Latin in elementary school, after phonics? This may sound like a new and experimental idea, but it’s really an old and traditional one. Have you ever read Goodbye, Mr. Chips or Anne of Green Gables? If so, you may have noticed that the students in these books seemed to spend a lot of time studying […]
The Traditional Method It’s either feast or famine. When I was teaching my children to read, there were so few phonics programs available, I didn’t know where to find one. Phonics instruction nearly disappeared in the 1930s and only started making a comeback in the 1970s. Now there are so many phonics programs to choose […]
Why Should Christians Read the Pagan Classics? – Reason 9 Why Should Christians Read the Pagan Classics? Reason #9: Human Condition When it comes to the human condition, we may think that Scripture is all we need. After all, Scripture does show us our true human condition in a way that the Greeks did not and […]
One of the most noticeable tendencies in modern education is an aversion to the word “knowledge.” Factose Inolerance Why is this? Why is the one word you would expect to be at the center of the education enterprise the one word that so many modern educators find distasteful? Anyone who has taken the time to read the […]
Why Should Christians Read the Pagan Classics? REASON #8: Philosophy Philosophy is a deep subject that can be quite intimidating. Modern philosophy is so esoteric that few can understand or relate to it, but classical philosophy is different. As with so many things, if you go back to the beginning and learn first principles, you […]
Reason #7: Religion Saint Augustine in his Confessions tells us that after many years of wandering in the desert of indecision, it was Cicero who led him to Christ. Cicero’s Hortensius set him on the path to Christian conversion by implanting in him a longing for the immortality of wisdom. The text of Hortensius did […]
1. GRAMMAR-FIRST METHOD Grammar forms are presented in a systematic, logical order to aid mastery and memory. Vocabulary is limited initially in order to focus on memorization of the grammar forms. Vocabulary lists provide similar word groups to aid memory. Syntax and translation are limited initially in order to focus on memorization of grammar forms. […]
American government and political science will come alive when you read the Greeks and Romans, the same way that words come alive when you study Latin and Greek. There were many influences on the Founding Fathers, and certainly the modern philosophers—Locke and Hume—were important along with the tradition of English liberty. But separation of powers, […]
In my last article, I ended with the question of the teacher’s role in learning. Does the teacher need to be an entertainer? How does the teacher motivate and make learning engaging and satisfying for students? Teachers are often blamed for the lack of learning, along with the lack of interest and motivation in their […]
At a recent education convention, I was struck by the mind-boggling array of educational materials available today. “Of the making of many books there is no end” as the Book of Proverbs says. In today’s world of the internet and instant printing technology, this expression has a whole new meaning. Our ability to create textbooks, […]