Recently, my family and I had an opportunity to travel to Brisbane, Australia where we were able to hold information meetings, a mock Classical Conversations program day, and a one-day practicum on rhetoric. The land down under—a land with many poisonous insects, reptiles, and host to survivor shows—was full of a lovely and most hospitable people.
The first morning was encouraging as there were so many young people who attended a mock Classical Conversations program day. My siblings and I led the children in Foundations memory work for an hour or so. We took a quick break and then returned to the group with Essentials sentence-building exercises in teams of three to five students.
We enjoyed lunch and then concluded the day with a view into Challenge through a couple of rhetorical events. Our first rhetorical event was a shortened Lincoln Douglas debate. Our issue was: Which is more important: the one (the individual) or the many (the community)?
Our second rhetorical event was a Socratic discussion with a group of children from two years old to sixteen years old. I asked them to share about some of their favorite heroes from literature and we explored what makes a hero. The answers that were given brought joy to the parents and prompted further questions from the other students.
The next day we sat with the mothers and talked about the organic value of educating children at home and the trials and joys that come with that. As homeschool students, my brother, sister, and I were able to be real and address some of the mothers tough questions. The blessing of the second day was great because of the faith and hope of those mothers as they invest in their children.
It was a special trip and a joy to encourage others and to be encouraged through ideas we share even though we live on opposite sides of the world.
