In a 2011 article for the American Mathematical Society, mathematician Cai Tianxin made a striking claim. He wrote, “It could be said that mathematics and poetry are the freest intellectual activities of human beings.”1 His suggestion is doubly daring: first, because it brings together two arts that are typically...
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If I asked you, “Do you like math?” would you answer that you dislike it? Would you complain that you “never use it in real life”? Would you claim that you are not a “math person”? If you would answer in those ways, consider a follow-up question: “Do you...
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In Lamentations 3:22–24, the author encourages us with these words: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him’ ” (ESV). February 2, 2013, was Groundhog Day. The tradition...
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At Classical Conversations, we have identified the five best excuses given for not attending a Parent Practicum that focuses on math. Or rather, I should say that some of these are excuses we have heard and some are excuses we have made up to be funny. Excuse #1: I am Euclid’s...
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I walked into our Classical Conversations assembly wearing a long, brown Jedi Knight cloak. (Having boys with big imaginations means our house is full of cloaks, capes, swords, and light sabers.) I asked the group of eager Classical Conversations students whom I looked like. They knew I probably did...
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A great benefit of speaking and hosting an exhibit at homeschool conventions is the opportunity which such an event presents to hear, firsthand, homeschool families share their experiences with Christian higher education. Many of these stories are inspiring and informative, but every once in a while you hear one...
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Americans solve problems, explore new realms, and question authority. After all, the first European settlers on our continent crossed the ocean to find greater freedom and new opportunities. These adventurous, independent settlers and immigrants laid the foundation for American culture. Thus in America, we pay little attention to class...
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Many people loathe the idea of calculus. Even the name sounds tedious and difficult. Most people who have to take calculus in college will not use it on a daily basis. So why is calculus an important part of education? One of the goals of classical education is to...
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Music, amazing in its power over our emotions and character, is even more amazing because it is eminently capable of being studied. Traditionally, music is one of the seven so-called “liberal arts.” Liberal, here, has nothing to do with its current, political usage. It is not a synonym for...
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During week fourteen of Essentials class, we learn about passive voice. We practice taking a sentence in active voice and making it passive, and we take some passive voice sentences and make them active voice. From this point on, Essentials students will be rewriting sentences in passive voice for...
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One of my favorite scenes in C.S. Lewis’s novel, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, takes place when Peter and Susan have become concerned about the fantasy world of Narnia that their sister Lucy claims to have entered. They meet with Professor Kirke to get some advice. Here is a...
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Math is not scary. Say it with me: “Math is not scary.” Perhaps you might tell me you grew up believing your sister to be a math oriented person and believing yourself to be a language oriented person (and this is the reason you think math is scary). This...
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