Today is August 13, 2025, and I’m William Michael, the headmaster of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy.  If you’d like to learn about the work we do in making real classical Catholic education available for students of all ages, visit our website at classicalliberalarts.com.  I’d love to have you join us for studies. When I was in college studying Classics and Ancient History at Rutgers University, I took a course in educational philosophy.  The course was taught by an old, retired professor, Dr. Adam Scrupski, who became a mentor and great friend to me. He was the source of my … Continue

One of the biggest challenges for new families is knowing where to begin. The Classical Liberal Arts Academy can feel large and unfamiliar, and it’s easy to worry about “doing it wrong.” The good news is that you don’t need to have everything figured out from the start. This article will guide you through the first steps of beginning your family’s studies with confidence. Start Simple, Not Overwhelmed Many parents make the mistake of trying to enroll their children in too many courses at once. Because CLAA restores the full Catholic curriculum, it can feel like there’s so much to … Continue

Elene by Cynewulf Translated by Lucius Hudson Holt 1. THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE. There had passed in the turn of years, as men mark the tale of time, two hundred and thirty and three winters over the world since the Lord God, the Glory of kings and Light of the faithful, was born on earth in human guise; and it was the sixth year of the reign of Constantine since he was raised in the realm of the Romans to lead their army, a prince of battles. He was a bulwark to his people, valiant with the shield, and gracious to … Continue

The goal of assessment is to demonstrate one’s knowledge to a third person for the sake of verification. The school is, first of all, a source of academic verification. The threat to a school’s integrity is the granting of signs of academic verification to students who have cheated. The school is, therefore, responsible to develop means by which academic verification is not deceived. Online study is subject to cheating. All academic verification must be live, oral, face to face. All study must be designed to prepare the student for live examinations. Live examinations must be prepared for and qualified for. … Continue

Catholic apologetics is the work of explaining, defending, and sharing the truths of the Catholic faith. It is a work that has always been important, but in today’s world, it is more necessary than ever. Many Catholics find themselves unprepared when questioned about their beliefs. They may know that the Church teaches something, but they often cannot explain why. In the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, the study of Catholic apologetics is not approached as a separate, modern discipline. Instead, it is rooted in the timeless studies of the classical liberal arts, classical philosophy, and Scholastic theology. These studies give students … Continue

Every Toddler Is a Gift from God God gives children to families as blessings, not burdens. A toddler is not an interruption to the homeschool day, but a soul entrusted to you for care and formation. In the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, we teach mothers to educate their children in the same spirit that guided the great saints: with love, discipline, and order. This includes the youngest members of the household. Caring for toddlers while homeschooling is possible. With wisdom and consistency, a mother can create a home where toddlers thrive, older children learn, and God is glorified. To help … Continue

What Is a Syllable? A syllable is a single unit of sound in a word. In Greek, every syllable must have a vowel or a diphthong, which is a pair of vowels sounded together. Therefore, the number of syllables in a word equals the number of vowels or diphthongs it contains. For example, in the Greek word for truth, “alētheia,” there are four vowels or diphthongs, and therefore four syllables. Naming the Syllables: Ultima, Penult, Antepenult Greek grammar gives special names to the final syllables in a word. These names are important because they help us describe accent placement and … Continue

In this lesson, we take our first steps into the study of grammar by learning about the basic elements of thought and language. Before we can understand how words work in sentences, we need to understand what we use words for. We begin by exploring how we come to know things—through our five senses and through our awareness of feelings and ideas. These things we know, whether we see them or simply feel them inside, are called objects. We will also learn what a word is and how it helps us express our thoughts about these objects. This simple but … Continue

Throughout the history of the Catholic Church, theologians and faithful alike have wrestled with the relationship between conscience and Church authority. In an age that champions personal autonomy and moral subjectivism, the tension between obeying one’s conscience and submitting to the Church’s authoritative teaching seems greater than ever. However, within the Catholic tradition, these two demands are not contradictory. Properly understood, conscience and Church authority are ordered to the same divine truth and are complementary rather than contradictory. To understand this relationship, we must consider three authoritative sources of Catholic teaching: the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), the Summa … Continue