Pursuing a Christian Classical Education
As I read the chapter, I found Dr. Esolen’s thoughts and stories convincing. Certainly he described a boyhood in which the mere opportunity to observe and collect created an appreciation of things in the world around him, even if it wasn’t quite wonder or a search for knowledge. The boundless possibilities of the sky, the [...]
Some of you have asked for more details about the ten ways so I’m outlining his methods here, and over the next few weeks I will explore some of the points Dr. Esolen raises. Each chapter is full of examples, so this is merely a bare-bones outline of his points. There are two introductory sections: [...]
You may be asking, “Why would anyone want to do that?” I don’t have an answer to that question. I hope it’s not a deliberate policy, but the reality is that the way we treat our children and organise their lives does conspire to destroy his imagination, and in his witty and ironic style Dr. [...]
Think of the billions of dollars companies spend each year producing written material to promote, explain, and expand their business. These include advertising materials, reports, proposals, manuals, memos, plans and many other things. While some are the province of special departments in larger corporations, small businesses often do much of this work themselves, and employees [...]
The most important reason to improve your writing is to enrich your life. Writing is an important way of communicating with others and if we lose the ability to do so effectively then our lives are poorer, and the busier and more harassed we feel the more need there is to take part in things [...]
“Education and instruction are the meanes‥to make our naturall faculty of reason‥better.” Hooker, 1593 Modern schools have forgotten that their purpose is to educate our youth and have tried to provide a cornucopia of other services, in so doing they have sunk to the level of babysitters. We protest against employers of child-labour with Dickensian [...]
Just as writing helps us to learn about ourselves and to look at our lives selectively and consider what is most important in our daily routine, so it helps us to learn. As people committed to learning for our personal growth, rather than for grades we may think that simply reading widely is enough. Although [...]
Have you ever had this conversation with your child after school? Parent: What did you learn today, Johnny? Johnny: Nothing. Parent (trying again): What did you do at school? Johnny: Nothing. So, you get upset with the school and think about home schooling Johnny, but then you realise that you get the same result when [...]
Writing to Learn About Your Life A commonly quoted prayer says, “Lord give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” In the midst of our busy, crowded lives how can we find enough distance from our daily [...]
At first glance this may not seem to be particularly related to education, and in a way it’s not, but on the other hand throughout life we either learn from our experiences or we stagnate, so perhaps it is. Once again we are celebrating a quiet New Year at home in Quelimane with most of [...]