(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 will enjoy thinking along with us.

But don't forget, although this online community is awesome, you will find even closer support in a local CC community. So go to classicalconversations.com and find a community near you today. Well, listeners, I'm excited about this episode of the "Everyday Educator" podcast. I have a great couple to introduce you to, and a wonderful organization to make you aware of.

The Classical Learning Cohort has been a blessing to parents for several years now. And the ways that it has blessed families by helping those parents and tutors and directors feel like they are learning more and more about the classical skills. They are becoming better classical learners so that they can pass on the skills of learning to their students and to their children.

So I wanna introduce you to John and Rebecca Saw. They are going to give us an up-close and personal look at the Classical Learning Cohort. Guys, I'm so happy to have you today. - Thank you. - Well, thank you. - Rebecca, you actually work for Classical Conversations, and so you are, some people might say, "Oh, well, Rebecca's paid to know all about the CLC." So I wanna acknowledge that right up front.

Tell us a little bit, Rebecca, about what you do. - Yes, so I am called the Classical Learning Cohort Support Specialist, and so what that looks like daily is I support mentors, I help coach them, I also communicate regularly to people who are interested in the cohort and speak with them about what it provides and how it might help fit their needs, and then I hire and train new mentors to set them up for success.

And then each year, I plan and host a retreat with the mentors for anyone who has ever taken at least one semester of a cohort, they are invited to come to that, and we feast together, we have fun together, we fellowship, we do lessons on things outside of academic content, we read a book together and discuss it, and we celebrate our graduates.

- Man, that is a lot of good stuff. Okay, I heard a bunch of things in there that I want to be sure that we come back and touch on during the podcast together, and I know that you will. Mentors, retreat, and cohort, those are three of the big things that you mentioned that I know I have some questions about and I suspect my listeners have questions about too.

I know that a lot of that is gonna come out as we continue our discussion. I want to start at the very beginning with you, Rebecca. Do you remember when you heard about the Classical Learning Cohort for the first time ever, you personally? What intrigued you when you first heard about it?

- Well, I joined the cohort when I was an academics advisor for Challenge A, and so it was part of my continuing education and growth in classical Christian pedagogy. And I was intrigued, honestly, by the warmth and hospitality of my mentor. I really didn't know what to expect, but when she brought me in and got to know me and established a relationship with me, and also just all of the amazing parents that I met from all around the world that do CC, I was so inspired by my interactions with them.

- That's really cool. The whole, you were pulled in by what you might be able to learn and how you might equip yourself, but you stayed because of the community. I think that happens to a lot of us. So, John, I discovered that you are also a Classical Learning Cohort person.

How did you hear about the CLC for the first time and what pulled you in? - Yes, so when I first started hearing about it, I just assumed that Rebecca needed to take this extra class to be a better challenge director. But when she became a mentor and started leading the cohorts was when I started to be more intrigued.

She would explain how her cohorts went and describe what conversations were happening. And I joined because I had just finished being a Challenge IV director, and I knew I needed help. I wanted to be better prepared in case I was asked to be a director again. - That's kind of cool.

I like it that you got intrigued by what Rebecca was doing with the people she worked with, and you saw some value in it for yourself. I love that. So you both joined for your own reasons, but you were hoping to learn something. What was it that you hoped you would learn with the CLC?

How did you think, John, you've said you really thought it would help you to be a better Challenge IV tutor, a better conversation leader. Were you right? What did you hope to learn and how did you think it would help? And were you right, John? - Yes. So I wanted the cohort to help me ask better questions and guiding the conversations in a challenge class.

And I thought it would help me by being more immersed in the five common topics and the canons of rhetoric. I knew about them, but wasn't comfortable in applying them. And the cohort gave me space to have conversations about them and to practice them through my lesson planning and through receiving and giving assessments.

- That's great. That's great. I know, you know, in our classical circles, we throw around these 15 skills a lot. You know, we throw around the naming, attending, memorizing, expressing, storytelling, or the names in the five core habits. And then we throw around, oh, we want to get very immersed in the five common topics.

So Rebecca, help us remember, what are the five common topics? - Yes, so that would be definition, comparison, circumstance, relationship, and testimony or authority. - Yes. And what's the whole purpose of the five common topics? I know a lot of people who can say, oh yeah, I know about the five common topics and they can rattle off the names.

And then somebody will say to them, what's the good of knowing that? And then they're stumped. - Well, I think what we've learned is that having a classical conversation is really helping someone else discover truth for themselves. I can tell you things all day long, but in order for it to become a part of you and for you to be on your own learning journey, I need to know how to ask good questions to get that out of you.

- So that's perfect. So these five common topics are ways of asking questions that allow somebody to begin the journey of exploration about that topic, no matter what it is. - Yes. - That is super cool. That is super cool. Yeah, John, I can see how that would help you.

As a tutor, as a director, it would help you to ask your students better questions that would help them delve more deeply into a subject and kind of build their own understanding. That's really good. That's really good. I like it that you said the cohort helped you have the space to have conversations about these skills and get more comfortable with them and gave you time to think about how to use them in your lesson planning.

- That's correct. - Rebecca, what about you? What did you hope? I know you said you got involved as a way to do continuing ed when you were an academic advisor. How did you think it would help you? And were you right? - Yeah, so I think for me, I was hoping it would help me invite a learner who was apprehensive or frustrated in their learning into a conversation, because that would happen sometimes at home and that would happen sometimes in community.

And my heart is really to help others be able to reach and connect with their students. So for instance, if I'm teaching a focus lesson about a particular topic to lead students to a particular answer, such as how to translate a verb in second conjugation in Latin, or perform stoichiometry in chemistry, or transpose a chord in music theory.

So the first step as a parent or a tutor is you have to learn how to do the concept yourself, which is classical. And if people have gotten that far, like good job, mom and dad, that's amazing. And you think like, that's it. - Yes, yes, well, you have become a lifelong learner.

Maybe it's something that you didn't remember. I can remember doing stoichiometry in chemistry and thinking, sitting at the table with my daughter, thinking this is more chemistry than I did 30 years ago. I don't actually want to be doing this, but by gosh, I'm gonna learn it with you.

- Right, so like that's the first step. You actually have to be willing to learn it and dig in for yourself as a parent. - Yeah. - And then I think after that, many times like that's just as much energy as parents have like to give. And so they're like, okay, I figured this out.

Come on kids, come to the table. - Yes. - I just need to tell you how to do this so that you can go do your homework and get your school done. And in that moment, I realized I had stopped teaching classically. So I had learned classically, but then I just wanted them to sit and listen to me, you know, talk for however long about how to do this thing.

- Get it out. - Right. So the cohort mentors show you how to help someone else learn anything in any program, in any age through a conversation where you are attending to what the human in front of you is or is not understanding every step of the way until the very end where they can actually explain it back to you.

And it just reminds me of the way Christ walks alongside us and that's how the mentors want to walk alongside our learners. - This is really beautiful. And I appreciate so much what you have said. I don't want any of my listeners, 'cause this happened to me when Rebecca was talking, I had a, yes, I'm doing it, I did that, I did that.

And then you got to the part where you said, you've just stopped teaching classically. And I went, oh, 'cause that's me too. That was me a lot of times. I was very, especially in my early years, I was very, after I knew what classical education was all about and I was committed to it, I was very eager to reclaim my own education.

And I did a good job of getting down and learning the grammar and then putting the pieces together so that I could solve a problem or create something beautiful or pass it on to somebody else. But a lot of times I did find myself just telling my kids what I had learned instead of asking questions of them to discover where they were.

So listeners, if you think, yep, that's where I fell off the wagon too, don't despair and don't stay off the wagon. Rebecca and John are helping us see how the classical learning cohort allows us to stay on the classical learning wagon and ride it all the way to the end.

I love, love, love what you said. The mentors show you how to help somebody else learn anything through conversation. And that is beautiful because that is education through relationship. And I personally believe that is the most powerful kind of education we have. Yeah, okay, so let's get down. You have whetted all of our appetites for this thing that sounds absolutely amazing.

And you have made it seem like something regular people can do. So tell us how it works. How does the classical learning cohort work? I mean, is it in person? Is it online? Do we learn from a book, from a group? You mentioned mentors and cohorts. I have lots of questions.

So Rebecca, walk us through. How do you join and when does it start? What does it look like? Okay, yes, so right now it's online. Each cohort has one mentor and up to six members. And these are all members that are part of CC anywhere around the world. We have hopes to be in person one day where our mentors live.

And registration is located in the bookstore, the CC bookstore. And it happens twice a year in fall and spring. Okay, so that makes me think it's like a semester long. Each cohort is a semester long, is that true? Yes, it lasts within a semester. It is six meetings and they're each two hours long.

So you sign up for a day in time and then six of those dates in the semester you'll be meeting with your group. Okay, and it's online. And how do you, I mean, do you read something and then talk about it? Do you read when you're together online? Is there studying involved in between the meetings?

How do you prepare? And how do you sharpen one another when you're online together? Well, when we're online together, we spend time discussing teaching, hospitality or assessment. And there is an online platform that you become part of. And so within that, there are videos, there are resources and worksheets and things to help you to prepare your lessons and to present.

And then during the cohort, also the mentor will model lessons to you and then you will bring two of your own every semester and present those. And then afterwards, the mentor will give you a live assessment of what you did well and what you could improve. And then the members will also give written assessment.

And so what happens is you're just in a very unusual place where you're with six other adults that are all doing the same thing you're doing at their home and in community and they're giving you adult valuable feedback. So you grow very fast in a short, intense amount of time.

- It's like on the job training. 'Cause you said, Peep, these are folks that are part of classical conversations all around the world. So you are choosing a lesson that you want to teach when it's your turn? - Yep, it's anything that you're doing at home with your kids or in community if you're a leader.

So we don't want you to spend extra time planning something that you're not gonna use. You're actually doing exactly what you're doing at home and using them. - Oh, that is so good. Yeah, because that means that I am, like you said, not taking extra time, but I'm getting better at what I'm already immersing myself in.

- Exactly. I love that. And I'm already obviously very motivated to do it 'cause I'm already doing it. And the cohort is just gonna help me get better at it. So does the mentor model the lesson first so that us cohort members get an idea of what we're shooting for?

- Yes, we'll actually model lessons in every meeting. So you're constantly seeing lessons in different strands and you are also learning some aspect of teaching and pedagogy each time. So very similar to other things in our program, it's like easy plus one. So each meeting you're also learning one more new thing to add to your lesson.

- And I absolutely love that you said you spend time talking about teaching, which yeah, we could all have figured that out. The classical learning cohort is gonna teach me how to be a better teacher of my children. But also you said hospitality and assessment. And I have talked to enough members of CLC and enough mentors even of CLC groups that I know that hospitality and assessment training is super important and maybe not the most obvious part of what participants gain.

- Yes. - I just love that. I think that's gonna be really great. John, from your perspective now, I know Rebecca, you have been a mentor. John, have you been a mentor before or just a cohort member? - Just a cohort member. - So what did you feel like you did when you got involved in the cohort?

What do you do? What did you do as a member? - So for me, it was mainly about having conversations. - Yeah. - So being more of an introvert, having an engaging conversation has been the most surprising aspect of the cohort in which frankly, I've missed the most. So the conversations can be about ideas or concepts, but they feed off of each other's experiences and perspectives.

So learning to listen was another aspect of the cohort that I learned anew. - That's really cool. I think that for a lot of us, listening is way harder than talking. And so anything that helps us, I think, be better listeners will make us more valuable to our families and to our students and to our churches and to our communities.

I love that. Did you find, John, that participation in the cohort, I don't want to say helped you overcome being an introvert 'cause I don't really think it's something that you need to overcome, but did it help you as an introvert be more comfortable with different kinds of conversations?

- Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I would say it definitely opened me up to be ready to engage, not to sit back and just listen. And the mentors would not allow me just to sit back. - To fade into the woodwork. - They call you out, they call you by name, they make sure everybody's engaged.

- Well, I think that's really good because it is easy for talkative people to take over and for people who have ideas, but not a lot of extrovert tendencies to sink back into the background and their ideas don't ever get the play that they deserve. I love it. So I know that for classical conversations, the three things that people everywhere know about CC is that we are a classical education company, we are a Christian education company, and that community is super important to us.

So how would you say, John, how would you say that the classical learning cohort is Christian? - So I would say that we use Jesus' example of using questions to reveal truths about himself and his disciples. - Yeah. - A prime example would be Matthew 16, verses 13 through 15, where he asks, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And then he follows that warmup question by asking a more pointed question, "Who do you say that I am?" So ultimately we're using Jesus' example of using questions to reveal truths about ourselves and him.

- That's really good. That is really good. Jesus was a super good question asker and he asked questions that went right to the heart of the matter. And the thing I love about Jesus and his stories, when he starts asking questions of people, he starts kind of way out and he just, it's not that he's lulling people in, but he draws people in and then there's the question that goes to the heart of the matter.

And so I love that, that the CLC helps us to ask good questions that, I love what you said, it reveals truths about ourselves and about the Lord also. So Rebecca, let me throw the classical ball to you. How is the CLC, how can you see the classical learning cohort being classical in nature?

- Yeah, well, when I was thinking about this and things that are classical always come in threes. - Oh my goodness, yes. - So I think I like to share three ways that it is classical. The first is that we learn how we can use the 15 skills like you alluded to before, to teach through asking questions.

The mentors model lessons by asking questions to lead their learners on an adventure of discovery rather than listening to a boring lecture, which is what some of our experiences might've been in the past in education. So you're in a live conversation, experiencing what it's like to learn through a conversation actively rather than listening to a video or a lecture passively.

- Yeah, yeah, that's just beautiful. I love that adventure of discovery. And that's what it is when somebody invites you to take part instead of just expecting you to listen as they ramble on. - Mm-hmm, yes. Secondly, so the mentors show you what to do and then we give you an opportunity to do it yourself.

So another part of our time together is giving members a space to actually practice what they've learned through leading their own lessons that they've brought and then navigating and responding to the people before them, right? So it's not just they show up and because they're not lecturing the whole time, they've come with questions.

They don't know what people are going to say. So part of that is learning how to navigate and respond to those answers to continue to guide those humans in front of them to the one needful thing that they brought and that they're hoping that they'll discover in their conversation.

- I love that. So it really is a guiding discussion on the fly 'cause like you said, you don't know what somebody's gonna ask you and so you have to be always ready to deal with who's in front of you. - Mm-hmm, yes. And the third way is you practice giving and receiving hospitable assessment to other adults, which sadly is a lost skill in our culture today.

You have a mentor who sees you as valuable and able of doing the task before you and they showed up to help build your confidence and help you grow so that when you get off the cohort, which was John and I's experience and return to your family, you really have been refreshed and encouraged to stay in the game, stay in homeschooling a few more weeks or a few more months and can truly experience the joy of learning again with your family, which I think is what we are all after.

- Yeah, that equipping that leads you to be so encouraged that you're inspired to keep going. I think that's really great. It's a good, good, good. It builds community. So talk about community. - Yes, so how community comes in is we are sharing experiences of homeschool parents all doing the same program wherever we live and having the same shared struggle, for instance, of science fair or mock trial or debate or Latin.

- That's so good. - Yeah, so we have that in the meeting, but also outside of the meeting, there's an online discussion forum where you can share resources with each other, ask questions about anything in your homeschooling journey and receive feedback from the wisdom and experience of the members, but also of your experienced mentor.

- Such, that's an awesome support network. I can remember years ago, speaking at practicums, I would say to people, look around at this big group. The truth is, as long as we don't all have a bad day, on the same day, we can all keep going. Rebecca, I know when I first asked you about talking to me about the CLC, you said, what if I bring my husband too?

And I was surprised. How did you get your husband to join the CLC? Are there many other dads or homeschooling dads involved? - Actually, she didn't try to convince me to join. - Yay. - She had just told me in passing that she thought the cohort would help me be a better director and help me lead Bible studies better.

And so I didn't even tell Rebecca that I was joining the cohort. It might've been that I wanted to surprise her, but it was more likely that I just forgot to tell her. And she found out about me joining from her friend who oversaw the registration process. - I was gonna ask you, Rebecca, what was the biggest surprise about what you've learned, but maybe your biggest surprise was that John was in on it too.

- Yeah, she texted me, "Hey, did you know your husband joined the cohort?" I'm like, what? - You're like, what? - What are you talking about? - That's so great. That is so great. So I know that you are both aware of what you could gain and you had expectations and hopes for what you would learn.

But I also know that after people get involved in things, a lot of times there are surprise benefits or happy surprises. Rebecca, tell me, well, let me start with John. What's been the biggest surprise? - The biggest surprise for me was that there was a form, a method to preparing a lesson and presenting the lesson.

And so there's a method to guiding the students by having a conversation through asking questions. And so it wasn't anything that I had to come up on my own, that there's a help in preparing lessons. And another surprise to me was how useful comparison can be to spark that aha moment in myself and the learners.

Sometimes comparison is needed to find that truth when other skills might not reveal that. Yeah. - That's great, that's great. And I think that we don't always recognize how these skills of learning can lead us deeper. And so, yeah, what a blessing to learn that comparison would really bring the aha even for you.

Any other bonuses for you? - The bonus for me was how I saw the value of assessment in my own growth. I never imagined that I would come to value assessment. - Yeah. - But I had to come to realization that assessment is different from criticism, that it's actually a learning skill.

- And you know, I think for a lot of us, that could be the biggest thing that we learn, that assessment is different than criticism. And that assessment is about helping us to grow. And so I really appreciate that comment, John. That's something I think that a lot of my listeners would enjoy pursuing.

So Rebecca, what about you? What's your biggest surprise? - Well, I will try to hold it together and not cry. I think the most rewarding aspect that I have had as a mentor is seeing parents who really wanted homeschooling to be beautiful. And when it wasn't working at home, they assumed that it was something they were doing wrong or something was wrong with the curriculum or something was wrong with their kids.

And, you know, that is a really vulnerable place to be. And I have been there. - It's a disheartening place. It really is. - Yes, and you're trying so hard and you just feel like it's not working. And so when I saw the impact that hospitality played in transforming the interactions that they had with their kids in such a way that they would come back and say, "We're having fun learning again." And they're understanding what we're learning.

And, you know, we're not crying and getting into arguments, you know, over learning. And so just hearing stories of how the mentors nurtured the parents and how that experience strengthened and nourished their relationships and discipleship of their own children is definitely the most fulfilling part of my job and our job as a mentor team.

- Yeah, that is beautiful. I can already tell that I'm gonna want you to come back and talk about hospitality. I think that what you've said there has really piqued my curiosity. And I really do wonder if that's where a lot of us are having our dark days, is really not understanding the role of hospitality in homeschooling.

So did you just file that away? I'm gonna be coming back to knock on your door. Talk to me about some bonuses that you got from the CLC. - Yes, so John and I go on dates with all of our kids. We have throughout their life. We still do as adults.

And we would ask them these questions that we were learning of what are we doing well as parents and how can we improve? And that was such a healthy and very humbling experience for all of us. So what I never thought that I would hear from my kids is hearing that they had started implementing this in their dating and marriage relationships.

They would come home and say-- - That's so cool. - We did assessment tonight at our date. - You did what? - Yeah, 'cause they would hear that John and I would do it on our dates and then we would do it with them. And so that was so encouraging to hear how that was improving their relationships.

And it completely blew us away how transformative the CLC was going to be for all different aspects of our family. - So that is really cool. So listeners, I hope you're picking up what they're laying down. It's not just about academics. It will change the way that you interact in all your relationships and all of the environments in which you have relationships with people.

So how has your homeschooling changed as a result of your participation? John, what would you say? How has your homeschooling changed? - So when I am helping our children in those few topics or subjects that Rebecca asked me to help, it was being more focused on the person rather than the subject matter.

So being a guy, I can be more result-oriented whether the students understand the material or not. Rather, I had to learn to be more people-oriented and guide the students to discover the truth for themselves. And so I believe, or I learned to believe the students retain the knowledge better if they discover the truth for themselves rather than me telling them the truth.

- That is so true. I've seen that. I'm sure we've all seen that. The lessons that our children keep for life are the ones they learn themselves, not the ones we tell them about. So that's beautiful. That's very beautiful. Rebecca, you were already a homeschooling mom of years when you joined the CLC.

So how did your homeschooling change? - Well, at home, I started asking my kids what they remembered about something and listening to know what they actually understood before I jumped into the new lesson. What I had been doing was assuming that everything they had ever memorized or learned in their entire life was always at the forefront of their mind.

- Oh, right, because they should remember all the things we've ever told them. - I would say, "Don't you remember this memory, history, fact, da-da-da-da-da? No, Mom, not right this second." - Yeah, right, and their eyes just kind of cross and they're like, "Yeah." - Right, I mean, by the time they're in high school, there is a lot of information in their brain.

And so just having, again, that hospitality in the moment of, "Let's just see what you do actually remember and understand today before we-" - "Where are we with this today?" - Right, exactly. And then I think in community, it taught me that there was no situation that Christlike hospitality couldn't handle.

So tired students, unengaged students, talkative students, quiet students, difficult students. It showed me that the power of moving towards students and parents in love like Christ to listen and care well for them covers a multitude of issues. - Yeah, boy, that was a great lesson for all of us.

That would change our lives and all of our relationships. That's really cool. So you've mentioned using these tools that you really sharpened through the CLC in ways that go beyond schooling and homeschooling. What other applications have you discovered for those skills, John? - So for me at home, Rebecca and I have used assessment to help our marriage grow and to draw closer to one another.

Assessment was a way of being vulnerable to one another in a safe and secure environment. - Gotcha. - So we can give and receive them now without feeling attacked. - That's really cool. That's huge to be able to give assessments instead of criticism and view that as a positive.

It would change a lot of marriages. - And at work, I've used assessment tools in formulating the interview questions in the hiring process. It has helped in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the potential candidates. Now I've also used them in evaluating employees and helping them to grow. - Yeah.

- And that at church, at my church, I use what I've learned specifically in mentoring the younger men in my community group. - Yeah. - It has helped in sparking deeper conversations that could prompt us to become more Christ-like. - That's really beautiful. It really goes hand in hand with what we've always said about classical education.

It's about integration. It's not keeping a set of skills and tools for academics and a different set for life at home and a different set for life in the community and another set for how we act or think at church. It's about integrating our whole lives around the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty and using the skills we have to build relationships everywhere.

So Rebecca, what about you? How have you used these skills that you've sharpened with CLC in ways that go beyond homeschooling? - Well, the skills of assessment, like John said, they can also transfer to parenting life skills. - Ah, very good. The all-important life skills, yes. - Right, so unloading the dishwasher, teaching your children how to drive, helping them assess themselves as they're preparing or practicing for a speech or an essay before community day.

So just getting very comfortable with, so what do you think you did well? How do you think you could have improved that? Those are two really easy questions that you can ask about anything. - It's so great to give our kids those questions that they internalize and become habitual askers of themselves.

That's key. - Yes, yes. And then they start going and doing that. As your kids get older, then they'll start going and doing that at their jobs and at different functions and activities that they do. They'll be asking those questions of themselves at the end of a game or at the end of a practice.

And it literally does just become a part of them. And what a healthy gift to give our kids before they're even adults to be able to do that for themselves. And also when they're at work, when our kids would have assessment time with their employers, they would marvel that our kids wanted to know how to be better and were very comfortable with knowing that they had areas to continue to grow in.

- Yeah, and I think what it does is it shows people that we are interested in growing, that we realize that God is always calling us onward and upward and that there's more to learn and more that He can teach us and more ways that we can be like Him.

And assessment, it just helps us to refine and polish off the rough edges. We come closer and closer. I think that's just a beautiful way to look at it. Well, I can tell from talking to you guys that you would absolutely advocate that we all become CLC cohort members.

John, what would you do if somebody came up to you and said, I heard you're a member of that, what do they call it, the CLC? Why should I do that? What would you say to them? - I would summarize it by saying, for me, I had joined the CLC thinking that it would help me become a more effective teacher.

But what I didn't realize was that it helped me become a better mentor to my wife and adult children, to young men in my church, and the employees that are entrusted to me at work. So ultimately, I think it helped me to become a better leader at home or church or work.

- That is beautiful. That is beautiful. You know, it reminds me that when we put our hearts and we put our will to learning something, that God multiplies the blessing of that. And so I think it's beautiful that he has allowed these skills that you've learned to be useful in way more contexts than you may have thought at the beginning.

Okay, Rebecca, I know that since you work for CC with this classical learning cohort, you have to say these things. But really, why would you tell us all that we need to join the CLC? - Well, I mean, I'm here because of what you have just heard. I have the job I have because the CLC transformed our family and our life in such a way that I want to give my life's work to help others have this opportunity.

So it really is, that is why I'm here. I think anyone should join the CLC. I would say if you are a parent and you have no intention to ever be a tutor or director, but you just want to get better at homeschooling your kids, I would join. What we've also found is that most of the time when people do that, by the end of their first semester, they're already ready to sign up.

They're like, "Yes, I can do this." - And it's fun. - Yes, yeah, it just breaks down so many barriers that keep people from joining leading and community. So I would say it's for anyone. It's also for the tutor or director that just wants to grow and become better at their craft.

And also just to be mentored on your homeschool journey. Homeschooling, like you said, it's amazing and wonderful. And sometimes it's really hard and it can feel very isolating for you to have someone who their job is to mentor you, to pour into you and encourage you so that you can flourish to the finish and continue growing right alongside your children.

- That is awesome. That's gonna make its way into the podcast description. Flourish to the finish. I love it. All right, I think that you probably have thousands of listeners who are at least eager to find out more about the Classical Learning Cohort and when the next one starts and what do we have to do.

So Rebecca, as we bring our time together to a close, I wanna let you give us the how-tos, the next steps. Where do we go to get more information and what would our next step be? Whether we just want to know a little bit more or we are really ready to pull the trigger.

- Okay, so yes, the next steps would be, our website is classicalconversations.com/cohort and there you will find FAQs and podcasts on each of our semesters of content. You can also sign up for an experience, the Classical Learning Cohort, which is a one-hour information meeting where you learn more details about it and also get to experience a conversation where we have a lesson about a Bible passage and then also a lesson on academics and so you get to actually see what it's like to be in a cohort.

And then if you're ready to register, that is in the CC Bookstore. So the website for that would be classicalconversationsbooks.com/pages/clc classicalconversationsbooks.com/pages/clc-events. So that is where you actually go register and you'll see them listed by their content and the day and time that they are available, Monday through Friday morning, afternoon and evening, Eastern Standard Time.

And then if you have any other questions, you can always email us at cohort@classicalconversations.com. - That is awesome. That is really good intel for all of us. Thank you guys. Thank you, John. Thank you, Rebecca for giving us this look into the CLC and for really wetting our appetites for what it could do for our homeschools, but also for our homes and our communities.

Thank you to Rebecca for the great contact information. I'm sure that there are thousands of listeners who are reaching for their keypad now to see how to find out more information about this. Listeners, you stay tuned. I am gonna have these great folks back maybe to talk about some of the things that they alluded to in here.

The importance of hospitality, how to ask good questions, and what is it about assessment that should make my heart go pitter-pat instead of, oh no. So you guys have a great day and continue to be everyday educators. Bye-bye. (upbeat music) you you