William C. Michael

When a student sees a lesson in the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, they usually see a nice, clean lesson in a modern format, or a carefully chosen book in English translation. That is the end result of the work of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy’s mission of researching, restoring, publishing and teaching the classical liberal arts. Thirteen years, before the CLAA started, these studies were nowhere to be found. They are not taught in modern colleges or universities, and certainly not in an schools or homeschool programs. Today, they are available to students around the world (for free!) and, to … Continue

Many of our most interesting experiences arise from observing the actions of others. A written description of what we have observed will gain in interest to the reader, if, in addition to telling what was done, it gives some indication of how was done. A list of tools a carpenter uses, and the operations he performs during the half hour we watch him, may be dull and uninteresting; but our description may have an added value if it shows his manner of working so that the reader can determine whether the carpenter is an orderly, methodical, and rapid worker or … Continue

Let us study the sentence below. Read it carefully, then read through the discussion that follows. “A man of wealth rode by our house.” What does the group of words “of wealth” modify? It modifies the noun, “man“. What element is this group of words? It is an adjective element. Why? Because it modifies a noun. What does the group of words “by our house” modify? It modifies the verb “rode“: it tells where he rode. What element is it? It is an adverbial element. Why? Because it modifies a verb. Look now at the word “of” in the sentence. … Continue

Lesson In this lesson, we begin our study in Petty School Reading. In our first lesson, we will study what words are and how they are made. 1. What is an Idea? An Idea is an image in our mind of anything we have seen, smelled, tasted, touched, or heard. 2. What are words? Words are symbols used to share ideas. 3. What are Spoken Words? Spoken words are symbols of ideas. 4. What are Written Words? Written words are symbols of spoken words. 5. What are Words made of? Words are made of Syllables. 6. What are Syllables made … Continue

In this lesson, we will learn about one important class of definitive adjectives called “articles“. When we say, “A horse was stolen,” the word “a” denotes that one horse is meant, but it does not point out any particular horse. When we say, “The horse was stolen,” the word “the” denotes that a particular horse is meant. The words “A ” and ” The,” in these sentences, are definitive adjectives, because they limit nouns without denoting any of their qualities. They are also called “Articles.” A and an are different forms of the same word. A is used when the … Continue

In this lesson, we study the Baltimore Catechism’s teaching “On Making a Good Confession“. To complete the objectives of this lesson, complete the following tasks: Study the Lesson for mastery. Complete the Memory Work. Complete the Lesson Exam. Lesson Study each question and answer below, with the commentary that follows. *224 Q. What should we do on entering the confessional?A. On entering the confessional we should kneel, make the Sign of the Cross, and say to the priest: “Bless me, Father”; then add, “I confess to Almighty God, and to you, Father, that I have sinned.” *225 Q. Which are … Continue

Jesus Christ gave His disciples a very clear message as to what was to come. It was clear to all that the work ahead of them was not going to be easy. He taught them plainly that they were to seek comfort in heaven and not to expect comfort on earth: “Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.” From the time the … Continue

When quality-words are joined to nouns by copulas, they are said to be “predicated” of those nouns. They may be written or printed in connection with nouns, without being joined to them by copulas; thus: white chalk sour apples a square table good boys When thus used, they describe or restrict the meaning of nouns, but are not predicated of them. Words that do not express quality may be used as modifiers of nouns. In the sentences, below, the words “this”, “that”, “two”, and “three”, are modifiers of the nouns that follow them; but they do not express any quality. … Continue