“Describe the last excellent conversation you had. What triggered it?” “What is the most important lesson you will take from high school to your next endeavor?” “Who do you want to be your mentor for the next two to seven years?” “Where can you find people whose message persuades...
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Chapter One – Why We Still Need Classical Education Dorothy, Doubts, and Dialectic by Cara McLauchlan “Our job as parents is to restore our own education as we translate our vision of quality academics into small daily deeds. In this way, education is transformed from an endeavor rewarded by...
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What is the UNCRPD? Why do I oppose it? Why should you oppose it, too? Not only should you oppose the treaty you need to make sure that your senator knows that you oppose it. The UNCRPD is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities....
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One of the main intellectual focuses in evangelical circles today is on worldviews. There is quite a bit of good, open discussion about how one’s worldview affects the way we see and interpret the world around us. It is beneficial to be able to (a) understand that other people...
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Autumn is a season of deadlines for the parents of high school students. If your student is preparing for college, career, or other forms of continuing education, you are probably swimming in standardized tests, personal statements, and transcripts. I well remember that feeling. The college admissions scene is significantly...
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What is your favorite thing about a To Do List? The calming pursuit of listing all the necessary tasks to be accomplished? The knowledge that you will not forget something important? The sheer symmetry of the bullet points? My favorite part of a To Do List is crossing off the tasks I have...
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In our society, we often think of skills as a set of “expert” techniques that we apply to particular activities. We classify ourselves, among other things, as “skilled” doctors, electricians, musicians, basketball players, teachers, cooks, or decorators. We tend to believe we must be intensely “schooled” in specific content...
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What is The Hobbit Retreat? Some of my readers will know, some will not. In October, Classical Conversations held the first of what we hope will be many “Rising to the Challenge” student retreats. The theme of this first retreat was J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. It was well-timed, I think, because...
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I was missing out. Something prompted my daughter to address my ignorance and she played for me the Gangnam Style music video. A multitude of cultural references suddenly made sense. I could finally laugh at the joke, a joke that I previously failed to recognize. We must avoid such...
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“There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means.” – Calvin Coolidge Date Night in my home falls on Wednesdays. This week the forester and I cleared a spot at the table and huddled romantically by laptop light to review...
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Why Study Latin—The Tutor’s View by Matt Bianco In the summer of 2012, I had a conversation with one of my rising Challenge IV students and her family. She wanted to quit the study of Latin in her final year of homeschooling with Classical Conversations. We met and...
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The heart of the difference between classical and conventional education is not in curriculum or teaching methods, though those are effected. The heart of the issue is in goals and beliefs. Our practices often entangle us so much that we cannot get back to the things that matter most. The biggest...
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