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Modern men and women think they’re pretty smart when it comes to education.  The subjects and methods of ancient and medieval learning are dismissed with the simple reason that they’re not modern.  They neither serve the ends of modern schools, nor do they fit into the structure of such schools.  Therefore, they are obsolete and useless. The modern school model, consisting of grade levels and subjects, divided into individual courses, units, lessons, etc., is the new “normal” and everything else is “weird”. The reason modern men have this confidence in modern education is the progress of technology in modern society.  … Continue

It’s very easy to make use of one of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy’s grade level study plans for a child, but there will be two different conditions for those doing so: a student who will follow the study plan exactly a student who will follow the study plan with modifications  

This is a streamlined set of steps to follow to prepare a student’s study plan for the present school year. 1. Create a copy of the grade level study plan. 2. Consider whether the student is able to begin at the first lesson o each subject at his grade level. 3. Mark any tasks that have already been completed. Tasks are marked complete by filling the cell with a grey color. 4. Transfer incomplete tasks from previous year to present study plan. Determing the number of tasks in a subject that are incomplete. Insert the same number of cells under … Continue

It’s common today to hear arguments from parents and students that because our society communicates with video and graphics, Christian teachers need to adapt and begin teaching with the same tools, but this is false.  In fact, the opposite is true. First of all, human communication is rooted in human nature.  Men are creatures with rational souls that, with the help of the senses, are able to perceive, judge, reason and communicate with others.  We share our ideas by representing them with spoken words.  When necessary, we share our spoken words with written words.  This is how human communication works–always … Continue

Today is Wednesday, November 20, and this is William Michael of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy. A day or two ago, I posted a talk on the unjust criticism of home school families, and I introduced a couple of principles that I think are important for us to consider anytime we think about or talk about the education of children, the behavior of children, and how it relates to the commandment to honor your father and mother. We don’t talk about commandments much in modern Catholic culture, and we need to. We need to get back to the basics. We … Continue

St. John Henry Newman on the Strategy of 19th Century Scientists Catholic schools are closing or consolidating. Colleges and universities are moving to shut down their classics departments and move away from liberal studies. Curricula in Catholic schools and colleges are substantially the same as that of public schools and secular colleges; that is, Math and Science are the foundation of nearly all Catholic educational endeavors today. This despite the fact that the liberal arts, philosophy, and theology were the foundation for a thousand years. What is the purpose of all these changes we see in education? Are they deliberate? … Continue

As the Ancient Greeks used the Trojan Horse to deceive the Trojans, so Dorothy Sayers used a faulty conception of the trivium to deceive those seeking a true classical education. Following Dorothy Sayers, modern classical educators hold that the trivium arts—grammar, logic, and rhetoric—are not mere subjects of study. Rather, they are psychological stages of development. Dorothy Sayers writes, “Looking back upon myself (since I am the child I know best and the only child I can pretend to know from inside) I recognize in myself three states of development. These, in a rough and ready fashion, I will call … Continue

Today is Sunday, November 24 and this is William Michael of the classical liberal arts academy. Today, I would like to talk to home schooling parents, and I’ll admit that what I’d like to talk about is pretty radical. In fact, to some it may be scandalous, depending on how you look at what I say and whether you actually receive what I say in the context of how I say it. But I think it’s important to have an understanding of education and home schooling that I have in order for our children to succeed, and for us as … Continue