We have begun to see a world in which the classics have virtually disappeared—though they have been woven so tightly into the patterns of our culture that meaning, for us, is hardly separable from them. For a while we may be able to get by on the echoes of their past glory; but when they […]
Category Archives: Subjects
When Robinson Crusoe finds himself marooned on a desert island, he is left with few of the necessities of life. What he needs is on the wreck, and he returns to it several times to salvage the provisions. He builds a raft and brings back food, tools, clothes, and fresh water. It is from the ship that he gets cheese, rice, and […]
If colonial America was suffused with classicism, what of Puritan New England? Was the pervasive influence of the classics and classical languages seen as a hindrance—or as a help—to those who labored in the Lord’s vineyard to establish a Christian government and culture in early America? It is an easy question to answer. Not only […]
Mrs. Hogue is standing at the front of the room reading a story from her copy of The Golden Children’s Bible. Every student has a copy open and is reading along with the teacher. She stops reading and looks around the class: “Why did Pharaoh fear the children of the Hebrews?” Every hand in the room […]
Many who are attracted to the idea of a classical education don’t know exactly why, nor do they understand the necessity for Latin, or at least so much of it. A little bit of Latin is a good thing, but every year? Spinach is a good thing, but every day? I think five decades of fads and experiments have […]
By Bryan Smith We all participate in a broad human conversation. Sometimes the conversation is casual and banal, at other times it is more formal. In either case, it can be trite or profound, flattering or confrontational, degrading or uplifting. Books are one of the ways we have packaged our reflections upon our common experiences; […]
In our last catalog, I discussed how math develops the intellectual powers of the mind as no other subject can. (Read Part I here.) Now I’d like to explain how Latin is comparable to and balances the rigorous, challenging, cumulative, and formative study of math. Math is important, but it is secondary to language skills. […]
I went to my hotel after a long day at a homeschool convention. It was late, and I was hungry. So, after checking in, I decided to walk to a Subway I had seen to get a sandwich. By the time I walked out of the hotel lobby, clouds had moved in, and the rain […]
What has the Greek quest for excellence and order and beauty to do with the Hebrew quest for the living God? This is the question the Church Fathers asked themselves, a query that we still must raise from time to time. And in our day in particular, it is the question that Christian educators in […]
This is the third and final in a series of articles describing Memoria Press’ history scope and sequence. My initial purpose for these articles was to give the reasoning behind our classical studies choices, and in particular to explain the sequence shown on our curriculum map on pages 20-21: 3rd grade Greek myths, 4th Rome, […]