One of the great joys of raising small children is witnessing their poetic and artistic appreciation of the world–even before they’re ever able to read or even speak fluently. Everything they learn and know is derived from a sensory-emotional experience of reality. This way of learning or coming to understand the world is what the […]
Teaching & Education
Independence Day and Blind Patriotism
Happy Independence Day! But can we maybe rethink the blind patriotism? It’s 4th of July, that time when American flags are flying high, patriotic songs are filling the airwaves, and fireworks are popping off all around town. That means this is usually the post in which I’m supposed to join the flag-waving while singing Lee […]
The Right Kind of Education
Education is not job training. It is the cultivation of wisdom and the preparation of the individual to be virtuous through the long task of transferring the knowledge, traditions, and mores of one generation to the next. This is important to recognize for at least three reasons. Humanely Skilled First is the obvious reason that […]
The Difference Between Introverts and Extroverts
A psychologist, H. J. Eysenck, and his colleagues at the University of London have spent years studying the differences between extraverts and introverts and have concluded that the primary distinction between the two is due to differences in arousability. Eysenck notes that “extraverts may be characterized by low cortical arousal levels, introverts by high cortical […]
A Letter on a Piece of Paper
Tis the season for grades, grading, and graduation. The academic year for most educational institutions has come (or is soon coming) to a close, elevating thoughts of education for everyone, even those who have long since been in school. With graduations to attends, scholarships to apply for, and television ads focused on graduates, the question […]
Three Qualities of a Good Teacher
There are many qualities a parent should look for in a teacher they want to hire. (And speaking of hiring teachers, did you know I lead an education company that helps homeschooling families and private schools find quality teachers? I do but I have also digressed. Sorry. I left the link so you could check […]
Writing as an Exercise in Wisdom
Flannery O’Connor once quipped something to the effect, “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” There is a truth to this statement that extends beyond one’s personal journal, though that is often a great place to start writing. This is also true of stories, poems, and essays. […]
We’ve Been Schooled!
The modern school system, as we know it, doesn’t work for educating free men and women. It does work well, however, toward the goal for which it was designed. The goal of the modern educational system is to cultivate a society of people who are both consumers and cogs—people enslaved simultaneously in both roles, that […]
On the Censorship of Dr. Seuss: A Light for the Coming Dark Age
As you’re probably very aware by now, Americans on social media have been in a frenzy this past week after the Loudon County Public Schools in Virginia canceled Dr. Seuss, citing racial ‘undertones’ in his writings. This came as a result of a recent study on diversity in youth literature that was released just ahead […]
No Education At All
In C. S. Lewis’s notable lecture, “Learning in Wartime,” published in Weight of Glory, he asserts, “Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.” Thus, an education without the principled and disciplined study of philosophy is no education at all. Modern education claims to be secular. That […]