Today, as I was reading our local English newspaper, "The Jordan Times," a headline caught my eye: "An Education Money Simply Can't Buy." The article described the experiences of sixteen students from John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies as they participated in an educational tour of Jordan, our adopted home. Reading this article, I realized that my own children have been having similar life changing experiences all their lives.

My outlook wasn't always so enthusiastic. When the oldest of my four children was eight months old I quietly despaired, "How can she have a meaningful childhood without green parks, public libraries, visits from grandparents'?" My list was long. A dear friend encouraged me with these wise words: "God cares for your children even more than you do. Trust Him."

Our home education journey began when my oldest child was ten. When I introduced her to the ratio pi, my daughter asked, "Why is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter always pi?" We talked about God, the Creator of order in His universe and how pi was a reflection of His perfect order and creativity. Imagine! The glory of God revealed in our math lesson! The goal of our home education is best summarized by Dorothy Sayer's thoughts on a Christian worldview: "Christianity is supposed to be an interpretation of the universe." An interpretation that will, ultimately, bring glory to God as we are, in Christ, growing in our knowledge and enjoyment of Him.

Christian Classical Education is the philosophical hub of our home education wheel. The spokes are the curricula, activities, and life experiences which extend these ideals into everyday learning, moving us toward our goal. I am learning traditional logic, sentence diagramming and Latin along with my children. Tapestry of Grace helps me integrate a chronological study of history, geography, philosophy, and literature. This year we added a spoke, the progymnasmata, a classical approach to writing.

Music study is another important element of our curricula. What beauty it has added to our lives! All four children are learning to play the piano, my nine year old son plays the traditional Arabic drum with an Arab soul, and my thirteen year old daughter plays the violin in Jordan's national orchestra.

With no other likeminded home educators in the country, I can hardly put a value on the extensive guidance and help I have received from books and Internet sources. In particular, the parents forum of The Well Trained Mind (www.WellTrainedMind.com) website has provided me with innumerable ideas and resources, and immeasurable encouragement.

Many experiential spokes are included in our home education wheel. Our children are learning to adapt to a different culture, speak another language. Their lives are an ongoing course in comparative religions. They are visiting sites of ancient times; the Roman ruins of Jerash, the Crusader castle of Kerak, and the Pharonic pyramids of Egypt have been some of our field trips. Bible stories come alive when we visit such places as Herod's winter palace, where John the Baptist was beheaded or follow Lot's path along the Dead Sea from Sodom to the cave. When a Byzantine church was excavated a few blocks from our home, my children found stray mosaic tiles in the dirt and my husband was fortunate enough to unearth a fragile piece of Roman glass.

Thirteen years since those despairing thoughts, I now marvel at God's goodness to our children as we home educate them overseas. Our home recently became a stop for friends on their way into post-war Iraq. They apologized for interrupting our school schedule. "Your visit is not an interruption," we told them, "it is an important part of our children's education." An education that money simply can't buy.