Blog

Music in the Quadrivium: What Classical Music Education Actually Is

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This week I received an email from a prospective father with some questions about the quadrivium and how music is to be studied. I would like to take the question up here, because it requires some explaining and clarification, and I do not think I would do it justice in an email reply. I also think it is a question other parents are quietly asking. Let me give the question first, as it was written, and then take it apart and answer it as clearly and thoroughly as I can. “Music at first seems like an art that is best … Continue

Understanding the Renaissance

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In the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, we need to understand real classical Catholic culture (Aristotle, Aquinas) and distinguish it from ancient pagan culture and modern culture. The fake classical education movement doesn’t understand this distinction and is restoring a culture that is neither truly classical nor Catholic. This video by Dr. Adam Walker (Harvard) helps to identify the sources of the Renaissance, which led from classical Catholic culture to modern secular culture. WCM

The Latin Language and Its History

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In this lesson you will learn where the Latin language came from, who used it, and why it is still studied today. Latin began as the speech of one small people. In the middle of Italy there is a plain called Latium, and the people who lived there were called the Latins. Their language was therefore called Latin. On that plain, beside the river Tiber, the city of Rome was built. Rome was at first only one town among the towns of Latium, and its language was the ordinary language of its neighbours. Rome grew. It mastered the rest of … Continue

Can We Prove that God Exists?

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As we must speak with unbelievers in modern secular society, we must know whether the existence of God can be proven and what the arguments are by which this can be done. In the video below, a Dominican friar provides a brief explanation of the subject. Below the video the original teaching of the Dominican saint, Thomas Aquinas, can be read in full. Whether God exists? by St. Thomas AquinasSumma Theologica, Part I, Question 2, Article 3 The existence of God can be proved in five ways. The first and more manifest way is the argument from motion. It is … Continue

Trading the Catholic Intellectual Inheritance For Money

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When the modern State’s pedagogical reformers approach Catholics and offer them a better vineyard or a sum of money in exchange for the use of our field – not to continue producing long tested, deeply rooted Catholic educational outcomes but for the State’s own immediate needs – what is our response? 

Whether Public Charter Schools Are Fit for Catholic Communities Seeking Classical Education

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Objection 1. It seems that public charter schools are a good and prudent choice for Catholic communities in 2026. For in this age of high taxation and burdensome private tuitions, such schools grant families from a range of economic backgrounds access to rigorous, smaller-scale learning environments that often emphasize classical methods and virtue formation. Recent expansions in school choice and legal developments have made it possible for parents to direct public resources toward options that escape the worst failures of traditional school districts, thereby fulfilling the natural duty of parents to provide fitting education without impoverishing the household. Objection 2. … Continue

Making Good Use of the Summer Months

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Dear friends,  The Spring term in the Classical Liberal Arts Academy ends on Friday, June 26th — our 18th year of study. As we move towards the end of the term and the end of the school year for some, I’d like to provide some helpful information heading into the summer.  Time for Standardized Testing Parents are strongly advised to use standardized tests for two important reasons. First, standardized tests provide evidence that homeschooled children are satisfying modern educational standards while pursuing classical Catholic studies. Second, standardized tests provide helpful insights into student strengths and weaknesses, which helps with planning for … Continue

Annual Homeschool Review for CLAA Parents

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Based on “Complete Guide for Study in the CLAA” View in Google Docs Part I: The Purpose and Priority of Studies Reflection Things to Do Part II: Habits of Study and Student Discipline Reflection Things to Do Part III: The Integrity of Classical Studies Reflection Things to Do Part IV: The Parent’s Role and Governance of the Home School Reflection Things to Do Part V: The Student’s Readiness for the Next Stage Reflection Things to Do If you’d like to discuss your self-evaluation, please contact me. Mr. William C. Michael, O.P.HeadmasterClassical Liberal Arts Academy