“The only imperative that nature utters is, ‘Look. Listen. Attend.”

— C.S. Lewis

In a world of endless distractions and diminishing attention spans, cultivating the habit of attention-giving our full, undivided focus to something worthwhile—has become a lost art. Yet this practice remains essential not just for learning but for the enrichment of the soul itself.

Attending, rightly ordered, helps our children learn facts and develop virtue, self-control, and awe before their Creator. As one of the Five Core Habits of Grammar, attending allows the time and space to order the world around us and build a base of knowledge to support further inquiry.

Let’s turn our focus to attention and how we can develop the habit of attending not just in our homeschool but in every fabric of our lives.

What Is the Habit of Attention?

The word “attention” comes from the Latin attendere, which means “to stretch toward.” To attend is to give our full, undivided focus to something worthy of notice. This deep focus improves our recognition by helping us truly connect with the object of our attention while learning to filter out distractions.

But attention is not multitasking—true attending is singular and intentional. Our culture often celebrates doing more simultaneously, but the truth is that more is not better. More is simply more: more to filter out so we are able to focus singularly on a given experience.

We possess only a finite span of attention to give. The modern addiction to hyper-stimulation disrupts our nervous system and contributes to conditions like ADD and ADHD.

Unlike modern education, which often prioritizes measurable learning outcomes, classical education builds memory in a library of the mind, also known as memoria, to use later. This foundation of careful observation and comparison leads to better expressing and storytelling because students have built a rich mental repository of knowledge through attending.

In classical Christian education, attending isn’t just about academic success but spiritual formation. As Walker Percy said, “You can get all A’s and still flunk life.” [1]  The classical model aims to train not just intelligent minds, but also encourages virtuous hearts. Therefore, the classical education attention span must be cultivated slowly and purposefully through habits that help children learn to look closely, listen carefully, and notice details with their whole selves.

Who Benefits from Attending?

Young Children excel at attending because they’re less distracted by peers or getting the “right” answer. They naturally absorb information from older students’ learning and conversations and are more apt to become engrossed in a new object or idea when given the opportunity.

Older Children often struggle with attending. Having become more test-driven, they might visit an art museum wanting to write down facts rather than attending to the details of a painting—the different types of strokes, colors, and feelings it evokes.

Adults perhaps need attending most of all. We miss so much because we’re over-familiar with the things we see. At one point, each of us was a toddler stopping to examine every colored rock on a walk or marveling at patterns of light dancing on a ceiling. Now we walk through the world without noticing the beauty and wonder we pass with every step.

Attending offers an opportunity to reclaim that childlike sense of wonder. What was lost between the bright-eyed curiosity of the child and the dulled, inattentive adult? How can we recover our ability to wonder while walking alongside our children?

When Do We Attend?

Attending goes hand in hand with Naming, another Core Habit of Grammar. We identify something and compare it by attending to its details. It’s essentially a compare-and-contrast exercise that enables students to see what something is and is not.

Let’s take learning about trees, for example. After naming certain terms like plant, tree, trunk, leaf, bark, pine, maple, and oak, we can practice attending by asking:

• What details do we notice about trees using our five senses?
• How are pines, maples, and oaks similar?
• How are they different?
• What makes a tree different from other plants?

Even young children attend naturally through classification questions:

• Who made the floor? A builder.
• Who made the dog? God.

Through such questions, children begin categorizing the world into man-made and God-made objects.

The habit of attending develops in each of the classical arts of the Trivium. For example, when studying tigers:

• Grammar: Students identify and categorize objects and ideas. Tigers have striped fur, four legs, big teeth, and claws. Tigers are like lions in shape but differ in color and habitat.
• Dialectic: Attending leads to asking deeper questions. Why do tigers like to swim? Do tigers have natural predators? Why is this tiger in the zoo?
• Rhetoric: Attending layers knowledge with purpose, morality, and advocacy. Is it ethical to keep tigers in zoos for human entertainment? Should we limit human encroachment on tiger habitats?

Where Can We Practice Attending?

Much learning happens in life’s “white space”—those unscheduled moments between formal lessons. A child’s natural state is to play, and through play, curiosity flourishes. Allow time for children to refuel their “attention battery” and decompress.

One way we practice attending in community at Classical Conversations is by listening to classical music pieces during the Fine Arts component of Foundations. How often do we take quality time to focus our attention and truly absorb a piece of music? We discover patterns when we attend to music, just as we do in science and mathematics.

A child who has learned to attend is better prepared to retain knowledge, make wise decisions, and develop deep relationships. In fact, the foundation for homeschool observation skills is laid not just during lesson time but in ordinary moments—walking outdoors, listening to a sibling, or noticing a pattern in music.

Discover all of the 15 Skills of Learning

Seven Focus Strategies for Homeschoolers

Here are a few practical, classical ways to grow focus in your homeschool:

1. Give Permission for Single-Tasking

Allow your child (and yourself) to focus on one task at a time. Slow the pace of the day to make space for focused observation. This discipline will improve over time as we train ourselves to stop multitasking and enjoy the freedom of focus.

2. Play Preschool Attention Games

Even the youngest learners benefit from simple games that build focus. Try “I Spy,” Simon Says, or matching games that develop the skill of attending with joy and play.

3. Ask Observational Questions

Instead of just telling your child what to notice, ask:

• What do you see?
• What do you hear?
• How is this different from that?
  These open-ended prompts are foundational to teaching the habit of attending in any subject.

4. Engage the Five Senses

Whether you’re exploring a science experiment or baking bread, invite your child to describe what they see, hear, smell, feel, and taste. Observation becomes more memorable when it’s multi-sensory.

5. Eliminate Distractions

Create spaces and times free from electronic devices and other interruptions. Turn off background noise to encourage the singular focus of attention that will develop over time.

6. Model Attention

Children learn by watching us. Demonstrate focused attention in your own life, whether reading a book, listening to music, or observing nature. Attending is a “living habit,” not a “doing habit.”

7. Connect Attending to Wonder

Show respect for the value and nature of the object of our inspections and for its Maker. How can we make connections to the Lord and develop a culture of wonder and worship?

Attention teaches children how to ask good questions and how to sit with those questions. It builds a rich storehouse of mental images and connections that will later be used in writing, speaking, and reasoning. Simply put, the habit of attention strengthens both memory and morality.

The Scribblers at Home curriculum offers learning activities that focus on attending.

Why Attending Matters

Simone Weil, a philosopher, suggests that attention is a spiritual discipline that is the “substance of prayer.”[2] Indeed, attending is fundamentally spiritual. Scripture calls us to “take every thought captive” (2 Corinthians 10:5), which requires the ability to direct our attention.

God calls us to attend in various directions:

Inward: The reflective attention of searching our hearts and the hearts of our children. Like gardeners tending plants, we as parents must attend to and prune the parts that compete with Christ’s rightful place in the heart.

Outward: To attend to those around us with grace and patience, giving our full presence to whoever stands before us. Just as our Heavenly Father faithfully attends to us, we must model this by attending to others with love and compassion.

Backward: We attend to the past to understand the context of our lives. When we see the roots from which we come, we better understand our present purpose and gain wisdom from those who came before.

Forward: We attend to scraped knees and skip counting now to prepare our children’s hearts for the future. We plant seeds of learning in the hope that future generations will enjoy the fruit of wisdom.

Upward: Attending upward allows us to focus on God and His beauty, abundance, and sovereignty. When our attention is directed upward, we release control and pride, submitting with humility and peace.[3]

Homeschool observation skills form the foundation for curiosity and worship. When a child looks closely at a leaf, a star, or a verse of Scripture, they encounter not just information but wonder. This wonder becomes a form of worship.

Weil also identifies, “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” In a classical Christian homeschool, teaching children to attend is a way of directing their gaze toward beauty, truth, and ultimately God.

Teaching Attention Is Teaching to Love

The habit of attention—walking through our surroundings with open eyes—is not about rigid control but about restful focus. It’s not just an academic skill, but a spiritual discipline that shapes character, thought, and delight.

More importantly, the habit of attending prepares us to perceive the call of God. Psalm 66:16 begins, “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.” We all need an invitation to truly hear and see what is before us.

Whether you’re teaching preschoolers to play listening games or guiding teens through a philosophical discussion, every act of attending becomes a brick in the foundation of wisdom.

In a distracted world, attention is a gift. And in a homeschool rooted in classical Christian ideals, it is also an act of worship. And that, after all, is the ultimate purpose of education—not merely to know, but to love and worship the One who is the source of all knowledge and truth.

Want to understand the habit of attending even more? Check out these resources:

• Esolen, Anthony. Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child (Method 1- beginning on p. 27)
• The Habit of Attending
• Family Learning-The Five Core Habits
• The Gift of Attending
• Education as a Treasure Hunt

*Contributions from Timothy Knotts, Jennifer Courtney, and Kelli Wilt.

[1] Percy, Walker. 1980. The Second Coming. 1st ed. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[2] Weil, S. (2005). Simone Weil. An Anthology. Edited and Introduced by Siân Miles. Penguin Books

[3] Sikkema, Dave . “Classical Education: Attending Upward.” Austin Classical School. September 12, 2018. https://austinclassical.org/2018/09/12/classical-education-attending-upward/.

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Classical Conversations International had a wonderful year of growth and firsts.

About the Classical Conversations International Team

My name is Keith Denton, VP of International Business for Classical Conversations, and I would like to share with you what CC International is doing around the world.

The CC International team consists of myself; Jennifer Martin, Sales Manager; Shelly Stockton, Academic Liaison; and Marlene Bos, Project Manager/Administration. The entire Classical Conversations home office supports us, and we are truly blessed to have them helping us grow.

We thoroughly enjoy serving the international CC community and love helping our leadership and Christian Families in fifty-nine countries and on every continent (except Antarctica, of course!).

The CC International Team also supports many CC Communities with United States military families who are serving overseas.

A Brief Overview of CC International

Classical Conversations began investing in translating its core curriculum into additional languages in 2018. We lead the market in providing classical Christian homeschool curricula in Russia (Russian) and Brazil (Portuguese.) Many families are joining CC communities in countries across Central and South America with our Spanish translation of our curriculum. In CC Connected, we currently translate assets for business and parent support.

To grow our communities worldwide, we support many strong country leaders whom we call Country Coordinators, who manage all the activities in their country. We also continue to look for Christian homeschool leaders in additional countries worldwide.

Our Country Coordinators set up their own country bookstores outside the United States to support countries with CC resources.

There are also 22 Academic Advisors worldwide supporting our Team Leaders and Directors with translation interpretations and curriculum questions to maintain the quality and integrity of the curriculum.

CC International in 2023

Because CC International supports CC Communities worldwide, we manage two different Academic Calendars with our curriculum.

The United States is in the world’s Northern Hemisphere (above the equator) and operates in an academic year that is usually August to May, bridging two calendar years.

The Southern Hemisphere academic year, which countries like Brazil, Australia, and South Africa use, usually meets from February to November in the same calendar year.

Growth across the Globe

CC International follows the same cycle-specific curriculum and has surpassed over 11,000 seats for student enrollments and 1750 programs this year.

The number of Foundations programs increased by 387 alone, with Brazil leading the way in percentage of growth.

CC Connected Launches

The new CC Connected was launched for community management and information in international countries.

CC Connected has been well received internationally, and many countries that do not have the ability to receive print materials have been able to receive digital files through CC Connected.

The Learning Forum Draws Multitudes

CC International participated in the Learning Forum in Orlando in October this year and hosted its first Learning Forum in Asia in November. Leaders represented nine countries and four continents.

The commitment level for helping parents and learning their leadership role with Classical Conversations is amazing. Three attendees had never been away from their families before and made the trip to the CC Learning Forum to learn and share together.

The feedback from the event affirmed that we achieved our goals and became a closer CC International Team with our Asia region. International leaders from Canada, Chile, and the United Kingdom participated in the Orlando Forum.

The Global Representative Initiative Kicks Off

Another first this year, we began our Global Representative Initiative, in which we are able to support mission-based persons going abroad. We support parents supporting many mission initiatives away from the United States.

Please email international@classicalconversations.com to learn more about this opportunity.

A New Community Takes Root in Ethiopia

Our Africa region had its very first practicum for its first Ethiopian community this year. The family and community commitment is outstanding.

Here is a story of the mom who led worship, Simone Billson, Country Coordinator, Africa:

The momma leading worship in Ethiopia began her day traveling by horse and cart to a hired motorbike, then walked for a while, where she met another hired taxi to get her to the practicum 1.5 hours away. She arrived . . . on time . . . with joy in her heart . . . and led worship for the practicum! What a testimony to how far some travel, in adventurous ways, to attend these encouraging events!

New Training with Classical Tools

Academically, we had two groups of international leaders successfully go through our International Classical Tools Training led by Shelly Stockton and Jody Battley, UK Academic Advisor, where we dug deeper into developing the skills of using the classical tools of learning.

We are also now referring to the International Classical Cohort or ICC, which is only available in International Regions.

Here is one of the testimonials from attending the ICTT sessions:

This was going to be my exodus year. 2023 was going to be the end of my short journey of 6 years directing the Challenge program in Singapore. But somehow, when ICTT came up, I said yes without a second thought and just rolled along with all the meeting times. And like the ice cube in the palm that Janine spoke about—God was changing my mind.

He was changing my mind about my role in Classical Conversations, changing my mind about all the toxic conversations and feedback that I have received about CC in Singapore, and opened my mind to behold truly the gift that CC has been to me and my family.

And something clicked in me. It took three semesters of reading, discussing, and listening . . . and more listening. I could not get away from the truth that GOD had blessed us. And if God had blessed us, then I want to be used by Him to bless others, too. They do not know that they need His Gift yet . . . and so my rhetoric must get to them . . . .that CC is a gift from God to families and can be a gift to them too.

I do not know which part exactly it was. How do you know which part of the ice cube started melting first? But there was praise to God, testimony of God at work . . . and so my heart was changed.

I loved the choice of books and the accessibility and practice of classical tools, and I hope to bring this to more families for God’s Glory. And so—thank you.

First Graduates in Canada, Brazil, and the UK

To close out our lists of firsts for 2023, CC International had our first Challenge graduates in Canada, Brazil, and the United Kingdom.

What a difference our CC Graduates will make in this world!

Our Very Own Podcast

One of the wonderful marketing items we have been producing for a little over a year is the Global Homeschool Minute podcast.

The Global Homeschool Minute Podcast is a wonderful place to go and listen to some interesting interviews with Global Homeschool leaders. Some of these leaders work with Classical Conversations, and other guests make a difference by advocating for home education in many countries. Every time I host one of these podcasts, I hear many impact stories that these leaders are having worldwide.

I encourage you to take a listen.

CC International in 2024 and Beyond

For 2024, we have a lot of events planned in each country where we have CC Communities. They host Parent Practicums, Information meetings, and open houses.

We will have our first Spanish-speaking Learning Forum in Panama City, Panama, in February 2024 for our Spanish-speaking country leadership.

Classical Conversations supports many events around the world to promote global home education. Classical Conversations Inc. supported events in Africa and Croatia for regional Global Home Education Exchange events. I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at the one in Nairobi, Kenya. We also had representation at the Croatia GHEX event.

In 2024, a Global Home Education Conference will be sponsored by GHEX in Manchester, England. Over 1000 people are expected to attend. There will be many interesting breakout sessions and panels where homeschool leaders from around the world share and comment on different homeschool movements and research track sessions.

Anyone from around the world is welcome to attend, and you can find the event information on the GHEX website.

Thanks from CC International

CC International is truly thankful for the support Robert and Leigh Bortins give us and the many prayers and homeschool leaders that have gone before us. Thank you for reading this blog, and we do appreciate all your support and any new opportunities in countries you wish to pass our way. We will do our best to help them start a CC Community.

Visit the CC International website.

Grace and peace to you all.

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