(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, listeners, I know that we are cruising toward the end of the academic year. For many of you, you may be in your last week or two of Foundations and Essentials.

And I have heard lots of families thinking out loud lately about what to do when community ends. I mean, it seems too early to a lot of us to be done with school. And for another thing, what are we gonna do with all that extra time? We're used to having one full day in community and lots of activities that we do with our students, with our children together to get ready for community day.

So now what are we gonna do? Now listen, I'm specifically talking about that sliver of time between the end of community and full out summer break, okay? I know that we all have lots of things we're looking forward to doing on summer break. But if you are thinking, I don't know if I'm done with school yet, should I be done with school?

Could I be done with school? What should school look like with my children after community days are done? So we're gonna talk about it today. And I have one of my favorite friends with me who never fails to offer wisdom that you can use. Amy Jones is here with me today.

Amy, I'm so excited to talk to you about this. - Oh, thank you, Lisa. This was a great theme to ponder. It brought back a lot of memories for me. So yeah, I'm delighted to be here and rehearse some of those wisdom bits that God taught me. - Yes, well, I wondered as I was thinking about who would like to talk to me about this, I figured that you and I had similar stories.

And I can remember thinking, we're done? Are we really done? And I had some girlfriends who were afraid to be done. They were afraid to let their kids look like they were done with school for fear they would be judged as homeschoolers for not doing enough. And listen, listeners, we beat ourselves up all the time about not doing enough.

What even is that? If the Lord has called you to homeschool, He's called you to do all manner of things with your children and not just academic things. So stop, let's all make a pact to stop worrying if we have done enough and ponder some ways to use this time between the end of community and full out summer break to draw closer to our families, to draw our families closer to the Lord and just enjoy one another.

That's what Amy and I wanna talk about today. Amy, do you remember how you felt about the end of the homeschooling year? Like when community was over, were you glad or sad? Were you relieved or disappointed? - Well, a little bit of each one of those, actually. That transition was always a bit of a bump and which is so funny.

It was a surprise every year until I realized May and it was May for us, the month of May. May is really like a December. I realized that we have, you develop a family culture in your homeschooling family and that culture has its own rhythms and that may be really different than your neighbor's rhythms who have maybe public school kids or private school kids or just other homeschool families.

They may have a different rhythm and we found that to develop sort of this idea of a family culture, what's that May becomes a celebration and a remembering month. - Ah, I love that. - So we set that. I just finally, after kicking against the goats for a year, demanding that we keep schooling until the end of May, that I just recognized that there are so many things going on.

Usually there's an end of the year celebration in your DC community that you wanna be really a part of and pause to celebrate. We always had some kind of recital or play or sports banquet or something at the end of, in May that was coming up. Weddings come up, other homeschool graduations come up.

There are all these moments of culmination and celebration. And I think just anticipating that as you look at your calendar to recognize, hey, these are moments that are really special in our family and I'm gonna set aside time to allow ourselves to really celebrate instead of regret. I just found that frequently I would regret.

Like I'd look at the stack of books we did not get through or the lessons we did not do. And I felt bad about that because I felt like that sometimes set a tone for my own children that I was somehow disappointed. And that's not true. That's a burden that's not theirs.

And I just really, I would just encourage moms to resist that since I not for myself, I say, even in gratitude, not recognizing all that God has done. And like you said, not just academic, but just seeing, oh, my kindergartner couldn't tie their shoe and now they can tie their shoe or they can get tall or they understand how to maybe make their bed.

- Yes, yes. - Lovely and to recognize that. And, you know, my favorite verse that I clung to was in Proverbs 3, 5 verse where it's trust in the Lord, not me, not my curriculum and with all my heart. And this is my favorite part. And lean not on my own understanding.

- Yes. - Acknowledge Him in all my ways and that He will make the path straight. So that was, I tell you that those truths were tried and true in my own family as I recognized. He just has a much richer understanding of my children and my family. And I can trust that even if my boxes weren't ticked, that His were, He was accomplishing His purposes and to really rest in that truth.

- Amy, that is so beautiful. I hope, listeners, I hope that you, that your shoulders have relaxed two full inches as you listened to Amy. You know, Amy, I have to share this with you. Something that the Lord brought to me in the last several weeks, I was reading a book called "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry." And in the book, the author was considering the verses in Matthew that talk about Jesus's yoke and take my yoke upon you, that my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

And, okay, I have to fully admit this to everybody within listening distance. I've been a Christian for a really long time. I have studied the Word for a really long time. I know the Lord, I love the Lord. He speaks to me and I respond. I never thought about this part of that verse.

I mean, I get that the Lord is not giving me the burdensome load that I am putting on my back. But you know what a yoke is? A yoke is not something that's made for one. A yoke is made for two. And what Jesus is saying to me in that verse is that you are yoked with me.

It's not that I'm giving you a lighter load, it's that I'm carrying the load with you. And so your load is light because I, your God, am carrying it with you. And I tell you what, when that dawned on me, I felt like the weight of 100 chains had fallen off of me.

God is calling us to do a great and amazing thing and we are doing it in His power, in His strength, and with His leading. And so get to the end of the year and think, what has God helped us to do? Look what the Lord has enabled us to do and be so glad about that.

I love what you said, Amy. I love it. - Yeah, it's such a truth. And I feel like part of the homeschooling, and we were talking about this earlier, the homeschooling process, frequently we just look, we've been trained and to look at the outcome, you know, what did we accomplish?

And that's in very naturalistic terms, you know, a test score or a check mark on an essay, that sort of thing. And I think God is really calling us to something so much more satisfying. And that means the process of doing a lesson, the process of reading a book, the process of creating a piece of art or poetry or doing a great, you know, penalty kick in a soccer game, that all of those things are meant to always draw us into truth about the character and the goodness of God.

And so, and you've seen this as you've probably taught your daughters, if they wanted to learn how to bake a cake, that frequently it becomes much more than just getting that cake baked. It's a conversation, it's encouragement when things don't go well, it's helping them and they see your love for them, they can see how you enjoy the time, spending the time with them, maybe how you can gently correct or admonish, you know, all of those are, that's all wrapped up in that.

And that frequently, I think God uses that kind of process, that time with us as we're working through something that's hard and homeschooling is doable, we never say it's easy, it's doable. But part of the journey that he has for us is to learn from him because his burden is light and his yoke is easy.

And I think that's a check for me when I am feeling that heavy burden and feel frantic and irritable and I'm laying it on other people and blaming situations or circumstances, that's a check to go, "Wait, wait a minute." Because I also love in that verse where he says, "Come to me who are weary and heavy laden." He has identified who we are.

He knows that we are better than I do. And that is such a comfort. And so it is, you're right, Lisa, that was a beautiful testimony because that's where I think we can trust starting. It's a trust because our world does not allow rest or a hurried life. So it's something we're placing in God.

- Yes, I love that. And listeners, parents, if you find yourself weary and weary and weary and anxious and anxious, know that that is not what God has for you. That's not what he's handing you. And he doesn't want you to hand that to your children either. So stop and take a breath and look instead for what is God offering me?

What is God showing me? What can I offer my children and what can I offer them? I think it probably has a lot more to do with what Amy was talking about, reflecting and celebrating and relationship and process, not outcome and what was finished and what we excelled in.

So this is an awesome time, in other words, when community days are done for you all to sit back and think about what the Lord has done and take a deep breath and rest. Now, here is the truth. It is true that just because our CC community is over for the year doesn't mean that our homeschooling is done necessarily for most of us.

Did you usually have some things that you did want to finish up after foundations and essentials were done or even with challenge with older students, were there things at the end that you thought, well, now we might have time to really do justice to this? Or to look at it again?

- Yes, oh yes. There was always something that I recognized during the weeks of the program, either foundations, essentials or a challenge that it would peak my attention. We need to either revisit this because we didn't quite get it, or pique their interest. Something they've really wanted to talk about like a history sentence.

I know my boys love building pyramids. We had Legos and just things that, just ask the Lord to bring to mind those moments like science experiments that maybe they just love doing or art, something they did in community that you recognized brought some excitement or attention. And then also we do have, there are places at the end of the year that you go, we really need to work on more on spelling.

- Right. - And so I think balancing both those things, incorporating, going back through and pulling those, especially those experiments and art projects that they really love doing. That egg drop thing is so cool. - Oh my gosh, yes. - And do it at home. You know, there's nothing wrong with doing something twice or three times.

- Oh my gosh. - Kids are much, yes, they are much less easily bored than we think they are. - Yes. - You know, I have discovered with my grandson who's not quite two yet, he delights. I will sing him a silly little song, sometimes a song that I made up or read him a book.

And 90% of the time what he does is look at me and say, "Lolly, again, again." I mean, they love to do things again. And the beauty of doing things like the egg drop is that every time you do it, you get a little bit of a different result.

And they are amazed and amused to see how differently things can go. - Yeah, and it's a great way to incorporate. You know, we always got a little lonely. That was the thing that my children miss the most. - Yep. - And so we just would gather friends, you know, and in a very informal settings, we didn't have to make a big deal.

And we'd do something like, let's have a, you know, kind of a sinner day where you just rotated through different things and hey, make a bridge out of straws or paint an upside down painting. And especially if you were with other foundations families, they knew exactly what you were up to.

- Yeah. - And it was a lot of fun. So, yeah, I think just recognizing and the delights that they had and allowing them time to explore that more. And especially as you're challenged students, sometimes they're just so tired, Lisa, you know, two bucks and they don't wanna think about another thing.

But that's when you can hone, I know their own interest. We had students, a couple of friends, they were really into drama. Now, I am not a drama person. (laughing) We were like, okay, you come up with an idea and we will make this happen for you. And so she came up with like this workshop day where everybody, moms, including all the kids were involved and we helped her find a location, we brought snacks.

We spent the whole day doing these drama exercises. (laughing) - Okay. - You know, it was so fun. We did "Panamime" and that was hilarious. And then she just divided us into groups where we read scripts of different plays and we performed it in the evening together. - Oh my goodness, how fun.

- And that was so fun. It was something that she was passionate about, not the rest of us. I have three sons that were rolling their eyes, but you know, by the end of the day, they had a great time. It was great exposure. It wasn't something that was quote in the transcript, so to speak, but it combined a lot of things.

We read Shakespeare, we were exposed to other artists and we are other venues. So it's just the idea. And even we've given our older students some opportunities to make plans. Like we had a scripture memory, little mini conference. We were like, all right, girls, get to it. You tell us what you need, but you're going to put it on.

And so for challenge kids, just giving them opportunity to gather and do things that they find really interesting. If, whether it's, you know, attending something or coming up with your own idea and hosting it, doing it. And I think for moms, instead of me going, I am so tired, I don't want to do another thing, to really say, hey, I think communicating, I am on board with this.

I'm all over it. You just tell me what you need. And I think that is, you know, our kids really love us. They don't want to put more burdens on us either. But I think having the attitude of, we can make that happen. And I think that energy is kind of sends them on their way and you start drawing people in that maybe you haven't spent time with before, but friendship that just butted in that, or you got to see your mom do something outrageously ridiculous.

(all laughing) - Yeah, my girls always loved that, seeing mom do outrageously ridiculous things. - Yes. - But you know what, I was sitting here thinking as you were talking about that, those are huge opportunities for our teenagers to learn life skills of planning and inviting and hosting and strategizing and advertising and setting a schedule and managing resources in a really low key way.

But that is what they're doing. Those are the skills that they're learning. And if you said, I want to give you a mini course on how to be a productive worker or a great manager, that would sound like a terrible thing to them. But if you put it in the guise of creating something that they are eager to participate in, they're usually all in.

- Yes, yes, yes. It was some of those were probably the most memorable because the kids were so invested in it. And also just reckoning with when things don't go exactly like the plan. I mean, that's a really good life. We had some great- - Great life lesson. - Yep, so I think for the challenge students, listening for some of their passions, but also are there opportunities like as you look forward to their next year, are there ways that you can sort of gently, like, is there a play, for example?

If you're doing Shakespeare, is there a Shakespeare play? Usually there is somewhere in the summer. Attend one, just to kind of give them a general kind of intro, or like, especially for government, one of the things, go to a city council meeting, go to a board meeting over the summer.

They welcome students generally. And it's a great way to just gently introduce government, how government, and you're just providing opportunities for conversations. And so I would say, yeah, I'll keep, you have that list of field trips that you think, oh, we never got to that, or go do it again.

I mean, you know, go see some other, go watch like, okay, we're going, we used to have an, we have an aquarium here. It's huge, it takes too long to go through in one day. So we would just say, we're only gonna go to this exhibit. - Uh-huh, uh-huh.

- And that's what we're gonna spend an hour, and we're gonna leave. We're not gonna get over it. - Right, you don't get too much of a good thing. - Yeah, which just ends up being too much, yeah. Absolutely, I like that. I liked it that you also earlier talked about, there really might be work, work that you found left over when community ended for the year.

I know there were times, you know, if the family gets sick, sometimes somebody, everybody in the family will get sick, but they don't do it all in the same week. So I had, there were times when it's like, somebody is sick in the family every week for three weeks.

- Yes. - You know, you, maybe you miss a whole IEW, you miss a whole writing section. Or for the challenge kids, it really, if you are sick for a week in challenge, it's like missing a week of college. You have missed an entire book or an entire paper.

And so you might look back when you get to the end of community days and think, "Oh yeah, that's the book we didn't read." So let me say to you, if you really think, and I really wanted my student to read that book because I wanted us to talk about these, those ideas, or I wanted to shape their moral imagination by letting them wrestle with this thing that will probably never happen to them, but I'd like for them to think about it.

So you could read the book, you could do it as a read aloud, or you could go find a movie adaptation of it. Or like you said, Amy, a play of it. Just because you missed something during the community year, doesn't mean you have to miss it forever. You can pick it up and do it on your own.

If you missed that science experiment that they were looking forward to, you know, how terrible to miss the egg drop off the building day. You can always, you don't have to wait until that cycle comes back to foundations. Do it yourself. If you missed one of the art projects, oh, my children hated to miss the art projects.

So do it at home, or like you said, do it again. There sometimes is work left over that you can do or do in a fun or funny way. And still get some of the benefit from. - Oh, absolutely. And sometimes, Lisa, you probably have some kind of expert in your backyard that would love to talk about chemistry or would love, we had two older gentlemen in our neighborhood that were veterans of the Korean War.

So just to go take some cookies and use the afternoon of just talking to them, interviewing, yeah, look around. Sometimes if you've missed a part, like a book, maybe a, you know, like "The Scarlet Letter," there's usually someone around that, ask the Lord, someone that will be around that you can say, "Hey, can we do a day where we just do kind of an intensive about this particular book or writing or this particular history event?" It doesn't have to be a big deal.

Gather people more than likely. Again, we can, if you've done it once, nobody knows everything about the Korean War. - Right, exactly. - Gather your friends. Usually moms are just as desperate as you are. And have someone come in and talk, you know, host someone that's an expert that might show you something about that part of history that you didn't know.

I found that it's pretty, people are eager to share what they're passionate about. - People like telling their own story. - Yes, yes, yes. So it's not, or do something, I know, crazy, like meet at the park. We had, we didn't get to finish up our dissections. That was a great story.

- Oh, yeah. - One of our local, the supervision of the Lord, a woman that we know well, she had her degree in biology. She had a strong creationist background. And so she was so eager. I'm like, "If we get the pigs, will you help us?" And we all gathered around in a pavilion.

I mean, it was kind of an odd place to do dissections. - Well, you know, you were-- - And it worked. - Absolutely. - And I just loved it. And she was so, she was so good at explaining things and just acknowledging the wonder of God. And that was a complete gift from the Lord.

And so you just, I think we, I think for me, I just don't anticipate. I get very tunnel visioned instead of just recognizing what God has provided and using those opportunities to really kind of showcase his design and his creation. He's eager to show us. I mean, he does it all the time, every day.

So giving me an imagination that I can go, "Hey, I need to call so-and-so. "I bet they can come over and tell us about Japan." - See, that is so good. We get so busy thinking that we, as the homeschooling parent, have to provide all of this. And frankly, by the end of the year, you might be tired of producing the circus every week.

And so we just sit back and think, "Yeah, I should be doing something. "I don't know what it is I should be doing. "And I don't have the energy to do it." So your ideas are awesome, Amy. Sit and ask the Lord who in my community would be blessed by having something to do.

A lot of times, like you said, those people are itching to share their passion or their story with somebody else. What is it that you think, you mentioned one thing that I suspect most of us miss a lot when community days are over. What is it that families miss the most when CC is done until the fall?

- Oh, it's their friends. - Yes, yes, yes. - I wish I could say it was literature, but it is not. - Right, right. - It's their friends. - You know, sometimes I discovered that my girls missed talking about and wrestling with that with their friends. They enjoyed being with their friends, but actually they didn't mind talking about literature or science or government or art if they just had somebody to talk to that was like them, you know, not their mom and dad necessarily.

- Yes, yes. - Yeah, I do think they miss their friends. I do think some of our children, especially our young children, I do think they miss routine. - Yes, yes. - You know, I think routine is really important for little children. It's comforting to them and it gives them a rhythm to their day and they can kind of know what to expect.

And community day was something they knew what to expect. You know, when we would be together, when I'll be with my class, when we will do our memory work, when we will do a presentation, when we will have our snack. And so just as parents, if we can be sensitive to what our children are missing and try not necessarily to replicate it, but try to provide some of that.

So especially in those first weeks when community is over, maybe you guys do still get up sort of at the same time and you do have lunch together and you do some reading time together and maybe some activity time together instead of everybody just doing whatever by themselves. - Yeah, I didn't find that.

I mean, that worked for like the first hour of spring. - Yes, yes. - And then we're all at each other's throats, you know, because we're bored or tired or lonely or confused. And yeah, we usually kept kind of a family rhythm, you know, chores, breakfast, devotions. And then usually at devotions, and we do this through the school year, but we kept it going in the summer.

Like, okay, what's the goal for the day? What do we want to know? And it helped. Some of my children are very scheduling people and others were not. It did reassure them that we're not just, you know, floundering around, that here are some things that we're gonna try to do this week or these friends are coming over or we've got to go here today, whatever.

I think it just reassures everyone that it's not up to them to create their own reality in a sense. And also recognizing our children and probably everyone's has probably a volunteer opportunity they want to be a part of or vacation Bible school or the summer reading program. There's usually things that you kind of sign people up for and just coordinating those things.

Remember, we're gonna go do this. And I think that helped some of mine to be reassured that things aren't just pounced on them. - Yes, yes. - And that we actually had something to look forward to and that they, of course, were part of that planning. You know, it wasn't something enforced.

Usually it was something, hey, I'd like to do this and this is how we can get this done. So I do, I'm a rhythm person. So it helped me. And especially starting the day again, I think I was trying to be careful not to ditch our daily devotions because it was kind of like, so we would do something different.

We'd read like a mission story. You know, we try to change, even change that up a little bit where we'd read a biography and there are plenty of those great biographies and talk about that. So just to, just, and I think that touching base first thing in the morning as a family is always helpful.

We don't splinter off into the world. - Right, right. - Yeah, being a rhythm is a great idea. - Yeah, yeah. I think I have a lot. I, in my years talking to young families, especially at practicum season, young families, young moms and dads who are worrying that they haven't done enough to quit for the year.

You know, there's just something about our culture now, Amy, is way more run, run, run and schedule, schedule, schedule and plan everything to the nth degree. And there is, there's almost a sense of shame about resting. And I want to combat that with every ounce of my being. Moms and dads, listen, it is okay to rest.

It is okay to use the time between the end of community and the beginning of full-on summer to take a restful break, to take a deep breath. You know, I wanted to brainstorm with you, Amy, some things that say rest without guilt to a mama heart. I mean, what are some restful yet meaningful activities for family learning time?

You've shared a bunch already. You know, reading, keeping the daily devotion time, but maybe expanding it. You mentioned reading mission biographies. Find a devotional book. I know, and I probably have mentioned it before, my children loved the book, Heinz Feet on High Places. And they would beg for extra chapters of that.

And we read Little Pilgrim's Progress, a children's version of Pilgrim's Progress. So we read some things that were fiction, that were maybe allegories. We read some things like that as part of our devotion time as time. And that was restful. It had a rhythm. They knew we were gonna do it every day, but we didn't have to be sitting up in our chairs to do it.

What are some other restful but meaningful activities that we can give our listeners? - Well, I think those are great ideas. Yeah, Lisa, I think, first of all, it really reassures me that God says, be still and know that I'm God. And I think part of it is setting your mind at rest, being reassured that God is working.

I'd love that. I used to think, we'd ask, I'd ask, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" And I call it my RPI verse, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks. That's the will of God in Christ Jesus. And that's Thessalonians. And that just centered me.

Like, okay, so can I do those things? Yes. And so as I moved into like an activity to bring that along with me, that restful, peaceful spirit, not the frantic, we've got to justify our existence through busyness. And that to know and ask the Lord, "Okay, Lord, how can you guide us today?" And I think part of it is, you know, go outside.

Take, be together as a family. Plan something that you're all together in one space at one time. And that's why sometimes just getting away from the house and chores, whether it's a walk or a park, you know, go and just be restful outside, explore the natural world. That's very restful.

And taking a hike and taking a pair of binoculars and your field guide, and just saying, you know, some lunch, and just going and saying, "Today, this is what we're going to do." I think signaling to your children that rest and changing rhythm into rest, a Sabbath, so to speak, during the day is such a, that is a lifetime lesson.

I wish I had learned that. And now, you know, instead of inflicting, like you said, this burden on ourselves. So I think modeling that, but that means you really have to release your sense of, well, I'm not, you know, I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do. Like, really release that and trust God with it.

I do think that those kinds of conversations, having conversations, allowing space to have a lengthy conversation around the table, you know, have everyone bring their favorite quote to the table. Like, what did you read this year that you love? Let's talk about it and really linger there instead of, oh dear, you know, end of that time, we've got to go do something.

- Right, right. - So just allowing for that to happen and don't be disappointed if it doesn't. You know, frequently we shoot at things and we give it a shot and we think, well, it just didn't work. Well, sometimes those kinds of things may take a little while, you know, for people to feel comfortable and know what to expect.

And I think just having, giving space and time and communicating that we have the space and time. I think that's really important. But you know, there's things that you can add that are restful. We had, let's see, moms that we not, and I didn't, I just coordinated it. I did not participate in it.

Moms that were really good at cooking things. - Uh-huh, uh-huh. - So we did, we went to their house and they showed us how to make pie crust. And then another one showed us how to make their favorite, you know, meringue, which is so much fun. But, you know, it was restful.

It was, and it was like, this is the way we get to know this godly person, this, we are learning a skill, but we're together, you know, and I think it's just mainly that, that for me is trusting that God just has a much bigger curriculum for us. - Yes, I love that.

I love that when the year has ended and we're done with our curriculum, realizing that God has a much bigger curriculum, that He wants us to learn about His Word and about His world. And that really, it's so exciting to me to think, oh my gosh, this is a space of time when we can enjoy and appreciate all of this in relationship to one another.

And how much we grow when we share experiences and how much we learn about each other when we slow down and do something new or something old together and talk about it. Why did you like it? Why don't, why do you not like it? Why did yours turn out well?

And why did mine not turn out well? And why are you feeling sad today? And why are you so jittery? Or why are you so happy? Just making time and space to be together and to do life together is very refreshing. And I have to say, Amy, I just, I have to bring this up 'cause you and I are together.

I really, really honestly think that the Scribblers activities are perfect for this time of year. Even if you don't have a four to eight year old or only four to eight year olds, those Scribblers activities are so much fun and they open avenues of conversation in so many directions.

- Yes, yes. I was gonna say that. That is just got so much in there. And the nice thing about it is that it does span. You know, you can have a challenge student sitting at your table and there's a team policy goofy serial debate that you can have.

Yeah, and that's a great way to help all of your children be connected too. That you can go, "Okay, well, one day you're gonna do team policy." You know, and it's just a, yeah, Scribblers was such a, what a great vision because it does incorporate your youngest learner with you as the adult and then everyone in between.

And yeah, they're kind of really easy to, restful, I would say. - Yeah, I think they are restful. - Restful activities. - And the cool thing is because those activities are about building skills and not producing a certain outcome or project or artifact. I mean, sometimes you do, but there's not a prescribed one.

And so because they're all about building skills, everybody participates wherever they are. - If your skill looks different than your brother's skill and different than your sister's skill and different than your dad's skill, we are all still doing the same activity and getting results that are expanding our own skills.

- Yeah, it's really like a one-room schoolhouse again. You know, it's everyone around the table and everyone. And that's what's nice. You don't have to be the center of coordinating the information. - Yes, I love it. I love it. - The information can come from your challenge to student.

Like they can finish this and they're like, "Well, I just wrote a blue book about this." - I can talk about that. I love it. And you know what? The best thing that you said is that it's like the one-room schoolhouse again. So families, community day is over. Now, everybody in your house can do the same thing together.

You can have the one-room schoolhouse experience in these after community is done, before the summer starts. You can really learn together and have conversations together and everybody can be part of it. And this might turn out to be your favorite part of the year. Who knows? Amy, thank you so much for sharing your work and good ideas and experiences.

I appreciate that. And listeners, I hope that you have been encouraged. I know you have gotten some good practical ideas from Amy, but I hope you have been encouraged and that maybe really and truly, this will become one of your favorite times of year. As you have time to rest and reflect and look around maybe for things to do in the summer as summer approaches, I want to remind you that Classical Conversations is always trying to build relationships with like-minded organizations.

Organizations that will really help you to homeschool and further the mission to know God and make Him known. And a lot of these organizations that we partner with offer discounts or benefits, sometimes even scholarships to Classical Conversations families. So as you're thinking about things to do this summer or things for your students to participate in in the year or years to come, you might want to check out our relationships page.

You can go to classicalconversations.com/relationships and find a wealth of organizations that we are partnering with. That include educational support services, advancement services, extracurricular support and family culture organizations, Christian colleges and universities, and even some mission and gap year opportunities. So that's classicalconversations.com/relationships/. Check it out. I think you'll find something that you'll like there.

Listeners again, thank you so much. And I will look forward to seeing you next week. Bye-bye. (gentle music) you you