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A couple of times the question was posed about the significance of a people group being disconnected from their history. It seems there are a great number of people disconnected from their history because of Western European colonization of the world. If knowing our history is similar to knowing where we are in the world, like the outer parts of a tree, then for some it exposes the reason they are at the bottom is because their people have barely survived the abuse by European people groups. Also there are many people cannot know their history because it’s no longer available. Any thoughts on how to approach this with children? We’ve been working through Bauer’s Story of the World so far.
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C. S. Lewis on Education
Amanda Erdman replied to Chris Perrin's topic in The Abolition of Man (Steve Turley)
Fairy tales being adapted. Old tales or fables are adapted so that the heroes may not be heroic at all and villains may actually be the heroes or are rehabilitated. Less time in actual, real nature. For example, many children know more facts about the Amazon rainforest than they know their backyard. They may be able to identify a rare tree frog from South America but they have no idea what the trees are in their yard. Everything is “me” centered. When we’re asked to consider classes, a major or a future career our mentors often ask us what we want to do, what we like to do, and are less interested in what would make a difference in the world. These are just a few things that came to mind as I read chapter one and listed to Dr Turley’s first lesson. -
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We wrote about the Three Kinds of Homeschooling Communities on the Scholé Group blog. What kind of group are you most interested in joining? What are your questions about the different kind of groups? Read the article and join the conversation! https://scholegroups.com/the-three-kinds-of-homeschooling-communities/ -
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Questions about Latin Grammar
angelique replied to Chris Perrin's topic in Essential Latin (Karen Moore)
Also, why is "began to" used in some of the translations on page 19 in the Teacher's Edition of Latin Alive! book 1 for the imperfect tense of some verbs (ie: habitabamus, vocabant)? On page 17 it gives the options for past progressive, but is that list incomplete (ie: for the verb to love - I was loving, I used to love, I kept on loving)? Should "I began to love" be a translation for the imperfect/past progressive translation of the verb "to love"? -
Questions about Latin Grammar
angelique replied to Chris Perrin's topic in Essential Latin (Karen Moore)
When translating the imperfect, first person, singular verb "to love (amabam)" into English, can you say "I kept loving" or "I did love" instead of "I kept on loving"? Is "on" necessary? -
Aesthetics in the Science classroom/lab
JTB_5 replied to jennycspears's topic in School Education in General
Just for reference, a couple of answers to this question have surfaced at the MRC. Aesthetics in the Classroom -
Aesthetics in the Science classroom/lab
JTB_5 replied to jennycspears's topic in School Education in General
I've posted a thread at the ACCS's Member Resource Center forum seeking a video that was shown at the ACCS Conference last year. In it the headmaster at Ambrose (I think) is interviewed by Christopher Perrin or David Goodwin and they show the aesthetic that the school has built into its Building and Grounds and classrooms. Hopefully they can find it and let me share it. Do you have access to the Member Resource Center? -
I am struggling with the aesthetics in our school. Our grammar classrooms look like the public school down the street and our Upper School classrooms are in the church's rooms and we are not allowed any "school" things in those rooms. We can work on the former and deal with the latter. My big concern, aesthetically, right now is the small classroom that we use for science. It is a mess. We don't have room for permanent lab tables. Our school is growing (praise God), so we barely have room for the students. We have glaring florescent lighting. Last year we hired a veteran science teacher from the public school world. We love her and she is really improving our program, but she brought a ton of resources with her. Any ideas or photos of other schools with aesthetically pleasing science rooms would be greatly appreciated.
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I understand that completely! I will say that one of the thing that you can do as a faculty is to read one of the Socratic dialogues together and get a discussion going on what Socrates does to move through a discussion. I don't know if it is still available anywhere, but Jenny Rallens did a presentation on virtue formation in the classroom that involved her preparing a class of 5th graders for a discussion on The Lord of the Rings. You might try searching for that, or contacting Rallens to see if she has some resources to share.
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You're welcome. Also, my name is Joshua. I didn't think ahead very well when considering a username.
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Thank you for those tips. We are on a limited budget right now. We will just keep on working at it.
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Thank you, JTB! The video said it would be available to download. I can view the Ambrose one, but since I haven't purchased the curriculum I can't download a copy.
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Are you looking for the Socratic Evaluation sheet? I found one in the 12th grade Letters section of the Ambrose CG. https://www.classicalu.com/ambrose-curriculum-guide/acg-7-12-letters/acg-grade-12-letters/
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I don't know of anyone in that capacity, but Matt Bianco of CiRCE Institute does Socratic Discussion training and would probably be willing to come out and do it for your teachers at the school. I don't know how much investment you are willing to undertake, but CiRCE also has 3-year mentorship programs, some of which includes Socratic teaching.
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Dr. Perrin mentioned that the Ambrose rubric was available to download. I do not see it.
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We are a 15-year old classical Christian school. I'm not sure that anyone has ever successfully conducted a Socratic discussion. Would anyone have a contact near Greenville, South Carolina that would allow a few of our teachers observe a Socratic discussion in action and have a "long-distance" mentorship program?
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I would like to learn these chants and songs for my classes. How can I purchase the CD? - Jada Conrad -
Cultivating affections
jennycspears replied to jennycspears's topic in The Abolition of Man (Steve Turley)
Thank you. The more I learn by completing these Classical U courses, the better I understand the process of captivating and cultivating, by first modeling. -
Hello! I am on the look-out for a source that prints high-quality diplomas for private schools. I'm a little wary of just choosing a random company online. Do you know who prints your school's diplomas? Any suggestions? Thanks! -
I don't know how to cultivate affections in a systematic way, but much of it seems to come from exposure, experience, and imitation. Kids can't love what they don't know anything about, so if we want them to have affection for the cardinal virtues, or theological virtues, or the fruits of the spirit, or the beatitudes, or great literature, or mathematics, or whatever, then we have to expose our students to those things. Exposure isn't enough, however. It must be meaningful. It must be woven into an experience that either a) captivates, or b) cultivates, or both. Captivation seems to come from beholding beauty (which stirs adoration and admiration) or sublimity (which stirs humble fear and awe). Cultivation seems to come from consistently repeated habits. Captivation seems harder to manipulate, whereas habits can be trained through careful ordering of practices. For example, do I want my student to love good penmanship? Then I have to make him write and rewrite paying careful attention to the way I place the paper, the way I hold the pencil or pen, the way I make the strokes, etc. all the while praising the beautifully done aspects, cheerfully correcting the poorly done efforts, and faithfully rebuking the slothful efforts. The demeanor of the instruction just mentioned leads into imitation. Whoever is leading the students' cultivation must herself exhibit what she would have her students learn. I'll admit that this is where I have the most trouble with my own children, because of my selfish impatience for them to "get it right the first time." I don't know if these thoughts bear out the truth, or if I am missing something or am mistaken in some way. If only Socrates were here to test these thoughts, or I had some way to see how students who have been given these things have turned out, I could have more confidence in their success!
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I am slowly working my way through Steve Turley's course on The Abolition of Man. I just completed Lecture 3, "Men Without Chests." I would like to hear what other classical Christian schools are doing to cultivate students' affections. Although our school is 15 years old, I am sensing that we have missed this aspect of the classical model.
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How would you best define classical education? Education that cultivates a love of truth, goodness, and beauty by means of the liberal arts and great books, characterized by rigor, warmth, and delight, and involving vibrant interactions of teachers, students, parents, friends, and many others. How does the definition of curriculum as a course change your thinking about curriculum? The tools we use matter not so much as the goals. There are a variety of curricula (workbooks, guides, etc.) that we can utilize to teach the curricula (the liberal arts) to cultivate a love of truth, beauty, and goodness. Classical education can be defined as parts that come together as a whole. Of the curricular, pedagogical, psychological, communal, and linguistic definitions, with which definition are you most familiar and why? How do the other parts expand your view of the tradition of classical education? Having been a part of a "classical community" in the past, I am most familiar with the pedagogical and communal definitions, as those were the ones introduced and stressed as part of the group. The intellectual and psychological definitions give more of the "why" behind classical education, not just the "what". The curricular definition explains why the "what" isn't as important as the "why". It's been eye-opening to me to hear and see these various definitions and how they come together to form a complete whole. In the past I think I've tried to stare at one piece of the puzzle and make it into a whole picture, becoming frustrated with myself for not seeing it as everyone else seemed to. Now I understand that as I learn and grow I'm able to add a new piece, and be more gentle with myself as I tackle this puzzle, allowing myself to look at the big picture and back again at my new piece, figuring out where it goes. -
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I watched the Morning Time lesson with Kathy Weitz today. She mentioned her children having map books, timelines and a sketchbook for Morning Time. I was wondering if she or someone else could explain more what the map book looked like and how you would use it. Were they maps she compiled of the places they were reading in history and lit? Are the children drawing maps? Would love to know more and how other people might use maps in Morning Time. Thanks!!
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