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. Now, 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, you may or may not have heard rumbles in the jungle of something new happening with our podcasts. And I have here with me today a wonderful friend.

And I was going to say my guest, Delise, but Delise is not going to be a guest. Delise and I are going to be at the helm of an all new Everyday Educator Podcast that is a little bit new and a little bit old, but a perfect blend of all the best of both of us and some great new stuff that we think that you're really going to enjoy.

Delise, I'm so excited to share the chair with you. Well, I am so excited to be here. And I know a lot of our listeners know me from Blessings and Motherhood, and I've got a few chances to come over and chat with you on Everyday Educator. But I'm excited because we're going to be here all the time.

I know. And I love that. I love the perspective that you bring. I love sharing with you. Guys, when you are, when Delise is a guest on My Everyday Educator, or I have been a guest on her Blessings and Motherhood, we have way more fun talking than you guys do listening.

I am just excited that we're going to get to do more of that and share the perspective of a mom with children that are on the go and growing and a mom who has watched her girls grow up and now are watching them become moms of their own. And so we are going to offer something for everybody from moms with little kids just running around enjoying the exploration of the world and all the way through foundations and essentials and challenge moms who are in the trenches every day doing the very best they can to educate their family and build a family of culture, family culture of learning all the way up to people like me who still really want to make a difference in the lives of children and young families in my community.

I'm a grandmother, and that still sort of freaks me out, but it's the best job ever. But you know what? I still want to build families up. I still want to encourage new moms. And I keep thinking, wow, if I could just tell you what I wish somebody had told me a long time ago, maybe that would bless you.

So I think that's where I'm coming from. Well, and you're so right, Lisa, because, you know, we're all learning as we go and that never stops. But most of us, I think, are more like me and we don't want to learn the hard way. If I could learn this lesson well and not have as many Band-Aids, I would be okay with that.

Yes, exactly. Yeah, yeah. Well, and sometimes it's just nice. It's not that I've learned this lesson and I'm going to teach you. Sometimes it's just nice to learn shoulder to shoulder with somebody. And it's nice to have a community, even virtually, that you can lock arms with and walk along with and pray for one another and shoot ideas back and forth and have somebody say, no, girl, that's crazy.

Or, oh, I'm going to try that tonight and I'll let you know how it goes. Exactly. Yeah. So I really am excited to nurture. We've been calling it a broader conversation of home education together. And that also means, you guys, that you're going to hear from me and Lisa regularly, but you'll also hear from a number of other guest hosts who are going to rotate through the panel with us.

And so we're really excited for you to meet some of our friends and to hear their perspectives on growing their families and the things that they're learning across the way. And one of the things we wanted to make sure that we put in this episode was just an overview of why Everyday Educator is called the Everyday Educator.

Because I think, you know, we're kind of in our silo at this point. So we know what we mean by it. But maybe you're new. And if you are new, we're so happy you're here. So maybe you don't know what we mean. Maybe you're thinking, is that a daily podcast, a routine of things you do every day?

And one of my favorite things I've heard you say, Lisa, is that learning is a lifestyle. Yes. We have co-opted that phrase and we use it over on the CC YouTube page all the time because I just think it's such a good way to describe what we're trying to accomplish here.

That it would just be a lifestyle. It's not even necessarily something that you have to tell yourself to do. It's not a switch that you turn on. Okay, let's sit down at the table. Since we're at the table, now we're learning. And then when we close our books and we're done with school, that's not, that would be That's not real.

Yeah, that's not real. That's not how we live. Sometimes the very best lesson, the very best math lessons that I ever taught were when my girls went with me to the grocery store. Oh, yeah. They learned about on sale and percent off and how to figure the tax and will I have enough money when I get to the register.

And so those were some of the very best lessons. And those were not around the table. They were around the shopping cart. So exactly. Learning as you go. That's kind of what we mean by everyday educator. And you're an everyday educator because you are doing something every day to teach your children education, all kinds of things, practical knowledge and academic knowledge.

You are an everyday educator. And it becomes, like you said, just a habit. A family culture is what we're trying to establish. A family culture of learning where your family explores a new idea together and you go and look it up, my grandson is constantly asking me, Lolly, what is this part of the front end loader called?

I'm just like, son, I mean, I'm thinking to myself, I'm glad I even know it's a front end loader. And so I will say to him, because he means, what is that specific part called? And he's not going to forget. And so I don't want to make something up.

And so I'll say, we're going to look it up. And so we'll come back in to where the computer or the phone is. And he will say, Lolly, look it up. And so we're everyday educators because as we go through life, as we do our everyday things, we are learning as we go.

And so an everyday educator is somebody who just considers learning an everyday thing to do, like eating breakfast, or maybe you don't eat breakfast, or making your bed, or maybe you don't make your bed. An everyday thing to do, like getting dressed, right? Taking out the trash. It's an everyday thing.

It's normal, I guess is what we want to say. Exactly. It's just natural to you. And it's so funny to me hearing you talk about how the best math lessons you ever taught were in the store, because I have so many vivid memories of my mother holding up an item of clothing and saying, you can have this if you can calculate how much it's going to cost with a discount.

There you go. Okay, I got this by shopping. I can do this. Or, or, I mean, I can remember buying fancy wear and saying, okay, cost per wear. If you're only going to wear this three times, then it is way too, we're not spending it. But if you can tell me how else you will wear this, then we can talk.

You know, those are good lessons. Those are nice lessons. And every time, every time it would happen, it was inevitable. Someone would pass our cart and say, oh, that's the most important math you need to learn. Right. So you're right. You're right. And I know that to be true now.

And I'm excited too, because we're changing some things. You may not know this. You may be still listening to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform, which is awesome. Please keep doing that. Keep subscribing. But you may have found us on YouTube. So we want to let you know if you didn't already know, or if you've always wanted to see Lisa's smiling, gorgeous face, beautiful library, you know, or just put it on in the background while you're doing dishes.

That's one of my favorite things to do that now everyday educator is on YouTube. It's a video podcast. And you can find us over on the classical conversations, YouTube page. So this is our capstone podcast right now. And then also we are creating a more robust social media presence because while we love talking to you, we want to be able to talk with you and to have conversations with you and to hear from you and to interact with you and to answer your questions in real time.

And so social media is a really great tool for that. So if you're not already following us on social media at everyday educator, please go now to your favorite social media platform and do that so that we can say hi to you and keep sharing. And then you can also share different tidbits of this podcast with your friends.

We would love to know what everyday educator moment happened in your family or what question you have, maybe that was generated by some offhand remark that we made. Or there may be a real question that you would love to have discussed by moms that you could watch and think, okay, okay, well, there's another perspective.

So let us know. We want to know what is interesting to you. Absolutely. Well, and you know, Lisa, I know we're going a little bit out of order here, but I'm realizing we're just chatting and we've never introduced ourselves. So maybe we don't know. I know. It's just like, I think that all the people that I know, know each other and they're friends.

All my friends are already friends, but that's not necessarily so. Oh, well, you're right. Well, Delise, introduce people to your lovely self. Okay. And then it'll be your turn. Okay. I am Delise Germond. I always like to joke that's germs on you, Germond. That's great. Very French name. And right now I am the mother of a three-year-old.

And then I have another one on the way. Leo is our little precocious guy. He is a ton of fun, lots of energy, lots of questions. He's riding his bike. I mean, this is a high energy kid. And we're having a lot of fun. And my husband and I live out in the middle of nowhere.

We have been married for, it'll be 10 years by the time you guys hear this conversation. So that's fun to have. Congratulations. That's awesome. Yes. It's been a very fun ride. Evan is an amazing man. And what has been most exciting for me being married to him is that he actually, he does do the things that he says he's going to do.

And I know that that sounds perhaps- That's wonderful. It has been astounding to me. It has been a crazy adventure. You know, most of the time people talk and they're just dreaming. They're just talking. Right. That if Evan is talking about something, it's going to happen. Yes. So he says, you know, we're moving to this place.

Get ready. We're about to move. Whatever it is. Start the boxes. Exactly. So that's been a lot of fun. And then, of course, I've been in this homeschool community my whole life. I'm the third of four children and I was homeschooled classically. I was not homeschooled with classical conversations, but my mother was a very big part of, you know, the middle part of creating all of the curriculum with classical conversations and things like that.

So I got a firsthand view of what that looks like. And I'm really excited to jump into Scribblers in the fall with my son and to just be able to be a part of foundations through through challenge and beyond. Oh, that's so exciting. I just love I love hearing stories about Leo.

I love hearing stories about what you're doing because it brings back memories for me because I'm on the other end of the homeschool journey, as some of you already knew. I'm Lisa Bailey. I have this is going to be a little shot and it shocks me when I say it out loud.

I have been involved with classical conversations in some manner or other for 21 years. I joined classical conversations with my daughters when my older daughter was in the fifth grade and my younger daughter was in the second grade and they went through foundations and essentials and both graduated through the challenge program.

And my husband and I were very pleased with the education that our girls got. But we were super pleased with the educations that we redeemed. Both of us went to a really good college. We were Wake Forest graduates and we thought we had a great education and we did.

But there were still pieces of the education that we redeemed as we found the connections and the integrations between the things that we were studying at home with our girls. And it was a beautiful ride. I've tutored Challenge B and Challenge 1 and my husband was a Challenge 1 director.

And I have been involved in a lot of different things. Field leadership, construction of practicum materials and training those practicum speakers for years and years. I was on the team that produced Scribblers that DeLise was mentioning a few minutes ago. And I still work for Classical Conversations as the director of program development under CCMM now.

And so we are the arm of the company that produces the guides and the curriculum. The new books that are written are written by our team. And so I'm loving that. And I have been blessed to be the face of Everyday Educator podcast for a good many years. And I have enjoyed it.

And people say, why do you keep doing this? And I just say, because I'm endlessly curious. And I wonder about things. And I like to talk to people and find out what they're thinking about things. And truthfully, I really have a heart for helping families love to learn together.

And if I can save you from making one of the dumb mistakes that I have made, all the better. But mostly what I do is just come along beside of you and say, let's learn together. And that's what we do. I love that. And it's such a blessing to have that voice in your ear, you know, that person reminding you why you started this in the middle of that year.

Yes. It's like, okay. But remember, I mean, today is not a good day. I mean, nobody would say that it was a good day. But you did not begin to homeschool just to have good days all the time. Homeschooled because you wanted to both redeem your own education and offer your children a way to know the God of heaven and earth and to make him known, to equip themselves to know him and to love him and to understand him more and to be able to pass that knowledge on to somebody else in a winsome, persuasive way.

Yeah. And the fact that he keeps on showing up to do that kind of makes you want to show up too. Absolutely. Talking about that right before we started, just the fact that the Lord keeps taking the little bit in our hand and making much of it, you know, and he's not expecting us as homeschoolers or even just as believers to come to the table with everything.

Right. And he's expecting us to trust him, you know, and to watch him work. Absolutely. Absolutely. And even give him room to work. Yeah. Take your hand off the controls a little bit and let him do what he's going to do. Mm-hmm. Exactly. And so I love that, you know, over the years that I've been around homeschool moms, the number one thing I've always heard them say is, you know, what blessed me the most is what God taught me.

You know, they're never saying, oh, what blessed me the most is that my kid is now. Even though they're proud of their children and they're thankful that they did it, the Lord meets you, you know, on the path. The Lord meets you in the journey. And that's encouraging. And I'm glad that this is a place where we can amplify that truth for families.

And so, you know, as we're rounding the bend on this conversation and just welcoming all of our new listeners and all of our old listeners to the party, we do want to reassure you that there are so many things about the Everyday Educator podcast that you love that are going to be the same.

Right. Absolutely. You're still going to hear about classical Christian education. We are still going to give you the ins and outs of mock trial and different specifics that you need for the curriculum. We're going to talk about the curriculum. Yeah, we're going to talk about the seasons of a homeschool mom and family's year.

We're going to talk about all of that stuff, too. Exactly. And we do want to continue to hear from you. And so if there are ever needs or questions that you have, we're going to start having episodes like that where we just answer questions. And so please keep your eye out on social media as we're on this journey with you.

Please feel free to reach out to us. We are listening and we will do our best to respond in a timely way. We are so excited to keep pondering the delights and challenges together. I love it. I love it. I love it that we can change and stay the same.

Because years ago, some of you may have been part of a CC community enough to know that we used to offer webinars and people had to log into their computer and it was like an hour or an hour and a half. And so we figured out, but it was real time.

You logged in for that certain time. And, you know, people began to that. That is just really doesn't meet my need or it's not the rhythm of my family's life. So we went to podcasting. So this is just the next evolution. So it's going to be not just in your ear, but on your screen.

And so we're doing the same thing of encouraging and inspiring and equipping families to do the work God's called them to do in homeschooling just in a different way. And we can't wait to walk with you, honestly, on that journey. So thank you all for listening. If you've enjoyed this podcast, we would love for you to rate and leave a review for the show.

Anywhere that you listen to podcasts, you can give a five-star review. And rating it actually helps other people to find out about the show. It triggers that algorithm that we all hear about all the time. So we're so grateful that you're with us. And before we let you all go, we do want to encourage you all to participate in the Classical Learning Cohort.

If you don't know what the Classical Learning Cohort is, it is comprised of small groups of CC parents who are learning how to become more confident, competent classical teachers. And I don't know about you, but that is definitely something that I need. I need help with the confidence and the competence in being a classical educator.

So the CLC provides a place of mentorship while also helping you to practice the skills and hospitable assessment. Lisa, have you participated in the CLC? The CLC is awesome. It is a great way for you to get your feet wet and to get some practical tips. And it's not just you listening.

You will actually practice how to give a great exordium, a great welcome or a hook to a lesson. And how to teach it by asking good questions. And then how to help your student learn how to assess himself or herself by asking, what did I learn? How did I get better at this?

What did I do well? What can I improve next time? And so you have a mentor, but also classmates. You have a small group that stays the same. So you get to know one another. And it's iron sharpening iron. It is a beautiful way for you as a parent to grow as a classical educator and continue to be a lifelong learner alongside your kids.

It is so great. And I've only heard good things about the CLC. Right now, we actually also offer a free online event. So maybe you want to try it out and see what it would be like to be a part of the CLC. You can do that with a CLC mentor.

You just need to go to classicalconversations.com forward slash cohort. And then you'll search for experience the CLC to find an event that fits your schedule. And that'll be great. And I will tell you, they have groups that are opening up at different times of the year. So if you think, oh, but I don't want to do it now.

We're just going into the summer and I have XYZ planned. There are fall cohorts that you can register for now. So find out, make your plan and have something to be excited about. Well, guys, thank you for listening to the show. Again, we'd love to see you over on social media and we hope you'll bring a friend next time you come back.

Yeah. See you next time. Bye, guys. Bye. Bye. Bye. you you you For more information, visit www.fema.org