William C. MichaelWilliam C. Michael

Mr. William C. Michael, O.P., is the founder and headmaster of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy and a Lay Dominican in the Catholic Church. Mr. Michael received an honors degree in Classics and Ancient History from Rutgers University and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He led the CLAA to accreditation with Cognia in 2024. He has been studying and teaching the classical liberal arts for over 30 years.

What a Lay Dominican Meeting Looks Like

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One Sunday afternoon every month, our Lay Dominican group meets at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Charlotte, NC. This monthly meeting is where our formation takes place and where the culture and charism of the Dominican life is learned and practiced. Here’s what the schedule of a monthly meeting looks like: Our group meets at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte which is largest (or second largest) Catholic parish in the US. It’s a beautiful place with great facilities. Most members of the group attend the 10:45 Mass at St. Matthew, but Dania and I attend at our own parish on … Continue

K-12 Homeschool Study Plans Now Available

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Dear friends, Thanks be to God, I have been able to finish publishing homeschool study plans for all grades: K through 12. All of the guides are now accessible on the Homeschool page on the Academy website: https://classicalliberalarts.com/homeschool I have never done this before, so this marks a significant milestone the Academy’s development. Tasks for every subject area at every grade level are provided, all of which are available directly in the Classical Liberal Arts Academy using our simple Student Plan enrollment. With this complete set of Study Plans now laid out, the Academy is challenged with the task of … Continue

No Time for Study: The Real Problem in Homeschooling

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When homeschool families look at the Homeschool Study Plans I’m publishing this summer, I know what the response will be: “How can we possibly get all of that done?” Then, the list of activities will begin, “We have to do this, and this, and that, and this.”, which, of course is false. Most of what homeschool families are doing does not need to be done, but they choose to do it, freely. These busy homeschool schedules, filled with activities that have nothing to do with study or religion, have negative consequences: there’s not enough time for studies. The term “extracurricular” … Continue

K-8 Homeschool Study Plans Now Available

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Dear friends, As of 2am on 7/10/2024, I have posted the CLAA Homeschool Study Plans for Grades K-8. This is especially good news, because I have never done this before for grades K-8, but I have prepared grades 9-12 in the past. So, the high school study plans should be up tomorrow. This is a milestone in a massive project, which brings almost 25 years of curriculum research amd organization together. This is a very rigorous program that will challenge all families. That was my goal in founding the CLAA. We cannot improve Catholi” education if we continue studying a … Continue

Lesson 26. Book II, Ch. 6. Reduction of Hypotheticals

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For this purpose, we must consider every Conditional Proposition as a Universal-affirmative categorical Preposition, of which the Terms are entire Propositions, viz. the antecedent answering to the Subject, and the consequent to the Predicate. For example, the Proposition “if A is B, X is Y” may be considered as amounting to this; “The case [or supposition] of A being B, is a case of X being Y.” And then, to say (as in the Minor Premise and the Conclusion, of a constructive-conditional syllogism) “A is B; and therefore, X is Y,” is equivalent to saying “the present [or the existing] … Continue

NEW! K-12 Study Plans for Homeschool Families

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Though the Classical Liberal Arts Academy has served homeschooling families since 2008, our program has never been specifically designed for homeschooling families. Modern homeschool programs have many flaws, and to avoid them, a program must be developed that has the following virtues: Doing what other homeschool programs do doesn’t address these needs. A different approach is necessary and I believe I can provide an effective solution in 2024. In the talk above, I go into detail about K-12 Study Plans we’re making available for homeschool families. I recommend you listen to it. The transcript is provided below. Today is Sunday, … Continue

What is the Quadrivium?

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When we speak of “classical education”, we speak of a system of learning which provided students with a knowledge of seven liberal arts. These seven arts were divided into two groups. The first three made up the Trivium, and the latter four made up the Quadrivium. Let us consider the ancient Quadrivium. In the 6th century AD, the Catholic scholar Boethius wrote the following: “Among all men of ancient authority, it is evident that no one ever ascended to the height of perfection in the disciplines of philosophy, except he whom such was sought by a certain quadrivium.” Boethius, On … Continue