As educators, we are doing more than teaching math and handwriting skills. We are preparing our people for life.
Let’s learn what that means so we can do our job with vision, with clarity, and with gusto.
Start here:
Classical Education’s Delight (Norms & Nobility Notes, ch. 1, II)
Previous: Classical Education’s Distinctives, chapter 1, section I chapter 1, section III planned for June 5 Did you know that, historically, not only were the ideals of education and virtue intimately linked, but so was... Read More
Classical Education’s Distinctives (Norms & Nobility Notes, ch. 1, I)
Previous: prologue Chapter 1, section II planned for May 22 For years – decades, even – the classical renewal movement has been refining its definition of what classical education really means. Definitions are a vital... Read More
What to Read – advice on the liberal arts from Hugh St. Victor
Hugh of St. Victor was a Saxon churchman who read and wrote much. Wikipedia says of him: Hugh wrote many works from the 1120s until his death, including works of theology, commentaries, mysticism, philosophy and... Read More
Classical Education is Idealistic (Norms & Nobility Notes, prologue)
Slow read with me through Norms and Nobility. Or, if you don’t have or can’t get a copy of your own, consider this your Cliff’s Notes version. ? Previous post: Preface Next post: chapter 1,... Read More
Studies for the sake of the church – Rhabanus Maurus on the liberal arts
No, I didn’t know who he was either, before reading this next selection from The Great Tradition: Classical Writings on What It Means to Be an Educated Human Being. Rhabanus Maurus was a Germanic monk... Read More
Dear Mom who wants to give her 5-year-old a classical education
Have you ever noticed? The most eager homeschooling moms are those whose oldest child is 4 or 5? I was one, myself. And when I felt the eye-roll behind the smile of older, deep-in-the-trenches moms,... Read More
Classical Education: Definitions | Norms & Nobility Notes, preface
I am currently in an online book club studying Norms and Nobility by David Hicks, a classical education cornerstone. By the time I was halfway through chapter 1, I knew I’d have to blog through... Read More
What Is Character? and How to Build It.
Character is one of those words we toss around often. Too often, we do so without a clear understanding of what it is. We say we care about character, perhaps even homeschool for the purpose... Read More
Speaking well is part of living well. – Charlemagne on education
_ If the goal of education is virtue, why bother studying science or spelling or rhetoric? Why not just hunker down and do character lessons and call it a day? Our idea of virtue is... Read More
What to teach and how and why. – Alcuin on schools
_ Once again we delve into the history of classical education as I slowly read through The Great Tradition: Classic Readings on What It Means to Be an Educated Human Being. We now move from... Read More
Is virtue an action or an attitude? – Gregory the Great on the contemplative life
_ Gregory the Great, of gregorian chant fame, was pope in the 6th century. Born of noble family and classically educated, Gregory opened monasteries, sent a bishop-led mission to newly discovered England, and is one... Read More
Memory or Understanding? – Cassiodorus on Learning
Next up in the early church readings on education in The Great Tradition: Cassiodorus. Cassiodorus was a consul in Rome, living through the drawn-out fall of Rome, and ending up as an advisor to Theodoric... Read More
Truth is from God – Augustine on learning
Augustine, doctor of the church, protected the church against heresy and also gave the church a rich heritage of philosophy and theology. _ Not only did he receive and use a classical education of the... Read More
What profit it a man? – Augustine on education
As I slowly make my way through The Great Tradition, I am fascinated to read what the best minds of the past have prioritized in education. Particularly because I am now in the Church Fathers... Read More
5 Myths about Teaching from Rest
Rest. You know you need it. What do you picture, when you think of yourself resting? Walks on a beach? A nap? Curling up with tea and a novel? These are lovely respites that we... Read More
Phonics is noble – Jerome on early education
Jerome was an adult convert, receiving an excellent classical education early in life and using that later in life for the good of the church. His best patron was a wealthy widow, Paula, with whom... Read More
What must we then read? – Jerome on pagan learning
Jerome is a fascinating character. He is the one who gave the Church the Vulgate, and his own classical learning and love of Latin poets & philosophers gave him the skill to do so. Amid... Read More
How Truth, Goodness, and Beauty Fit in Real Life
Have you ever walked into a conversation halfway through? Perhaps, unbeknownst to you, it was a conversation that had been going on sporadically between these friends for weeks or even months. It’s a fascinating conversation,... Read More
Of Stories & Cities – Chrysostom on learning & the soul
And we’re back with more from The Great Tradition: Classical Readings on What It Means to Be an Educated Human Being! Chrysostom was an early church father nicknamed “Golden Mouthed” for his eloquence. He received... Read More
Why Call It Classical Education?
Every once in awhile I chat with someone who wants to quibble about using the term classical education. For one reason or another, they think the label classical should be abandoned. On the one hand,... Read More