I have seen many times when people are asked what makes them classical homeschoolers, they reply  that they are doing the 4 year history cycle so this makes them Classical.  I always have question marks about that answer.  I don't believe the 4 year history cycle has anything to do with Classical Education.  It is definitely an element of  The Well Trained Mind,  but not in the general sense of CE.  There are many people who classify themselves as classical who are doing a 5 year or 6 year cycle of history.  So doing  the whole realm of history in 4 years  does not set you apart as a Classical Educator.

This has led me to think about whether chronological history is an element of Classical Education.  If you are homeschooling your children in the classical way  then is it a given to be teaching them history chronologically?  Can you be hopping all over the timeline, historically, and still be considered a Classical Educator?

The answer to that one is a resounding 'I don't know.'  If the definition of CE  is  instilling wisdom and virtue by nourishing their souls on all that is beautiful, true, and good,  then you can do all of that without doing history in order.  Another important element of Classical Education is to be able to express yourself in written and verbal form.  This can be done regardless of how you teach history.   

Now, I can see if you need to make logical connections from one incident of history to another, then chronological history would be easier to make these  tie-ins.  But is it necessary? 

I just don't think we can say that we are giving our children a Classical Education  based solely on teaching history chronologically.  There are many more components that figure into the definition than just this one.

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies  with her husband,  homeschooling their 3 children  and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

Last month (the beginning of Sept.)  I found out  that I had cancer.  In the big  scheme of life,  my cancer is not a big deal.  The official name of it is Soft Tissue Sarcoma.  I did not need chemo or radiation, but I did need surgery.  The last two months have been very intense for our family.  Even though my cancer was a tiny blip on our lives, it was still cancer.  No matter how small the cancer is, you are still obligated to go through all of the emotions and levels of grieving that are associated with the bigger types of cancer. 

God had prepared my heart for the diagnosis two weeks beforehand.  I knew, when I stepped into the surgeon's office to get the results of my biopsy, that I would be hearing the C word.  God gave me an amazing calm and peace as the cancer word floated around the room.  Even though my heart was prepared, my family was not.  This, literally, blew them away.  I watched as my children became little cling-ons.  It didn't matter where I was but I had three little people stuck to my side.  I think they were afraid that if they blinked I would disappear and they didn't want to take that chance.  They asked me a gazillion times a day how I was feeling.   Where there was once  onfidence,  was now a puddle of insecurity and fear.

I knew that there was no way we could continue on with our schooling,  at least not the way we were doing it.   My kids' heads were not in the game, so to speak.  I knew we were in no condition to do academics but I also knew that I needed to replace my kids knowledge of all things cancer with poetic knowledge.  Their souls had been depleted with that cancer word and I needed to fill them up with all things beautiful, true, and good.  I began to think of ways to do this.  

I decided to keep on with our Morning Time.  This would be the anchor of our day.  This time would give our day comfort and meaning.  During this time, we read the Bible, did Latin sporadically, read Shakespeare, Greek mythology, poetry, Plutarch, nature stories, and our read aloud.  These readings soothed our souls.  They comforted our aching hearts.  They gave us stability during a time when we felt blown around by the wind.  

We still did math and reading but that was not done everyday.  When we were having a strong day then we attempted the basics  but when the tears and fears  took residence in my children's lives, then we just had our Morning Time.

Another thing we did every day  was to go for a walk.  We used this time to fill our beings with the blessings of God's Creation.  Not only were these walks a form of nature study but they also became a chance to talk about what was happening in our lives. During these walks, my dd and I had some really good talks about cancer and how it was affecting us.

It has almost been two months since my diagnosis.  I had my surgery at the end of September.  We are still waiting pathology reports as to whether the cancer is completely gone, but I am already confident that it is.  Even though my body has healed, our emotions still have that bruised and battered feeling.   I thought at the beginning of this little ordeal  that once the surgery was over, that life (learning) would get back to the way that it was.  I was wrong.  We are still in need of comfort,  of just being together.  So I have decided that we will continue with  just doing our Morning Time and the basics of math, reading, and copywork until Christmas.  We will then evaluate and see if we are ready for a more scheduled day.

What I am about to say will sound very bizarre, but I am now able to consider cancer a gift.  Cancer has given us the joy of just being together, of being able to see the beauty that God's Creation offers, of having first hand knowledge that God is El-Elyon, the One who is in control.  He has brought us through this storm a bit stronger and a bit wiser. Thank you, Lord, for this priceless gift. 

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairie with her husband, homeschooling their 3 children (10,8,6) and is attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

From all that I have gathered from listening to various CDs and reading many blog posts and articles on this subject, teaching from a place of rest encompasses  many different areas.  I would like to, in the future, discuss these areas but for today I want to address the meaning of rest as applied to educational philosophy.

I have written about this before but I think I need to revisit it as it has cropped up again recently on my cyber-hangouts. Recently on the WTM forums, there has been much talk about giving our children a rigorous education.  Many moms have chimed in to the conversation saying that they have slacked off in their requirements for their children and that they need to get back into the saddle.  I saw a lot of guilt and anxiety in that thread, as well as in the spin-off threads. Guilt and anxiety do not produce rest.  In fact it is quite the opposite.

I think rest should be the goal for every homeschooling mom.  We need to strive for a place where we are happy with how we are teaching our children.  A place where we are confident  that what we are giving them will equip them for  the days ahead.  We need to be able to lie back and just  'be' in our teaching.  How do we get  to that place?  

I think there are two ways:  1. Trust.  Trust  that God is in control  of your homeschool.   He knows  what you should be teaching your children.  He knows  the ways that you should teach children.   The key here is to trust and listen.  When you are going down a path of curriculum or philosophy that just doesn't seem right to you then listen to that feeling.  That is probably the Lord telling you that this isn't right for you or your children.  LIsten to it.  Carry through with it.  2. Turn a deaf ear to the latest curriculum choice or popular educational philosophy of the month.  If you are happy with how your days are going, then there is no need for change.   There is no need to listen to all of the talk around you because all that does is give birth to guilt.  Guilt is not a friend to rest.

If you are not happy with how your learning time  is going then turn to the Lord and ask Him to show you what needs to change or how it needs to change.  Cover your school in prayer.  God will show you what needs to be done.   Making these kinds of decisions in this way  leads to a place of rest.   When we turn our ears away from all of the newest and shiniest  homeschool fads and look up to the Lord to lead us,  then that place of rest  can, indeed,  be ours.

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies  with her husband, homeschooling their 3 children (10,8,6) and is attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

The craft that I am going to share with you is more for the quadrivium.  This craft  uses geometrical skills  that your elementary school aged child can show off.  The official title of this craft is Dangling Bread Shapes.  Doesn't sound very classical, does it?   Bear with me.  I found this idea in an Usborne book.  Here are the steps:

1) Press a cookie cutter (can be of any shape--circle, star, flower shape, hexagon, etc.) into a slice of bread.

2) Press the end of a straw into each shape to make a hole so you can hang up the shapes.

3) Leave the shapes out overnight  so they will dry out.

4) Mix some white paint with white glue. Paint the edge of the shape as well as both sides.

5) When the paint is dry use a pencil to draw on simple geometric patterns.

6) Fill in the patterns with different colors of acrylic paint.  Paint the edges as well.

7) Tie a piece of thread through the hole at the top to hang.  You can also tie different shapes together to make a mobile.

There you have it!   A Classical craft! 

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies with her husband, homeschooling her 3 children  and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

For those who do not follow the WTM, memorization is equally important but not for every subject.  Some history dates are important  to remember as connections are made from one era to the next.  Memorization is important for Latin as well.  Having conjugations and declensions pop out at you when you are translating is an important skill.  Memorization helps them pop out.  Also, remembering grammar and spelling rules are beneficial, especially for the ones who are not naturals in these subjects.  It is also helpful on a practical level  to have your child memorize Scripture verses.  When hard or joyous times present themselves, it is refreshing and rejuvenating to be able to recite a verse that pertains to your situation.

Poetry is another area where memorization is helpful.  Being able to remember  various poems can instill beauty into one's  soul.   When going through hard times,  poetry, as well as Scripture, can minister to one's  soul in a way that nothing else can.

We memorize a lot of poetry in our family.   We use the poet suggestions from Ambleside Online.  Each one of my children has a poet that we read from for about three months.  My children will work on memorizing poems from their poet during this time.  

One day, last week,  we were going for a walk and the kids started reciting the poems that they have been learning for this term.  It made our walk very special.  I always liked watching movies when the characters would recite poetry that they had learned from their childhood.  This is what I wish for my kids.  That when a situation sparks a memory of a poem long ago learned,  they will be able to rattle it off and nourish their soul.

Autumn is creeping up on us so I thought I would include a poem of this beautiful season.

When the Frost is on the Pumpkin

by James Whitcomb Riley

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,

And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock,

And the clackin' of the guineys and the cluckin' of the hens,

And the rooster's hallylooyer as he  tiptoes on the fence;

O it's then's the times a feller is a-feelin' at his  best,

With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,

As he leaves the house, bare-headed, and goes out to feed the stock,

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

There's something kindo' hearty-like about the atmosphere,

When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here

Of couse we miss the flowers and the blossoms on the trees,

And the mumble of the hummin' birds and buzzin' of the bees;

But the air's so appetisn' and the landscape through the  haze

Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days

Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

Julia and her husband live on the Canadian Prairies, homeschooling their 3 children (10,8,6) and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

Our family hit a life bump at the beginning of this month.  As a result, we have had to have a lite version of school.   I had planned on using Classical Writing this year with my oldest but I knew that I wouldn't be able to pull it off with all that we were going through, so I had to change my plans in the area of writing.  

After talking to a few homeschooling moms about what to do with writing when your plans go up in smoke, I decided to do the tried and true method of writing a la Charlotte Mason--written narrations and copywork.  It sounds so simple, but I am finding that it is working.  After carrying out these activities for a few weeks, my anti-writing child is carrying out her writing assessments with little complaining and her narrations are very well-written-- at least for a 10-year-old. 

I have added a few things to my writing expectations.  As a result, I am liking how we are carrying it all out.  My dd is reading Little Women on her own.  I ask her to write a narration for each chapter.  I also have her do copywork from  this book as well.  My hope was to do this every day but the reality is that we are lucky if we get to copywork twice a week,  but this is better than nothing.  We are studying Ancient Egypt this month for our history unit study.  She is to read Tales of Ancient of Egypt by Roger Lancelyn Green.  I have her write out narrations from selected chapters from this book.  

For my two youngest, I have them doing copywork as well.  My youngest is not reading yet, so I just have her write simple words.  My ds, 8, copies sentences from the book that he and I are reading, Understanding Betsy.  I also have them do narrations from the chapters on Ancient Egypt  from  Story of the World.  This is a wonderful way  to kill three birds with one stone.  I read the story, then have the two youngest give me their narrations.  I write out my youngest's narrations and then let her draw an accompanying illustration.   I write out my ds' narrations but have him copy it out.  For my oldest,  I have her do the beginning step of outlining.  She reads each paragraph and  writes a sentence for the main idea of that paragraph.  I found this idea in the logic stage section of The Well Trained Mind.  

All of these ideas are a simple marriage of ideas from CM and WTM.  I am so thankful for the simplicity of these ideas.  Simple works just as well as fancy and formal.

Julia and her husband live on the Canadian Prairies, homeschooling their 3 children (10,8,6) and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

Classical Education, though, is not just made up of the Trivium.  The Quadrivium is also part of CE.  This is the part that seems to get swept under the rug.  The Quadrivium is just as important as the Trivium but it represents a different set of subjects.  The Trivium  includes  grammar, logic, and rhetoric.  These are the subjects that get more airplay in a  discussion of CE.   The Quadrivium, though, includes  arithmetic,  geometry,  astronomy, and music.  This is the scientific/mathematical side of CE.

Arithmetic and geometry are closely linked to logic.  You need highly effective thinking skills to master the problems of algebra.  There is a sense of order that needs to be attained when tackling an algebraic sequence.  I see arithmetic  similar to Latin.  When translating English to Latin, or vice versa,  your brain is getting a work out trying to figure out the vocabulary and the proper conjugations and declensions being used.   Order needs to be used when translating as it needs to be used when doing mathematics.  

Math is not just a skill of regurgitating facts.  Math is a platform for beauty.  When you delve into the various facets of math, you are made aware of just how beautiful math is and is present in nature and the arts.  Math has the capacity to take your breath away.  This makes it a very important part of Classical Education.

Here is a blog post about math as the forgotten subject in Classical Education.

An Aside: I just  discovered an interesting book at the library that ties in with this  post.  The book is entitled, Lewis Carroll in Numberland.   This book is about  the noted author of Alice in Wonderland, the man who had an amazing gift with words as well as a gift with numbers.  I haven't started reading it yet  but I am intrigued.

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies  with her husband,  homeschooling their 3 children (10,8,6) and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

Since  my first encounter with this word, I have learned much about it.  I am also attempting to give my children this kind of writing education.  Attempting is the  operative word.  To clear up your confusion, Progymnasmata is a series of writing exercises that the Ancient Greeks used to teach their students.  These  exercises  or levels,  if you will,  teach not only writing, but logic and rhetoric as well.   The students  learned to master the fourteen levels of the Progym by analyzing and imitating the Masters of speech and literature.  When they were adept at doing that, then they would move on to using what they had learned into their own  compositions. Content was just as important as style. Some of these exercises  are  retelling, amplifying a saying, arguing,  praising a person,  blaming a person,  and comparison. 

The Progymnasmata intrigues me.  I think it is because it has writing, logic, and rhetoric all rolled up in to one.  I know there are people that teach the Progym without a curriculum.  I am usually a do-it-yourself-er, but I don't have the confidence to do this without a big safety net.   It helps to have a writing curriculum  that focuses on the Progym.  There are a few curricula that are available.  The program that I chose for my kids is Classical Writing.   It is a series of books based on the exercises of the Progymnasmata.   I have used CW Aesop and we are now dipping our toes into CW Homer.

We enjoyed Aesop and I found it very easy to use, but it did take awhile to get a grasp of all of its intricacies.   The set up of CW is that you take a 30 minute chunk of time in the morning and do the analyzing  portion of the program, then later on in the day you start working on the writing project.  The one great thing about CW is that it is flexible.  You do not have to do it the way that the authors suggest.  You mold it to fit your family.  For us, spending close to an hour on a writing program  would not fly well, so we take one week for the analyzing and a second week for the writing project.  This worked very well for us with Aesop.  I am not sure yet if this will work for Homer.

During the years that we were using Aesop, I had heard horror stories about trying to implement Homer.   I had heard that there was a huge learning curve with this  level.  I had also heard that if you could master Homer  then the subsequent levels  were easier.  If you could just get over the Homer hurdle then you would be set.  I looked towards Homer with fear.   How could I, a bear of little brain, master this kind of  program?   I have since found the answer: by doing my homework.  I  bought Homer in the fall of last year even though I didn't need it until this fall.  I  poured over the books.  I spent many a night trying to wrap my brain around all of the skill levels, and just how this would look in a practical sense.  After all of my work, the fear has subsided.  CW Homer doesn't scare me anymore.  I think that this is doable.

Now we are only on the third  lesson,  but so far it is going very well.  I am learning that with all learning, not just writing, baby steps are key.   It is important  to lay the groundwork before you expect your student to master the big picture.  It is all in the baby steps.  CW gives you those baby steps.

With CW I am more confident now  that I just might be able to teach my children those writing exercises that are of the Progymnasmata. 

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies with her husband, homeschooling their 3 children and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

I understand what my friend was saying but I don't agree with her.  The way that she is using the term 'information' is in having discombobulated, ramdom  facts  floating around in your head for no apparent reason.  I do not want information for my children either but I do want them to have knowledge.  I see the two as different.  Whereas information is impersonal facts flying around with no roots;  knowledge  is information that is connected with our senses.  Knowledge adds to our understanding of an area.  Knowledge is multi-dimensional.  Knowledge can reach our hearts and make learning an experience.

Let me give you an example.  When studying Beethoven you are, of course, going to listen to his music.  I think it is also important to read about his life and his struggles as that lends to the feelings of his music.   When you read about his deafness and the challenges that he endured due to that disability, amazement is present when you listen to the results of those challenges.   Reading about his family struggles also adds to your impressions as you listen to the beauty of his music, as well as the stormy selections.  The information, when added to the music, changes your perspective on Beethoven as well as his music.  It adds richness and meaning to an otherwise static job of just listening.   The information when  combined with the senses, layers  your understanding of Beethoven.  This, in my opinion, is how to enjoy Classical Music.  Don't just get one side of  the subject, but strive for a multi-dimensional experience by adding knowledge, rather than just  random facts.

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies with her husband, homeschooling her 3 children (10,8,6) and is attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

This is our sixth year of homeschooling, but I still have those anxious feelings of how we are going to accomplish everything that I have planned.  After spending a month sleeping in and doing just about whatever you want to do, the thought of waking up at 6:00 and having demands on my time makes my stomach do flip flops.  Usually we just plunge in head first on the first day of school.  This year, though, I felt like we needed to get into the groove gradually.  We have a lot on our plate this year academically, and I wanted time to prepare my kids for all that was ahead.

Two weeks ago we started doing Morning Time (MT).  We spent an hour reading the Bible, reciting Latin conjugations,  and poetry.  We also took this time for read alouds,  Shakespeare, Greek Mythology, and nature study.  We divvied up  the latter subjects so that our time wasn't totally overwhelming.  This was a good time for us.  We all enjoyed our Morning Time preview.

Last week, we did a preview of our workboxes.  Yes, we are another family that fell into the workbox craze.  My kids love these boxes.  They have asked to start ahead of time with the workboxes.  I used this opportunity to start up with the 3R's as well as the fun things that I put in the boxes.  We upped our learning time that week with both MT and workboxes.

This week, we will go whole hog with MT, basics, and workboxes as well as our unit  studies for science and history.  I don't think it will require much acclimation, though, as we have slowly eased our way into our routine.   I think we will handle every oncoming school year in this manner.  It just makes life a lot easier.   I haven't  had any moments of anxiety this year trying to figure how we are going to schedule it all in.  Due to doing things slowly,  I already know how we are going to manage time-wise.  I like that feeling.

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairie with her husband, homeschooling their 3 children (10,8,6) and is attempting to give them a Classical Education.

I first came across Morning Time at this woman's blog.  Most homeschoolers have a varied version of morning time.   Most families start their learning time with an activity that includes all of the family members, be it Bible reading, read alouds,  poetry recitation, singing  songs, etc., or a combination of these things.

I quickly realized  that we could maim many birds with this Morning Time stone  by including  the subjects that just don't seem to get done in the course of a week.  As a result of my realization, we use MT for Bible reading,  read aloud, Latin, poetry reading and recitation, Shakespeare, Greek Mythology, Nature Study  and picture study.  Whew!  That sounds like way too much, doesn't it?  This is what last week was for; whittling things down into bite sized pieces so we can manage all of those subjects.

This is how  MT works in our home:  we do Bible,  Latin, read aloud and poetry recitation every day. Then  we pick one of the other subjects to do for one day.  So  Monday  we will add Poetry reading  to our every day subjects.  Tuesday  will be for Greek Mythology,  Wednesday  is for Picture Study.  Now,  if we miss picture study  on Wed.  then we will just bump it over to Thursday and push the other subjects back one day as well.   I am hoping that this will work.   Stay tuned.

Now that I had our MT schedule organized, I needed help in how to organize our  MT  books.   In years past, I had the books and resources piled up in an unwieldy mess on the shelf below our coffee table.  It was very unseemly.   Last week, I was perusing blogs and I came upon this blog that solved my messy book dilemma.   This homeschooling mom showed her MorningTime basket.  A basket! I was a bit embarrassed that I had not thought of this before.  Sometimes, though, we just need a nudge of the obvious to get our creative juices flowing.   

After reading this wonderful blog,  I scrounged around for an empty basket and  deposited all of the books and resources that we use for MorningTime.  It looks very pretty and it is very handy just to pull over the basket to the couch and release the proper book from it's hold.

We are now organized and ready for next week's Morning Time.  The next step is to get the two other chunks of our learning time organized and ready to go.  Sigh.   It never seems to end.

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies with her husband,  homeschooling their 3 children (10,8,6) and is attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

The book that has helped me the most and has been the most difficult to read  is Norms and Nobility by David Hicks.  This book is a treatise on education.  It is a hard read.  It took me three years  to finish this book.  Every time I opened the book, my head  would start to hurt.  There were little nuggets in this book, though,  that spoke very deeply to me.  These nuggets made the brain ache all worth it.  One thing  that spoke volumes to me was the description of how a teacher is to be a mentor to the student.  The teacher doesn't just leave the student on his own, rather, the teacher works through the material with the student so that both are learning.  Another thing that has endeared N&N to me are the curriculum suggestions in the back of the book.   The gist of these suggestions is a booklist  but that list makes my heart beat faster.   I am hoping to use this list as the basis for my oldest's history and literature course for Gr. 7.  I am excited  to use Hicks'  suggestions. 

One book that  pushed me into the waters of traditional classical was Climbing  Parnassus  by Tracey Lee Simmons.  This book persuades teachers to give up the myriad of subjects that has become vocational training in our school system  and just focus on a few subjects.  Simmons' suggestions for subjects to be focused on are latin,  greek, math,  and geography.   It has been awhile since I have read this book so I am not sure if music is in that list as well.  This book steered me away from neo-classical.  It  steered me into uncharted, educational territories.  It challenged me to think of education in a way that I had never dared before.  This book opened the floodgates for me into a new world, educationally speaking.

Where Climbing Parnassus  was a treatise on simplifying our educational choices, The Latin Centered Curriculum by Andrew Campbell  puts the meat  on Simmons' skeleton.  LCC is the traditional classical version of The Well-Trained Mind.   It gives us curriculum suggestions for each subject but it keeps  to the  multum non multa  theory (not many but much.)  It is a handy book to have for those who feel a need to pare  the curriculum buffet to a few choices.

Another book that gave me food for thought  is Wisdom and Eloquence  by Robert Littlejohn and Charles Evans.   This book is written mainly for classical school teachers but there were a few bits of wisdom that we, as homeschoolers,  can benefit from.  One of the things that the book talks about is planning your child's education from the top down.  Usually, when we plan our children's education, we start planning for kindergarten, then we move on to Grade 1, and on up the ladder.   These authors suggest starting the planning process with the end in mind,  which means start planning Gr. 12 and then work your way down to Kindergarten.  This is helpful because then you know what you are working towards.  I find this a positive planning tool.  Now that I am planning Gr. 5, I am not shooting around in the dark  trying to figure out what I want my child to know.  Because I already know  what my goals are for the highschool years, I can start paving the way for that in these earlier years.  This helps solidify my planning.

There are many, many books on Classical Education.  These are just the tip of the iceberg,  but if you are wondering which ones to start with,  maybe this list  will give you an idea which one  to wade into first. 

Ms. Bauer makes quite a few good points in this article.  Maybe as time rolls on  I will address them in future articles.  The one point she did make that resonated deeply within me dealt with finding the time to read.

    "Activities that produce an immediate result are always more satisfying than activities that don't.... In many ways, it's more rewarding to get up in the morning and clean the kitchen than to get up and read.  After all, if your husband or your mother walks in, you can say, "I am a useful human being.  I am a useful member of society. Look at my kitchen."  But if your house is filthy, the baby is screaming, and you have a book in your hand, you won't feel at all rewarded." 

That tiny little paragraph has summed up how I have been feeling for the last five years.   I read those words and I started to cry.  I have been feeling torn between  working like a crazy woman to have a clean house (if I have a clean house then this means I am a good wife and mother) and being able to have some time to myself  to challenge my thinking through good books.  I have realized that I have become a Martha.  I have morphed into a woman who works constantly all day so that her house is clean and her yard  is weedless. 

Please don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with having a clean house, but there needs to be a balance, at least for me there does.   I am not a happy person when I am working all day long.  I soon become grouchy and bitter.  I need to have some down time so that I can read, think, and ponder.  My soul needs that.   My problem is that I have quite a few people in my life that do not see things the same way that Ms. Bauer and I do.   They consider  reading a book  the height of laziness.  Their warped thinking has been interjected into my way of thinking.   After reading Ms. Bauer's article, I can see where I am doing my children a disservice in not spending time teaching myself.

If I spend a bit of time each day reading, learning, and stretching my brain muscles, then I will be able to have intelligent conversations with my children about  philosphy,  history, literature, spirtual issues, etc.   Even more, if I become well-read, I will be able to participate in The Great Conversation with my children.  My understanding of the Great Conversation is to discuss the Great Ideas (truth, love, beauty, justice, goodness,  to name a few)  in relation to all that I have read, as well as to the world.  I will be able to have this kind of conversation with my children.   According to Plato, this is the best kind of discussion to have with another human being.  This kind of discussion fills the soul  as well as challenges the brain.  This is my goal for my children. If I am busy  cleaning my sink, though,  that discussion will only be a far flung dream.  I want it to be a reality for me and my children.

After reading Ms. Bauer's  article, I am determined to ignore the voices of those  anti-readers and plunge ahead in the journey of my self-education.  This does not mean that my house will now lay in squalor,  as I am still planning to clean my house (I can hear my family  breathing a sigh of relief.)   It just means that I will be carving  more time out for my own education.   My reward won't be as immediate as a clean kitchen.  It will be far in the future when my children and I are sitting in the living room discussing what is truth  while reading Plato.  This reward  will be a long time in coming, but I can wait.

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies with her husband, homeschooling her 3 children (10,8,6) and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at herblog.

I have to admit I was at a loss after reading that post.  That post has made me think  more about Classical Education.  In the past 10 years, CE has become the "It Education."   Everyone wants their children  to have a Classical Education.  It sounds good to listening ears when you get to dangle that terminology.  The problem is, though, that everyone is dubbing their form of education as classical,  when in actuality, it really isn't that at all.  CE has become so watered down in the last five years,  that it is not recognizable from the education of the Ancients (on which CE is fashioned after.)  

Private schools are very guilty of watering down CE.  Many schools call themselves  Classical, when in fact,  traditional would be the  label  they should be getting.  Many  'classical'  schools do not teach latin, logic or rhetoric to their students  yet they still  slap  that label  on their sign  in the front of their school.    Homeschoolers  are guilty of this as well.  Many do not teach latin or logic  but they still consider themselves CE.

This past week,  I have read  two blog posts that reiterates what I have just written.  They just say it much better than I ever could.  Lene, from  Classical Writing,  wonders if it is okay to do Classical Lite  or, to have a Classical Education,  does rigor need to accompany  it? 

Cindy, at Domion Family ,  laments about how CE has become watered down  in the past few years.  She has decided that she doesn't want to consider herself a classical homeschooler as it doesn't mean what it should mean anymore.  Cindy  wlll now call what she does  as giving her children a 'true education.'

I like that term, 'true education.'   From  the view of others, I am sure that the kind of education that I am giving my children is not classical (at least in their eyes ) but  I am definitely giving them a true education.  I am giving them an education that  shows all that is beautiful, true, and good.  That is what I strive for  and, for the most part,  I think I do achieve that.  

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies  with her husband, homeschooling her 3 chldren ((10,8,6)  and is attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

As the years went on,  I discovered another venue for online friendships--the yahoo groups.  I soon found out  that the list of homeschooling yahoo groups are endless.  I had to curtail my memberships as I was getting a bit slap happy with the join button.  The groups that I am very thankful for are the ones for classical education. There is one group in particular that has saved my sanity on more than one occasion.  ClassEd is quite a small group of classical homeschoolers.  The size of the group lends to more of a family  atmosphere.   I consider these people  my  friends, close friends.  Not only do we discuss the meat and potatoes  of CE (I live for those discussions.  The wisdom that flows through those conversations is amazing.)  but  we celebrate for each others successes, and pray for each others  trials.  There are a few other classical e-groups  that have helped me muddle through  my early years of homeschooling as well.

Another way of maintaining  friendships is through blogs.  I have become very familiar with other classical homeschoolers through reading their thoughts at their blogs.  These blogs that I frequent, challenge me as a wife, mother, and classical educator.  This is how every friendship should be.

I have always lamented the fact that I do not have a real-life Titus 2 relationship  with an older Christian woman.  As I have been writing this post out, though, I am realizing that I have many of these kinds of relationships.  Granted, they are not in real life, but I do experience them online.  I have garnered some wonderful friendships through my e-groups and message boards.  These women have  helped me is no many ways, not just homeschooling but with raising my children  and in my marriage.   These friendships are very special to me.  

As the years have unraveled,  I have found some like-minded women in real life, especially one dear friend who is like a sister to me.  But I still cherish my online friendships.  They are still a source of strength and wisdom for me.  I am very thankful for their presence in my life.

I am going to list a few e-groups for those of you who do not have the blessings of like-minded friendships with other homeschoolers.  Maybe these groups will be an encouragement to you as they have been for me.

The Well Trained Mind

Class Ed--this is a small groups for Christian classical homeschoolers. 

Latin Classical Ed--this group is based on Andrew Campell's book of the same name.

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies  with her husband,  homeschools her 3 children (10,8,6)  and attempts to give them a classical education.  You can read more at her blog.