I (Joy) have had a decent amount of experience reviewing curriculum in a wide variety of schools, from teaching, giving seminars, visiting schools as a reporter, interviewing for teaching jobs, and while working in the admissions department at my alma mater. It's lead me to the conclusion that most religious schools offer essentially the same … Continue reading Esolen: Public-School Curriculum With A Jesus Sticker Doesn’t Cut It
Classical Education Leads To Good Jobs Because It Instills Good Judgment—But That’s Not All
Andrew Kern of the CIRCE Institute resurfaces one of our favorite themes: How classical education prepares a child not merely for a job, but for a life that of course includes the ability to earn one's bread. Our education controllers develop extremely complex theories about children as material objects whose role is to contribute to the economy, … Continue reading Classical Education Leads To Good Jobs Because It Instills Good Judgment—But That’s Not All
With Classical Education, Music Is Essential
In many schools, music is an elective, or an afterthought. In classical education, music and all the arts are considered core curriculum, or essential aspects of human culture and flourishing that all children learn to enjoy and create. In Houson, Memorial Lutheran School, a classical school, integrates music instruction beginning in preschool. Students may take … Continue reading With Classical Education, Music Is Essential
Students Flock to Great Books Colleges
James Piereson and Naomi Schaefer Riley recently wrote on Minding the Campus about the resurgence in great books programs, both at the college level and in K-12: When Thomas and Lorraine Pangle, married professors of government at the University of Texas at Austin, launched a great books program for freshman this year, they expected a … Continue reading Students Flock to Great Books Colleges
Free Classical Education Seminar In Two Weeks!
For the first time, our very own Classical Conversations parent practicum is coming to Fort Wayne! It will be Thursday through Saturday, May 29-31, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. A practicum is a chance for like-minded parents to gather together and learn about classical education while refreshing themselves for the year ahead. Children … Continue reading Free Classical Education Seminar In Two Weeks!
Stop Googling Everything and Memorize
It's common nowadays to hear this from school leaders: "Kids don't need to memorize anything now that we have Google." Peter Wood, president of the National Association of Scholars, takes on this misconception in the Huffington Post. He writes: ...in the hustle to get beyond memory we miss some fine things. The drudgery that comes … Continue reading Stop Googling Everything and Memorize
Great Books Prepare You to Love
The New York Times' David Brooks is just the latest to discuss how a liberal arts education prepares people, not just for something as simple as a job, but for something greater: To love. In this weekend's column, he writes of Isaiah Berlin and Anna Akhmatova sharing a night in 1945's Soviet Union: By 4 … Continue reading Great Books Prepare You to Love
How Classical Education Prepares a Child for the Business World
Many people have this idea that classical education is extremely impractical in this "21st century global economy." A look at the news suggests governors and Republicans are even and especially susceptible to this hard-headed view. But two recent articles from the Wall Street Journal reinforce the truth that a broad liberal arts education will prepare young people … Continue reading How Classical Education Prepares a Child for the Business World
What Classical Homeschooling Can Look Like
One of my favorite education bloggers (also an author and education professer), Katharine Beals, recently put up this update of homeschool life with her daughter. Here's an excerpt: Classically speaking, she’s just finished Genesis, encountering a few lewd concepts in the process, and is starting Exodus as I write this. She’s also just finished D'Aulare's Book of … Continue reading What Classical Homeschooling Can Look Like
Free Parent Practicum Coming to Fort Wayne this Summer
At this very moment, we're working to arrange a free summer parent practicum in Fort Wayne for 2014! What's a parent practicum? practicum (‘prak-ti-k’m) The word practicum indicates that education should be practical. It points to the acquisition and mastery of knowledge in a manner that is useful and effective. It derives from the Latin … Continue reading Free Parent Practicum Coming to Fort Wayne this Summer
Redeemer Classical School 