Monthly Archives: April 2018

Three Blind Mice

Three Blind Mice

They all went after the farmer’s wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife … Not any more, it seems. Apparently, in today’s politically correct world, toddlers aren’t supposed to hear about tails being cut off with carving knives. (At least so it appears, based on a doctored rendition of “Three Blind Mice” […]

The Four Causes of Classical Education

Four Causes

When do you really know what something is?” When your philosophy teacher asks this, your gut reaction is to roll your eyes and say, “Here we go again.” Or you get up and walk out. Or—and this is the best option—you say, “Hmm. I’ve never thought about that.” Thinking deeply about thinking is what philosophers […]

A Long Day’s Journey Into Paradise

Journey Into Paradise

In the Winter 2018 issue of The Classical Teacher, I wrote about the notion of the journey, suggesting that how we get to any worthy destination may in fact be the most important part of the experience. The journey is not always about the future destination; sometimes it is about the inner growth that takes […]

Spelling: The Meticulous Twin

Spelling is the meticulous twin sister of Reading. Reading may receive all the adulation, but Spelling accomplishes the work. Spelling is where students of Reading come to master their lessons. The Role of Spelling Hard-working, durable, and orderly, Spelling holds a respected role in education. Early in the first century, Quintilian wrote: As regards syllables, […]

A Homeschool is Still a School

Still a School

I recently conducted a webinar for administrators of classical schools, in which the guidelines for the classical classroom were addressed. Having been involved in home education for a number of years educating our own six children prior to entering the classical school arena, first as a teacher and then as an administrator, I find myself […]

Classical Education is More Than a Method

More Than a Method

If you were to ask most classical educators what classical education is, you would find them hard-pressed to give a short, coherent answer. That is the way with a lot of movements: It’s easy to get swept up in the enthusiasm, but when asked to formulate what it is that excites you, it’s hard to […]