In an article titled, The Two Canons: The Biblical Books and the Great Books, Dr. Christopher Perrin compares the formation of the Biblical Canon to that of the Great Books. A canon, he rightly notes, is the rule, measure, or standard by which something abides by. For example, the criteria for which books belong in the Bible ultimately reduce to whether these books are inspired by God. If Catholicism is true, then the Catholic Church rightly judges which books belong in the bible because she is guided by the Holy Spirit, and cannot be led into error in matters of … Continue

Dear friends, As I seek to manage the work and development of the Classical Liberal Academy as well as possible, I am convinved that the best way to help parents manage their children’s studies, and to help students make progress in their studies, is to continually simplify things.  As a sign of our real development, everything in the Academy is becoming simpler. First, with the publication of quizzes and exams across the curriculum, study and assessment is getting much simpler (and better!). Second, the enrollment process has been streamlined and is now much simpler than it ever has been. Third, subscription plans are easy … Continue

In this video, William C. Michael, the headmaster of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, discusses principles that homeschooling parents should keep in mind as they begin homeschooling and walks through the California State Homeschool requirements as an example. For help with your family’s unique needs, please consider a consultation meeting: https://classicalliberalarts.com/catalog/services/consultation-services/private-consultation/ God bless, Mr. William C. Michael Classical Liberal Arts Academy mail@classicalliberalarts.com

I’ve been studying and working as a classicist for almost 30 years now, and I was recently asked by a friend if I would recommend a list of 20 books that every Catholic man should study for spiritual and intellectual growth, 20 books. If I could pick 20 books that men should really soak in and read and study and reread, what would those 20 books be? And obviously we could debate this, but since I was asked, I put a list together of what I feel the 20 most helpful books are. And again, the goal is not for … Continue

Today is November 1, 2024, and this is William Michael of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy. This evening, I had the pleasure of a great consultation meeting with a couple of Catholic parents, and we talked about a bunch of issues relating to homeschooling and family life. As we had a discussion, it reminded me of an important topic, and it was one that, as I began talking about it, lots of memories started to come up. When our meeting ended, I said, “That’s a topic I think I need to talk about.” I’d like to take some time tonight … Continue

Hello, this is William Michael of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy. I’d like to challenge Catholic parents, especially fathers, with, I think, what will be a brief talk today on the importance of natural virtue in the education and evangelization of our children. When I talk about natural virtue, obviously, the opposite of that would be supernatural virtue. If we look at the teaching of the Catholic Church, we find that there are two different groups of virtues, two different classes of virtues. One group we might consider classical or human virtues—I would consider them natural virtues—and the other class … Continue