Everyday Educator - The Practicalities of Practicum, Part 1
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Welcome friends to this episode
00:00:06.760 | of the "Everyday Educator" podcast.
00:00:09.460 | I'm your host, Lisa Bailey,
00:00:11.020 | and I'm excited to spend some time with you today
00:00:14.240 | as we encourage one another, learn together,
00:00:17.340 | and ponder the delights and challenges
00:00:20.220 | that make homeschooling the adventure of a lifetime.
00:00:23.480 | Whether you're just considering
00:00:25.620 | this homeschooling possibility
00:00:27.780 | or deep into the daily delight of family learning,
00:00:31.700 | I believe you'll enjoy thinking along with us.
00:00:35.140 | But don't forget, although this online community is awesome,
00:00:39.880 | you'll find even closer support in a local CC community.
00:00:44.660 | So go to classicalconversations.com
00:00:48.500 | and find a community near you today.
00:00:51.640 | Well, listeners, I'm so happy to welcome you to this episode.
00:00:57.100 | We are gonna talk about one of my favorite things
00:00:59.880 | of all time, we're gonna talk about practicum.
00:01:03.260 | And I brought along a friend
00:01:05.560 | that will be familiar to many of you
00:01:08.700 | who also happens to love practicum
00:01:12.340 | and who has some special insight
00:01:15.880 | that she can share with us about this year's practicum.
00:01:20.480 | I have with me Jill Philbrick.
00:01:22.780 | Jill, thanks for coming back.
00:01:25.340 | - Absolutely, it's wonderful to be with you again.
00:01:28.900 | - Well, I always love our time talking together
00:01:32.060 | about really anything,
00:01:33.660 | but I especially like to talk to you about practicum
00:01:37.480 | and actually be with you at practicum
00:01:40.700 | because I happen to know that you really enjoy practicums.
00:01:45.700 | Why do you love practicum so much, Jill?
00:01:49.740 | - I do love practicum.
00:01:51.660 | I love practicum because, well, first of all,
00:01:54.100 | hanging around other homeschool parents
00:01:56.020 | is the coolest group of people on the planet.
00:01:58.580 | We get each other's jokes
00:02:01.140 | and we can celebrate with each other
00:02:03.180 | with the things that have gone well.
00:02:05.560 | And we sometimes share tips if something isn't going well.
00:02:09.560 | I think we sort of, well, you know, birds of a feather.
00:02:14.420 | So there's just wonderful, it's like being with your family.
00:02:18.020 | And then I also love practicum
00:02:20.320 | because I am always encouraged by the thoughts
00:02:24.720 | that go into the practicum from behind the scenes
00:02:27.420 | that CC, I believe, their intent has always been
00:02:31.200 | to pour into people and to pour into them academically
00:02:35.880 | with what we need for our schooling,
00:02:37.920 | but really just as people
00:02:40.040 | and as people that are made by God
00:02:43.580 | and to value us, to encourage us and to love us.
00:02:48.820 | - I love what you said.
00:02:50.940 | I love that.
00:02:52.260 | And it is true, I'll tell you,
00:02:54.080 | as somebody who works behind the scenes on practicum,
00:02:58.000 | we do think a lot about what will build up
00:03:02.480 | homeschool mom and dads as lead learners in the home.
00:03:06.960 | So we think about what can we give parents this year
00:03:11.080 | that will help them grow academically,
00:03:14.400 | but also there is a real heart in CC leadership
00:03:19.400 | for the moms and dads and their spiritual walk
00:03:24.100 | and their need for encouragement
00:03:26.980 | in the everyday journey of home education.
00:03:31.580 | So I appreciate you saying that
00:03:34.280 | and I'm glad that you value that.
00:03:37.240 | Let me ask you this.
00:03:38.580 | Did you like practicum the first time you went?
00:03:42.740 | - I did, but I didn't know I would.
00:03:45.420 | I only knew that I was going to attend.
00:03:49.980 | I was going to tutor for the first time
00:03:52.860 | and that was one of the parts of tutoring
00:03:54.960 | is it's important for you to attend practicum
00:03:58.500 | partly so that you're building community there
00:04:00.940 | with your directors and fellow parents,
00:04:03.240 | but also so that you maybe know a little bit more
00:04:05.540 | about what it is you're doing.
00:04:07.040 | So I did not know what to expect
00:04:11.420 | and I wouldn't say I was looking forward to it,
00:04:15.800 | but I loved every minute of it when I got there.
00:04:19.520 | - What was most encouraging to you?
00:04:22.300 | - It was so simple.
00:04:23.980 | It was not a whole three days or one day
00:04:28.980 | or hours and hours of do this, do this, do this,
00:04:33.240 | do this, do this.
00:04:34.660 | It was very engaging, very inviting.
00:04:38.020 | It helped me to think through
00:04:40.820 | if the speaker asked, "Well, what's a hobby you have?"
00:04:44.940 | Well, I could answer that.
00:04:46.660 | So it was just so accessible, I guess maybe is a good word.
00:04:51.660 | And nobody there felt, it didn't appear that they felt
00:04:56.700 | that there were any wrong answers,
00:04:59.660 | that whatever we were in our life was totally fine
00:05:03.240 | and you could enter into that conversation
00:05:05.560 | and be encouraged and use the information that was given
00:05:10.100 | and find out that probably you're already doing
00:05:12.660 | a little of it and why that's working
00:05:15.500 | so that you can do it in other areas as well.
00:05:17.880 | - I really liked that.
00:05:19.940 | My experience was kind of the same.
00:05:24.700 | I didn't know what I was getting into.
00:05:26.420 | I really, I had never heard of practicum.
00:05:29.020 | That's not a word that gets thrown around
00:05:31.620 | in most people's circles.
00:05:34.020 | And so somebody invites you to go to a practicum
00:05:37.340 | and you think, "I don't know what that is
00:05:39.540 | and I don't have any frame of reference for that.
00:05:41.580 | Nothing else is like that."
00:05:42.860 | And I had somebody explain to me that it was a conference
00:05:46.220 | and it was kind of like a prayer meeting
00:05:50.460 | and kind of like a pep rally and kind of like a lecture
00:05:55.460 | where you found out a lot of good things,
00:05:58.180 | but it was also practical.
00:05:59.500 | And I could not imagine what the intersection
00:06:01.620 | of all that stuff was.
00:06:03.620 | And so the first time I ever went to a practicum,
00:06:06.420 | I found a lot of what you said,
00:06:08.580 | that there were other people who were both like me
00:06:13.060 | and not like me.
00:06:14.860 | And so I could learn things from them
00:06:16.900 | and they maybe learned things from me,
00:06:19.700 | but we found what we had in common
00:06:22.500 | and we moved together into learning things
00:06:26.820 | that we all were interested in knowing
00:06:29.740 | because we loved our children
00:06:31.220 | and we really wanted to do our very best
00:06:34.540 | in this endeavor that God had drawn us
00:06:37.300 | into this homeschooling.
00:06:38.660 | And so I liked that.
00:06:40.140 | It was very encouraging.
00:06:43.060 | So for years and years,
00:06:45.620 | I had the privilege of training practicum speakers
00:06:49.780 | and speaker trainers
00:06:51.900 | and working real intimately with practicum.
00:06:54.900 | And I remember year after year after year telling people
00:06:59.820 | there are three main purposes of practicum,
00:07:04.700 | to inspire, to encourage, and to equip.
00:07:09.700 | So are that, I mean, some of that,
00:07:12.980 | I mean, equipping sounds very practical.
00:07:15.460 | Like you're gonna, equipping means that I'm gonna come
00:07:18.860 | and you're gonna teach me how to do
00:07:21.220 | this big, hairy, audacious task that I've undertaken.
00:07:25.220 | But how are inspiring and encouraging practical concerns?
00:07:33.260 | - Well, I guess I would say
00:07:36.180 | that it's hard to live uninspired.
00:07:39.620 | It's hard to cook dinner when you don't feel inspired.
00:07:42.980 | - Yes.
00:07:43.820 | - You know, sometimes you just need some motivation,
00:07:48.820 | you know, to do the laundry and to mow the lawn
00:07:52.620 | and to wash the car, to cook the dinner,
00:07:57.620 | to sometimes to even do things you really enjoy doing.
00:08:01.820 | And if we aren't, if there isn't a little bit
00:08:04.620 | of something beautiful in it and some inspiration to it
00:08:09.340 | and sharing those things with other people,
00:08:12.220 | we can kind of get burned out.
00:08:14.860 | So I think inspiration maybe doesn't appear practical.
00:08:18.940 | Maybe we don't think of it as practical.
00:08:21.780 | But I think God would say it is practical,
00:08:24.860 | that it is important for us to be inspired
00:08:29.620 | and for us to be encouraged.
00:08:31.780 | Our children need practical encouragement.
00:08:33.940 | So encouragement itself is practical
00:08:38.300 | because of the results.
00:08:40.260 | And inspiration itself is practical because of the results.
00:08:45.260 | And we would definitely think equipping is practical,
00:08:49.260 | but maybe it would also be kind of fun.
00:08:52.340 | - Yeah, I agree.
00:08:54.420 | I think that it is,
00:08:58.660 | all the things that happen at Practicum to me
00:09:02.300 | are very practical
00:09:04.220 | in that we put them all into practice in our homeschooling.
00:09:10.220 | We want to inspire our children to do their best.
00:09:15.540 | We want to inspire our children to use their creativity.
00:09:19.740 | We want to inspire our children to try harder
00:09:23.860 | or to try something new.
00:09:28.060 | And all of those are practical things that happen at home.
00:09:33.060 | When we come to Practicum,
00:09:36.900 | we are inspired by people maybe who are farther along
00:09:41.660 | in the journey than we are,
00:09:44.100 | or we're inspired by somebody that we know
00:09:47.460 | had a really hard time with something.
00:09:52.460 | They had a child who really struggled to learn,
00:09:57.260 | or they had a home situation that was causing them angst
00:10:02.260 | or taking a lot of outside resources or time.
00:10:06.420 | And we are inspired when we hear
00:10:09.380 | that those people have found success,
00:10:13.380 | that they have persevered, that God has blessed them,
00:10:16.660 | that God is upholding them.
00:10:18.180 | It's inspiring to hear other people's experiences.
00:10:23.180 | And I think that's really important.
00:10:26.180 | That is very practical.
00:10:27.940 | For me, it was, I can keep going some days
00:10:32.620 | because I knew that friends of mine
00:10:35.660 | had been through similar things
00:10:38.020 | that I was feeling pulled down by
00:10:40.780 | and had persevered and come out shining on the other side.
00:10:44.700 | And that was inspiring.
00:10:46.740 | - Yes, it is inspiring.
00:10:48.580 | I agree, to know that there are people walking it with us
00:10:54.260 | is inspiring to know you're not alone.
00:10:57.340 | - Yes, and it's very encouraging too.
00:11:00.660 | You know, I think one of Satan's great weapons
00:11:05.220 | is he uses our failings or our perceived failings,
00:11:09.740 | things that we don't feel certain about in ourselves.
00:11:13.020 | He holds that over our heads.
00:11:15.500 | And then his second big weapon is
00:11:19.380 | that he whispers in our ears
00:11:21.860 | that we are the only ones who are experiencing that
00:11:25.340 | and that we should certainly not tell anybody about it
00:11:29.020 | because they'll look down on it.
00:11:30.340 | So he chips away at our hearts and our minds
00:11:34.900 | and he cloaks our struggle in silence.
00:11:38.460 | And so we suffer alone.
00:11:40.780 | And that's a great weapon.
00:11:41.900 | God does not want us to suffer alone.
00:11:44.500 | We come to practice Him
00:11:45.740 | so that we can encourage each other.
00:11:47.980 | And I come not to tell you how perfect my school year was,
00:11:52.740 | but to say, "Man, I never thought we would make it
00:11:55.700 | "to the end of mock trial."
00:11:57.060 | Or, "The science fair almost killed me.
00:11:59.620 | "How was your year?"
00:12:01.540 | Or, "I'm really struggling with working on Latin
00:12:06.540 | "with my child.
00:12:08.140 | "I think they need me to do the work with them
00:12:10.060 | "and I'm not sure I'm willing.
00:12:12.140 | "Help me, help me see the beauty."
00:12:14.300 | So it's very practical to receive encouragement
00:12:19.020 | from one another.
00:12:20.580 | And it's very biblical to encourage one another.
00:12:24.260 | And it sticks it to Satan.
00:12:27.340 | When we tell the truth about what's going on,
00:12:30.940 | we tell the truth about where we struggle
00:12:33.380 | and the truth about where God has given us triumph.
00:12:36.220 | And that is very encouraging to our communities.
00:12:39.460 | - I really like how you said
00:12:42.740 | that when we tell the truth,
00:12:45.140 | I think that's a very powerful statement.
00:12:48.180 | I believe the devil's intent is definitely to isolate us.
00:12:51.660 | So that not only to isolate us from each other,
00:12:54.380 | but then eventually to isolate us from the word.
00:12:57.460 | We might think we're pulling away from each other
00:12:59.500 | so that we can spend more time in the word,
00:13:01.820 | but really isolation, he does not have an end of that.
00:13:06.820 | He will keep pushing for further and further isolation.
00:13:10.660 | So digging in and being with each other
00:13:12.740 | and telling the truth with one another
00:13:15.380 | about ourself or sometimes about what we,
00:13:18.180 | if they say, "I don't know how to do Latin."
00:13:21.260 | And then you also said,
00:13:22.660 | the question might not really be how, but will you?
00:13:26.820 | If a parent is honest enough to say,
00:13:28.900 | "I don't know if I am willing."
00:13:31.660 | That's a very different conversation
00:13:33.500 | than I don't know how.
00:13:35.100 | - Exactly.
00:13:36.660 | And in community, we can receive encouragement
00:13:40.180 | for our own struggles,
00:13:41.860 | not just for our students' struggles.
00:13:44.380 | And nothing draws your heart closer to your community
00:13:50.340 | than being real with them and having them be real with you.
00:13:54.820 | - Yes, very true.
00:13:57.780 | That's very true.
00:13:59.340 | - Here's what I'm saying to you listeners.
00:14:02.500 | If for no other reason than community building,
00:14:07.100 | you should come to practicum every summer.
00:14:10.260 | Every summer, you need to knit your hearts together
00:14:14.860 | with the moms and dads in your community.
00:14:17.780 | We will become a whole cloth
00:14:20.020 | laid out to the glory of God
00:14:21.660 | when we knit ourselves together.
00:14:23.300 | - Yes, and a bunch of balls of yarn laid near each other
00:14:26.100 | never become fabric.
00:14:27.900 | - Yes, Jill, that's so true.
00:14:30.260 | Okay, so let's talk about really
00:14:35.540 | what happens at practicum.
00:14:37.620 | How is the learning at practicum made practical?
00:14:42.620 | What will we do as lead learners at practicum?
00:14:48.460 | And are we gonna learn more about these 15 tools
00:14:52.380 | or 15 skills that we keep talking about?
00:14:56.100 | - I would say yes, yes, and yes.
00:14:59.380 | But first of all, one of the practical pieces is,
00:15:04.660 | well, we call ourself classical.
00:15:06.380 | We're in classical stations,
00:15:08.220 | and so we think that also means we are classical.
00:15:11.100 | And sometimes we are, and sometimes we're not.
00:15:13.420 | To get another practice at using classical tools
00:15:19.100 | can remind us of what we are doing that is classical
00:15:24.100 | and what we are doing that is not classical
00:15:27.220 | and how to regroup and how to say,
00:15:29.220 | oh, I have made this harder maybe than it needs to be.
00:15:32.820 | Or maybe I have not necessarily made it harder,
00:15:35.820 | but I haven't had the conversation with my child,
00:15:38.380 | or I haven't cracked open this particular topic with them
00:15:43.020 | and just checked on it.
00:15:45.420 | There can be a lot of self-checkup,
00:15:47.300 | a little bit of a checklist maybe
00:15:50.700 | of how are things coming with me and my 15 tools?
00:15:54.300 | Am I using them?
00:15:55.820 | And I think learning to love those 15 tools
00:15:59.220 | is something that happens in community.
00:16:01.100 | We might not be completely enamored by all 15,
00:16:05.660 | but that can come, and we might have favorites.
00:16:08.820 | Like I have a favorite knife.
00:16:10.540 | Oh my, this knife can do it all.
00:16:13.340 | And if that knife is not clean, then I need to go,
00:16:16.540 | I don't even let it not get clean.
00:16:18.940 | Okay, so let me rephrase that.
00:16:21.700 | I use it, and then I immediately clean it
00:16:24.500 | because it is my favorite,
00:16:26.340 | and I'm going to need it three times for everything I make.
00:16:30.340 | So you might have a favorite whatever,
00:16:33.820 | a favorite tool of some kind,
00:16:36.140 | or you might have that,
00:16:37.300 | it could be a fashion accessory that's your favorite,
00:16:39.580 | or it could be your favorite whatever, your favorite thing.
00:16:43.500 | And those 15 tools can become our favorites, our go-tos,
00:16:48.260 | that if you were traveling and you said,
00:16:50.300 | I need to take, you're going to go camping
00:16:52.700 | and you're going to take 15 things with you
00:16:54.500 | that you know you use every day, those are your 15.
00:16:59.220 | And to practice using them together.
00:17:01.500 | And then even when we have those conversations,
00:17:04.060 | like we said earlier, sometimes we realize,
00:17:06.460 | oh, I am doing that.
00:17:08.340 | So this is, I am doing this.
00:17:11.220 | And that can be very encouraging
00:17:13.380 | to see that we are doing it.
00:17:14.700 | And then to look at how we can maybe even do that
00:17:16.780 | with more joy and being a little more intentional with it
00:17:19.860 | and to recognize, hey guys, we did it.
00:17:22.340 | We were classical today.
00:17:24.580 | - Yes, and just the practice of doing those things
00:17:29.100 | and naming it as you do it
00:17:31.980 | keeps it in the forefront of your mind.
00:17:34.100 | It occurs to me suddenly, Jill,
00:17:35.860 | that we may have a lot of new families listening today
00:17:40.860 | who have not been to practicum before
00:17:45.380 | and some who may have been only to one practicum or two.
00:17:49.620 | So we might need a refresher course.
00:17:51.300 | The 15 skills that we're talking about
00:17:54.820 | that we will use at practicum every year
00:17:59.420 | include the skills of grammar,
00:18:03.500 | which are?
00:18:04.620 | - The five core habits.
00:18:07.700 | And that would be, there's the acronym NAMES, N-A-M-E-S.
00:18:12.380 | So naming, attending, memory or memorizing,
00:18:17.380 | expressing and storytelling.
00:18:19.820 | And those tools, even though we'd already used
00:18:22.540 | some other classical tools,
00:18:23.820 | when those were introduced,
00:18:25.460 | it opened doors to me.
00:18:28.820 | Realized that those grammar tools work
00:18:31.460 | no matter if you're in a grammar stage of learning or not.
00:18:35.420 | Those are so beautiful, so brilliant,
00:18:39.100 | so inviting and hospitable.
00:18:41.380 | And it helped me fall in love with art.
00:18:43.340 | - That's very cool.
00:18:46.060 | I did not know that NAMES
00:18:48.500 | is what helped you fall in love with art.
00:18:51.100 | - And I wanna say they are super natural.
00:18:54.220 | We have spent the last week taking care of our grandson
00:18:58.740 | while our new granddaughter was born and in the hospital.
00:19:02.580 | And so we had been with Gideon, 22 months old, all week.
00:19:07.580 | And the other day, on one of our last days with him,
00:19:12.060 | my husband looked up at me and he said,
00:19:14.940 | "Oh my gosh, it just occurred to me
00:19:17.220 | how he does NAMES naturally all day long."
00:19:22.220 | He is constantly practicing the names of things
00:19:27.380 | that he knows and he is attending to everything around him
00:19:32.380 | and asking questions about it or pointing at it.
00:19:35.740 | He is memorizing because he rehearses.
00:19:38.220 | Some days he gets up in the morning
00:19:39.820 | and he just starts saying all the words that he knows.
00:19:42.260 | It's like he's going through the card catalog of his mind
00:19:45.740 | to remember all the words that he knows.
00:19:48.220 | And he likes to make sounds.
00:19:49.860 | Now he doesn't storytell yet because he's 22 months old
00:19:53.100 | and he doesn't have all the vocabulary he would need.
00:19:56.700 | But what I'm saying is that these are such natural tools
00:20:00.660 | that basically non-verbal children use them
00:20:05.500 | to become verbal and to become active learners.
00:20:10.500 | So yes, NAMES are wonderful.
00:20:13.900 | Maybe non-anything that we want to become,
00:20:17.540 | we can use these tools to become.
00:20:21.340 | Maybe non-happy, maybe non-peaceful,
00:20:24.820 | maybe non-mathy, maybe non-classical, whatever.
00:20:29.820 | We can use some tools and practice with them
00:20:34.180 | and discover the joy of that thing by naming it,
00:20:38.420 | by giving close attention to it,
00:20:40.860 | by memorizing even small parts and then recalling those
00:20:45.140 | and by finding ways to express them
00:20:47.020 | and express thanks to God for them.
00:20:49.580 | And then by telling others.
00:20:51.500 | - Yeah, yes.
00:20:53.780 | And so that's the first five skills that we talk about
00:20:58.380 | and that we will talk about at practicum this year.
00:21:01.380 | You'll get some very practical ideas
00:21:05.020 | of how to promote those 15 skills
00:21:08.380 | with all of the children and grownups
00:21:11.420 | who live at your house.
00:21:13.260 | But you'll also be introduced
00:21:15.660 | and given opportunity to practice
00:21:18.900 | with the five tools of the dialectic,
00:21:23.900 | the invention, elocution.
00:21:30.380 | No, these are the five common topics.
00:21:33.220 | So definition, comparison, relationships,
00:21:38.260 | circumstance and testimony or authority.
00:21:42.700 | And so those are five more skills.
00:21:46.300 | And then the last five skills
00:21:50.220 | are the five canons of rhetoric,
00:21:53.540 | invention, arrangement, elocution, memory and delivery.
00:21:58.540 | And so we are gonna talk about those 15 skills
00:22:04.980 | and not just talk about it,
00:22:08.020 | but actually do things to help you use those tools.
00:22:13.020 | Jill, tell us a little bit
00:22:14.380 | about how that happens at practicum.
00:22:17.300 | - Well, at practicum,
00:22:19.340 | we sometimes come with this big idea of our homeschool,
00:22:23.460 | all of our homeschool and all of our education.
00:22:26.260 | And if we narrow it down a little,
00:22:28.540 | we might narrow it down to one year.
00:22:30.340 | We might narrow it down to, or even two years,
00:22:32.980 | maybe this last year and what we think went well
00:22:36.100 | or didn't go well or what we would like to add or change.
00:22:39.700 | And then the upcoming year
00:22:40.940 | and a little about what our goals are,
00:22:43.140 | sometimes what we're excited about,
00:22:44.700 | sometimes what we're dreading, those kinds of things.
00:22:47.700 | And so the big picture is great,
00:22:51.260 | but if we can narrow it even further and say,
00:22:55.020 | okay, let's look at one subject.
00:22:56.980 | So in practicum, we will take one area
00:23:01.660 | that the classical tools can be used to explore.
00:23:05.140 | So it could be history or a Latin or science,
00:23:09.140 | lots of different areas.
00:23:10.620 | And this year happens to be math.
00:23:12.740 | So we will take math and slow our walk.
00:23:17.260 | And it occurred to me,
00:23:18.660 | as I was thinking about our upcoming call,
00:23:20.980 | that so often we hear the phrase, or in CC,
00:23:23.820 | I hear the phrase that, you know,
00:23:25.700 | we walked through that together,
00:23:27.540 | or we learned Latin together.
00:23:30.260 | And I think this is the only part of my life
00:23:32.300 | where I really hear that.
00:23:34.540 | And it occurred to me
00:23:35.700 | that that is very different than running.
00:23:38.540 | And we can run ahead of ourselves
00:23:41.620 | sometimes in our thoughts,
00:23:43.860 | and sometimes in our worries or in our enthusiasm.
00:23:47.060 | And maybe we run ahead of our children
00:23:49.340 | with where we feel like the goal is,
00:23:53.660 | but they're walking.
00:23:55.100 | And if we can walk with them,
00:23:57.460 | in fact, there is a Bible verse that says
00:24:00.180 | that God gently leads those with young.
00:24:04.780 | And when I heard that verse the first time,
00:24:09.140 | I wept because I did feel so rushed and so hurried.
00:24:13.540 | And in practicum, we are not rushing.
00:24:16.180 | We are not hurrying.
00:24:17.780 | We are gently leading.
00:24:19.620 | So we will take one thing that we can look at,
00:24:23.140 | and we can apply those classical tools.
00:24:25.060 | For instance, if we were looking at,
00:24:27.900 | well, let's just talk math,
00:24:29.100 | since that's what this theory is.
00:24:31.220 | So we might see either a definition of something in math
00:24:35.500 | or an equation or an expression in math,
00:24:39.980 | and ponder it.
00:24:41.420 | Just take a moment and realize
00:24:43.700 | that solving it quickly is not the only goal.
00:24:48.700 | 'Cause we could look at three times two,
00:24:50.860 | and all of our adult brains might say,
00:24:53.140 | "Oh, that's six."
00:24:53.980 | And we want to turn the page.
00:24:55.780 | But let's apply some classical skills and some joy to it,
00:25:00.780 | and take a look at that three.
00:25:02.620 | What does three represent?
00:25:04.060 | What might our child see when they see three?
00:25:07.140 | What does that X mean?
00:25:08.460 | Are there different ways to write that?
00:25:10.580 | What does that two mean?
00:25:12.420 | What do we know about these?
00:25:14.540 | Why do we know that six,
00:25:16.980 | that three times two will be an even number?
00:25:20.500 | Why, what would we think if we saw three times three?
00:25:24.100 | What would we, what if this,
00:25:26.060 | if we can change this or look at that?
00:25:28.980 | So we're definitely using those,
00:25:31.620 | some of those 15 tools that we talked about.
00:25:33.860 | We're looking at naming the parts.
00:25:36.180 | We're looking at looking closer.
00:25:39.380 | And what did we already learn?
00:25:41.420 | And are there other ways to express this
00:25:43.700 | by changing the symbol?
00:25:45.460 | And is there a story that goes with it?
00:25:47.860 | And it could be a story of the time
00:25:50.660 | that three people each accidentally got
00:25:53.460 | two whatever's at the store,
00:25:55.380 | or it could be the story
00:25:57.300 | of how our child learned three times two,
00:25:59.940 | or things like that.
00:26:00.900 | And then with the five common topics
00:26:03.020 | and the five canons of rhetoric,
00:26:04.220 | that of course expands into deeper things
00:26:07.540 | with those numbers.
00:26:09.500 | So slowing down, looking at a thing,
00:26:12.740 | and practicing those tools for ourself
00:26:14.980 | instead of just asking our child,
00:26:17.260 | "Okay, look at this and tell me what's the same."
00:26:19.180 | And then good, check mark, move on.
00:26:21.660 | To do it and to have that conversation
00:26:23.940 | and to give ourself enough time
00:26:25.460 | to have that conversation,
00:26:26.940 | ignites some joy.
00:26:29.020 | That joy in the actual looking at one thing
00:26:33.220 | and seeing how beautiful that one thing is
00:26:35.940 | instead of trying to complete a hundred of them
00:26:37.940 | as fast as possible.
00:26:39.980 | - You know what?
00:26:41.620 | I, that was the most restful answer.
00:26:45.300 | You know, I could feel my blood pressure go,
00:26:47.820 | I can feel my heart rate slowing down.
00:26:50.060 | I absolutely love that take
00:26:53.620 | on what happens at practicum.
00:26:55.980 | Listeners, I hope that everybody
00:26:57.620 | who's been to a practicum
00:26:59.460 | will stop and think,
00:27:01.660 | that's what it's supposed to be like.
00:27:03.820 | We are supposed to slow down.
00:27:06.820 | We are, this is not a sprint.
00:27:09.940 | This is a marathon.
00:27:11.460 | The practicum time is for us to thoroughly enjoy
00:27:17.620 | and to consider and slowly is actually better.
00:27:21.820 | I love that.
00:27:22.700 | It is an opportunity for us
00:27:25.940 | to practice slowing down ourselves
00:27:29.260 | so that we are then ready
00:27:32.740 | to be the example of slowing down with our children,
00:27:37.100 | enjoying a conversation,
00:27:39.940 | actually asking them what do they see
00:27:43.260 | and what are they thinking about
00:27:45.140 | and what else might be going on.
00:27:48.340 | That's a beautiful way to explore any concept.
00:27:52.340 | And it's a super way to explore math,
00:27:56.420 | which is like you said,
00:27:58.140 | the topic that we'll delve into more deeply
00:28:02.220 | or use as practice fodder this year.
00:28:06.860 | Now, listen, I know that this year
00:28:10.100 | is especially important for all of us.
00:28:13.100 | There are things that we glean from practicum every year,
00:28:16.820 | the community aspect and learning about these 15 skills
00:28:20.900 | we practice every year.
00:28:22.820 | But this year is different.
00:28:24.340 | Our CC leadership is so eager
00:28:26.980 | for everyone to attend practicum this year.
00:28:31.420 | And it's because we're doing math,
00:28:33.460 | but we've done math before, Jill.
00:28:35.900 | So why is it so important
00:28:38.180 | that we all come to practicum this year
00:28:40.580 | and do math together?
00:28:42.420 | - This year, there is so much excitement
00:28:45.980 | about the new math curriculum, the MathMap.
00:28:49.180 | - Yes.
00:28:50.340 | - Just the chance to share it
00:28:52.260 | and to let parents see the beauty of it,
00:28:56.220 | that it is the most inviting, hospitable,
00:29:01.220 | I've said this quite a few times,
00:29:03.060 | so maybe you've heard me say it before,
00:29:05.460 | but when I was in high school,
00:29:07.540 | I was in a Christian high school
00:29:09.220 | and what made math Christian
00:29:11.820 | was that we added disciples or multiplied fishes.
00:29:16.020 | It was not that it truly looked for God in math.
00:29:21.020 | And I think that we have done that in the past.
00:29:25.300 | We have looked for, okay,
00:29:26.660 | well, where do you find math in Bible verses
00:29:29.900 | or where, and some good things,
00:29:32.300 | or what is a tithe or how many tribes of Judah
00:29:37.060 | and how many of them all had their,
00:29:38.980 | how many baskets of manna?
00:29:40.900 | But we can go deeper into the concepts of math
00:29:45.660 | and seeing the faithfulness of God
00:29:48.180 | and the patience of God
00:29:50.540 | and inviting ourselves to a conversation,
00:29:55.540 | just saying, no, I want to come.
00:29:58.060 | I am coming to that table, Lord, because you prepared it.
00:30:02.340 | Not because I necessarily thought
00:30:04.740 | I would enjoy the table of math,
00:30:07.260 | but because I will know you more in math
00:30:10.500 | and it will help me to not drag my children
00:30:15.500 | through a hard approach to math
00:30:20.900 | or project my own math love or issues onto my children
00:30:25.900 | to have that slower conversation.
00:30:30.860 | And if I'm having a slower paced conversation
00:30:34.980 | with other parents at the table
00:30:36.660 | and I see the value of that,
00:30:39.140 | then maybe I will not rush my children.
00:30:42.660 | And when they appear to want to talk about something else,
00:30:47.180 | I can take a minute and say, you know what?
00:30:48.780 | I did that at practicum and we still gained so much.
00:30:52.780 | So maybe it isn't a stalling tactic.
00:30:54.860 | Maybe it is, but maybe this is also part of learning math.
00:30:59.860 | And knowing that it isn't about any one age,
00:31:03.380 | it's not too late,
00:31:04.700 | but it's also not too early to have conversations
00:31:09.700 | about math that point to God
00:31:12.300 | the same way we would with science.
00:31:14.580 | It seems natural for us to talk about science and God.
00:31:17.900 | Look, God made this flower.
00:31:19.340 | - Right, right.
00:31:20.180 | - But we can say, look, look at all the places
00:31:23.660 | we see threes that God made.
00:31:26.300 | Look at all the places that we see spirals.
00:31:30.500 | Look at all the places where we see straight lines.
00:31:33.980 | Look at all the places where we see hops on a number line.
00:31:38.420 | And to do that with our young children
00:31:40.340 | and to not miss those moments.
00:31:42.300 | And then obviously we can do them
00:31:43.740 | with our older children too
00:31:45.620 | and draw on the math experiences they've had up till now
00:31:49.420 | and either renew our minds with them according to the word
00:31:53.580 | and say, it might've been hard,
00:31:55.020 | but we're gonna change that.
00:31:56.580 | And now we're gonna make it God honoring.
00:32:00.060 | - Yes, I love that.
00:32:03.420 | You know what is occurring to me, Jill?
00:32:05.300 | I really wanna talk to you
00:32:08.020 | even more about this practicum.
00:32:10.900 | I hope that listeners that we've given you
00:32:13.060 | something to think about for real,
00:32:16.420 | that you are really beginning to think,
00:32:20.380 | I, maybe I really do need to go to practicum this year.
00:32:23.940 | I want that community.
00:32:25.420 | I do wanna practice those tools,
00:32:27.340 | but man, they're talking about things
00:32:29.700 | like having conversations and slowing down.
00:32:32.700 | And this really appeals to me,
00:32:34.460 | but math does not really appeal to me.
00:32:36.980 | So I'm still sort of on the fence.
00:32:38.860 | I wanna ask you Jill to come back
00:32:40.780 | and do another episode with me
00:32:42.580 | because I really want us to dive deeper into the math map
00:32:47.220 | and what we're gonna specifically do
00:32:49.540 | because I know there are a host of people out there
00:32:51.700 | who are thinking, yeah, well, here's the deal.
00:32:54.220 | My kids are not having to do the math map yet.
00:32:56.780 | And so I don't really need to do this,
00:32:59.420 | get familiar with the math map yet.
00:33:01.380 | I could just wait.
00:33:02.660 | I don't want you listeners.
00:33:04.060 | I don't want you to do that.
00:33:05.140 | And I think Jill can help you to understand why,
00:33:08.260 | but it's gonna take us a little bit longer.
00:33:10.620 | So Jill, I wanna close with,
00:33:13.900 | and I wanna ask you if you'll come back
00:33:15.860 | and talk to me about the math map
00:33:19.340 | and the math map practicum,
00:33:21.740 | which is what we'll be doing this summer.
00:33:24.140 | Will you talk to me in depth
00:33:25.700 | about that a little bit more next time?
00:33:27.780 | - Of course, I'm always happy to.
00:33:30.020 | But I also want you to give a testimony
00:33:35.020 | because I do feel like there are some people
00:33:39.060 | who are thinking, yeah, well,
00:33:41.340 | I don't have to know that math map stuff yet.
00:33:43.620 | And so I'm not sure this is my year.
00:33:46.220 | You've worked a lot with the rollout of the math map
00:33:52.940 | and the pilot groups and stuff.
00:33:55.980 | And you do have a testimony
00:34:00.980 | of what the math map has done for you.
00:34:03.260 | So I'd like to end this podcast with that testimony,
00:34:06.900 | and then we'll pick back up with more math map specifics
00:34:10.620 | on the next episode when we talk a little bit more
00:34:13.300 | about practicum specifics.
00:34:15.340 | - Sure.
00:34:18.620 | So when I had the opportunity to join in as a pilot tutor,
00:34:24.300 | the first thing that happened was a math camp.
00:34:27.660 | And so I went to the math map group
00:34:31.300 | and several of us were together.
00:34:33.660 | And we were given some of the booklets
00:34:36.900 | and they were in their much earlier stages.
00:34:39.240 | And some of them were, they were different domains,
00:34:42.300 | which is something you'll learn about.
00:34:43.580 | Basically, that's just the numbers,
00:34:46.140 | a word to describe the kinds of numbers you might be using.
00:34:48.900 | You might be using single digit numbers
00:34:50.700 | or fractions or percents, which would be decimals
00:34:54.260 | or some big, crazy, complicated looking stuff
00:34:58.220 | you either never saw or haven't seen in a long time.
00:35:00.920 | Yes, there were a variety of these booklets
00:35:04.420 | in these different domains.
00:35:05.700 | And we had the chance to just take the book
00:35:08.740 | and go look at it and work through
00:35:11.420 | with no person teaching us.
00:35:14.620 | Just look at it and see.
00:35:16.620 | And there were so many discoveries that I made,
00:35:20.140 | even things that either I had done lots of times before,
00:35:24.180 | like what I would have considered simple addition.
00:35:27.780 | I discovered things about myself, about God,
00:35:32.700 | about areas I need to develop my character.
00:35:37.060 | I discovered things that I could rejoice in
00:35:40.100 | and have aha moments.
00:35:41.740 | And then in the things that I either had never seen
00:35:44.740 | or had not seen in a long time, the same thing happened.
00:35:49.160 | Just taking the time to slowly look, to compare,
00:35:52.460 | to not have to keep up with a video
00:35:55.400 | or keep up with an expert, but to learn for myself.
00:36:00.340 | So in the actual calculations part of math,
00:36:05.060 | I grew so much and found that I needed more vocabulary,
00:36:10.060 | found where my vocabulary was weak,
00:36:12.140 | where my vocabulary was strong.
00:36:13.820 | But the biggest thing I learned about my vocabulary
00:36:16.580 | is I had let some words in that were holding me back.
00:36:21.740 | Yes, they were my own words, like easy and hard.
00:36:25.020 | - Aha.
00:36:26.340 | - Yes, it was like life-changing.
00:36:28.500 | And on day one, one of the things,
00:36:31.300 | and I'm sure all of us sitting in the room,
00:36:33.100 | we might've said, "Oh yeah, that was really hard for me."
00:36:35.540 | And I don't know if they had it in their notes
00:36:37.900 | or if hearing us so often use the words easy and hard,
00:36:42.340 | brought it out, but they would say, no, how about this?
00:36:46.740 | How about instead of saying it hard or easy,
00:36:49.620 | calling it hard or easy, how about say,
00:36:52.380 | that's unfamiliar to me, or that is familiar to me.
00:36:56.540 | And it took all the self-evaluation out of it.
00:37:00.660 | And it really was such a breakthrough moment
00:37:06.900 | to not have to say that's hard for me or that's easy for me,
00:37:11.580 | because now you're putting yourself on some sort of scale
00:37:16.460 | with every other person in the room.
00:37:18.460 | If you say it's hard and someone else says it's easy,
00:37:22.100 | now you're comparing like, I don't know,
00:37:24.180 | your IQ or something, which is not.
00:37:26.300 | - Right, right.
00:37:27.940 | - It's your experience.
00:37:29.340 | Have you done this before or have you done it
00:37:31.580 | in recent times?
00:37:33.620 | And it's such an approachable way
00:37:36.220 | to handle things in community.
00:37:37.740 | I think that will change the culture of our CC groups
00:37:41.620 | in every, not just math, to instead of assessing something
00:37:46.860 | as hard or easy, which then makes it an assessment on us,
00:37:50.300 | to make it an assessment of familiar or unfamiliar.
00:37:53.860 | And then we just know whether we need to start
00:37:55.900 | with vocabulary or if we feel like we have
00:37:58.820 | the vocabulary we need.
00:38:01.140 | And that's what happened to me with art,
00:38:03.380 | with the names, the five core habits.
00:38:06.180 | And I learned that in math,
00:38:09.700 | I don't have to be a calculations expert to love math.
00:38:15.380 | And to be a math person and to get all the math jokes,
00:38:19.780 | or if I don't get it, it's okay for me to go look it up
00:38:22.900 | and say, okay, I see people laughing at that.
00:38:24.780 | Now, I wanna know why that is funny.
00:38:26.860 | And I genuinely believe I am a math person.
00:38:31.620 | I do not believe that I have
00:38:33.820 | the strongest calculation skills.
00:38:36.180 | I still would not say that I remember every formula
00:38:40.980 | well enough to do it without my charts,
00:38:42.780 | without going, but I am perfectly comfortable now
00:38:46.980 | being a person who goes back and checks for what I need.
00:38:50.340 | We do that with the Bible.
00:38:52.020 | Nobody-
00:38:52.860 | - Absolutely.
00:38:53.700 | - Right.
00:38:54.540 | Nobody says, well, I guess I must not be a Christian
00:38:56.540 | since I don't remember Leviticus 4.2.
00:38:59.740 | - Right.
00:39:00.580 | - I mean-
00:39:01.420 | - Absolutely.
00:39:02.260 | - You just get your Bible out and you look it up.
00:39:04.140 | You use your concordance or you even Google it,
00:39:07.780 | but you just go get what you need
00:39:11.260 | and refresh yourself or learn.
00:39:14.180 | And that happened to me in math.
00:39:17.380 | And so now I don't feel like I have to pass
00:39:19.980 | some sort of test to call myself a math person.
00:39:24.260 | I don't feel like I have to qualify myself
00:39:27.220 | with anybody else to love learning math.
00:39:31.380 | And I don't feel like I have to go to the far ends
00:39:34.460 | of anything and get it right the first time
00:39:38.300 | to still enjoy the math lesson.
00:39:41.100 | - Wow.
00:39:41.940 | That is a huge encouragement.
00:39:44.300 | Listeners, I hope that's probably reason enough
00:39:48.340 | for you to come to the MathMap Practicum this summer,
00:39:52.020 | even if your child is not going into Challenge A
00:39:56.340 | and using it in community this year.
00:39:59.380 | But we are gonna dive even more deeply
00:40:02.380 | into what we're gonna do with the MathMap
00:40:06.420 | and Practicum this year on the next episode
00:40:09.940 | of "The Everyday Educator."
00:40:11.420 | Jill, I appreciate you for inspiring
00:40:15.620 | and encouraging and equipping us today.
00:40:19.220 | And I look forward to what you're gonna tell us next time.
00:40:22.100 | - That sounds wonderful.
00:40:23.380 | Thank you for having me.
00:40:24.660 | - Yes, I'm really glad.
00:40:26.220 | And listeners, I have one more thing
00:40:29.260 | that I think could benefit you.
00:40:31.380 | That's another experience coming up for you in May.
00:40:36.780 | Our annual National Events Weekend
00:40:39.340 | is May 2nd through the 4th in Southern Pines.
00:40:43.340 | If you've been before, you know what a fun time it is.
00:40:47.180 | Lots of games, lots of concerts, lots of speakers,
00:40:50.420 | lots of things to do, lots of people to see.
00:40:53.980 | If you've never been, this might be a great year
00:40:56.900 | for you to come and find out.
00:40:58.900 | It's presented by the Classical Conversations Foundation.
00:41:02.540 | It's just a time for CC families
00:41:04.500 | from all across the nation to come,
00:41:07.740 | be together for three full days of events.
00:41:11.380 | You can learn about classical education.
00:41:13.660 | You can celebrate the hard work of fellow families.
00:41:17.500 | There will be national conference speakers
00:41:21.580 | where you can hear talks from homeschool leaders.
00:41:24.900 | You can listen in on graduate and parent panels.
00:41:29.580 | You can watch the national commencement,
00:41:32.180 | our official graduation ceremony
00:41:34.380 | for challenge graduates and their parents.
00:41:37.180 | The National Memory Master Championship
00:41:39.540 | happens during that event weekend.
00:41:42.540 | There is so much more on the agenda.
00:41:44.220 | There are food trucks.
00:41:45.140 | There's a big party for graduates.
00:41:47.500 | There are camps for your students, outdoor adventure camps.
00:41:51.180 | Those dates are May 2nd through the 4th,
00:41:53.860 | and you can learn more about it
00:41:56.460 | at classicalconversationsfoundation.org.
00:42:00.860 | ClassicalConversationsFoundation.org.
00:42:05.820 | All right, hope to see you there,
00:42:07.860 | and I hope to see you here next time
00:42:10.620 | where we'll learn a little bit more
00:42:12.660 | about the practicalities of practicum
00:42:15.860 | and a lot more about the MathMap.
00:42:18.420 | Thanks, guys.
00:42:19.260 | See you next time.
00:42:20.580 | (gentle music)
00:42:23.180 | you
00:42:25.240 | you