A Classical Conversation

At the beginning of the year, our Foundations Director, Stephanie Ross, posed the question, “Are there any mothers who want to be Memory Masters?” As someone who is a lifelong learner, I secretly wanted this. Besides the fact that I love challenges, I wanted to experience the process for myself because my daughter would be doing it for the first time this year.

Make no mistake, IT IS HARD! I earned my undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary and my masters from George Mason University. The Memory Master test was the hardest test I have ever taken! I nearly did not make it because I could not remember the word “shelf” in continental shelf and I nearly forgot the card “Immigrants Flock to America” after “The Missouri Compromise.” My director was very patient with me, because she knows that I am in the rhetorical stage rather than the grammar stage. I understand now why it was easier for my eight year old: she did not let things she already knew get in her way! If I tried to think too hard, I had trouble remembering the facts. My director had to remind me not to think so hard because I did know the material. The only block in my brain was my brain trying to think much too hard.

Here are some pointers I gleaned from this experience:

Years ago, back when we were both new to homeschooling, one of my friends was loudly lamenting the early elementary years. She was not a fan of “projects,” copy work, or repetitive reading; she was eager to engage her children in discussing “big ideas,” to teach them to write critically, and to dissect literature with them. She used to say she was the only mom she knew who could not wait for her children to become high school students! As it turned out, my friend was right and wrong; many people cannot wait for their children to become high school students, but not for the reasons my friend held.

I recently asked my mom, a longtime Challenge tutor, what she planned to do with her summer, teasing that she would be at a loss for what to do once her students were gone. She replied that she thought summer leisure time was a myth, adding, “The time always gets eaten up by other activities.” What an image! I could not help but envision a great green Busy Monster with garden trowels for hands and dirty plates for eyes. In my imagination, he was wearing a beach towel for a toga, a camp counselor’s lanyard, and a pair of paint-splattered sandals. The Busy Monster would go around finding a spare day on the calendar or a spare hour in the itinerary and gulping it down like a juicy wedge of watermelon. Anyone found to be idle would be startled into motion like a reluctant sheep.

The literature lover in me felt intuitively that Shakespeare would approve of my Busy Monster. He did, after all, coin the phrase “green-eyed monster” in reference to jealousy, and, furthermore, his characters knew the fear of being perennially active.

In the fall of 1979, when I was a senior in high school, my youth pastor took me and three other students on a tour of several colleges. I had never heard of a “road trip,” and this was my first. We left Greensboro, NC on a Wednesday in October. First, we arrived at Cedarville College in Cedarville, Ohio. I remember it as a quiet, well-mannered place, and of course, we were well-mannered—if not quiet—seniors. Next we went to Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. As I remember, it was spread out over what seemed to be vast acreage. Walkways to the various buildings stretched out into the distance as we followed our tour guide. Our next stop was Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky. This institution included both an undergraduate college and a seminary. It had a different “flavor” because of the mix of graduate students with the undergraduates. Finally, we stopped at Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee. At Bryan we had a small reunion with some of our friends who had graduated from our youth group.

What is the most important attribute of a classical, Christian tutor? Mastery of academic material, expertise in classical pedagogy, and the expression of natural charm or charisma in the classroom characterize a desirable tutor to some parents. Extraordinary biblical knowledge, administrative excellence, and clear communication skills define a highly sought-after tutor to others. Some would argue humility in the life of a tutor is required while others believe humility is an incidental benefit. Individually, humility in the nature of a tutor is hard to obtain. Humility in the life of a classical, Christian tutor is imperative for three reasons: humility allows tutors to support families in a mentoring relationship, humility permits honesty to permeate the lessons in the classroom, and humility invites the Holy Spirit to do His work in the lives of the tutor, students, and parents.

During the first week of our family’s homeschooling journey, I taught this verse to my children: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7, NIV). It is a wonderful day when a parent can see the fruit of his or her instruction.

On May 3, 2013, our Roseville, California, Classical Conversations community held our End-of-Year Celebration and Open House. At this event, the director honored six students who had earned the title of Memory Master. My ten-year-old son was among them. What an inspiring journey this has been!

For the past eight years, I have regarded the coming of Challenge B with fear and trembling because of one thing—Mock Trial. I had never participated in this project or any form of debate during my school years, so it was a vast unknown well, not entirely unknown, but I am not sure my fascination with courtroom dramas on television counts as courtroom experience). I was not sure I could help my son in any way. Wisely, I concealed my fears from him, took a deep breath, and took the plunge.

In every level of Challenge, there are certain books that parents must read with their children, and there are certain projects with which we must be fully engaged. I had already identified Mock Trial as one of these projects, so I rose early one morning to read through his notebook. At least I would not be completely ignorant. What I found was truly fascinating—witness statements, police reports, potential objections, and precedents from prior case law. However, the facts did not really help. After all, it is the job of the students to comb through the evidence and create a case. The tutor and parents are to help them think about the process, not to do their work for them. I now had information, but I did not have a clear idea of how to help.

In the light of current events, I am certain of one thing: we need heroes. As parents, we cannot allow fear to rule our lives; on the contrary, we should prepare our children to act nobly and to do the right thing in unusual circumstances, because one thing is certain: we live in uncertain times. This summer, there are a few important activities you can do to begin your child’s hero education.

1. 1. Read aloud great adventures of heroes. The Hobbit and the Narnia series are great family reading choices for summer; read them aloud. Give your children stories so that they will remember the heroes’ great and wondrous deeds so that these stories stay in their hearts and souls and are recalled in moments when courage is needed. These stories provide good hero role models, and they should inspire us to undertake great and wondrous things so that stories may be told about us someday.

The traditional Christian church calendar has just marked the beginning of the fifth Sunday in the season of Easter. As the celebration of the Resurrection continues, I’d like to share some information I’ve been gathering regarding the symbolism commonly used in Christian celebrations such as Easter and Christmas—symbolism which, although often criticized by both nonbelievers and believers alike, is grounded, not just in the biblical worldview, but in common sense.

My research into this subject was spurred by an image (warning: inappropriate language present on the source site) I saw on an atheist friend’s Facebook page. He had shared it from an atheist humor website called “We [unprintable] Love Atheism.” I have seen “shares” by this friend from a whole family of related websites with names like, “I [unprintable] Love Science.” This one was so self-important that it invited a friendly response, and you can be sure that I gave one in the Facebook “conversation” that ensued.

In early April, I traveled with my Challenge IV class to Staunton, Virginia’s Blackfriar’s Theater to see Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar on stage. The night before the play, we met with a couple of other Challenge groups at Youth Development Inc.’s lodge for fellowship, dinner, and games before we went to see the play together. What follows is an account of the evening’s festivities.

After dusk, the YDI group, operated by a Classical Conversation family in Virginia, started an enormous bonfire around which students from Jennifer Dow’s Challenge III class in Charlotte, NC, Heather Shirley’s Challenge III class in Kernersville, NC, my Challenge IV class in West End, NC, and a handful of siblings and friends from Challenge A and Challenge I classes gathered for s'mores and conversation. The tutors and chaperones ganged up on me and elected me to lead a Socratic discussion[1] around the campfire with this group of forty or more teenagers.

As April ends and the school year winds down, it is important to reflect on all that has been accomplished. Most Classical Conversations communities have completed the school year and are preparing for EOG testing and Parent Practicum. This moment presents the opportunity to reflect on all that we have accomplished, and to throw a party! If your student was a Memory Master, or you just completed your first year of homeschooling, you need to congratulate yourself.

As for my family, we are rejoicing. This month we celebrated the completion of Challenge IV by my brother, William. In fact, our local Classical Conversations community recently commemorated the graduation of the first group of students who progressed through the entire Classical Conversations program from first grade through twelfth grade (a couple of them are going to join the Mandala Fellowship)! It is quite an accomplishment to homeschool a child through high school, but it is not as daunting a task when you have a solid academic plan and wonderful community support.

Classical Conversations Challenge communities organize a chaperoned Spring Formal Protocol event each year for their Challenge I-IV students. Students choose their dressy attire, eat together in an upscale setting, and may attend a cultural event (such as the theatre, opera, or symphony). Many communities have individualized Protocol training using Sandra Boswell’s book, Protocol Matters.

Spring Protocol allows students to practice proper etiquette for formal occasions. This trains them in the skills of participating in formal functions with ease. The children we are homeschooling will one day be leaders of their homes, churches, local organizations, and communities—and quite possibly, some will be leaders on a national and perhaps even international scale. Classical Conversations puts the highest value on equipping our students with the skills combined with the wisdom they will need to know God and to make Him known. To neglect to teach them the skills of formal events would be to overlook an important component of what they will, at some point and to some degree, require as adults leading their generation and those who will follow after them.

College consultants spend a lot of time helping students and their families prepare for life after high school. I myself have become pretty good at directing people to the best books available on the market. SAT and ACT, among others, provide excellent guidance. But what does God’s literature have to say on the topic? The most respected people in the field of education travel the country telling you how to make the most of your abilities. Learning from their insights can be very valuable. But what do your prayers and those of your children tell you about your students’ futures?

On February 11, 2013, the media announced Pope Benedict’s resignation from the papacy for “the good of the church”; this decision was contrary to a tradition of lifetime tenure for popes. The media widely reported that the last resignation recorded in history occurred during the Middle Ages, and then the media expressed questions about what this resignation could indicate for the future of the Catholic Church. The media also speculated as to whether Pope Benedict’s resignation had significance and meaning when lightning struck the Vatican dome within hours after the announcement.

Days later, on March 13, the media announced a newly elected pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio. As the information unfurled, a list of three historical firsts revealed Bergoglio to be: the first pope from the Jesuit order, the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pope from the Americas (Argentina).

Following the unique developments and the three historical firsts, I became interested and began to follow news articles. I read various quotes by the pope and others, I read heartwarming stories filled with cheer, and then I read the pope’s first speech to the media. As I pondered all of this, I developed my own list of three cheers for the pope; this was a first for me. I thought about what he could convey and model to me as a classical, Christian educator.

In Proverbs 2:10, we learn, “…wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.” When is it a good time, then, to stop learning? Do we ever really stop learning?

I remember longing for summer when I was young. When the school year came to an end, we were rewarded with two months of leisure time to play with neighborhood friends, hang out at the neighborhood park, set up a lemonade stand in the front yard, and watch a lot of television. Much later, when I was teaching in public school, my desire for the summer break was even stronger. After the crush of administering final exams to 150 high school students and determining their final grades for the class, I felt as though I needed to spend some time in a deprivation chamber just to escape the misery of the school experience. Neither of these experiences relate to how our family regards the summer months now.

Cultural theorist Marshall McLuhan wrote in his 1964 book Understanding Media, “The mark of our time is its revulsion against imposed patterns.” I think it is fair to say that mainstream education today shares some of that revulsion. This generation likes to color outside the lines, sometimes without even acknowledging that the original lines exist.

“Why write poetry that rhymes?” we ask. Why perform a five-act play that follows the unities of time, place, and action? Why learn the sequence of Fibonacci numbers or Pascal’s triangle in math? Why sketch examples of symmetry in science, or study the tides, the ocean currents, or the orbit of the planets? Why practice thirds and fifths in music before pursuing innovative harmonies?

Since antiquity, people have worked to unlock the mysteries of personality. The ancient Greeks noted four personality types: sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, and melancholy. They believed that each of these personality types corresponded to the dominant bodily fluids. Considering that I suffer with allergies, I am sure Hippocrates would have labeled me phlegmatic.

Many counselors, life coaches, and personnel departments use personality assessments to help clients and employees understand themselves and others. Twice, I have taken the test for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which labels me (and my wife) as ENTJ. (I used to be an INTJ until I became less introverted.)  The DiSC profile indicates that I am an “I,” which stands for Initiator or Integrator, or something. I never found DiSC very helpful.

In all these personality models, there seem to be some preferred types. Some are born leaders, while others are destined to follow compliantly. I am waiting for the profile that labels people Loser, Sucker, Whiner, Coward, and then Winner, Mover, Shaker, Lucky.

A friend recently pointed me to another personality assessment tool. He found it through a mutual friend, Jerome Daley, who wrote about the insights he gained through the Enneagram. I checked out the online resource he suggested and took the free inventory test. I do not intend to give a full explanation of this system, but I hope to spark your interest and encourage you to learn more about yourself.