Aug 21, 2025
Restoring What’s Missing in Catholic Education by Dr. R. Jared Staudt at Catholic World Report. It’s not simply enough to give young people information about the faith, no matter how good it may be, without helping them to respond to it and live it out. Among many other influences, faith stands as one more choice to sort out within our individualistic sense of freedom. Pope Benedict urged us to prioritize helping students to encounter Christ and live in relationship with him. Read
Religious Transmission: A Solution to the Church's Biggest Problem by Michael Rota and Stephen Bullivant at Church Life Journal. Modern life in the United States presents many obstacles to faith, and Catholic parents are, for the most part, failing—failing to effectively hand on a life of faith to their children. If these trends continue, then even with ongoing significant levels of Catholic immigration (which mitigate, or rather mask, our domestic decline), the size of the American Church will shrink dramatically in the decades to come…How can we address this problem? Somewhat surprisingly, the social science here bears some good news. Read
Another Sort of Mathematics Review by Michael Austin at ClassicalEd Review. That thing unique in the human heart that is only satisfied by the study of mathematics is the visceral understanding of truth. Tawney’s book gives, as he says, not a curriculum but a skeleton of a curriculum that would accomplish this in the human heart. To study the proofs in Another Sort of Mathematics is, in a concrete and particular way, to viscerally experience truth. Read
Why Is School Choice So Controversial? by Dixie Lane at Public Discourse. With public schools across the nation underperforming so dramatically (just look at the Nation’s Report Card), it’s easy to guess why so many politicians and public school systems bristle at the idea of school choice. Public schools have been losing students rapidly over the past decade, in part due to parental dissatisfaction (particularly during the pandemic), and in part due to the simple decline in the number of school-aged children in America, as the nation’s birthrate continues to fall; these declines have continued beyond the pandemic, particularly in middle schools. And now this summer President Trump also halted the release of certain federal grants to public school districts across the country until the school year had nearly begun. Public school districts literally cannot afford to lose students to school choice. Read
A Back-to-School Game Plan for Dads by Brett & Kate McKay at The Art of Manliness. When you’re a busy dad, the first day of school can sneak up on you…Kate and I have been sending our kids off to their first day of school after summer vacation for over a decade now. We’ve learned some things along the way to make the transition from vacation mode to school mode a bit smoother. Maybe they’ll help you, too. Read
5 Ways to Sharpen Your Seminar Start by Andrew J. Zwerneman at Cana Academy. It’s a brand-new academic year. If you are a seminar leader, now is a good time to sharpen your gameplan for how to lead well. To help you, I have devised a Seminar Leader’s Start Chart, which you will find below. A good start to a seminar sets the tone, energy level, and focus for the entire seminar. Test your plan for starting your first seminar of the year against the 5 checks in the far left column. Follow the good standards, avoid the bad ones. Read
The Academic Doctor the Church in America Needs Today by Dr. Alex Taylor at Word on Fire. Newman saw that the disciplines in the university—from literature, philosophy, theology, and history to mathematics and the sciences—all participated in the search for truth, a truth which could not be one way in one discipline and another elsewhere but which was everywhere present. One of the primary goals of the university is providing a place where men and women of different tempers and intellectual formations can sharpen each other’s efforts in the search for truth. Theology has a particular role in such an endeavor. Read
10 Powerful Saints Every Student, Teacher, & Parent Needs for Going Back to School by Caroline Perkins at ChurchPOP. The school year brings new challenges and opportunities for any student, parent, or educator. Prayer is so important during this season of change. It’s also important to have a spiritual arsenal of saintly companions to help you on your journey. Their prayers are so powerful! Here are 10 saintly friends to turn to as a student, teacher, or parent throughout the school year. Read
Kids Will Love This Catholic Audio Player by Katie Warner at National Catholic Register. Isn’t it exciting when you find solid Catholic alternatives to secular products, especially among children’s toys and gifts? Created by Catholic parents Elie and Viviana de LaForcade, HEWO (short for “HEar the WOrd”) is the first faith-based audio player designed for kids, boasting a growing library of content from trusted publishers and sharing Catholic teaching in a dynamic, screen-free format. Read
Teens and social media: Is the tide turning? by Caitlin Bootsma at Aleteia. When it comes to what Pope Benedict XVI termed “the digital continent,” teens are known for being some of its most fervent explorers. Yet, recent Pew Research data indicates that there is a growing awareness among teenagers that social media has its downsides… However many see a problem with "others" and not with themselves. Read
Defense Department May Adopt Pro-America Test For K-12 Schools, Military Academies by Joy Pullmann at The Federalist. Future military officers and the children of U.S. service members may soon be able to satisfy government testing mandates with a new test that prioritizes traditional math and the Great Books. Because tests strongly influence what teachers teach, this would encourage more traditional, less politicized instruction for the 70,000 or so children attending Department of Defense, or DODEA, K-12 schools. Read
Ohio Is Requiring AI Policies for All K-12 Schools. Will Other States Follow? by Alexandria Ng at EdWeek Market Brief. Many educators and policymakers have talked about the importance of promoting responsible AI use in schools. One state is trying to give that effort the force of law. Ohio recently became the first state to mandate the creation of AI frameworks in all public K-12 schools. Read
The Most Conservative College in the US is a Short Drive from Lefty LA — and Has Just 372 Students by Adriana Diaz at New York Post. The kids are all right. The “Most Conservative College” in the country is a short drive from liberal Los Angeles, according to the 2026 Best Colleges guide from the Princeton Review. Thomas Aquinas is a private, conservative, Catholic liberal arts institution, in Ventura County, near Los Angeles. Read
Throwback Thursday
Dan Scoggin from Great Hearts on Teaching Students Ordered Joy by Anchored at the Classical Learning Test on June 21, 2022. On this episode of Anchored, Tracy is joined by Dan Scoggin, Co-Founder of Great Hearts Academies. Dr. Scoggin discusses founding Great Hearts, its mission, and its foundation of teaching students ordered joy. He also discusses the six loves of Great Heart Academies, the core values that drive the entire organization. Dr. Scoggin states that a classical education at Great Hearts seeks to unifiy intellectual excellence and moral excellence, and that one cannot exist without the other. Listen