In the introduction to her book, The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education, Leigh Bortins makes a radical and disorienting statement that makes the book worth reading. She says, “This curriculum works for a student of any age, but that is a hard idea to digest because...
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One of the goals of classical Christian education is to train students to see relationships between ideas. This is an analytical skill as well as a philosophy. Everything that exists shares a common creator who is still active in His creation. It is our job as educators and Christians...
Read the Full ArticleIs it February already? What happened to January—did we skip it? I can’t believe I am almost four weeks into the semester. I have started working on my Faces in History paper for Essentials. I am going to be…wait a minute, I can’t tell you that…! In other big...
Read the Full ArticleA Book Review of James Nickel’s Mathematics: Is God Silent? Mathematics: Is God Silent? is an investigation into the history and nature of mathematics, as well as an extensive study of the question of its ultimate source—that which gives mathematics all its meaning. The author, James Nickel, meticulously demonstrates that this...
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This phrase came to my mind on a drizzly, gray morning in January. I live in North Carolina, so I deserve no sympathy from those of you who know real winters, those of you who call Wisconsin and Minnesota home. If it would snow, then I would have the...
Read the Full ArticlePlease Note: This article is not a recommendation to watch the film Groundhog Day without first reviewing whether it is appropriate for you or your children. Please consider all content before making a determination as to who in your family can watch this film. You can find some helpful...
Read the Full ArticleOne of the most important things we can do for our children is to help them to think through issues deeply. It is easy to paint the world into two sides–ours and theirs–and then to say, “make sure to stay on our side.” In fact, the world is filled...
Read the Full ArticleIf you mention Isaac Newton to an acquaintance, most of them will see an instant mental cartoon of a long-haired man in knee breeches who shouts “Aha, gravity!” when the famous apple hits his forehead. Few people give him due credit for his other revolutionary ideas in chemistry, optics...
Read the Full ArticleI hope that everyone is enjoying this school year. I thought that I would spend a few months talking about Latin parts of speech (if you have an article idea, please e-mail me at magistrasheppard@gmail.com). It is always good to start with our native language. We know that a pronoun...
Read the Full ArticleClassical Conversations surveyed other Classical Conversations homeschoolers and asked them for advice to pass on to first year Classical Conversations families. Their answers will not be surprising to those in the program, but may be surprising to new families. They break down into essentially three categories: embrace the repetition,...
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The rise of the sovereign self has become foundational for two sociopolitical systems presently deemed most worthy in modern societies: modern democracy and modern consumer capitalism. However, for these systems to be beneficial, they must rely on a sovereignty of the self exemplified by the ability to rule oneself...
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It looks like the name of a Dr. Seuss character, but in my house the “Who-What-How-What” refers to literary analysis. Do not tell the kids, though, that would take the fun out of it. It is a series of questions that helps us talk, think, and write about literature....
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