Catching Up

I’ve been away from this space for too long, and I’m ready to start putting it back at the top of my to-do list!

For one thing, I do enjoy writing and keeping a record of our home education journey. My hope is also that by sharing our story, I can offer a little encouragement and inspiration to anyone following along.

It has been hectic and we have been busy these past couple of months. The shift from Classical Conversations to a full Memoria Press curriculum occurred last May 2025, and we’ve been running a mile a minute ever since to get up to speed. The best thing I did to help myself was to write down everything (in terms of curricula) that we had done or was working on in a Word document organised by different subject areas. I shared our current progress with Memoria Press customer service and requested a tailored transition plan to their curriculum.

Bear in mind that last year in May, my kids were 11, 10, 9, and 3. I knew that with the youngest I would start the preschool curriculum and would make no modifications to that programme. All I had to do was read, prepare, open the book, and go. It seemed simple enough. However, moving the older kids was more challenging.

Customer service came back with encouragement first: that the way the homeschool was currently organised was efficient and well-organised. They then advised which subjects had to be started from the beginning regardless of their age (e.g. Christian Studies, Classics), which books were optional and if we had the time and inclination (e.g. Lingua Angelica), which subjects they recommend doing individually according to age (Literature), and which ones we could possibly skip because of the foundation we had already received in First Language Lessons and Classical Conversations (Grammar for example). One of the reasons for the latter was because their Latin programme IS their grammar programme.

There was a lot to think about and more importantly to pray about. I printed off the email from Customer Service, researched more on the MP Facebook page, discussed my thoughts with my husband, and then we prayed. It was all very nerve-wracking to be honest, but we took it to the Lord and prayed for wisdom.

We then started slowly and did what we usually do when the task at hand is a big one: we rolled up our sleeves, pulled up our bootstraps, and ate the elephant one bit at a time. That was in May 2025.

9 months later and I can speak today of God’s help, direction, and faithfulness. We have worked hard with our “new” subjects: Christian Studies, Classics – how much we have learned in Greek Myths! The kids (and I!) were so sad when we finished the last lesson and are amazed at how much knowledge we’ve gained throughout the year. We loved the videos with the instructor Chris Jones as well and are now doing the Famous Men of Rome series.

There is so much more I could say, but for now, suffice it to say we have finally found our groove. The rhythm we’ve established with Memoria Press has been such a gift, and I am so incredibly grateful for it.

So many things that felt confusing early on in our home education journey are finally starting to click! I’m starting to make those big-picture connections, and some of those lingering questions are finally being answered. It feels like the pieces are slowly falling into place.

For example:
What do the Greeks and Romans have to do with classical education? or Western Civilization?
What is the definition of classical education? Is it solely based on Dorothy Sayers and her speech about the lost tools of learning?
Where does the Trivium fit into the classical model?
Why are we learning pagan Greek Myths? How are they related to Western Civilization? Isn’t learning Christianity more important that learning Greek Myths?
What is Western Civilisation?
Is Classical Education just a method (Trivium)? There is an excellent article from Memoria Press about this, which I will link here.

I thought I would end this post with some pics of some of the fun things we did in October last year (last time I blogged).

Thanks for following along!

Games the kids have been playing together with Lego, Sylvanian families, and masking tape (to make highways and roads).

My eldest son loves to take pictures of the moon. He also photographed this heron in our backyard.

We’ve been on a taco kick lately!