Difficult Relatives on Thanksgiving
Dear Friends, Thanksgiving is a holiday dedicated to gratitude, but often involves people that are difficult to be grateful for. That aunt or uncle of a radically different political persuasion, that sibling you haven’t seen for an awkward amount of time. And if it weren’t for Thanksgiving, you might not naturally gather with these people. Meals, especially feasts, bring people together. Think of how many stories or movies end at the table. History will culminate with the Supper of the Lamb. And we fellowship over a meal in the Eucharist. And yet how do we deal with difficult relationships in the … Continue Reading “Difficult Relatives on Thanksgiving”
Old Western Culture in the 18th year of homeschooling (a review)
It is always a pleasure to hear how our courses have blessed homeschool parents. I wanted to share this review from a veteran homeschool mom who has kids with very different learning styles. My family is in the process of wrapping up our 18th year of homeschooling. I was blessed to stumble upon the Old Western Culture series this year. I had heard the name Wes Callihan before, but for the past few years, I was surprisingly content with my repertoire of homeschooling materials. However, my mildly autistic 15 year old son presented me with a new challenge: how to … Continue Reading “Old Western Culture in the 18th year of homeschooling (a review)”
Classical Gymnasium (P.E.) Live Online Class
Introducing Classical Gymnasium (PE), a live online class with Tom Garfield. Learn more in the video below:
St. Patrick’s Confession
“There is no other God, nor will there ever be, nor was there ever, except God the Father. He is the one who was not begotten, the one without a beginning, the one from whom all beginnings come, the one who holds all things in being – this is our teaching. And his son, Jesus Christ, whom we testify has always been, since before the beginning of this age, with the father in a spiritual way. He was begotten in an indescribable way before every beginning. Everything we can see, and everything beyond our sight, was made through him. He … Continue Reading “St. Patrick’s Confession”
Introducing Picta Dicta for Groups!
Starting at 6 licenses, you can now purchase Picta Dicta for your group! This is ideal for any situation where a teacher or administrator (vs a parent) would oversee a group or class using Picta Dicta. The administrator account can set up each student, track progress and grades for each student, and add new students. Explore Picta Dicta Natural World for Groups Explore Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder for Groups Sight Sound Context Stories Definitions “The world’s best system for learning Latin vocabulary”
The Mass Extinction Nobody Talks About
Biologists have theorized that the earth has witnessed several mass extinction events—apocalyptic events in which as many as ninety percent of the earth’s animal species suddenly died off as a result of some abrupt change in climate. Some alarmists warn that another such mass extinction is going on even now. Whether there is any truth to this I cannot say, but I will take a page from their book with an alarmist claim of my own: we are in the middle of a mass extinction event of a sort—not of species, but of words and their meanings. This should be … Continue Reading “The Mass Extinction Nobody Talks About”
Women of the West: True Femininity in C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength
Perhaps one of the most striking things about That Hideous Strength in comparison with the other two books of C. S. Lewis’s Ransom Trilogy is the large number of female characters. There are none in the first book (excepting poor Harry’s mother) and only the Green Lady in the second. But we have a long list of female characters who appear in the final installment. Jane Studdock, Mrs. Dimble, Camilla Denniston, Ivy Maggs, Grace Ironwood, Fairy Hardcastle-this list is just a few of the more prominent female characters we encounter. Why is this? Is there any significance to the sudden … Continue Reading “Women of the West: True Femininity in C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength”
10 Ways to Thwart Copiousness
Be too cool to ask questions or learn anything new. Try not to think hard, but if you must think, compartmentalize your thoughts. Spend your free time indoors staring at a screen. Fear ideas that differ from your own, and never read anything you disagree with. Only be friends with people your own age who think like you. Avoid people who know more than you. Have no heroes. Never travel far from home, but if you must, stay only in comfortable places. Never think through what the Bible says about anything. Never pray. HT: Brian Daigle If you want to … Continue Reading “10 Ways to Thwart Copiousness”
What will I learn in Fitting Words – 2nd half?
Fitting Words: Classical Rhetoric for the Christian Student is arranged around the five canons of rhetoric: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. In the first half of this course, after laying the Christian philosophical and historical foundation of the subject, the text concentrated on constructing the first two canons: invention, and arrangement (primarily the six parts of a discourse). The text also covered the three artistic modes of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos (including the special lines of argument: forensic, political, and ceremonial oratory). In the second half of this course, students will continue to learn about logos by constructing … Continue Reading “What will I learn in Fitting Words – 2nd half?”
The Old Western Culture Great Books List
Old Western Culture is a great books curriculum with a distinctly Christian “great books” reading list. It includes all the famous favorites you’ll recognize from series like the Britannica Great Books of the Western World, but also includes books that are often left out of modern editions for various reasons, most often because they are from the “Age of Faith.” We include more works from the early Church Fathers, Medieval period, and the Reformation. These are deeply influential and formative books on Western civilization, and worthy of inclusion in great books series. These books are part of our Christian and cultural inheritance, and … Continue Reading “The Old Western Culture Great Books List”