Teachers Unions Oppose Reintroduction of Phonics

Teachers Unions Oppose Reintroduction of Phonics by Emma Horn and Jonathan Butcher at The Daily Signal. For decades, K-12 schools have wandered away from a time-tested, research-based method of teaching reading: phonics. Student scores have plunged to historic lows, but some states are turning back to the practice of teaching letter sounds—if teacher unions do not spoil the efforts first. Read

Latin Through Stories by Marie-Louise Schirda at ClassicalEd Review. Four years ago, Holy Rosary Academy took the plunge and decided to treat our third grade students to Latin through Stories K-5 Curriculum, a pilot program from the University of Dallas, K-12 Classical Curriculum Project…Latin through Stories will make even the most wary student willing to learn through music, movement, and mini-stories. Dr. Laura Eidt supports the theory behind Latin through Stories is that “Translation is not the goal: comprehending the Latin story in Latin is the goal.” Read

In Praise of the Paragraph by Mary Frances Loughran at Cana Academy. Students who learn to successfully complete excellent paragraphs are students who are well-prepared to write an essay when the texts they are reading support that longer development of a thesis. Once students have mastered the grammar and punctuation of rich and complicated sentence structures, they are ready to use them in paragraphs. Here are four things that students learn with careful coaching in paragraph writing. Read

To ‘Open the Door of Beauty to God’ is Benedict XVI Institute’s Mission by John Burger at Aleteia. The next couple of years will be a busy time for a San Francisco-based institute promoting beautiful Church music and art. In a dozen years, the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship has already injected much music, art, and literature into American Catholic culture, and more is in the pipeline. Read

Theology of the Body and the Impact of Technology with Mary Stanford at Christendom College. Mary Stanford is a popular speaker and writer on Catholic marriage and family life. In this podcast, Stanford explores Pope St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body and its continued importance in the twenty-first century, along with the growing impact of technology on families, communities, and society as a whole. Watch

Forming Families, Forming Saints featuring Fr. Carter Griffin at HeightsCast. Pope St. John Paul II outlined the four pillars of formation for seminarians back in 1992 with his apostolic exhortation Pastores dabo vobis. For years, Fr. Carter Griffin has used this framework to walk with seminarians through a program of human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation at St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington, DC. With his recent book, Forming Families, Forming Saints, Fr. Griffin brings that rich framework into the context of parenting. In this episode, he provides parents with an overview of the four pillars of formation, and offers encouragement and practical wisdom about what it means for the family to be a “domestic church.” Read

The Model for the University by Dominic V. Cassella at The Catholic Thing. Before St. John Henry Newman converted to Catholicism, he gave a series of sermons to the students of Oxford. The last of these University Sermons provided a brief theory of developments in religious doctrine, and he took for his model Mary, the Mother of God. Quoting Luke 2:19 – “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart” – Newman offers Mary as a model of faith since when she was provided with the Angel’s message, she does not question it like Zacharias; she accepts without question, but ponders it. Read

The Ten Commandments May Appear in a Classroom Near You by Henry T. Edmondson III at Word on Fire. Two important cases are headed to the Supreme Court that should be of interest to Christians of all stripes and especially to Catholics. Both cases have to do with the religion clauses in the First Amendment. Those two parts, no establishment and free exercise, are sometimes in tension; that is, a ruling on no establishment may very well impact someone’s free exercise. The first case has to do with a recent state law mandating the Ten Commandments be displayed in Louisiana public schools. Though the dispute is not far enough along to be appealed to the Supreme Court (SCOTUS), it seems likely that the court will grant certiorari—that is, it will accept the case. Read

‘Tremendous Change’: Trump Says ‘Won’t Be Long’ Until States Run Department of Education by Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell at The Daily Signal. President Donald Trump said it “won’t be long” until states are “really running” the Department of Education. The Daily Signal asked Trump at his March 24 Cabinet meeting how red states can implement his Thursday executive order ordering Secretary Linda McMahon to start facilitating the closure of the Department of Education. Trump said federal information on students will be sent to states. Read

JOSHUA MERCER: School Choice Option Should Be Available To All Parents by Joshua Mercer at The Daily Caller. Parents should never have to choose between their faith and their child’s education. Yet, for  many Catholic families, school choice is a privilege, not a right. It’s time to change that. It’s imperative that pro-family and pro-education lawmakers fight for a national solution like the  Education Choice for Children Act (ECCA), which would ensure that all parents, regardless of  income, can choose the best educational setting for their children. Read

Texas ‘School Choice’ Legislation Could Trigger Influx of Students to Catholic Schools by María J. Moriarty at Catholic News Agency. A $1 billion “school choice” proposal moving through the Texas Legislature could dramatically expand private education and home schooling in the country’s second most populous state, winning praise from Catholic leaders while raising concerns among some public school advocates. The legislation would create education savings accounts (ESAs) of about $10,893 per student — calculated as roughly 85% of what public schools receive per pupil — and allow home schooling families to collect $2,000 per child. Read

Throwback Thursday

“First Educators” by Dr. Andrew Seeley at The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education in March, 2019. Dr. Andrew Seeley, The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education’s Director of Advanced Formation, spoke at the “First Educators” speaker series, St. Mary Catholic Parish, Littleton, CO. Listen