What is the purpose of a question? Is it to come up with a correct answer or should there be something more? What if we used questions to stimulate more questions? What if our purpose for asking questions was to extend the curiosity of our students rather than just...
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I felt like an alien in my own home, teetering on the verge of tears. Just days before, I was melting in the hot Guatemalan sun, mosquitoes attacking my shins. I could not have been happier. How I longed for that now as I felt the busyness of the...
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Congratulations, Classical Conversations parent! I am proud to present you with a personal “Certificate of Readiness to Tackle College Admissions and Everything Else that Comes After High School.” At least, I wish I could present each of you with that certificate. Come to think of it, the wording might...
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Socks worn wrong side out, tags cut from every piece of clothing, food which mustn’t touch and must be of similar consistency and color. Odd questions at odd times on odd topics, usually in public from a tiptoeing, finger-waving, beautiful enigma. No eye contact. No hugs. This is an...
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Revisiting Some Archived Articles that Have Not Been Lost, but May Have Been Forgotten and Are Worth a Fresh Read Original Post Date: July 10, 2011 It has been quoted that all that is needed for education is a student, a teacher, and a log on which to sit....
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For the past ten years, I have talked to families and even tutors who worry about teaching high school math because they do not know how to solve the problems. Interestingly, none of us seem to worry that we do not understand the questions. Last week in my Challenge...
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Tools are not perfect. Anyone who works with computers knows this. Experience has led me to this conclusion: technology is great, except when it is not. Printers mysteriously go offline; no one knows why. Browsers and word processors flow like molasses and sometimes reach the solid state, freezing entirely....
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Hey, CC Dads. Once a week, our wives and kiddos load up in the van and head to our local Classical Conversations campus for their community day. Their summer schedule has ended and their school schedule has begun, but as dads, our work schedules continue unabated. We go to...
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The fear of not knowing enough can be a major roadblock for parents choosing to homeschool or for anyone seeking to support a child’s learning journey. But what if I told you that expertise in a subject isn’t the most important factor? Believe it or not, the secret to...
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Your spirit has been bruised by cowardice, Which many a time so weighs a man’s heart down it turns him from a glorious enterprise- as shadows fool the horse that shies away. (Dante, Inferno, Canto II) In this early scene from...
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Historia vero testis temporum, lux veritatis, vita memoriae, magistra vitae, nuntia vetustatis… Cicero (De Oratore, II. ix. 36)* The experience of listening to a Classical Conversations Foundations student recite the History Timeline is more than memorable, it is impressive. I will certainly never forget the first time I heard my...
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A dear friend of mine prefers Institute for Excellence in Writing’s Elegant Essay to CiRCE Institute’s Lost Tools of Writing (LTW) for high school students. “It teaches a mature essay, while LTW just gives a formula. It seems like a step backwards after Teaching Writing: Structure and Style,” she said. So, I thought for...
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