(upbeat 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, friends, as we kind of draw near to the end of another academic year, I know that lots of you are thinking about the milestones that you have passed and the milestones that are coming up on your journey.

And lots of us are thinking about celebrations that are ahead at the end of our homeschooling year. Things that we are joyously celebrating, some things that we are maybe reluctantly celebrating, some things that might be joyful and reluctantly celebrated by your family. Today, I have one of my favorite podcast friends with me, Kelly Wilt, and Kelly and I are going to talk about how we celebrate milestones the classical way.

So Kelly, thank you so much for being with me and tackling this topic. - Absolutely, Lisa. This is one of my favorite things to discuss because I think as homeschoolers, we should always be in a spirit of celebration for the good things that God is doing in and through our homeschools.

So I am so excited to talk about this. - That is so neat. You know, when I started thinking about this, your face jumped to mind immediately because I know that you are a natural celebrator. Have you always been that way? - I think so. I think so. Part of that might be because my birthday comes right before Christmas.

And so I have always, always been one for a party and for celebrating. And there is just a spirit of joyfulness that typically accompanies times of celebration. And I just am so drawn to that. And just that feeling of remembrance for, like I said, those good things, to me is so heartwarming.

So yes, I think I would answer that question. I have always been a natural celebrator. - Yeah, and I love what you just said, that part of celebrating is the sheer joy of accomplishment, but part of celebrating is remembering what brought you to this point of celebration. And let's be real, you and I have homeschooled a long time.

What brings us to the point of celebration, every little piece is not always joyful. - Oh, amen, amen. - I mean, I said that, and as I heard myself say that, I thought, "Oh, maybe I shouldn't say that." What I really mean is that all of the things that brought us to these points of celebration are not always happy.

- Right. - They're not always easy. It's not always a jolly old time in the homeschool house today. But there is deep joy in knowing that you are following the path that the Lord called you to, even when it's a little bit hard. - Absolutely, absolutely. - I do love that.

Okay, you are a natural celebrator, and you have now told us that probably that has always been true. What kinds of things do you celebrate in your family? Your family where you, maybe the family that you grew up in, but certainly the family where you live now. - Oh, for sure.

Well, I think that we've already locked into the fact that celebrations are times of remembrance, as well as times of jubilation, I guess. And in our family, we tend to celebrate both big things and small things. So for instance, when my children were little, we would celebrate the end of reading books together.

And something as simple as that, which is, you're definitely not going to the store and purchasing lots of supplies for something like that. We would celebrate small things like that, but we would also celebrate big things like birthdays, or just life events. Each of our children, when they were baptized, we would invite family, and we would purchase a cake, and we would have a meal together, and we would celebrate that commitment at that time.

So we celebrate small things on a daily basis, and we celebrate big things too. And it weaves together our family culture, so that hopefully my children will be cultivated celebrators too. - My kids, I've had friends of my children come home and look at us oddly, at some of the things that we do.

And I ever heard one kid tell my daughter one time, "Your family celebrates a lot of odd things." (both laughing) And I never realized that we celebrated, and that made me think, okay, what is it that we're doing? And we did develop a lot of strange little customs. Like we celebrated, I remember when Stephanie was really little, we got a book from the library that talked about spring, and in there, her favorite page talked about my spring robin.

And so for years, we celebrated the day that we saw my first spring robin every year. - I love that. - And just all kinds of things. I love what you said about celebrating the big things that we all think of as celebrations, baptisms, and birthdays, and anniversaries, and Christmas, but also the little things like finishing a good book.

Although I will tell you, Sarah cried one time. We finished reading "Cricket" in Times Square. She loved that book so much. And I thought we would celebrate the end of it and make like a little, we were gonna use a little box and make a cricket home and everything.

And I looked at her and tears were rolling down her face. And I thought, oh no, this is not the celebration I had envisioned. But I realized then that sometimes that was quite an accolade. She was not, she loved stories, but didn't love books the same way that my older daughter had.

And so for her, that was a celebration of a story that had touched her heart. So celebrations look different for different families and for different occasions. I know that you have tutored and directed lots of levels within your community and that this year you are a Challenge 4 director.

How have you celebrated this milestone year with your community this year? - Oh, this has been a wonderful year. And I am just so grateful for God's gift in giving me this group of young people to shepherd through this season. And at the beginning of the year, well, let me preclude this by saying, I had the blessing of directing this class also in Challenge 3.

So before this year began, all the moms and I got together and we really brainstormed together, how can we make this just a celebratory year for these exceptional young people? And one of the ways that we chose to celebrate was that we actually decided to have a senior thesis retreat for this class.

And this was no small undertaking. So there was lots of parent power behind this event, but we got together and we pulled our resources and found a lovely place at the beach. Now, this is not something that is expected or should be expected. It was just something as families, we got together and wanted to give this class as a gift.

We got together, we found a place where we could stay for a few days. Every mom signed up to cook a different meal. We kind of took that upon ourselves and we went away with this class so that we could focus on senior thesis. And I will say this, we had the best time and we made the best memories, playing board games together late at night, going for walks on the beach, singing together, praying together.

It just was an exceptional celebratory time for them as we're thinking about the ending of one time and the commencement of something wonderful for them as they move forward. So that is one way. And you know, Lisa, with graduation coming up, my friends, these moms, we've gotten together and we've actually met every month or so.

I think part of it is a reason just for us to get together and fellowship. - Yes, yes, and support each other. That's one of those milestones that is both a joy and a little bit of a heart tug because it's the, like you said, it's the beginning of something for those kids, but it's the end of something for those students and for their parents.

- It's true, it's true. We have been thinking and planning through ideas for graduation just to make it personal and personally celebratory for each of them. So we are overjoyed with, we've had conversations with our children and been thinking through what are the ways that we can honor God and glorify God for what He's done for us in this event.

And I think that spirit will, you know, I think bring that event to a different celebratory level for all of us. We're not just celebrating what we've accomplished, but really we're giving honor to Him for what He's done through us. And that to me makes me so excited to see these young people walk down the aisle at graduation in just a few short weeks.

- That is, that's awesome. That is a beautiful presentation of how we might celebrate a graduation. And it really brings me right to this next question I wanted to ask you. Why is celebrating important? Why, 'cause you started, you alluded to that a little bit in your last comment.

Why is it so important for us to celebrate? - Oh, yeah. You know, I think when I was younger, I would have had a completely different answer. I would have said because it's fun. - Right, right. - It's fun. But I think the farther I get along in our homeschooling journey, my answer has changed.

And I think my answer now would be that we need to give honor to whom it is due. And that's whom with a capital W because it rightly aligns our children's hearts to have a soul and a spirit of gratitude to Him. And so, you know, as we're celebrating these small things, you know, one thing that comes to mind is very similar to you, Lisa.

I remember the first time I read the picture book, "Bread and Jam for Francis" by Lillian Hoban to my children. And they were all just, I mean, very busy foundations-aged students at that time. And, oh, we just, they were fascinated by the idea that this little badger would only eat bread and jam and she wouldn't eat all these delicious things that her mother had prepared for her.

So we celebrated the end of that book by eating what else? Bread and jam. And it was such a little thing. But I remember at that time, those were the first awakenings in my mama heart of, Lord, thank you for giving me this opportunity to share this experience with these three young people.

And, you know, for me, you know, for them, it was bread and jam and we read a great story. But for me, it was, thank you, Lord, for this opportunity that you provided for me as a mom to experience this with my babies. So I think, you know, as time has elapsed, you know, like all good things, you know, I hopefully have grown in wisdom and realizing that, you know, all good gifts are given by him.

And celebrating is giving honor to him for the good things that he's entrusted us with and that he's allowed us to experience. And good, as you said before, not always super happy, super joyful. Good sometimes means growing as well. And so being able to recognize that in our celebrations I think is also valuable.

- I love that. There's so much wisdom in that. Celebration is not just for hurraying the end of the year or the end of a hard task, or, you know, I never have to do this again, or this went so well. But celebrating is also, I love it, a lovely chance to look back and embrace recognize and embrace what we've learned and recognize the guiding hand of a good father who has led us in this way.

I love that so very much. Now, I know Kelly, you and I have both graduated some kids and we have been able to celebrate that, but we have lots of families at all different points on their homeschooling journey. So not everybody's graduated. I want you to look back. You've had lots of CC milestones to celebrate.

Name some other ones that you had with your children and you continue to have with your children that maybe lead up to graduation so we can all get in on this celebration conversation. - Well, and you know, Lisa, just thinking about that and reflecting on that, I just, that in itself is worthy of celebration.

Just thinking about all those stones of memory that we have. And, you know, I think back to the very earliest days, I remember our first day of classical conversations. I had two very wiggly little boys and a baby and a carrier and a baby carrier who sat in the corner of the classroom and slept peacefully and rocked and was cooed over and loved over.

I remember we were so early in our journey that we did not stay for essentials. - Right, right. - And I remember that first day we even celebrated. We got in the car and if I'm not mistaken, we drove through a drive-through and got a Frosty or something like that just to celebrate that first day.

And, you know, that has only morphed into greater celebrations for different things. You know, I had children who were memory masters and obviously that is something worthy of celebration. But I also had children who, that was just not their priority. They mastered the material, but they just were not, they were not interested in that.

- Like showmen, yes, exactly. - Right, right. And so, you know, we found ways to celebrate that at home. You know, it could have been, I remember cooking favorite meals as a time of celebration and, you know, making desserts and that kind of thing. You know, food, good food is never a miss at a celebration.

- Never, never. - But, you know, I also, some of our celebrations were as simple as just going around the table and saying, you know, "I'm proud of you because you did this," or telling one another, you know, "I am grateful for God's gifting of this in you that I see." You know, simple things like that are also celebratory.

I do know there were some very large celebrations in our household when capstone events in Challenge came to pass, like Science Fair. I think we celebrated the end of a refrigerator full of pickles. - Oh, my gosh, yes, yes. - For our middle son who was about to graduate this year in my Challenge 4 class.

And, you know, I think he really delighted in emptying all the pickle juice out of our refrigerator after that. I know I was glad to have the refrigerator space back. But, you know, I think, you know, we, as I've seen my children grow, I see them recognizing things that are worthy of celebrating.

And, you know, we really are in a season of celebration as a family because our eldest, who graduated from Challenge 4 several years ago, is graduating with his undergraduate degree this year. So in the month of May, we literally have back-to-back-to-back celebrations of graduation. - Oh, my goodness, yeah.

- So, you know, I'm grateful for that family culture of celebrating, giving honor when it is due because it knits our hearts together and it directs our vision to be grateful to the one that has allowed us to experience these things together. And so, you know, I look back over our time in Classical Conversations, what a gift.

You know, I think if I was gonna have a celebratory party when we get to the end of our homeschooling journey, which, interestingly, is only three years away, when did that happen? - Oh, my goodness. Don't blink anymore or you'll miss it. - Exactly, exactly. You know, I look at that and I think, if I were having a party at the end of our homeschool journey, the best gift would be the collective experience that we've had together as a family.

Because in years to come, that is a gift that in my mind's eye, I can take out and I can enjoy time and time again. And there's no greater blessing, I think, for a homeschooling parent than to have the gift of those memories. - You are so right. And I really appreciate what you had to say about the simple ways to celebrate, like around the dinner table, taking turns, telling one another what you're proudest of in someone else and just sharing those memories.

I love that when we celebrate together, you said it, we knit our hearts together more closely. And when we celebrate one another, it teaches, when we do that within the context of our family and our homeschool journey, it teaches us very well how to love others well. I can remember my younger daughter was not much of one for being in the limelight.

She did not. Now my older daughter, she just, you know, she thought it was lucky that everybody got to hear the stories she had to tell. So she was always happy. She was very happy to tell what she was excited about. So presentations were not a burden to her.

My younger daughter did not like to be the center of attention. Even when she had something to say, she didn't really want to say it to a big crowd. And so I can remember one week when she was, you know, it seemed to me out of reason, worked up about her presentation.

And it was important to her big sister to go and attend her little sister's class so she could be there for her presentation. And she celebrated her sister's triumph by being there and smiling at her and offering her a hug at the end. And that, those little pieces, that's a celebration, y'all.

It's not just a party. It's not just a big extravagant trip. That's not the only way to celebrate. We celebrate one another with a hug and a smile and an acknowledgement of I'm proud of you or this doesn't seem like a big thing, but for you, this was huge.

And I love that. I love that. Are your kids natural celebrators too, Kelly? Your family celebrates lots of things, I know. Are your kids all natural celebrators? Do they embrace your celebrations or do they kind of go along with mama? Well, there's an element of that, yes. I would say that one of my three, my youngest, we jokingly say is a party everywhere she goes.

And her birthday happens to be on Cinco de Mayo. So she fully embraces that as part of her personality. And I look at her and the way that God has created her with that desire for celebration. And I am hopeful that someday I will be a grandmother and I will see her as a mom doing some of these same goofy, kooky things that we have done together.

I love that. I love that. I do think that, so listeners out there who may be big celebrators and you have kids that kind of roll their eyes and go along with your exuberant enthusiasm, what I want you to know is that you may be making more of an impression on your children than you think, that maybe they are closet celebrators or when they get out and they are responsible in their own homes for celebrating, they will.

I have become a grandmother in the last year and a half and I absolutely love seeing my daughter having small daily celebrations of discovery with my grandson, Gideon. It blessed my heart. My daughter sent me a Snapchat one day of a picture. She had spread a plastic tablecloth in her living room and had filled a little basin with water and given my grandson all kinds of cups and things to play in this water with.

He's so fascinated with water and he can't really reach any of their sinks well. And so she was celebrating his enthusiasm for discovery and it blessed my heart to think she knows how to celebrate the small moment that you were thinking, talking about, Kelly, the small moment of discovery that we can encourage in our children and experience with our children as they grow up.

And I just love that, I just love it. - Well, and you know, Lisa, I will add, I have one other child who is not as inclined to be celebratory. But now that he is forging his own path in life, when things do happen, he makes sure to let us know so that we celebrate with him.

And so, you know, I can't help but think you're right. You know, at the time you may think, oh, I am casting seed on very dry ground, but it may be taking root in ways that you don't realize quite yet. Because, you know, it's funny when we all sit around the table and we say, oh, do you remember the time that, and fill in the blank here, you know, it brings to mind all of those great celebratory memories that we have together as a family.

And that is a wonderful thing. - And you know what, you just remind me, another thing that celebration does for us is cement our relationships. Because we do harken back, do you remember that? And times that we have celebrated together. And every time you celebrate with your family, you're building another memory, you're building another shared experience.

And so I really think that celebrating cements our relationships. So when we celebrate with our family, when we celebrate with our friends, with our challenge class, with our broader CC community, we are cementing those bonds that hold us together. And that's another good reason to celebrate, to build family, to build community.

All right, so I know we wanna talk about, we wanna think about what it means to celebrate classically, okay? How do we celebrate classically? How might celebrating classically be different from non-classical celebrations? What do we even mean by celebrating classically? - Yeah, it's funny when I think about this, when my children were young, I don't think I specifically honed in on the fact that I was using classical tools to celebrate, but I was.

And that is just further proof that it is a natural way for us to embrace the world around us that God has created. So when I think about the celebrations that we have as families, I think definitely, we utilize all five of the core habits when we celebrate. We are naming those things that have been accomplished or that have been done and that we want to remember, we are attending to the people that were involved in those events, attending to the growth that has happened or the accomplishment that has been made.

Hopefully we're committing to memory those things, like we talked about before, that we're memorizing, we're committing those acts of memory to our hearts so that we can recall them, that family fabric is knit in those moments. And obviously we're expressing, when we're having our celebrations, we're proclaiming God's goodness to us, we're proclaiming what things have been accomplished.

And we're telling a story, whether we realize it or not, we're telling a story of God's goodness to that individual, God's goodness to our family. What happened? How do we see Him better? How do we know Him better through this thing that we're celebrating together? So I can definitely see in retrospect, and I'm thankful for God's mercy in that, utilizing all five of those core habits, even when my children were small.

And I think moving forward into the future, now that I have a greater awareness of that, I hope that I can use those tools more effectively in our celebrations moving forward. But when I think about celebrating classically, I think those tools and utilizing them, wielding them well, is a way for us to continue to push our children toward this culture of just joyful remembrance or those things.

And I really, it's a good question. Lisa, I wish we'd recorded this podcast maybe about 10 or 15 years ago. - I know, I know, but you know what? Here's the thing, and this I hope is an encouragement to you guys who are listening. Here's the thing, 10 or 15 years ago, we didn't know what we know now because the beautiful thing, y'all, is that God is educating us as we educate our children.

He is not done with me. I am still learning things. And I look back and think, man, my children could have benefited from some of this stuff that I'm learning. And I'm certain that they wish that they had had as a mama, this woman that their children have as a lolly, because she is a lot more intentional and a lot more delighted by things that used to irritate her.

And I think, so listeners, here's the thing. Keep growing in who you are and don't despair that you never used to celebrate this way or you didn't think celebration was important. And, oh, look at all the years I've missed. No, look at all that the Lord is gonna open up to you and your family now that you are perhaps more committed to celebrating and more aware of how to do it well and joyfully.

- I love that, Lisa. And, you know, when we were initially talking about this topic, a part of one of my favorite books came to mind and I had to look online for a quote and it deals with that very thing. It's from "The Last Battle," the last book in the "Chronicles of Narnia" series.

And I just, when I was thinking about celebrating and, you know, thinking about how God has been so good to our family over our years in classical conversations, this quote came to mind. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page.

Now at last they were beginning chapter one of the great story which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before. And I just, that quote, I just revel in that as a homeschool mom because, you know, we can't get caught up in this comparison or OFI only.

And the truth is every chapter will be better than the one before. This is just the beginning and there will always be something to celebrate if you look closely enough. And, you know, thinking about our homeschooling is just, you know, this is just the warmup party for a great celebration in heaven.

I kind of think about that on community days when we get together and we're all in the lunchroom and we're all talking together and, you know, fellowshipping. Like what a great warmup party for the celebration that is to come. And I think C.S. Lewis just captures that idea so well.

And as a homeschool mom, I latch onto that so tightly as words of wisdom. This is just the cover and the title page. This is just the warmup party for what is to come. - Oh my gosh, it gave me chills when you were reading that quote. I thought, yes, yes, that is it.

That is what we need to do because here's the thing. Some of you listening may be thinking, yes, we have some celebrations coming up, but they're sort of sad. You know, my last child is finishing foundations or, oh wow, I don't have a baby anymore or man, I'll never do Challenge Egg.

I'll never do the science fair again. Okay, so I admit there's some sad and happy in that remembrance. But lots of us are looking at last times and feeling that it's a little bit bittersweet. And some days that bitter feels more than the sweet does. So that quote is awesome in reminding us that the best is yet to be that, and I love that, that it's a prelude for the party we'll have in heaven.

That is going to take me through a lot of dark days, friend. So I appreciate that picture that you've put in my mind. But for all of us, it behooves us to remember that there are good things ahead. And as much as we have loved all of the seasons that our children have been in, we are going to love them as they grow also.

And we are so blessed that the Lord lets us see so much of what there is to celebrate in their growth and their development as we spend all those hours with them homeschooling. All right, I want us to spend a few minutes thinking about some of the milestones that our families might be celebrating now and brainstorming some ways.

I have to tell y'all, Kelly has inventing in her blood, and so she can come up with-- if you came up with a situation that needed to be celebrated, she could probably, inside of a minute, give you six really fun ideas. So Kelly, we are going to think about together some of the milestones that families might be getting ready to celebrate and then brainstorm some ways that maybe we could celebrate this spring.

So what have you got, girl? Oh, so good. Well, there are so many things. There's always something to celebrate, right? I mean, if we look closely enough, we can always find something. Maybe you are a new CC family. Maybe this is your very first year or maybe your first semester in Classical Conversations.

I would strongly encourage you to celebrate that as a family. It can be something as simple as taking out your foundations curriculum and having everyone sign a page inside and stating it and thinking about, OK, let's sit around the table. Let's order some pizza or have our favorite meal, and let's just talk about our memories from this year.

What was the funniest thing that happened this year? What is the most unexpected thing that you learned about this year? Because there's a lot of unexpected in our curriculum and a lot of fun and discovery. So thinking about a celebration like that is wonderful for a new to CC family.

And I think if you have little ones, celebrate the, quote unquote, "last day of homeschool" by getting outside, if the weather allows, and thinking of things that you can do together. Take your little ones and a big bucket of sidewalk chalk, go out and let them write their favorite piece or draw a picture of their favorite memory work from this year.

We decorated the driveway so many times at the end of community years. And it was so much fun and cheap. And after, when we were done, I would have them come inside and we would eat freezer pops, and we would laugh and talk together. It was not-- celebrations do not have to come at great monetary expense to you and your family.

Quite often, it is the spirit with which things are done that makes them celebratory. Oh, that is so true. I know that my kids, they, at church-- we had a couple of homeschool families in our church, but most of my girls' friends at church were public school kids. And at the end of the year, you know what happens?

They have award ceremonies, and they have field trips, but they have field day. And my girls were like, field day? What is field-- why do we not have field day? And so we had funny field day. And so we didn't do the shot put and the 50-yard dash because there was just two of them, and I didn't want to run around my house.

But we did silly field days, like throw a ball, throw a football through this hula hoop suspended in the tree. And can you jump over this big pan of water without getting your feet wet? Those kind of things. So you can make up silly end-of-the-year rituals. Well, and I say rituals because you, as the parent, might intend that this was going to happen once.

But if it's a success, your children are going to think they're going to take that as a tradition. And you will have committed to it for life or till they get too old to admit to liking it. Yes, for sure, for sure. Be aware of what you might be committing yourself to.

Exactly, friend, exactly. Well, and I would say this, too. Thinking about our younger families, if you do have a student who has been heavily invested in preparing for Memory Master, whether or not your child is successful in that final proof or not, celebrate the accomplishment. You know your child better than anyone.

So if ice cream is their love language, regardless of the outcome, take them for a scoop of ice cream or get a container of their favorite. Find their currency and their love language and love on them in a way that says, I'm proud of you. I see what you did.

I appreciate your commitment and how you are growing. And that will mean the world to them. And thinking about our Challenge students, there are so many things to celebrate when your child is in Challenge. Jokingly, the Challenge 4 moms, who are my friends, who are also graduating children this year, we have called them the last of the first and the first of the last this year.

And we are planning a celebration for the very last day of Challenge 4, which ironically will also happen to be their senior thesis defense day. But I mentioned earlier the senior thesis retreat that we took the class on at the beginning of the year. They had such a good time that one of the moms actually took it upon herself to organize a trip to bookend the end of the year for all of these Challenge 4 students as well.

So I'm grateful. Celebrating definitely should not be done always in isolation. Sometimes there are family celebrations. But it's also wonderful to celebrate with others around you in your community. So if you are involved in a CC community and you are looking for ways to celebrate, quite often if you just open your mouth and say, hey, I was thinking we should have-- I guarantee you, you'll have a mom who will look at you who may also be a natural celebrator who will say, I have some ideas.

So definitely harness that community brainpower so that at the end of the year, our students can look back and say, yeah, look what God did. I'm so grateful for Him. And I'm grateful for the people and for the experiences. Isn't He good? Because really, truly, when you boil down to the heart of celebration, that is what it's all about, recognizing God's goodness to us.

And like I said before, it's all a big warm-up party for that celebration that we'll have in heaven together as one big community, which is also a beautiful thing to think about. But yeah, thinking about celebrations with your community and just brainstorming together also, like we mentioned before, builds that-- it weaves that relationship fabric not only with your family, but weaves your family's fabric together with others in your community.

And I guarantee you, Lisa, like you warned us, it won't be the first time that you celebrate together. That's right. That happens. That's exactly right. I love that. There are so many ways to celebrate, both personally and in your family and in your community. But you've given us a lot of good things to think about, Kelly, a lot of good reasons to celebrate.

It's not just a frivolous end to a serious endeavor. There are real reasons why we should celebrate. And how we can celebrate classically is a big part of that. I loved that you brought out the five core habits so naturally. And as we thought-- I kept filtering everything you said after that.

I filtered through. Well, that is how we would do that classically. We would name what it is we were celebrating so that we could all talk about it, so that it would resonate with all of us, so that we would all recognize this thing. And when we attend to the individual successes and individual victories, big or small, that our students have, I think what it builds is honor.

We honor one another. Because child number one may not have any trouble reading, but child number two may have had a lot more struggle and effort to read well. So celebrating you read your first chapter book might mean nothing to child one. But to child two, because you attended to the effort that was needed, that was really important.

And making those memories together, that is a classical way to celebrate. Both remembering what brought us here and making the memory that is going to cement that in all of our minds is really good. And of course, there are so many ways to express celebration. We are expressing joy and relief and pride when we celebrate, sometimes by singing or by decorating.

There are lots of ways to express celebration. And then I especially loved that it was the story that God is telling through our lives. And our lives are the continuation of God's story. And we are just so blessed to be part of that. This makes me eager to go find something to celebrate today.

Something little, something big, something I haven't even discovered yet. And maybe that is the key. Maybe we should look for something to celebrate every day. I love that. I love that, too. Maybe we will become everyday educators who celebrate every day. Oh, that's a nice little tagline. I like that.

I like that. I like that. Thank you. Thank you for being with me today. Thank you for offering these great suggestions. Kelly, I really appreciate your spirit of celebration. I always feel like I've been to a party when I've been with you. I love that. And Lisa, today I celebrate my friendship with you because that is a great thing to celebrate.

Thanks so much for letting me talk about these things with you. Thank you, Kelly. Listeners, I hope that you will find much to celebrate with your family. I have something that I think you might want to celebrate. Have you heard of the Copper Lodge Library? I know a lot of you may have one of our Echoes storybooks, Ancient World Echoes and Old World Echoes and New World Echoes, these stories.

Well, the Copper Lodge Library has a lot more volumes than just those three. And one that I want to make you aware of, a brand new volume that we've just come out with, is the Copper Lodge Library edition of Pride and Prejudice. Now, you're probably not reading it to your eight-year-olds, but let me tell you this, it is a required resource for your challenge student.

And so CCMM has produced this Copper Lodge Library edition to be a beautiful resource for you and your challenge student. It's a classic novel, but our edition includes footnotes that give you word definitions and pronunciations and some historical context that will really support your lifelong learning and the conversations that you can have with your student.

It will also enable your student to get a little bit more out of the story when they don't constantly have to run to the dictionary to find out the meaning of a word or what in the world this means in the context of the times in which the story takes place.

Your students are going to be discussing the themes of Pride and Prejudice together in community, and they're going to use it as a basis of a writing assignment. But hopefully, they're also going to find a deep love for this classic piece of literature. And I think you would be glad to have an edition that you can keep forever on your shelf as a family heirloom.

So check it out, the Copper Lodge Library. If you want to find out about this Pride and Prejudice edition or any of the other Copper Lodge Library titles, you can learn more at copperlodgelibrary.com. All right, go find something to celebrate, whether that be a child, a book, or a frog somebody caught outside today.

And I'll see you next time. Bye bye. you