I decided I should start a blog series on what life really looks like in our house over the course of a week. I certainly will not be doing this EVERY week but I want to at least do it once a month. If my promise on this site is to show how Classical Education is still a relevant model of education that can absolutely THRIVE in the modern world, I figure I should share what it looks like in our daily lives and what our daily lives look like. So here it is, Volume I of Classical Education Meets the Real World!
We actually managed to sit down and do morning basket time together on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday last week. That is the bulk of our schooling for the summer (and yes, we are already on summer break, but we never stop doing school around here, we just lighten the load when it’s nice out). The big kids also have a goal for finishing their current math books this summer, so they typically do two math lessons a day.
On Wednesday, we decided to go to the zoo instead of doing any school. We were a little behind and didn’t get there until about 12:30 but it ended up being perfect because all the field trip groups were leaving and the zoo ended up being nearly empty! Plus the weather was exactly right for the animals to be really energetic. It was a great zoo trip. We of course looked for our “CC Sightings” as we call them (CC for Classical Conversations, we look for things that connect to our memory work or assignments. If you aren’t using CC curriculum, come up with your own name for it but no matter what curriculum you use, do this everywhere you go! It makes their learning come alive!). Sometimes we spot a Latin word, or we see something we know from history or science. It’s so much fun to look for these things–and honestly, they pop up EVERYWHERE, not just at the zoo and not just once in awhile.
Wednesday night, there was baseball. Baseball is getting fun. This is season number eight for my ten year old. Yes, really, he’s literally been playing baseball for 80% of his life! But this is the first year we can tell he gets it. It’s clicking. All those years of learning, of basics, of drills. It’s finally coming together. And it’s really a beautiful picture for me of what Classical Education is all about. Because at first, it feels so random and clunky and disjointed. But when you trust the process and you keep going and taking one step at a time, at the end you get to see something beautiful. Getting to see that play out in baseball this year is really helping my mindset about a lot of things that require lots of baby steps that don’t seem to be getting any results. I just look back at my two year old running bases backwards and my ten year old now making outs at short stop and knowing exactly where he needs to be and why and I say “wow! I get it now! Trust the process!” Am I the only one having deep philosophical conversations with myself at the ball field? Tell me it’s not just me. Please?!?
On Thursday we did our typical volunteer work and then headed out to my favorite park. It has a nice big walking path and a beautiful playground. We got lots of sunshine and exercise there. It was much needed and felt fantastic.
On Friday, my oldest was off to college! Well, not really. She was off to International Finals for Bible Quizzing and it was held on a college campus. We could not go up Friday night with her but she was not competing until Saturday anyway, so we didn’t feel too bad. We took the boys out for dinner and to the batting cages.
Saturday morning, middle child had a football game. Well, actually, he had TWO football games, so we had a long morning of fun and excitement. This was our first season of flag football and I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun it was. My son and one of his teammates honestly seemed to believe they were in the NFL out there on that field. The GRINS on their faces as they played were priceless. It was pure joy and we loved every second of it.
Because it was the last two games of the season, they had bouncy houses set up, so the little guy got to bounce his heart out. This was a pleasant change from his typical “is it over yet? how many more minutes?” routine.
After football we had a long, long to International Finals. But we got to catch up with friends who live in the area, check out some local restaurants, and splash in the pool. Can’t beat that, right?
We stayed at a shiny new Holiday Inn Express. It was so new, I swear we could still smell the wet paint. And it was in a lovely little shopping area so we could just cross the parking lot to eat dinner, and not at tired old chain fast food places. We ate at the most adorable burger shack which had INCREDIBLE food.
Then it was off to Internationals! My oldest competed in two different competitions that night. One was very, very serious. The other was very, very silly. The first one was a quote off. They would just give a reference and the competitors would have to recite the verse word perfect. It was wild and intense. In the end, she made the top 8!
Then there was massive silliness in the All Star competition. Oh my, these kids are hilarious. Making the All Star team for your district is a big deal. Only the top seven kids in the district get to be on it. That led me to believe that this was a very serious, intense competition. It’s not. All we did was laugh. They were costumes, there’s theme music, there’s cheering like it’s the Super Bowl. Kids held up signs. In the end, her team was in a three way tie for second place but got bumped to third place on a point basis for tie breaker. Bummer.
On Sunday, it was back at it for more quizzing but this time regular quizzing with her team. Last year her team was not competitive at all and never won anything. This year they’ve been pretty good and gone pretty deep in the different events. They do double elimination bracket style competitions. They didn’t make it super far at Internationals but they made it MUCH further than they did last year. And even when they lost, it was close. It was fun to watch them.
CC Sighting! It said “Latin Vulgate” on the wall and we know that from our Timeline Song, so we stopped and sang a little bit of it right there in the hallway. Classical Education has a lot of weird side effects but the strangest one is the willingness to sing about the Latin Vulgate in a public place with no shame.
And then awards. My girl took fifth place overall for individual score in her division. Wow! She’s so amazing! Next year she has to move up to the big division and it will be a challenge but I sure can’t wait to watch her grow and thrive!
And then… we came home. And collapsed in a heap. I actually slept until 10am Monday morning. That is really out of character for me. This weekend was unusually busy but it was so much fun to see the kids really thriving in the areas that they are passionate about. I know some home school moms would say we are too busy, we run around too much, we run ourselves ragged. But whatever, I don’t care. We are letting our kids discover what they love and run with it. And if that exhausts us, well, that’s a small price to pay. Learning does not just happen in text books and snuggled up on the couch reading together. That’s a great thing and we LOVE those parts of the week, too. But these years are short and I am willing to spend them running my kids here, there, and everywhere to round out their education with things that they love.
I hope you enjoyed this peak into our lives and how we blend Classical Education and real life. See, I told you we don’t just it around declining nouns all day. Do you blog about your home school life? Share a link in the comments, I’d love to follow along with you, too!