I have spent much of my life writing poetry, but I often do so VERY sporadically. I get an itch to write, I fight over a poem or two for a couple weeks, then I leave poetry aside for many, many months. My hope over the next year is to faithfully engage in poetry writing more consistently, so here is a poem I will share with the hope that sharing poetry here will keep me accountable. Background image by Kristin Rapinchuk, 2022. Poem first published at The Greenhouse: A Mere Christian Community ..read more

The Centrality of the Trivial: Grammar as a Liberal Art (Explorations in the Art of Grammar Series #6)[1] By Anthony G. Cirilla It has often been debated whether grammar is useful when studied “out of context,” though I have my suspicion that few who teach grammar actually envision their project in the classroom as ideally contextless. What would that mean? In absolute terms, the closest one can get to being out of context is being dead, in keeping with the words of Solomon: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, i ..read more

What’s Your Aim? By Sara Osborne The midpoint of a semester naturally prompts some reflection, for both teachers and students.  This half-way point often reveals whether a teacher’s fresh plan, new curriculum, or adjusted content has yielded its desired results.  Similarly, students take stock of their performance on class assignments and assessments and consider whether or not their study strategies are working as planned.  Interestingly, while these observations and reflections are prompted by the arrival of midterm, it is the end-of-the-year goal which determines our conclus ..read more

By Carrie Eben, http://www.classicaleben.com Mothers are many things, but they are not goddesses. Aphrodite was both. During my apprenticeship journey with CiRCE, I observed this goddess-mother. At first, I was angry and harshly judged her actions, but I came to realize I had more in common with her than I originally realized. Don’t think I am referring to her beauty. If only. Uncomfortably, it was her less beautiful attributes that seemed familiar. Aphrodite’s parenting foibles seem scarily close to my own: she helicopters, she manipulates, she interferes. In the Iliad, Aphrodite rescues and ..read more

As the final days of the school year approach, teachers and students alike are eager for the long, lazy days of summer.  Summer break does offer a less cluttered calendar for increased rest and play, but it also offers unique opportunities to help meet the needs of struggling students.  Consider these five ways summer can serve struggling students in the months ahead. Remediation End-of-school assessments often offer insight into how well a student has mastered concepts and skills from the previous academic year. In addition to testing, you may have noticed certain weaknesses or area ..read more

By Carrie Eben, http://www.classicaleben.com Mothers are many things, but they are not goddesses. Aphrodite was both. During my apprenticeship journey with CiRCE, I observed this goddess-mother. At first, I was angry and harshly judged her actions, but I came to realize I had more in common with her than I originally realized. Don’t think I am referring to her beauty. If only. Uncomfortably, it was her less beautiful attributes that seemed familiar. Aphrodite’s parenting foibles seem scarily close to my own: she helicopters, she manipulates, she interferes. In the Iliad, Aphrodite rescues and ..read more

As the final days of the school year approach, teachers and students alike are eager for the long, lazy days of summer.  Summer break does offer a less cluttered calendar for increased rest and play, but it also offers unique opportunities to help meet the needs of struggling students.  Consider these five ways summer can serve struggling students in the months ahead. Remediation End-of-school assessments often offer insight into how well a student has mastered concepts and skills from the previous academic year. In addition to testing, you may have noticed certain weaknesses or area ..read more

By Carrie Eben The church is meant to be a body of Christian believers to encourage each other in their faith. Just as Christ’s body of believers gather to fellowship and edify each other around a common belief, classical Christian educators have opportunities to come together and share the same liturgies of Christian education. Although each church, or group of believers, looks different, they all share a common thread of faith and look to each other under the headship of Christ to nurture and grow in their understanding of Him. Classical Christian educators from diverse backgrounds can likew ..read more

I meant to post this near the end of summer 2022 as part of our series on Grammar, but alas, it got away from me. If you want to read the rest of the series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. One of the more surprisingly enjoyable reads of my college career was Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson. I loved (and still love) literature, but a biography of a guy who created a dictionary seemed like an exercise in linguistic futility. I was wrong. I found myself fascinated by the writing, the story, and even the brilliant definitions Johnson wrote in his dictionary. I was impressed. Years later, my ..read more

The classical renewal has been prompted—at least in part—by evident student skill and knowledge deficits, virtue-less environments for learning, disordered curricula, and postmodern pedagogies.  However, a true classical education aims to do more than simply plug the holes of a failing public education. If the purpose of genuine study is to know, analyze, and articulate what is True, Good, and Beautiful, the truest form of such education is a classical Christian one. In his 1889 address[1] to students and teachers at the Free University of Amsterdam, Dutch scholar, theologian, and statesm ..read more