songs, and this was the only encounter that I had ever had with the word. When I began to question what education should look like for my young family, my husband and I attended a homeschooling conference: the East African Community of Homeschoolers (EACH) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Coincidentally, or rather God-incidentally (as God would have it), this particular conference had Greg Stockton from Classical Conversations, USA, as a guest speaker, and he spoke of the timeline song and played it for us—and we were hooked by this new approach that felt familiar.

Ancient Paths

This is what I have come to learn about the old new way: although it is new, it is also familiar because it resonates with the foundational paths that God already built into existence.

Jeremiah 6:16 says, “Ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” I believe that by questioning education and praying about the right fit for our family, we were asking God for the good way and for rest, and He led us to the ancient paths.

He who is the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:9) led us to find this new old way.

How Do We Start?

Our joy in learning about homeschooling and hearing about Classical Conversations from a parent who had seen the rewards of this resource was quickly clouded by the next hurdle, which was figuring out how to start.

Now, this was in 2012. We lived in Nairobi, Kenya, and Classical Conversations, at that time, had not set up support or infrastructure in Africa. All the materials and books were only available in the U.S., and beyond the timeline song, everything else felt daunting. Latin was a strange concept; so were memory work and the grammar terminology for our four-year-old son.

And so, after Greg went back to the U.S., we thought we would forget the impact of that encounter. But like the memory of an unforgettable, delicious meal or the excitement of discovering a hidden treasure, we just could not shake off that encounter.

We found the timeline song on YouTube (it is no longer there) and would begin every morning with this song in our home. This simple start of a song was itself memory work.

That is how to start learning in the old new way. This is my encouragement to anyone who does not know where or how to start: begin with the simplicity of memory work.

I then sent several emails to Greg, who was gracious enough to respond and set up a Zoom call, walk me through the classical model, and show me how to access CC Connected. I was alone, yet not alone. This online platform was my next step in how to start.

Just like a baby learning to walk, I did not need all the answers, I just needed the next step, and this online resource center made a world of difference in my homeschool journey because I received resources, equipping, and information, and got connected with other CC families several miles away.

Find a Community Near You

Journeying Together

There’s an African proverb: If you want to walk fast, walk alone; if you want to walk far, walk together.

If you want to walk fast, walk alone; if you want to walk far, walk together.

This has been proven true in my homeschooling journey. As I learnt more about CC and embarked on this journey, like the woman in the parable who found the lost coin (Luke 15:8–10), I could not keep this to myself and shared it with close friends around me. They seemed to resonate with this joy, and we started meeting once a week in my home.

We had no idea what we were doing and for how long we will do it, but we did it together, and this enabled us to go far, to keep at it, to grow together, to watch our children develop public speaking skills, learn the phases of the moon, identify classical music in cartoons, point out art by Rembrandt or Monet, point out when the moon is gibbous, and classify plants and clouds.

This growing community gave us the courage to finish our first cycle of twenty-four weeks. We weren’t perfect. We missed several details and forgot a lot of the structure, but because we were together, we became family. We held each other accountable and grew in courage to try another cycle.

As our children grew, we grew in numbers and in programs, and we found that we were a bit better at Foundations and willing to attempt Essentials and then Challenge.

Finishing Strong

Looking back at the unplanned journey, I can say that it is indeed true that God has a plan for our good and prosperity.

This small community that commenced with me and my four-year-old son has now multiplied into three communities across the country, with over fifty children and twenty families learning classically. We used the tools of learning and applied the concept as lead learners to create an African and Kenyan timeline, history sentences, and geographic locations, which were published on CC Connected with the amazing support of CC and our Local Representative and AR.

We have graduated our first CC high school graduates who have been accepted into universities here in Kenya, and this is a big feat not just for CC but for all homeschoolers in Kenya. The ancient path, with a solid foundation, based on the truth of God’s word, plus the journey with like-hearted families, fueled by the encouragement of a great support system, prayers, and the Holy Spirit, has enabled us—who would have felt far removed, unqualified, and unreachable, all the way in Nairobi, Kenya—to finish strong.

Only by His Grace.

The post The Old New Way: Classical Education in Kenya appeared first on Classical Conversations.

This blog post features a speech delivered by Elle Herson, a graduate at Classical Conversations’ National Commencement in 2023. She offers her perspective on the homeschooling experience, highlighting the impact of the Classical Conversations Challenge program and expressing deep gratitude toward her parents. Elle shares her journey from the initial decision to homeschool to the challenges and rewards of the rigorous curriculum. She sheds light on the significance of parental involvement and the unwavering support that shapes a homeschooled student’s success.

This post is a valuable read for anyone interested in learning more about homeschooling experiences, particularly within the Classical Conversations framework. Elle showcases the program’s emphasis on critical thinking, academic pursuit, and the pursuit of core values.

Thank You, Parents, for Homeschooling

As the sun rises over the serene town of Southern Pines, NC, and the bustling energy of graduation day fills the air, there’s a profound moment of reflection amidst the excitement. Today marks not just the culmination of years of hard work for us graduates of Classical Conversations but also a heartfelt tribute to the unwavering dedication of our unsung heroes—our parents.

Standing before you all, a mixture of emotions washes over me as I extend a heartfelt welcome tinged with nostalgia and profound appreciation. Having been part of the Classical Conversations family for all thirteen years of my education, I understand how you, our parents, have shaped our lives.

From the very beginning, it was evident that our homeschooling journey would be unlike any other. Enrolled in the Classical Conversations Challenge program, we embarked on a path that demanded rigorous academic pursuit, critical thinking, and unwavering dedication. And through it all, you, our parents, stood by us – guiding us, supporting us, and nurturing us every step of the way.

Reflecting on the invaluable advice you’ve imparted over the years, I’m reminded of the countless lessons learned and cherished memories made. From the simple wisdom of looking both ways before crossing the street to the intricacies of crafting persuasive speeches in our Challenge programs, your guidance has shaped us into the individuals we are today.

The Challenge program, with its emphasis on classical education and the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness, provided us with a solid foundation upon which to build our futures. But beyond the academics, it was your unwavering love and support that truly set us up for success. Whether it was sitting with us through late-night study sessions or cheering us on from the sidelines during our Challenge debates and persuasive essays, your presence was a constant source of strength and encouragement.

But perhaps, amidst the academic rigors and life lessons, the most profound advice is the definition of parenthood itself. You are reflections – reflections of love, grace, and unwavering devotion. In our faces, you see not just your children but a testament to the values and virtues you’ve instilled in us over the years.

As the ceremony unfolds, amidst cheers and applause, there’s a palpable sense of gratitude and reverence in the air. For every sacrifice made, every late-night study session, and every tender moment shared, you are honored and celebrated for your unwavering commitment to our education.

In closing and on behalf of all Classical Conversations Challenge students, I want to express our deepest gratitude. We love you. We honor you. In these simple words lies a profound truth – that behind every successful graduate stands a parent, a pillar of strength and support whose love knows no bounds.

As the curtain falls on this chapter of our journey, graduates and parents alike stand united in gratitude, bound by the unbreakable bond of family and the enduring power of love. Today and always, we salute the unsung heroes of homeschooling – our parents, who have shaped the minds and hearts of tomorrow’s leaders with love, dedication, and unwavering devotion.

National Events Weekend

Elle’s speech is a testament to the power of homeschooling and the unwavering dedication of parents. Consider joining us for future National Events Weekends to hear from more students like Elle and to meet other homeschool families.

And, again, thank you, parents!

The post Thank You, Parents, for Homeschooling appeared first on Classical Conversations.

God is on the move. What is my role in His mission?

I am called to be faithful. What has He entrusted to my care?

My memory isn’t always as crisp as I would like it to be, so I don’t truly recollect all the details of the beginning of my journey to serve with Classical Conversations in Canada, but what I can rely on is the witness of my husband and my friend. They remind me that, despite my doubt and misgivings, they had the confidence that I was equipped to take on a new role of serving and encouraged me to step forward. They had the eyes to see what I could not recognize or acknowledge and they spoke life into me in my circumstance. And so this disengaged mom with health challenges and a fear of inadequacy timidly agreed to embark on a journey into a world of service.

The Rewards of Service

I remember being ecstatic at the end of a long day in community. My cup was filled up and overflowing with blessings after an exhausting but invigorating day of tutoring and I would call to update my husband on the highlights. The richness of fellowship within community is as marrow; our digital age culture is starved for incarnate connection.

As I have increased in my own knowledge and enlarged my capacity, I have rediscovered past passions and delved into uncharted territories previously undiscovered. His glorious riches have blessed me abundantly. Pressed down, shaken together, and running over—into my life and beyond. Into my family’s life and the lives of others. Into my community’s lives and pouring into those whose paths intersect mine in this journey of life.

Luke 12:48 speaks of the wise and faithful servant, managing the resources entrusted to him with great diligence and selflessness.

The fruit of service demonstrates itself in my life through the refining work that the Good Shepherd is accomplishing in and through me for His purposes and glory.

Refinement

I have the great privilege of partnering with our God and an incredible team of believers in this work. Firstly, He has granted us the honour of raising our children to walk confidently with Him. Through this homeschooling opportunity, we are entrusted with refinement—sanctification for each of us as we journey through our days.

Purpose

And then, in serving the greater community, He reveals to me glimpses into the Kingdom work He is accomplishing—through the testimonies of other leaders, through the encounters with other homeschooling mamas, through the conversations with others in our country—be they co-workers, store clerks, politicians, or neighbours. What an incredible opportunity—that He would choose to use this cracked-vessel for His purposes humbles and astounds me!

Hope

To see families being strengthened in who they are in Christ. To see children thrilled in community. To see teens being gently shepherded in their most holy faith as they wrestle with truth. To witness others equipped to winsomely and persuasively speak into the lives of others. To know that the legacy of our Saviour and His gift of salvation will remain on this orb beyond our last breath, by His grace.

This is the hope that inspires me.

The Qualities that Enable Effective Service

As my roles have shifted over the years and my hats have changed and morphed, there are some constants that have remained. These are the qualities that I found served me well in serving others:

Adaptability

It has been most helpful to remind myself to be flexible—to easily bend in changing circumstances and adapt to the shifts or sudden changes. Holding loosely and remaining sensitive to His leading and guiding ensures that I am not seeking my own agenda. Remaining adaptable is another helpful quality that determines that I will continue to be able to roll-with-the-(unexpected)-punches.

Just as our GPS devices are able to ‘recalibrate’, we are blessed (and a blessing) when we also can adjust our expectations and continue on, sensitive to the leading of the Spirit.

Teachability

Being teachable is part of the package, isn’t it? As we desire to redeem our own education alongside our children, we model being humble learners ourselves.

What better gift can we give our kids but the example of desiring to learn differently and grow in our capacity? Through all these things, we can choose to demonstrate perseverance—to keep on keeping on even when there are disappointments, missed connections, moves, unmet expectations.

Prayerfulness and Steadfastness

Prayerfully choose your mentor(s) and confidant(s)—by His grace and for His glory, these saints will continue to faithfully uphold you in prayer and encourage you to press on. Choose joy. The journey is a relay, not a race. Stay on the path. Even when others bail. He who has called you is faithful; there is good work He is accomplishing in His time and for His glory. (Galatians 6:9)

The Price of Service

“Jesus is not the example of a balanced life . . . but He is the example of a focused life.” —Pastor Glen Nudd

This comment struck me on Sunday. It is such an assault to our society’s standard. I have been ruminating on this truth and reflecting on how this demonstrates itself in my own life.

And this faithful walk on the path before me has born much fruit. Showing up when I have committed yields opportunities to speak blessing into lives or be blessed through an encounter orchestrated by our Heavenly Father. Persisting through the adversity brings satisfaction and grows endurance. Consistency to remain faithful with what he has entrusted will bear much fruit in His timing, for His purposes, and for His glory.

What will our response be when the Master returns and desires to settle our account? We are entrusted with talents for the days we walk this globe. What are those talents in your hands today? Where do your talents lie? Are you about your Father’s business?

God is on the move. What is your role in His mission?

You are called to be faithful. What has He entrusted to your care?

The post Homeschooling as Service: Blessed to Be a Blessing appeared first on Classical Conversations.

Are you considering entering a role as a Licensed Director of a Classical Conversations community in your area? That’s great! Directing is a wonderful opportunity to ensure a local homeschool community where your family can thrive and where you can lead the next generation of lifelong learners.

8 Things to Love About Directing

Here are eight reasons why you might want to consider directing a local Classical Conversations community:

1. Ensure a Community Where Your Family Can Thrive

An obvious benefit to directing is simply guaranteeing a homeschool community of like-minded families to help you in your own family’s education. The truth is, every homeschool family needs support. It’s just not possible (or healthy, for that matter) to homeschool in isolation.

By taking the step to direct, you can create an environment where your student can thrive in a community with peers and where you can be encouraged and supported in your homeschooling journey by other parents all walking the same path together.

2. Provide a Program for Other Families

In a similar light, if you can become a Licensed Director, you’ll start a Classical Conversations program in your area for others who might be unable to step into that leadership position at the moment. For example, if you and several friends have young students, you can ensure a Foundations program for all your friends’ students (and your own, of course) by becoming a Director.

3. Grow as Your Child’s Parent-Teacher

One of the great things about directing is that we will provide you with equipping to start and run your own Classical Conversations community with confidence. In this process, you’ll not only learn skills to help families in your community thrive, but you’ll also develop personal teaching skills as you lead your community. So, as a Director, you’ll be better prepared to lead and teach your student at home.

4. Impact Community Location and Program Calendar

We’re not saying here that, as a Director, you get to make all the rules for your community. That would be unfair and ignorant of other families’ schedules, preferences, and needs.

However, as a Director, you will certainly be able to have a say in when and where your local community meets. Do you think your own church would be the perfect location for your community? As a Director, you can make that call to your pastor and encourage them to host your community in the church building.

5. Receive Specialized Training and Equipping

If you choose to direct, know that you will not be alone on the journey. Throughout every step of the process, we will equip you with resources and training to ensure that you can start and run a local community with confidence.

For instance, your Local Representative will walk alongside you and provide everything you need to start your community. In addition, you’ll receive access to specialized resources like training videos, documents, webinars, and more to help you lead your community well. You’ve got this. We’ve got you!

6. Engage With a Larger Community of Licensed Directors

At Classical Conversations, we’re committed to supporting Licensed Directors in every possible way. So, you’ll be invited to forums where you will get to meet and interact with other Directors who lead homeschool communities. You’ll gain advice and insights from those who have gone before you on this journey and — after you acquire some directing experience under your belt —impart some wisdom of your own to Directors just starting out.

7. Lead the Next Generation of Lifelong Learners

Many who direct do so out of a desire to lead the next generation of future world-changers, lifelong learners, and Christ-followers. So, one of the best reasons to direct your own community is that you’ll receive the opportunity to impact and inspire young students to pursue their interests and talents, form deep relationships with their peers in community, and strive to know God and to make Him known.

8. Income to Offset Your Homeschool Costs

As a Licensed Director, you’ll receive a predictable income to help offset the cost of your family’s enrollment in the Classical Conversations programs. This income is just another way we hope to support Directors in their journey and make homeschooling doable for their families!

Take Your First Steps to Direct

Do all of the above reasons to direct sound good to you? Then take the first steps to become a Licensed Director and click here. We look forward to helping you start and lead your own community!

The post 8 Reasons to Direct a Community (Updated for 2024) appeared first on Classical Conversations.

In the following post, homeschool dad Eugene Huang discusses the state of homeschooling in Taiwan and explores how the concepts of coram Deo, Christian paideia, and the Great Commission can yield fruit for classical, Christian education.

Numbers about Taiwan

In celebration of the upcoming launch of The Math Map: Complex, I would like to begin with a few numbers from Taiwan:

• The total population of Taiwan is around 23.4 million.
• Approximately 1.1 million (4.7%) identify as Christians.
• In Taiwan, there are three types of non-school-based experimental education: individual, group, and institutional. The first two types are usually referred to as homeschooling.
• In the 2017–18 academic year, the total number of students enrolled in non-school-based experimental education was 5,598, of which homeschoolers accounted for 3,733 students.
• In the 2022-23 academic year, the numbers above jumped to 10,609 and 5,254, respectively.¹
• The first officially licensed CC community in Taiwan was established in 2017.
• In the 2023–24 academic year, there were 143 students in 6 Classical Conversations communities around the island.

What Do These Numbers Tell Us?

First of all, Christians do not exist in great numbers compared to the total population. Second, from 2017 to 2023, more and more parents in Taiwan chose non-school-based education. Students enrolled in institutes increased by 5,011 while the number of homeschoolers grew by 1,521. Last, Classical Conversations has been taking root and sprouting over the last seven years on this island. At the same time, Classical Conversations’ growth rate has been noticeably mild.

The causes for this are complex.

Where are the children of Christian families? Who is educating them? What kind of education are they receiving?

I’m neither a mathematician nor a statistician, but I am nevertheless unashamedly a curious everyday educator practicing classical tools of learning. On that note, I would say the possible causes of this slow growth may include insufficient outreach, lack of awareness, language barriers, fear of being incapable of homeschooling, worries about college preparation, concerns that CC is not a good fit for them, etc.

Or, perhaps the God-centered, parent-led classical Christian education offered by CC simply takes more time to brew.

Regardless of the circumstances, I maintain that growing deeper roots by finding coherence in the concepts of coram Deo, Christian paideia, and the Great Commission will yield fruit for earnest Christian parents and their children.

Let the exploration begin!

Coram Deo: The Essence of the Christian Life

Christians are followers and imitators of Christ. How, then, should Christians live?

Live like Christ. To put it simply, the Latin phrase “coram Deo” means “before the face of God.” In an article titled “What Does ‘Coram Deo’ Mean?”, R. C. Sproul explained: “To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.”

Life in the Presence of God

God is omnipresent. In and out of church, in the marketplace or in the home school, we need to understand there is no escaping from God.

Life under the Authority of God

This calls for an awareness of God’s sovereignty over all and involves voluntary submission rather than subjection out of fear of being punished. The sovereignty of God means God is in control of everything all the time.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28).

There is no separating from God’s love.

Life to the Glory of God

The first question-and-answer of the Westminster Larger Catechism (1648) succinctly claims:

1. What is the chief and highest end of man?

Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy Him forever.

A self-denying and God-honoring life finds imperishable joy in the presence of God. Any other goal and ambition will seem unimportant in the light of His glory.

More to the point, as R. C. Sproul wrote: “To live all of life coram Deo is to live a life of integrity. It is a life of wholeness that finds its unity and coherency in the majesty of God. A fragmented life is a life of disintegration. It is marked by inconsistency, disharmony, confusion, conflict, contradiction, and chaos.”

However, quite a few Christian parents and students approach life with compartmentalism, leaving God at church and keeping Him out of education. The aftermath is evident as reflected in the widespread lack of love of learning and disinterest in seeking truth, goodness, and beauty.

And so a genuine Christian life calls for a Christian paideia. 

Christian Paideia: The Enculturation of the Kingdom Citizen

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Eph 6:4, ESV)

To better understand this statement, let’s define our terms first. The Greek word for “discipline” is “paideia.” According to Douglas Wilson, to the Greeks, “the paideia was all-encompassing and involved nothing less than the enculturation of the future citizen.”²

And Merriam-Webster defines “enculturation” as “the process by which an individual learns the traditional content of a culture and assimilates its practices and values.”

How should Christians make sense of these ideas? 

Enculturation Is All-Encompassing

Douglas Wilson explained that Christian paideia is much more than taking children to church, having family time for devotions, and providing a classical Christian curriculum. Paideia involves bringing an ideal culture about so that the task of shaping an ideal man can be maintained. Besides academics, Christians should also be mindful of the whole of the surrounding cultures (the people, books, songs, movies, etc.) that instruct and influence our children.

Enculturation Is Intentional

What Robert Bortins, the CEO of Classical Conversations, wrote in the 2024 catalog echoed the importance of Christian paideia and resonated with me:

“Now more than ever, we cannot be neutral. It is time to intentionally weave a Christ-centered worldview into every aspect of our children’s lives. We begin with a Christian curriculum that glorifies the Creator and not the creation, one with God in the center and not our students. In the communities of Classical Conversations, we explore what the Bible says about math, science, history, and more. Your views will be strengthened, not undermined.”³

We have to be conscious, determined, and purposeful. We must enculturate our children with a Christian worldview through a God-centered education in the hope of equipping them to go into the world but not conform to the world.

With an intentionally established culture as manifested in classical Christian communities, Christian paideia is possible even in Taiwan.

Enculturation Is Integral

As exhorted by Paul in Ephesians 6:4, it is required of Christian fathers to nurture, train, and teach the bodies, minds, and souls of their children. This way, they may see everything through the lens of Christianity and “come into their own personhood before God.”⁴

These will be the generations of those who seek to obey Him in everything they do, whose point of view is holistic and eternal.

This reminds me of one of my favorite jokes:

My classmate was bitten by a ‘hundred-pace viper.’ It’s said that, having been bitten by such a viper, one is sure to die after walking a hundred paces. He insisted on walking down the mountain to the hospital . . . but when he was about ninety-something steps in, I saw that something wasn’t quite right, and I was certain he only had one step left to live. So, I caught a few more hundred-pace snakes to bite him dozens of times. I figured that should add up to a few thousand steps, right?!

This is a joke, but this is also no joke.

It is a joke because the math is correct, but the result is fatal. It is no joke because of how true it is that so many parents approach education this way.

Without an integrated perspective, whatever seems logical and pragmatic right here and right now may eventually do us a substantial disservice.

The Great Commission: The Evangelization of One’s Own Children

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:19-21, ESV)

Christians are familiar with this command from Jesus Christ, and a multitude of believers are faithfully fulfilling the commission. Christian parents, may I suggest we go home and make disciples of our children first? Parents are entrusted with children, and it is our responsibility to lead these precious souls to Jesus.

How do we lead the children?

Lead by Learning

As the disciples learned from their Teacher Jesus, so should parents first become disciples of Jesus and learn to be faithful stewards of the Word of God. Leigh Bortins wrote, “I believe children learn best when their parents and teachers are their heroes.”⁵. When parents take the lead in learning, children will follow suit.

Lead by Teaching

After learning comes teaching. Teach the whole counsel of God, all the essential things as God revealed concerning our salvation and service to Him. Sin, repentance, faith redemption, regeneration, resurrection, salvation, God’s judgment. Teach children in the way they should go, so that they will not depart from it even when they are old.

Lead by the Power of the Holy Spirit

Finally, we can do nothing apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to follow the lead of the Spirit so we can obey the Word of God that we learn and teach. When children see a submissive life combined with persistent prayer, we lead them not by might nor power, but by the Spirit of the Lord. (Zech 4:6)

Lead Learners, Assemble!

It is my humble hope and prayer that when Christian parents in Taiwan earnestly seek a deeper understanding of the coherence of coram Deo, Christian paideia, and the Great Commission, they will find the sublime value of the God-centered, parent-led Classical Christian communities.

All in all, this great and glorious task is calling for serious Christian parents who are willing to be lead learners in all aspects of the Christian life and yearning for intentional whole-person training together with like-minded believers.

Raising our children, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ is fulfilling the Great Commission. I believe it is truly a good endeavor worth doing that is beautiful in the sight of our Father in Heaven.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Cor 15:58, ESV)

May the grace and peace of the Lord be with you all!

The post Homeschooling in Taiwan: Coram Deo, Christian Paideia, and the Great Commission appeared first on Classical Conversations.

In this blog post, homeschool mom Joyce Pierce shares her incredible journey from hesitant educator to leader in the global homeschooling movement. Driven by faith and a whispered calling, she has embarked on an adventure that transcends borders and transforms lives—not just her own family but countless others in Brazil.

Through laughter, challenges, and moments of grace, Joyce reveals the power of homeschooling to cultivate faith, ignite passion, and empower the next generation of “Light Warriors” in a world yearning for change.

Classical Conversations Brazil

Homeschooling: It’s Bigger than Your Family

“It’s bigger than your family.”

I often heard this small voice in the early months when I felt the pull towards homeschooling. We were pretty certain God was calling us to homeschool, but I needed confirmation. I knew it was a God-sized task, and this tiny human was intimidated. Our family makeup at the time was three precious kiddos. My first son was five, and his brother was born a short fourteen months later. They had a baby sister who was one.

As we assessed our school options, we agreed that homeschooling had always been on the table since my husband and I had previously met on the mission field. We spent our first two years of marriage serving in Fortaleza, Brazil. By the time our eldest son was ready for school, we were living in Texas, but we longed to be back in ministry overseas.

The idea that school would be based in the home would bring a sense of stability no matter what transitions lay ahead and no matter where we lived. But as kindergarten was knocking on our door, I wanted to reconsider homeschooling and do what seemed like the easier option. After all, our son had gotten into the charter school we visited and loved.

So, all was going well.

The Miracle: Feeding the Multitude

Except it wasn’t! Neither my husband nor I felt at peace sending our son to school.

I felt like Moses arguing with the Lord upon his call. I told the Lord I didn’t have what it took. I wasn’t a college-educated schoolteacher. I wasn’t confident that my bachelor’s in social work would help much in the education of my children.

How would my degree in social work help with high school chemistry and trigonometry?

The Lord took me to His miracle in Matthew 14, where He fed the 5,000.

Jesus told the disciples not to send the crowd away but to feed them. The disciples responded with a convincing argument that the provision on hand wasn’t sufficient for the problem. It was a simple supply/demand issue.

Jesus told the disciples to bring them to Him The miracle that follows is simply fantastic. The disciples brought the sparse resources they had, putting them in Jesus’s hand, and He miraculously multiplied them. The result was abundance. The hungry were fed. They were satisfied. And there were twelve baskets of leftovers.

In the coming years, I would see this miracle play out in the life of my family. I identified with the disciples’ desperation to get those hungry people fed. I had my son’s big blue eyes looking at me, hungry to learn, and found myself echoing the sentiment of the disciples, “I don’t have the resources to school him.” Yet, like the disciples, I didn’t have the right resources to meet the need at hand.

And the solution was the same: Bring your son, the Lord said. Bring your talents to Me.

The Journey Begins

We began homeschooling in the fall of 2014.

The days were incredibly sweet. My firstborn sat ready and eager to learn. My second born, to my surprise, also happily joined and learned alongside his brother. Their baby sister would take her morning nap while we studied. I loved snuggling on the couch and experiencing classic stories together as I read aloud. Watching my son learn to read and fall in love with books felt like such a privilege. I got to be there for each breakthrough moment.

The investment of my time and energy came back with rich blessings.

The First Years

That first year, we used a literature-based curriculum. It was a great choice for a kindergarten curriculum. I was uncertain about the second year, as I would start kindergarten with my second son. There was also a new addition arriving in the fall of that year. Our fourth child would be born around the start of the school year.

I was still a new homeschool mom. I was only confident in the fact that I had a lot to learn. Year two of homeschooling meant schooling two kiddos, having a two-year-old who brought lots of color to our days, and bringing a newborn into the mix.

Needless to say, I was overwhelmed.

It was my custom to attend a local homeschool conference each Spring. So there I was, in May 2015, at a homeschool conference, researching, seeking out options, and praying the Lord would continue to guide us.

I had chosen my curriculum. We would remain with the literature-based curriculum we’d used the first year. The books were at the booth, waiting for me to swipe my credit card.

It was the end of the day. I was six months pregnant with my fourth baby and desperately needed a chair to sit in. I found my chair in a Classical Conversations breakout session.

Embracing Classical Conversations

And I was completely captivated by the things I heard.

The vision of CC was to know God and Make Him known. The aim was that each subject would point back to God. The foundation was a biblical worldview. Each subject was examined through the lens of scripture.

This was my heartbeat. This was the goal of our home for our children.

Was this the curriculum we needed to adopt for year two?

After talking with my husband and attending an information meeting, we confirmed the decision to do Classical Conversations.

We immediately fell in love.

Both of my boys—the first grader and kindergartener—and I adored CC. The joy of a community day filled our cups to overflowing. My babies enjoyed the nursery. Doing life with other families with more experience provided insight and encouragement this new homeschool momma needed.

Becoming a Tutor

A couple of years in, our Director approached us, asking me to consider being a Foundations Tutor. I was reluctant. I wasn’t sure I could juggle all the demands.

But I sensed the Lord’s nudge again. Our community had a need, and perhaps I was called to help fill it. I attended Tutor training.  I found my inner Mary Poppins that year. Engaging little minds each week proved to be a great source of fun.

What a privilege it was to join other families in helping nurture the love of learning.

“It’s Bigger Than Your Family” Comes to Fruition

In December 2018, I learned of Classical Conversations beginning in Brazil.

Through a series of God-ordained events, I was invited to go down to Atibaia, Brazil’s first Practicum, and give the first Foundations Tutor Training.

The opportunity excited me. I am Brazilian. My family moved to the US when I was five years old, and my husband and I had already served in Brazil as missionaries with Campus Crusade for Christ. I have a huge heart for God’s work in Brazil. I was sure the Lord was moving in that culture to further His Kingdom through education.

My sweet husband agreed to hold down the fort with our four kids while I spent a few days with these new homeschooled families.

The First Practicum

The first Practicum in Brazil was an extremely emotional experience—not just for me but for all families who participated. I heard testimony after testimony of mommas who were looking for education options for their kids and had come across CC online.

Though their stories varied and their residences spanned the entire country of Brazil, a common thread was interwoven in each account. They had dreamed of Classical Conversations for their children. Their dream was literally coming true.

There is a moment from that Practicum that is etched in stone in my mind.

I stood up to begin the training and froze in time before all those families. It was a big Practicum, and the Foundations training mirrored the size. That faint whisper of our call to homeschool had suddenly become a voice that was almost audible.

It’s bigger than your family.

The Lord moved miraculously during that Practicum. These families gathered in Atibaia, Brazil, for three days, then scattered to all corners of the country to implement what they’d learned. Classical Conversations communities sprang up all over Brazil.

It was beautiful.

Classical Conversations Practicum

Kingdom Work in Brazil

As for me, I returned to the States with a burning desire to remain connected to what the Lord was doing through homeschooling—and specifically through CC —in Brazil. We’d actually been praying for God to open doors for us to return to Brazil. We’d asked Him to show us a ministry where we could serve and pursue His Kingdom in Brazil. That first Practicum was where the Lord began to reveal to us His plans for our return to Brazil.

In 2019, my family and I had the privilege to move to Brazil.

My husband was helping to launch a Christ-centered education movement called Christian Halls in the US and Brazil. This program partners with Christian Universities to provide high-quality, affordable, locally-tutored formation.

In Brazil, it also includes Classical Conversations.

It has been an immense privilege to watch the Lord’s hand in furthering His Kingdom through education here in Brazil. We get to homeschool alongside families that are intentional, committed, and passionate. These families have to be incredibly brave as the current Brazilian government does not look favorably on homeschooling and is increasingly posing a threat to their call to homeschool. Getting to do life alongside these families has been sharpening and inspiring.

Classical Education and My Family

Since moving to Brazil, the Lord has gifted us with two more baby boys to shepherd. We are now a family of eight. We have five boys and one little lady! My oldest son is in Challenge II, my second son is in Challenge B, my daughter is in Foundations and Essentials, and my fourth son is in Foundations. Then we’ve got a one-year-old and a three-year-old to add color and laughter to our days!

The process of classical education is astonishingly rich.

It has been so fun watching the seeds of Foundations and Essentials bloom and flourish in the lives of my two older sons. Now, having two Challenge students, I am able to deepen the studies with my Foundations and Essentials students with a more thorough understanding of how to better prepare them.

In some ways, I feel as though my life is a classical cycle. I get two kids to the next level and circle back with more tools to apply to my middle two. When my middle two get to the Challenge years, I have the babies to nurture in Foundations and Essentials with certainly even more nuggets of wisdom to apply.

What an honor!

In a world that is upside down and backward, I count it an enormous privilege to journey alongside this little tribe that God has entrusted to me and my husband. How beautiful that we get to teach them to see the world through the Lord’s eyes and in His design! May they be well-trained to be Light Warriors in this dark world.

And, as if getting to homeschool six amazing kids weren’t enough, He’s placed us in my home country as He launches His plan to change culture through education and allows us— the Pierce Clan—to labor alongside Him as He brings the ultimate plans to fruition.

Though my family is, by modern standards, quite large, the call to homeschool is truly way bigger than my family!

The post The Call: Homeschooling in Brazil appeared first on Classical Conversations.

In this post, Laura Kooistra describes her experience directing her community with Classical Conversations.

My Journey to Becoming a Licensed Director

My family grew along with my skills as a classical educator. And my life expanded too. Buffeted by an economic recession, my husband was convicted of the need to make a fundamental shift in our lifestyle. A number of years ago, we took a financial blood bath on our suburban home’s sale and bought the farm, literally.

Still homeschooling, I was also a wife and mother and a private tutor to my children. I was, for the first time in my life, living twenty miles out of town. We were repairing a 100-year-old farmhouse, wrangling chickens, re-roofing barns, and taking on all sorts of needs and projects that were essential, like plumbing. Yes, we were living the dream, but we were in disorder.

When the children were elementary school age and younger, disorder was not an unknown companion. Its effects, however, were less impactful.

After all, who really cares if the kids tumble out of bed and put on one cowboy boot and one sandal, each on the wrong foot? I was reasonably confident the temporary chaos of mismatched footwear would sort itself out over time.

I was less confident about the disorder pressing on my high school students. While we were making fundamental lifestyle shifts, three teens navigated their secondary school mid and final years. My two eldest teenagers “made it.” Homeschool and high school requirements were met. They enrolled in further education, and I patted them on the back and released them to their future. But they both still lived in our home.

The Challenges We Faced Along the Way

Then my husband lost his job. Next, he got frighteningly sick. Eight of us were home more often than we were gone—my two eldest pursued distance learning and classes at the local community college. We were without income, surviving on savings, and trusting the Lord heard our prayers for deliverance. To be honest, our household was upside down in more ways than one.

I do not think it matters how seasoned or experienced you are. Extreme circumstances reveal what works for you and what does not. The various classical curriculum I had carefully pieced together to meet our homeschool needs was too disjointed and required too much of my effort. Our homeschool was vulnerable. Options were not available. Well, okay, it was true we could enroll our children in the town school. Believe me, it was a sincere consideration.

But I loved homeschooling.

I adored being present with my children day in and day out. Realistically though, we were not just dealing with the issue of homeschooling. We were dealing with what we discovered would be chronic illness for my husband, treatments, and rehabilitating him back to work. It was not off the table either to renew my career as an education administrator and adjunct faculty member for a regional university. Cover letters, resumes, and employment applications were always in process.

Some good news in this topsy-turvy season was our home was plumbed! Work like fences being erected and solar panels being installed was completed. My husband took on vast projects to continually improve our century-plus home and property.

Having constructive work was a lifeline for him.

It was a distraction to our homeschool. Who would rather review flashcards when you could join dad in pouring concrete?

Which of you would want to complete a lab report or make an entry in your poetry journal when you could go get hay (and a McDonalds’ milkshake) with your father? Quietly I continued to test the idea if we could even keep educating at home. It seemed touch and go.

Frankly, with everything else going on and even constantly surrounded by (my own) people, I was often isolated and continuously weary going it on my own. Thankfully, my husband had returned to work, and we set about repairing the financial ruins. This relieved the stress of no income and minimized the multiple interruptions that occurred with dad home all day. But my isolation and weariness left me needing a homeschool reboot.

Attending My First Information Meeting

Enter a mindless scroll through my Facebook feed. With barely one eye on the screen, I swiped up and lost my breath. A Classical Conversations program was starting just half an hour away from my home. Honestly, in that split second, I made my decision. I would enroll my children.

A few weeks later, I attended my first Classical Conversations Information Meeting.

Sitting with other moms, I learned about CC’s classical, Christian curriculum centered in the local community. My relief was palpable. I had hope and a path for the future of my homeschool.

(If you’re interested in learning more about Information Meetings, check out this explanation of homeschool outreach events.)

Directing: Was It Feasible?

But changes are not always easy. Obviously, a significant obstacle for our family was money. I could not fathom how I would swing tuition for my four students. I prepared to walk away. Then this short phrase kept me in my seat. “I am looking for more Directors for our new CC community, and our Directors are paid.” A line from an Emily Dickinson poem fluttered in my heart—“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers.“ An idea took wing; I could direct.

I explored the idea in depth, as much as time would allow. Our first day of the academic year was rushing in. I researched the tuition costs and how they compared to what I was already spending on our homeschool. I investigated what resources I would need to purchase. A discussion with a tax professional offered me insight into what it would mean to be an independent licensee. I talked to other Licensed Directors to try and discern if the cost to benefit ratio was reasonable.

Because let me be brutally transparent. I knew I was already on “thin ice” personally with little to no reserve, and our bank account was similarly spare. There was a voice of caution persisting as I dug further into the opportunity. Could I trust that Classical Conversations would not exploit my time and expertise? I hold an MA in education administration and had a solid career reputation. Could I reconcile what, from the outside looking in, might appear to be an inequitable arrangement? Would I be able to adapt my expectations for how much I might earn compared to what I could make with my degree and experience? Was I willing to be compensated modest part-time income for modest part-time work?

The answer?

Yes.

Income to Offset My Homeschooling Costs

Years later, having been a Classical Conversations Challenge Director since the fall of 2012, I can truthfully say Classical Conversations has never exploited me. Equally important is my conviction that although some would say that as a licensee with CC, I’ve made next to nothing (referring to my income), Classical Conversations has consistently communicated my responsibilities and rewards throughout my experience Directing.

I do part-time work for part-time pay. That seems reasonable to me. Classical Conversations has never required more of me than I was willing to give. Candidly, if I ever feel any pressure at all from Classical Conversations regarding my licensing agreement and business relationship, it has been healthy! The pressure produced personal and professional growth.

I consider it my responsibility to understand the agreements I enter. I read the licensing agreement I sign every year when I renew my contract. I do the math that reveals what my income and tax liability are likely to be.

And I pay my kids’ tuition—every year. There is enough. And sometimes there is extra. I would say there is more than enough.

So, I buy excellent books. We enjoy subscription services like Audible and Grammarly. My husband and I can take a night away from home a couple of nights a month. He regularly suggests his favorite hamburger joint or Chinese restaurant! I have funded some continuing education classes for myself and occasionally treat myself to a manicure. One year I squirreled away some income and rented a fabulous Airbnb with my siblings to surprise my parents for an unexpected 50th wedding anniversary family reunion. And this is perhaps my favorite. When there is extra, I buy flower seeds, tubers, and roses to satisfy my gardening dreams, well—for that season!

The opportunity to direct came at the right time and has remained the right thing. Of course, I can say so much more about how I’ve grown as a small business owner. I would say more about the unique relationships that have become the hallmark of our homeschool experience.

Are You Considering Directing?

Interested in directing? Classical Conversations Licensed Directors enjoy benefits such as providing a local community for their own families, earning income to offset homeschooling costs, and supporting other families on the homeschooling journey. Take your first steps to become a Licensed Director today.

The post My Experience Directing: Overwhelmed Homeschool Parent to Licensed Director appeared first on Classical Conversations.

In the following blog post, Naara Urrea—homeschool mom, Foundations/Essentials Director, Local Representative, community manager, and missionary—shares her journey through motherhood and her experience homeschooling around the world and in her own home in Chile.

Education and Provision in Malawi

It was a long wait until I became a mom—fifteen years, to be more precise. During those years of longing to embrace my own children, I decided to love as many kids as possible. Nephews, nieces, cousins, my friend’s kids . . . well, you get the picture.

It was a long journey—sometimes painful—but God had promised my husband and me that we would be parents of hundreds of children, and we believed him.

Years went by, and we moved to live in Malawi, East Africa, to become missionaries. Over a four-year period, we met people from all over the globe. We made new friends who were also serving, and all of them were homeschooling.

Mulungu Apatsa: “God Provides”

They introduced us to a new way of education that we were not familiar with.

In Chile, in those years, we never met anyone homeschooling. We loved seeing their kids learning not only the common topics but also building their lives with a strong foundation in Scripture and giving them life skills. Under those lenses, my husband and I were committed to home education. They inspired me even though I was childless.

Looking back now, I realized that meeting them made me open my home in Malawi to all the children in my village. Hundreds of them started to come and see the “nzungu” (“white” or foreigner) reading English books to them, handing over some broken pencils, some toys, and pieces of fabric to show them how to sew, and loving them as my own.

Oh my, those busy days! They bring tears of joy as I remember their happy faces. From that small beginning, we started a project in 2012 after we returned home, which is still running today: a school in the middle of nowhere by a remote area in Lake Malawi.

The name is Mulungu Apatsa, which means “God Provides.”

Motherhood and Homeschooling in Chile

 You might wonder what that has to do with homeschooling.

Well, after 15 years of marriage, I was expecting my first baby!

God did it! Our miracle was in the making. My daughter was born in May in Chile, and we called her Mary Grace. She’s the one who officially inaugurated our home school.

The Fear of Failure

Yet, despite my unmeasurable joy for having her, I was full of fear, not knowing how I would homeschool her without failing. As a mom, everything looked much harder now than I’d pictured seeing my friends doing with their kids in Africa! And all of my friends and relatives here had their kids in school.

I felt as if I was swimming against the current until, one day, the Lord reminded me of his promise of provision found always in everything in Him. He was going to be with me all the way.

I started homeschooling my child boldly, though underneath it all, I experienced the fear of not being good enough to teach her.

Unexpectedly, three years later, my second miracle arrived! The doctors told me that I was never going to be able to have any children . . . and here I was laughing just as Sarah, Hannah, and Elizabeth did and praising God once again.

I became a mom of a three-year-old girl and a newborn baby girl by the mercies of our faithful God.

Now, I was determined to do my best to teach these precious girls. I put on a brave face, but honestly, I was battling the fear of failing most of the time. I tried to connect with some friends here and there, but everyone was using a different curriculum or homeschooling method.

Mission and Connection in Peru

Then, we moved to serve as missionaries in Lima, Peru.

No one I knew was homeschooling there, and I had to start all over again, building some new friendships and preparing myself with any tools I could find. It felt very lonely having just them at home and no one else to share their advances. Most of our new friends were so busy with long school hours that it was so hard to have playdates or simple trips to a museum. While we loved being there, homeschooling became a great challenge to me, and I wondered if I should carry on or maybe enroll them in a school like everyone else I knew.

Classical Conversations: God Provides

Two years later, we came back to Chile.

We had to leave our dear new friends and routines again and start all over. I must say that I was anxious about homeschooling, and I started searching for schools in the area we were moving.

I knew God had called me to teach my children, but I wasn’t very excited to continue. I felt lost, and most of my materials were packed in suitcases while we were traveling for about two months, ministering to churches in southern Chile.

Thankfully, I saw some light ahead of me when we found a home after tirelessly searching during the several months of lockdown due to the pandemic. The Lord helped us to find a nice place in the countryside of Santiago in 2020, which enabled us to learn out in nature despite the COVID-19 restrictions.

And it so happened that one of my neighbors was an old friend and colleague from our former church who was not only homeschooling her three kids but also directing a homeschool community with Classical Conversations!

God always provides!

Connection, Community, and Classical Conversations

It was the first time I’d ever heard of Classical Conversations. I was curious about the program, but I didn’t understand much, as classical education was new to me.

At the end of 2020, we went to an Open House. My girls were eight and five years old at that time, and I saw them thriving and having so much fun! I made some new friends too and found old ones in the same community! Bonus!

At last, I’d come across something I didn’t know my family needed: connection.

One can homeschool with passion and a whole heart, but having a friend who is there with you and knows exactly how you feel, either cheering you up or crying with you, gives the experience meaning and accountability. Someone you can learn from and to whom you can offer your support in turn.

I’m beyond grateful to have found just that in these last three years of homeschooling together with such beautiful families. Some of them have moved away, but new ones have been added, which is such a gift to us.

Overcoming Fear and Becoming a Parent-Leader

I was invited to be a Tutor for Foundations in 2021, and from 2022 until the present, I’ve had the privilege of becoming a Foundations/Essentials Director. I’ve loved serving these beautiful families and seeing my girls as my best advocates anytime we shared our homeschool journey with friends.

One of the reasons I decided to continue was that I am sure God called me to teach my kids. Now I know for sure what He is able to equip the ones he calls. He’s always faithful, and He is not surprised when he sees me going a few steps back in my mind, thinking if what I teach is good enough for them or not. 

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing . . . he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.” Psalm 23, NIV

As if my story wouldn’t have enough flavor (ha ha), last year, I was invited to be part of the International Leader Team to oversee the North of Chile and north of Santiago. That role has expanded my mind as I’ve embraced Directors and families beyond my circle. It’s such an honor to get to know them and cheer them up as they start their own communities. My heart is so grateful to God for sending Classical Conversations my way and for the resources shared that make my life so much easier and enrich the way I teach at home.

I’ve had so many opportunities to grow personally, and my girls have too. They learned to love learning, and they still love their mom-teacher. I’m looking forward to serving anywhere God puts me and to celebrating the lives of my two girls (eleven and eight years old today) as I witness firsthand how they know God and make him known.

Laying Down My Fears at the Feet of Jesus

Maybe more fears will arise as the Challenge years approach, but I’m laying down my fear at the feet of Jesus. I know he will be with me all the way, and I’ll share about his goodness.

He doesn’t want my perfection(ism); He wants my heart surrendered to him and totally dependent on him. I do my part—I study, read, and plan—but at the end of the day, my fear is silenced when I recall his Word and lean on him: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5–6, NLT).

I invite you to lay down your fear, too, for God is faithful!

Speaking of missionaries and homeschools, learn more about how the Classical Conversations Foundation supports homeschool families on missions, and join the John 1:1 Mission Partner Campaign!

The post From Fear to Faith: A Global Journey through Motherhood and Homeschooling appeared first on Classical Conversations.