In this blog post, homeschool mom Joyce Pierce shares her incredible journey from hesitant educator to leader in the global homeschooling movement. Driven by faith and a whispered calling, she has embarked on an adventure that transcends borders and transforms lives—not just her own family but countless others in Brazil.
Through laughter, challenges, and moments of grace, Joyce reveals the power of homeschooling to cultivate faith, ignite passion, and empower the next generation of “Light Warriors” in a world yearning for change.
Classical Conversations Brazil
Homeschooling: It’s Bigger than Your Family
“It’s bigger than your family.”
I often heard this small voice in the early months when I felt the pull towards homeschooling. We were pretty certain God was calling us to homeschool, but I needed confirmation. I knew it was a God-sized task, and this tiny human was intimidated. Our family makeup at the time was three precious kiddos. My first son was five, and his brother was born a short fourteen months later. They had a baby sister who was one.
As we assessed our school options, we agreed that homeschooling had always been on the table since my husband and I had previously met on the mission field. We spent our first two years of marriage serving in Fortaleza, Brazil. By the time our eldest son was ready for school, we were living in Texas, but we longed to be back in ministry overseas.
The idea that school would be based in the home would bring a sense of stability no matter what transitions lay ahead and no matter where we lived. But as kindergarten was knocking on our door, I wanted to reconsider homeschooling and do what seemed like the easier option. After all, our son had gotten into the charter school we visited and loved.
So, all was going well.
The Miracle: Feeding the Multitude
Except it wasn’t! Neither my husband nor I felt at peace sending our son to school.
I felt like Moses arguing with the Lord upon his call. I told the Lord I didn’t have what it took. I wasn’t a college-educated schoolteacher. I wasn’t confident that my bachelor’s in social work would help much in the education of my children.
How would my degree in social work help with high school chemistry and trigonometry?
The Lord took me to His miracle in Matthew 14, where He fed the 5,000.
Jesus told the disciples not to send the crowd away but to feed them. The disciples responded with a convincing argument that the provision on hand wasn’t sufficient for the problem. It was a simple supply/demand issue.
Jesus told the disciples to bring them to Him The miracle that follows is simply fantastic. The disciples brought the sparse resources they had, putting them in Jesus’s hand, and He miraculously multiplied them. The result was abundance. The hungry were fed. They were satisfied. And there were twelve baskets of leftovers.
In the coming years, I would see this miracle play out in the life of my family. I identified with the disciples’ desperation to get those hungry people fed. I had my son’s big blue eyes looking at me, hungry to learn, and found myself echoing the sentiment of the disciples, “I don’t have the resources to school him.” Yet, like the disciples, I didn’t have the right resources to meet the need at hand.
And the solution was the same: Bring your son, the Lord said. Bring your talents to Me.
The Journey Begins
We began homeschooling in the fall of 2014.
The days were incredibly sweet. My firstborn sat ready and eager to learn. My second born, to my surprise, also happily joined and learned alongside his brother. Their baby sister would take her morning nap while we studied. I loved snuggling on the couch and experiencing classic stories together as I read aloud. Watching my son learn to read and fall in love with books felt like such a privilege. I got to be there for each breakthrough moment.
The investment of my time and energy came back with rich blessings.
The First Years
That first year, we used a literature-based curriculum. It was a great choice for a kindergarten curriculum. I was uncertain about the second year, as I would start kindergarten with my second son. There was also a new addition arriving in the fall of that year. Our fourth child would be born around the start of the school year.
I was still a new homeschool mom. I was only confident in the fact that I had a lot to learn. Year two of homeschooling meant schooling two kiddos, having a two-year-old who brought lots of color to our days, and bringing a newborn into the mix.
Needless to say, I was overwhelmed.
It was my custom to attend a local homeschool conference each Spring. So there I was, in May 2015, at a homeschool conference, researching, seeking out options, and praying the Lord would continue to guide us.
I had chosen my curriculum. We would remain with the literature-based curriculum we’d used the first year. The books were at the booth, waiting for me to swipe my credit card.
It was the end of the day. I was six months pregnant with my fourth baby and desperately needed a chair to sit in. I found my chair in a Classical Conversations breakout session.
Embracing Classical Conversations
And I was completely captivated by the things I heard.
The vision of CC was to know God and Make Him known. The aim was that each subject would point back to God. The foundation was a biblical worldview. Each subject was examined through the lens of scripture.
This was my heartbeat. This was the goal of our home for our children.
Was this the curriculum we needed to adopt for year two?
After talking with my husband and attending an information meeting, we confirmed the decision to do Classical Conversations.
We immediately fell in love.
Both of my boys—the first grader and kindergartener—and I adored CC. The joy of a community day filled our cups to overflowing. My babies enjoyed the nursery. Doing life with other families with more experience provided insight and encouragement this new homeschool momma needed.
Becoming a Tutor
A couple of years in, our Director approached us, asking me to consider being a Foundations Tutor. I was reluctant. I wasn’t sure I could juggle all the demands.
But I sensed the Lord’s nudge again. Our community had a need, and perhaps I was called to help fill it. I attended Tutor training. I found my inner Mary Poppins that year. Engaging little minds each week proved to be a great source of fun.
What a privilege it was to join other families in helping nurture the love of learning.
“It’s Bigger Than Your Family” Comes to Fruition
In December 2018, I learned of Classical Conversations beginning in Brazil.
Through a series of God-ordained events, I was invited to go down to Atibaia, Brazil’s first Practicum, and give the first Foundations Tutor Training.
The opportunity excited me. I am Brazilian. My family moved to the US when I was five years old, and my husband and I had already served in Brazil as missionaries with Campus Crusade for Christ. I have a huge heart for God’s work in Brazil. I was sure the Lord was moving in that culture to further His Kingdom through education.
My sweet husband agreed to hold down the fort with our four kids while I spent a few days with these new homeschooled families.
The First Practicum
The first Practicum in Brazil was an extremely emotional experience—not just for me but for all families who participated. I heard testimony after testimony of mommas who were looking for education options for their kids and had come across CC online.
Though their stories varied and their residences spanned the entire country of Brazil, a common thread was interwoven in each account. They had dreamed of Classical Conversations for their children. Their dream was literally coming true.
There is a moment from that Practicum that is etched in stone in my mind.
I stood up to begin the training and froze in time before all those families. It was a big Practicum, and the Foundations training mirrored the size. That faint whisper of our call to homeschool had suddenly become a voice that was almost audible.
It’s bigger than your family.
The Lord moved miraculously during that Practicum. These families gathered in Atibaia, Brazil, for three days, then scattered to all corners of the country to implement what they’d learned. Classical Conversations communities sprang up all over Brazil.
It was beautiful.
Classical Conversations Practicum
Kingdom Work in Brazil
As for me, I returned to the States with a burning desire to remain connected to what the Lord was doing through homeschooling—and specifically through CC —in Brazil. We’d actually been praying for God to open doors for us to return to Brazil. We’d asked Him to show us a ministry where we could serve and pursue His Kingdom in Brazil. That first Practicum was where the Lord began to reveal to us His plans for our return to Brazil.
In 2019, my family and I had the privilege to move to Brazil.
My husband was helping to launch a Christ-centered education movement called Christian Halls in the US and Brazil. This program partners with Christian Universities to provide high-quality, affordable, locally-tutored formation.
In Brazil, it also includes Classical Conversations.
It has been an immense privilege to watch the Lord’s hand in furthering His Kingdom through education here in Brazil. We get to homeschool alongside families that are intentional, committed, and passionate. These families have to be incredibly brave as the current Brazilian government does not look favorably on homeschooling and is increasingly posing a threat to their call to homeschool. Getting to do life alongside these families has been sharpening and inspiring.
Classical Education and My Family
Since moving to Brazil, the Lord has gifted us with two more baby boys to shepherd. We are now a family of eight. We have five boys and one little lady! My oldest son is in Challenge II, my second son is in Challenge B, my daughter is in Foundations and Essentials, and my fourth son is in Foundations. Then we’ve got a one-year-old and a three-year-old to add color and laughter to our days!
The process of classical education is astonishingly rich.
It has been so fun watching the seeds of Foundations and Essentials bloom and flourish in the lives of my two older sons. Now, having two Challenge students, I am able to deepen the studies with my Foundations and Essentials students with a more thorough understanding of how to better prepare them.
In some ways, I feel as though my life is a classical cycle. I get two kids to the next level and circle back with more tools to apply to my middle two. When my middle two get to the Challenge years, I have the babies to nurture in Foundations and Essentials with certainly even more nuggets of wisdom to apply.
What an honor!
In a world that is upside down and backward, I count it an enormous privilege to journey alongside this little tribe that God has entrusted to me and my husband. How beautiful that we get to teach them to see the world through the Lord’s eyes and in His design! May they be well-trained to be Light Warriors in this dark world.
And, as if getting to homeschool six amazing kids weren’t enough, He’s placed us in my home country as He launches His plan to change culture through education and allows us— the Pierce Clan—to labor alongside Him as He brings the ultimate plans to fruition.
Though my family is, by modern standards, quite large, the call to homeschool is truly way bigger than my family!
Written by:
