Monday, June 8, 2015

Step One.

Today I attended my first Parent Practicum for Classical Conversations, which is, essentially ... well, it's kind of a lot of things. Part lecture in the classical educational model, part pep rally (you can do it! you can do it!), part Bible Study. I went into it with questions and left with answers to those questions, so I call it a success (does this have lasting power? are there days you want to quit? do the terms completely confuse you, too?). The Practicum continues for two more days, but I'm opting to stay home instead. Not that I didn't have an amazing time, but because, as I mentioned, a lot of my questions were answered and I'm excited to get on board.

Oh and I currently look like this.


You see, it was quite a bit of information to take in. If you don't already know, the classical model of education is centered around a trivium. A what? A trivium (Google it, I dare you).  You know, three stages. Like foundational something and diarrhetic? No, wait, diabetic. DIALECTIC. Yes. And the last one is high school. I mean, "rhetoric". And this morning's brief lecture on Science (the highlighted subject during the practicum) touched on the Fibonacci Sequence, Copernicus, and something about stars. How do I remember that? Because I checked my Google history, THAT'S HOW. My notebook is full of notes scrawled in hurried inaccuracy as the slides switched and my brain swelled with KNOWLEDGE, ALL OF THE KNOWLEDDDDDGE and the poor, tiny recesses of my mind that have not been exercised since college were dusted off and thrown onto the front lines as we learned about, well, science. My least favorite subject.

Well, second behind math, I guess.

But, you know what? I loved it. And I loved it because it was centered around the why of science. We stand in awe and wonder of God and we yearn to know more about Him, and we can learn so much simply by studying the world He has created and the heavens beyond it. His handprint is everywhere and we have the luxury to search it out, to study it, to ask questions. The patterns, the rhythms, they all speak of a God who created the universe with precision and purpose. And suddenly Fibonacci, Copernicus, and the vastness of the stars moved into a concept that I could kind of grasp and, more importantly, appreciate.

Talk about a pep rally.

The idea of educating my children is somedays exciting and somedays terrifying. But I realize that it's all an extension of parenting anyway. Even if we cease homeschooling after this year, I am always educating them. What I say, how I say it, why I say it. It was convicting, to say the least. Challenging. All good things. And my right hand is SORE because NOTES. LOTS OF NOTES.

Today was my first real step into the unknown world of homeschooling and it was a good one. I sat with a group of Moms who were honest, sassy, and self-deprecating, all qualities I appreciate. It was a good day.

And now, rest. And chocolate.

Have a lovely day.

No comments:

Post a Comment