(soft music) - Welcome friends to this episode of the Everyday Educator podcast. I'm your host, Lisa Bailey, and I'm excited to spend some time with you today as we encourage one another, learn together, and ponder the delights and challenges that make homeschooling the adventure of a lifetime. Whether you're just considering this homeschooling possibility, or deep into the daily delight of family learning, I believe you'll enjoy thinking along with us.

But don't forget, although this online community is awesome, you'll find even closer support in a local CC community. So go to classicalconversations.com and find a community near you today. - Well, listeners, welcome to January. I mean, it seems to me to be easily the longest month in the calendar because for many of us, it's darker than usual and colder than usual, and we've left behind the glory and the brightness of the holidays, and now we are back into it, and it sometimes can look just like a slog ahead for as far as we can see, but I've got some news for you.

There are some ways that we can define or redefine success, some beautiful ways of looking at what the Lord has done in our family over the last fall and what he can do with us as spring approaches. So I brought one of my best friends, one of my best classical educator friends to share with us today, Brittany Lewis is here with us.

Brittany, thank you so much for joining me. - Oh, it is a joy. I'm so glad to be here, thank you. - You are one that I think people will enjoy hearing your heart for homeschooling families and your experience with your own family. And then two, I just know that you have a really encouraging spirit.

So I know that a lot of us need encouragement to be happy about January and to be happy about starting the second semester. So I wanna ask you first, what is usually harder for you or for your family, starting school in the fall or restarting in January? - Definitely restarting in January.

- Yes, I think so many people have said that to me. Why do you think, why is restarting so challenging? - I think it's human nature that we look at the long summer break and then we're all ready for fall and we have spent time refreshing ourselves and remembering why we do this and setting goals and the new books and the new supplies and the new goals and looking forward to all that we're going to learn.

And then by January, we've celebrated a shorter Christmas break in which, especially as homeschooling parents, it wasn't possibly very restful because we were busy with all the Christmas things. I know that that's true for me at my house. And often we're delighted to have out-of-town guests for long periods of time.

And then it's time to get the books out and it's cold outside and we have to take the Christmas decorations down and just restarting can be a little harder just gaining momentum, I think. But I think there's some things we can do that help us refocus and be grateful and treasure that time and look forward.

- That's really good. There are things that we can do to make the atmosphere seem better. We light more candles in January and we turn on the gas logs more in January. I try to put around a lot of warm, snugly blankets in January just so that almost anywhere you would drop down to read or to rest or to study, there's a blanket at hand.

So yeah, I agree with you. There are some things that we can do. I know from experience, 'cause I homeschooled through a whole lot of Januarys too, lots of us moms and dads try at least to spend some time over the break or at least as January rolls around assessing the fall.

Do you do that routinely? Do you still do that? Assess the fall as you're beginning in January? - I do. I did that when my kids were in foundations and essentials too. And now that I have the last of my three is in challenge three and I spend some time looking at her blue book and talking to her and she self-assesses and we kind of think together about progress, but I don't just do that for her.

I do that for myself as well as her teacher. I think about how I did this past fall and what she needs and where she is. And then I also think about other categories than just academics. - That's great. That is great. And I wanna talk to you about that in a few minutes more deeply.

What's the purpose of assessing the fall? So come January, 'cause okay, so some people say, "Oh, I just wanna forget that." I mean, let's just start fresh. We're starting new. I'm gonna not look back. I'm just gonna press ahead. I'm gonna look forward. What's the purpose of looking back over the fall?

- I think it's so that we can count what is good and give our students well done and maybe ourselves a well done on certain things. And then also set some reasonable goals to meet academic goals and other kinds of goals we have. I think that's really important. I also think it's hard for students to see their own progress so that if we can help them, that can really encourage them too, because they might feel like they just barely made it through the first semester and it might be harder for them to see progress.

- That's so wise. - Yeah, well, I just think students aren't great at assessing themselves yet. They're developing that. And we spent a lot of time and challenge asking for self-assessment, but I think that can be part of the problem and an opportunity really to move forward in hope.

- That's really good. I think that you're right, that our students are, and sometimes it's because they are so close to the process, they don't see that they have grown, that it takes them maybe less time or less mom involvement to complete a lesson or that they are asking better questions or they are choosing better descriptive words or that they are not needing as much direction for the what do I do next moment every day.

So I think that's really wise that we take some assessment time to help our students see how far they've come. So what kinds of things did you look at as you assessed the earlier part of the year? I like it that you said, you looked back over for challenge students, the blue books that you did or that they completed as part of their challenge communities.

What else did you look at as you assessed and what was your main focus in assessing? - I think I look at my original academic goals for the student and then I think about where they are in learning the skills of learning so that they're prepared to learn anything, which CC does a really wonderful job of giving our students and ourselves those tools.

And then I think about their progress in a certain subject, especially those ones that are troubling, but also the ones where I see they're excelling. So I think about where they are in each of the subjects and where they are in the skills of learning. And then I also think about spiritual goals and heart training type goals and family wins, celebrations, things we don't wanna forget that sometimes just taking a few minutes to look back and go, why was that project so hard?

Or why did we feel like we fell short in this paper? And then also look at the bigger picture of, oh, well, we were throwing a wedding at that time. - Yes, oh my goodness. - Or we got ill at that time or we were serving someone at church at this time or this is what was happening in the student's life for my life.

And I think that's really helpful to give us perspective. - That is so wise. I know so often when we do these mid-year assessments, and I guess I can only speak for myself, but I've talked to a lot of friends and a lot of other community members through the years, I feel like so often we look at what fell short of our expectations.

What didn't go as planned, what lessons we didn't finish, which projects were not up to par. Especially in the early years, I would look back and think, look at all that curriculum that I bought and we never even got to it, we never even opened it. Why is it so natural to look at where we fell short when we do these assessments?

- I think it's out of love for our families that we do this, our students, because we take what we are doing seriously. And so we want to do a good job. It's often an experiment. I wasn't homeschooled myself. I wasn't classically educated myself. And so I think because we love our kids and we love our families so much, we want to do a good job.

So we're naturally looking for the weaknesses first. And that can be, maybe we're holdovers, maybe we're like struggling with perfectionism. I know I'm a recovering perfectionist, but I also think it's important to look at those things and to have an honest assessment. But I also think we shouldn't neglect counting all the good and the gifts that we've been given together.

There are many, so I think you got to balance it. - Yeah, that's really, really wise. Okay, so let's take both of those. How does it help us not to beat ourselves up, right? It's never gonna be healthy or helpful for you just to beat yourself up as a homeschooling parent, or to let your student beat themselves up.

But how does it help us to frankly face what did not go well? What can we learn from that kind of assessment? - I think we can gain some wisdom by thinking about what didn't go well, thinking about where our student is, and also thinking about where we as teachers need to improve.

We're learning too, through this progress, this journey of learning. And so I think it's helpful to see where we need to improve and to set reasonable goals for next time. And I think that's the key of learning anything and teaching a student is we want it to be challenging, but we don't want it to be to drown the kid in something that was meant to nourish their souls.

And we want, that's a sweet spot that is hard to nail sometimes as a teacher, how much is too much? And we're told by CC to set our own academic goals for our students, which are all on their unique learning journeys. We are too as learners on our own unique learning journeys.

And so we wanna think about where our students are and help them take the next step so that we can continue to coach and encourage them and mentor them and also not give them too many things to work on at once. And also think about where we are. Do we need more time with a student?

Do we need to plan things out better? Do we need to anticipate things? We need to tailor the guide for our, to meet our particular goals. Are we thinking about too much what other students and other families are doing? Because the Bible says to compare ourselves, like that is foolishness.

We really need to look at our own selves and our own children and think about what we can do better. And then I think spending some time praying, talking to our students and asking for the Lord to meet us in that need, remembering we're not alone is really important.

- Yes, that it is. It's a joint endeavor, especially as your children get older. You are partners in this learning, right? It's not just something you are doing to or for your child. You become partners in learning. It becomes a family culture that you are developing of learning. I think that's really good.

I love that. And I think that you're spot on, Brittany. I think it is helpful to look honestly at what did not go well, not so that we beat ourselves up about it, but so that we without, as much as we can, without the sting of judgment, look at it and think, okay, that did not go well.

Did I as the lead learner not tailor that assignment well? Did I not take into account known learning challenges for me or for my students? Or were there really unforeseen aspects to that assignment or that conversation or that book or that paper or that time of our life? Were there unforeseen things that affected this in a way that maybe I could not have seen coming, but that now I can modify and change and go back and do?

I really like that. So when you see that something didn't go well, you don't beat yourself up, but you also don't ignore it and think, okay, well, I'm just not gonna look over there. I'm just, we're gonna close the book on that and we're just gonna let that be passed and we're just gonna move on.

'Cause that's not helpful for the future. - Right, and our students need a loving mentor, a coach to keep them accountable and who better than you? Like the teacher at home, that's what they're craving. I know I've seen students really wrestle with that and long for more accountability. And I've been guilty of assigning something, not being super clear in instructions and then not assessing it very well.

And I think that is frustrating to a student. It can feel like you're just doing things that don't really matter that much. And so I want to think about like, where are the opportunities I have to really pour into my students to mentor and coach them and have those really important conversations that no one else can have 'cause no one else knows them or loves them like I do.

- Yes, Brittany, oh, this is so good. Assessment is not a tool to beat up our students. Assessment really helps our students to look at what they have done or not done without beating themselves up, but thinking, huh, how could that have gone differently? How can I learn from what I missed last time?

How can I gird up my loins to do this in a better way? Wow, that's so good and so healthy. And what a great skill to teach our students. If they could learn to honestly and without rancor, assess themselves and adjust their stride as they move through life, instead of run away from what they did not do well or didn't understand or beat themselves up until they're black and blue and unwilling to try again.

Wow, that's super good. Okay, that assessment where you frankly face what didn't go well, even if you're doing it right, doesn't tell the whole story though, does it? So how can only looking at what did not go well be too limiting to be really helpful? I think it's like, you're not looking at the full picture, you're just looking at this tiny detail part of the picture.

So we need to take time to count what is good and to collect the wins and to remind the student of their progress because like I said earlier, they're just not really good at judging themselves very well and seeing their own progress. And that can be super discouraging. It can feel like, especially January, February, a student might feel that they're sort of treading water or perhaps they have a learning challenge or difference.

We have those in my family. And so the student is constantly overcoming this lie in their head that says they're not smart enough or they're not as smart as the other person or this other student in class or they need to be more like so and so. And it can be good to, iron sharpens iron.

We want students to sharpen each other but also I think just as their coach and mentor, their teacher that loves them, reminding them of where they were and showing them their progress is what we all need. 'Cause I think we long for that well done because the Lord made us that way.

And they need to have some well done. They need to see these were good habits. These were good routines. This is, I saw you grow in confidence here. I saw you own this over here. I saw you serve over here. I see your longing for the Lord, your time in the word that no one has to encourage you to do your prayer, your patience with others, the way that you're learning to forgive, the way you're serving family.

I mean like these are just things that we have the opportunity to encourage. And sometimes I think we get into sort of a, I don't know, just too focused on the negative and we forget to count all the things that the Lord is doing in our family's life and our students' lives.

- Right, oh this is so good. I think, I tend to be, and I'm sure that I burden to my children with this many times as a homeschooling mama, I tend to be a perfectionist too. And I want everything to be good and beautiful and just right and I want everybody to fully understand, I can remember thinking, I want you to fully understand what I have understood and I'm passing on to you and I want everybody to get it.

I want us to all be able to check off the boxes and cross all the T's. And so for me, when I would do assessments, I would look at how well did I pass this on and how well did you pick this up? And it's so easy for us to fall into that kind of trap.

But here's the truth, there are other things that we can assess besides just saying, well you did all your Latin exercises. You got a 96% on your last math test or assessment. You won the science fair. You wrote all your essentials papers. Instead of just looking, just assessing those kinds of milestones, what else?

You mentioned some great things that I jotted down because I think, oh that's really good to remember. Some other things, other things that are part of homeschool success like an attitude of service to somebody else or a habit of persevering. What are some other things that we as parents need to recognize as a success or something that needs to be assessed as we're thinking about what went right with homeschooling?

- I think there's, I mean, we just need to keep academics as important as I think those are. I love classical Christian studies. We need to remember that it's for the benefit of the student's eternal soul. I think we can get too focused on, oh no, is my kid gonna be prepared for college or their future calling or I need to hurry up and get this done and instead I think we need to think about what is important eternally more than academics.

Where is my student with the Lord? Where is my student and their relationships with our family members and friends and people at church in our CC community? Where are they asking really important significant questions and learning to read hard things and wrestle? How are they learning to be hospitable and to bear with others in love who might be hard to love in community?

That habit of contented gratitude, those things are things that I hope that I'm growing in as a Christian woman and what I want my student also to grow in. So I think learning to happily steward scholarly gifts that we've been given is important. I also think learning to respond with mercy to the failings of others, there's a-- - And to our own failings, you know, we are not, I am not merciful to myself.

I have tons of patience with children, more patience with adults than I have with myself. I have absolutely the least patience with myself of anybody. - Yeah, absolutely, I mean, I feel that same way. There's a prayer I love, it's from Every Moment Holy, volume one, it's a liturgy for students and scholars.

And a couple of those things I mentioned are from that prayer. It's things that I've seen either my challenge students or my daughter or I've grasped a hold of, like keeping academics in perspective, because we're trying to do this for the glory of God. And the Lord says, you know, "Don't be anxious about the future, "don't be anxious about what you're gonna wear "or what you're gonna eat." I mean, I would say how you're gonna earn things or how quickly to get your college credits.

The whole world says that that's the thing you must pursue right now, but the Lord says, "Seek first the kingdom." And so, and all these things will be given to you. And He says, "Rejoice, you know, always "and pray about the things that make you anxious "and abide in Him because He's going to fill us." I mean, like, these are the things that I most want my children to walk in, because it's the only anchor.

I mean, Christ is our only anchor. And so I remember Lee talking about how the world will tell you all these things that your kids need and that you need, and they'll tell your kids they need all these things, but don't trade that opportunity to walk with them and to guide them spiritually and to continue on.

And that's what encourages me in January is thinking about how the Lord might use our conversations, our studies together, our sharpening in community to make us more like His image. - I love that. There are so many non-academic victories for us as parents to look back on. There's so many non-academic wins to pursue.

It's not all about getting the lesson done or even retaining the most information. Look back over your fall and think, did we spend more and more time talking together? Like you said, do we routinely ask better questions now than we did last year? I love this. I like to look back and think, okay, did my student tackle big or hard or new projects or subjects more readily?

So was their confidence better? Was their determination better? Have they developed a better habit of saying, yes, I will, instead of no, I can't at the beginning? Like you said, have we as a family developed good spiritual habits? Are we loving? If you just looked at the fruit of the Spirit, are we loving?

Do we project joy in the face of sorrow? Is there more peace with situations that were previously nerve-wracking issues? Are we patient with other people? Are we patient with ourselves? Are we patient with, like you said, that challenging member of our community? 'Cause if you don't know who's the challenging member of your community, it might be you.

Are we gentle? Are your children growing in gentleness with one another? Are they open to new ideas? Are they open to other people's ways of doing things or seeing things? Is your family getting better at pursuing balance in life? 'Cause maybe you'll look back and say, you know what?

We didn't finish all of the Saxon lessons, but every day we took a walk together. So are you balancing life? Are you better at that? And so I think, Brittany, what you and I are saying to the listeners is there are things besides academics that we need to assess.

And sometimes when we grow a lot in one area, we discover that we've neglected another area. Or when we're assessing, we sometimes forget to assess what you rightly called the eternal important things. Such good suggestions that you have given us. I really appreciate it. And I know we're almost out of time.

I wanna ask you, what is one encouragement? 'Cause you have homeschooled for a long time, like I have. We've homeschooled for a long time. So I wanna ask you, Brittany, what is one encouragement you have for mamas and daddies out there as we all begin again in this new year?

- I try to spend some time just remembering why. What is our why? Why did my husband and I think this was important? What was the thing that's held us here? Because I think it can get lost in the details or some upcoming academic challenges that we see on the horizon might make us a little bit anxious.

But remembering why we're doing this and filling up your own picture so that you can pour out to others, your children, I think that's really important. Spending time and the word in prayer is paramount for us as teachers and parents walking alongside our kids. And then just remembering that it's a privilege that we have this other-sidedness that most of the world doesn't have, that we know God's in everything we study.

We know it all relates. And we can, I mean, what a better use of our time than to spend our heartbeats hunting for his fingerprints with our children. Because the world's not gonna give them that. Most schools that are out there, colleges, they're not gonna have that, careers, or even community.

And so we have this opportunity, these precious hours, and you and I know how quickly those go by to seek first the kingdom with our children. And I think that would make January full of light, you know. - That is so true. And you know, listeners, if there are some of you out there who are thinking, I think our family's gonna walk away.

I think we're gonna do something else. You know, there are other options for us. We're gonna pursue academics in a different way. I hope that what Brittany has just said will cause you to pause and reflect on how homeschooling, the homeschooling journey is not just about academics. It's not just about teaching your children how to learn.

It's about nurturing their soul. It's about drawing your family together. I absolutely love what you said, that what we do as homeschoolers, when we're doing it right, we are hunting for God's fingerprints on the world. And what a joy, an incalculable joy, actually. It is to do that with your children.

And so parents who are assessing whether or not you're gonna keep homeschooling or keep learning together classically as a family, take a minute and consider everything that's a part of this homeschooling journey. Brittany, thank you so much for the way you have poured encouragement and wisdom into us today.

- Oh, it's a pleasure. I'm giving what I've received from others and from the heart. It's a beautiful thing that we get to do this together. - It is, it is. And listeners, parents, tutors, directors, if you have received some encouragement today and you think, okay, I need some help.

I need to level up my skills. I need to become a better lead learner. I need to become a better assessor of my students learning at home. I have an idea for you. We have something called the classical learning cohort and registrations for the spring semester are starting now.

So how it works is six times throughout the semester, you meet online with a small group of homeschool parents who are all on the same mission, growing their understanding of classical education and developing those lifelong skills that really help us guide our students through learning. The cohort would be led by an experienced mentor and you will walk through some hands-on assignments.

You will work on giving and receiving classical assessments. You will work on building an exordium and introduction and developing a review for all the things you want to pass on to your student that will really show you how to engage your student with every lesson. Anyhow, if you wanna keep growing in your knowledge and your skills as a classical educator and you really would like a small learning environment, the classical learning cohort is probably for you.

So like I said, registration for the spring semester has already begun and there are limited spaces. So go ahead and sign up or look for more information at classicalconversations.com/cohort. That's classicalconversations.com/cohort, okay? And I will look for you here next week so we can encourage and grow together. Thanks you guys, bye-bye.

(gentle music) (music fades)