The circumstances we find ourselves in might not be so crazy after all. Parents, you've been teaching your children since they were born. You can do this.
Parents, the first teachers
Category: Classical Education
Why Singapore math?
Parents of students who are new to classical schools know that Singapore math is unlike any math curriculum they’re used to. Why? What makes it so different, and why is Singapore math so popular in homeschooling circles and classical schools?
How to Take Classical Education Online
This week I'm writing about how the classical education world can respond to the news that our students won't be attending school for the next several weeks, and maybe even months! Of course classical homeschoolers know exactly how to respond, but what about teachers and students in charter and private classical schools? Jon Gregg is… Continue reading How to Take Classical Education Online
Classical education…online?
After years of insisting on the importance of classroom learning, in-person seminars, and friendships between students built around going to school together, thanks to our friend the coronavirus, we classical educators have suddenly been forced into the world of online learning. Isn't life funny?
Classical Education Tips for First-Time Homeschooling Parents
In just a few days our work at the Barney Charter School Initiative has changed dramatically. We had planned to visit our affiliated schools in Idaho and Texas, and to host a conference for school board members here on campus. But now we are turning our attention to helping the thousands of students, parents, and… Continue reading Classical Education Tips for First-Time Homeschooling Parents
Paul Lockhart on Teaching Math
The first time I started thinking seriously about how to teach mathematics was when I read "A Mathematician's Lament," by Paul Lockhart. He's an impressive mathematician with real credentials, but what I like best about him is his straightforward, common sense way of talking about things. He's direct and clear, and funny. In school I… Continue reading Paul Lockhart on Teaching Math
What is classical PE?
It's easy to explain what classical education is when it comes to history, or literature, or Latin. Parents and teachers in classical schools know that in a history class, students are reading primary sources, and in literature, they read the great works, not excerpts of them. Classical education treats students with respect, giving them primary… Continue reading What is classical PE?
Caldecott on How Fiction Shapes the Imagination
Here and below, illustrations from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, by the Brothers Grimm, and illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. Every Kindergarten teacher knows that at some point in the year, when the class is reading a story together, someone is going to raise a hand and ask, "Did this really happen? Is it… Continue reading Caldecott on How Fiction Shapes the Imagination
William Kilpatrick on Choosing the Best Children’s Books
Here and below, two of Robert Ingpen's illustrations from The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame. It is so important to choose the right books for our students. But how do we know which ones to choose? William Kilpatrick’s Books that Build Character (1994) is one good place to start. Here’s some of his… Continue reading William Kilpatrick on Choosing the Best Children’s Books
How Classical Education Shapes Mathematical Thinking, by Jon Gregg
“The study of mathematics develops and sets into operation a mental organism more valuable than a thousand eyes because through it alone can truth be apprehended.” Plato, The Republic A Misconception Often, even from an early age, certain students develop an affinity for mathematical and scientific thinking, an affinity which parents, teachers, and administrators tend… Continue reading How Classical Education Shapes Mathematical Thinking, by Jon Gregg
