Thursday, May 25, 2017

Looking Ahead to Challenge


 Finishing off this homeschool reflection mini series this week by looking forward to what lies ahead for our family! The CC Challenge program is for grades 7-12 students and honestly is what we've been looking forward to these past 7 years!



·         Our family got started in CC because of Challenge! My husband picked up a catalog I had in 2010 and looked at the page with the scope and sequence for all the Challenge years on one chart. He said, “This is what I want for our kids, let’s start now!” Our children were 5, almost 4 and 2. Ha!

·         We did join CC that year and they are now 12, 10 and 9 and we are at the threshold of the Challenge years. Emily will start Challenge A this Fall and Rachel the following year so this begins a new season for us and I’m excited as we are reaching the years which spurred our vision at the beginning!
·         These are the years that many moms are tired, especially if we have been home schooling for a long time and have multiple children. So as I’m thinking about reaching the Challenge years, it reminds me to press on.

·         One of my early years in CC I read an article likening the Challenge years to the prom. We have spent time and money getting a dress or suit, getting all fixed up and now the excitement of the date is upon us. These Foundations and Essentials years were likened to this preparation and getting ready for the exciting time ahead. And for some who choose not to continue with Challenge, it is like getting all dressed up and ready to go and then not actually going to the prom. All of that foundation laid, all of the framework built and now comes the exciting part! I think of the Challenge years as a bearing of harvest and fruit from all of the energy poured in through the young years, through all of the establishing and preparing – this is the time we really see our students grow! I’m excited about this and eager to watch and participate!

·         As the weeks have progressed this Spring, I’ve found myself feeling anxious about all the things I don’t know/understand yet about Challenge. Should we organize this way or that, should I add an extra Latin help or not, I found myself looking on Pinterest at all the great posts and noticed I was starting to feel overwhelmed. Friends, I know better than this! There is absolutely nothing wrong with looking on Pinterest for those great moms who have gone before and are sharing wonderful ideas but we must do it within our own personal and family boundaries in a way that it would be a help and not a hindrance or an opportunity to be overwhelmed. As I’ve pondered this, I’ve landed on the motto I’ve held since entering the Foundations years: keep it simple, trust the method, trust the model.
·         When we hit a snag I can re-evaluate and pray and ask for wisdom to navigate that difficulty and then pick up and keep going. It is important to ask around for suggestions but also to filter them through the grid of what will serve and bless you and your family. 

·         Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

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