Smashing Our Calf!

I LOVE walking in community!  It sharpens me, painfully refines me, and graciously holds me accountable.  Tonight my Classical Conversations campus met for an evening of encouragement and equipping.  I am constantly amazed at how often God has me share my struggle and what He has done/is doing to help me overcome my false idea's of what my life is supposed to look like.  

Several years ago I was miserable trying to do everything in my own strength.  I wanted to be the perfect wife, the perfect mom, the perfect homeschooler.  I was failing miserably. (duh)  The harder I tried the worse I felt.  

I had two children going to All Children's hospital for speech therapy, a grandmother I was happily caring for after knee surgery, a baby in diapers, and I was pregnant with #4.   I lived in a state of constant condemnation.  I thought everyone else had it all together.  I cried out to God and He answered me.

{Mary Arnold}, This calf you crafted by your own hands.  It is not God;  therefore it must be smashed to bits!  Hosea 8:6

My story is all about what it looks like to smash my man-made vision so that God can lovingly show me what it means to walk in a humble state of imperfection.  It's there that I I find Him.

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:16

Tonight I was blessed to come together with homeschooling moms who are on the same journey.  We spent time breaking up into groups and sharing our areas where we struggle.  What did we come away with?

It's not about us.  It's all about Him!

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:27-29

Roshanda Smith is a brand new director and excited about Classical Christian Education and Classical Conversations.  She shared some of her planning inspiration and offered great equipping idea's.

Roshanda shared ways she uses CC Connected in her home.

We then broke up into groups and discussed idea's of how we can walk out New Grammar and Review in our homes.  Some were sweet and simple and others were creative and fun.

We stopped and reviewed what makes Classical Christian Education different than other philosophies.  

Terri Ulrich did such an incredible job of sharing the vision of why it's so important to keep doing the little things, the hard things, daily, consistently.  She painted the picture that takes us beyond elementary and middle school and even beyond highschool.  

We closed with worship and sharing.  You want to know what was interesting?  When asked how the Lord spoke to them it was never the practical.  They were inspired by God's word reminded them:

For I know the plans I have for you.  Plans to prosper you and not to hard you.  Plans to give you a hope and future!  Jeremiah 29:11

Freedom Workshop Week FOUR!

O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. Psalm 95:6

I love that we begin and end with praise and worship.   It's a time to put our whole focus on the lover of our soul.

Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
    No one can measure his greatness. Psalm 145:3

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

We went right from worship into reading and praying through Romans 8 relationally.  It was such a sweet and intimate time with the Lord.

Powerful exercise done with the girls at our table tonight.  I love how we take God's Word and use it as the main focus.  This is not a bible study where someone shares her thoughts, feelings, and opinions.  This is a workshop that mentors women to be self-feeding christians. It's about women getting women to CHRIST. 

It's life-changing!

The word of God, you see, is alive and moving; sharper than a double-edged sword; piercing the divide between soul and spirit, joints and marrow; able to judge the thoughts and will of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

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

WOW! What A Night!

Such a phenomenal group of ladies!  Some of the Freedom Workshop team leaders.  Each Thursday we gather ahead of time to pray and seek the Lord for HIS wisdom.  

The Lord spoke tender truth's through Debbie tonight:  

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  II Corinthians 5:17

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. Romans 8:11a

My old self has been crucified with Christ.It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.- Galatians 2:20

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. Galatians 5:16

He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. -- Titus 3:5

 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.-- 1 John 1:7

I love these girls!

 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.-- Hebrews 4:15-16

What does a typical CC Day look like?

I know when I was looking into Classical Conversations I desperately wanted to know what a typical day looked like.  So tonight's post is a day-at-a-glance.

It begins with the tutors gathering together to pray.  We ask the Lord to walk before us, behind us, and to pour out HIS wisdom and HIS words!  We are so very aware that apart from Him we can do nothing.

My husband wanted to know why I was taking our toilet paper to community day.....science! (duh)

 This little boy is so precious to me.  Luke is my friends miracle child and he was so worth the wait!

Each morning we start with a 15 minute assembly.  It's a time of prayer, pledge, and family presentations.  This particular morning we laid hands on one of students who broke her femur.  I loved watching the moms and students gather together to pray over our beloved Paris.

Lejano Family

Family presentations are a time of getting to know our community.  We are not a drop off program.  Parents stay and attend with their children.  It's a great way to knit our hearts to one another.  I love both of these families and I'm so thankful that God placed them in my life.  

Kronz Family

Mrs. Kronz is our 4 year old tutor.  Her kids LOVE her.  

Mrs. Kronz then spends 30 minutes on five crisp components.  This was New Grammar.

Here they are working on the timeline

Classical Conversations trains tutors and moms to use memory tools to help with retention.  Mrs. Kronz is using movement and hand motions in this picture.

Mrs. Buxbaum has our older all-girls class.  She does a FABULOUS job helping her girls learn the material.  

Time for geography!

Classical Conversations tutors students to learn locations and names.

Moms are prepared for exactly what they are going to do at home the next four days.  It's modeled for them in a fun and festive environment.

Welcome to SCIENCE!  One of my favorite parts of CC is that I don't have to put together messy experiments on my own.  When I homeschooled on my own I dreamed of doing more hands on, in community parents simply show up and all the work is done for them.  No supplies to purchase, no messes to clean up.....DONE!

Today we used toilet paper squares to show the distance of the planets from the sun.

They had so much fun.  The only snag was the wind wanted to blow the paper away.

Fear not!  Mrs. Kronz used rocks and tape to keep it in place.

This is where friendships blossom and grow.

Conversations, laughter, and fellowship

Presentations vary from age to age.  In our 4 & 5 year old classes it's simply a show-and-tell.  As they get older the content becomes deeper, but our goal is not content it's skill set.  We work on eye contact, projection, posture, pronunciation.

Ruthie telling us about her favorite stuffed animals.

My Jacob taught his class how to play a particular tune using a cup, a hard surface, and his hands.

They had a blast!

Mrs. Dennison does such a great job leading our big boys.  Oh how I love her!

We do four 6-week Fine Arts segments.  This quarter is music theory.  We use the tin whistle to learn all about notes, grammar, and application through learning to play songs.

Learning to play the D note

Treble

Eighth Note

Eighth note with a flair!

I love watching those serious little faces

The whole family joins the FUN!

Girl Power!

Hey!  Don't forget about the boys.

Our afternoon program is all about writing and language arts

Mrs. Williams (and Mrs. Mullins) does such a great job helping her students do the best they can where they're at.