Happy Holidays Friends. December is here and another year is just around the corner. This is a time for reflection and planning. A time for remembering what is truly important. A time for celebration, community, and service. How are you partaking of this season? Here are a few ways we are.
Advent
I am in a state of expectancy as I embark on this Advent season. We have begun and been blessed by Candace Crabtree’s Advent devotional ‘Jesus: The Light of the World‘. She has a devotional for each day of Advent where she leads us through praying the Scriptures related to light. She also expounds on the idea of light and asks several contemplative questions about light, the scriptures, and how they apply to our lives. Today is the first day, and I am thinking more about Light because of her words. Light, what is it and why do we have it? Light, what a wonderful thing. I think my favorite realization about light and praying the scriptures was when I read and prayed the words of her first prayer “You said that the light was good, and we acknowledge Your goodness, Father.” What hit me was that praying the scriptures is about bringing my mind into intentional alignment with the will and truth of God. I don’t have to wait for some theologically profound revelation. In contrast the most profound thing I can do is is simply attend, attend to the truth at hand and choose to partake of it.
In addition to Candace’s devotional we are lighting the advent candles and reading the Christmas story a little bit each week leading up to Christmas. We are also thinking about others who have let their light shine in service to Christ. We are reading story from ‘Trial and Triumph‘ and the Bible to aid in this.
God Jul {Happy Christmas in Swedish}
My family is Scandinavian, and there are some beautiful ideas and traditions that go along with celebrating Christmas for the Scandinavian culture. First, Christmas is looked at as the antidote to darkness. Celebrating Christmas is all about celebrating the light, which pierces the darkness. The main Christmas celebration is on Christmas Eve, and there are candles everywhere! We also will be celebrating Saint Lucia day, and our eldest daughter will carry out the tradition of wearing the candle wreath on her head and serving food to the family. If you have never heard about Scandinavian Christmas traditions or Saint Lucia day, you can read more here.
Homeschooling & Christmas Break
We are taking a 3 week break for Christmas. We will do math games and drill throughout the break and listening to great audio books. Other than that we will be making presents, finding ways to serve at our church and in our community, and resting and enjoying family. Last year we began to make all our presents. We discovered we really loved making as opposed to buying so we are continuing the tradition this year. I am trying to decide which audio book I will have playing. A couple ideas I had were ‘Wind in the Willows‘ and ‘A Christmas Carol’. I found a Jim Weiss version of ‘A Christmas Carol‘ and the CD includes other Christmas stories along with it. I am pretty sure we will be getting this one.
By the way, are you trying to figure out what to tell others you want for Christmas? Here is a creative list of gifts and tips that you may have not thought of. Check it out here on our post ‘Gifts & Tips to Keep You Classically Inspired’
The December Christmas Stories Series
That leads me to what we are doing this month. This month we are embracing this same celebratory and restful attitude at Expanding Wisdom as we are in our home. We will take a short break from the particulars, schedules, and planning of a busy homeschooling life and read some delightful tales, poems, & hymns that have blessed thousands of people for hundreds of years.Through stories from the past about today and tomorrow maybe we each can find an extra dose of refreshment and inspiration this holiday season. The first post in our Saints & Stories Series will be published on Wednesday. Stay tuned.
Reflection, Planning, & A Big Surprise
This is the time of year I begin really planning all the details for the classes I will teach the next year. I am so excited about what the Lord has in store for our classes and co-op in 2015-2016. We have learned so much this year already and are looking at what changes need to happen. This is the first Holiday season I have had a blog to plan for so I am knee deep in that as well. You can be on the look out, because on January 1st we are making a BIG announcement!
At the Dow House
If you didn’t read it already, my son Josiah asked me if he could go to public school. Here is the unlikely account of what happened.
What I am Reading
Simply Classical: A Beautiful Education for Any Child by Cheryl Swope. Wow, just wow. I understand why Andrew Kern called this one of three most important things written on Classical Education in the last ten years. Cheryl Swope gives a clear and simple description of the tradition in a way that resonates at the heart level but in a way the mind can understand easily. Not only that, but her story is a heart touching account of the endurance and commitment of the mother-teacher fighting for her children.
In my classes… We just started The Return of the King from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy in my Intro to Tolkien/Medieval Lit class. I am astounded at Pippin. He is becoming a man. The way he offered his service to Denethor. I love redemption and story of boys becoming men. I think it is especially meaningful to me right now because of all that Josiah, my 12-year-old, is going through. There is hope friends. In addition, we just began The Odyssey in my Greek & Roman Epics class and of course we find in those pages one of the most riveting stories of a boy becoming a man. I am excited to see the response of my students to the trials and maturation of Telemachus.
New Series Starting in January
I am excited to announce that we are going to begin a new series in January on Clark & Jain’s book ‘The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education‘. We will take seven weeks to discuss each liberal art. The goal for this series is to elevate our general understanding of each liberal art and give each them a potential place in the modern classical curriculum. I am checking into some possible interview opportunities that could help us in this series. I ask for your prayers that we find the right interviews for our endeavor.
News about Mimetic & Socratic Teaching Page
Finally, I hope you all have been blessed in some way by the teaching helps and examples we have uploaded on the Teaching Page. After assessing how this is going we have decided to continue providing examples of mimetic and Socratic teaching, but in addition to my examples, I will be presenting and discussing famous examples from literature and life, rather than just listening to me, who has need of much growth, we can learn from those who have become masters of the art of teaching and become a sort of torch bearer for each of us.
As always thank you for reading this blog and being part of this community. If you are not yet a member of our community I would like to invite you to join us. You can learn more about it here. I appreciate you and pray you have a blessed and restful holiday season.
Expanding wisdom, extending grace,
Jennifer
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