Schools That Teach The Classics Instead Of Marxism See Exponential Growth

Schools That Teach The Classics Instead Of Marxism See Exponential Growth by Joy Pullmann at The Federalist. Since lockdowns showed American parents what public schools teach kids, a competing method of human formation called classical education has seen a massive jump in enrollment, the leaders of multiple K-12 networks told The Federalist. The number of new school startups within the Association of Christian Classical Schools nearly tripled in 2022 and 2023 from previous years, said ACCS President David Goodwin in a phone interview. Their typical number of school startups per year is 20-30, he said, but in 2022 and 2023 startups respectively numbered 83 and likely near 100 by the end of this year, he said. Read

Phone-Free Education: Catholic Schools Rise to the Challenge by Kate Quiñones at Catholic News Agency. As K–12 students trickle back into school this fall, educators hope they may find it easier to focus on school, connect with their peers, and deepen their faith — all thanks to a phone-free education. Across the U.S., legislators, superintendents, and heads of schools are taking steps to give children and adolescents a phone-free learning environment. As many as eight U.S. states are now requiring that school districts restrict student phone use in an attempt to improve the lives of young students. Read

Coaching Students Toward Better Thinking & Writing by Mary Frances Loughran at Cana Academy. Evaluating essays is often a source of tremendous anxiety for teachers and their students. This opportunity for coaching can be freighted with discouragement for everyone involved. The teachers feel that their students’ essays are a reflection of how well they have taught the text, and the students worry about their grades. Keep in mind that essays are not tests of you or your students. They are opportunities for improving thinking. Read

Going to the Well: How Veteran Teachers Stay Young by Michael Ortiz at The Heights Forum. In order to keep our teaching fresh, enlivened by enthusiasm—better yet, by an ardor for our subject—it’s important to keep learning ourselves. Our free time during holidays and summer break should be opportunity for wider or deeper reading into our subjects. Our library at home should be well-stocked. We should have a map in our head of every used bookstore within fifty miles of us. We can make this work with our family too by venturing out to places of historical interest and actually laying eyes on what we teach. Read

‘My Catholic Education Saved Me’: Father Daniel Ciucci’s Journey from Catholic School to Abundant Life in His Vocation by Neil McDonough and Kelly Clark at Denver Catholic. The impact of a Catholic education is evident in Father Daniel Ciucci’s life. When he was young, his mother was told he would likely end up in jail unless his behavioral issues were solved. He was a regular in anger management classes. In short, he was a “trouble maker.” But when his family decided to invest in a Catholic education, everything changed. Read

Back-to-School Inspiration: Saints Who Were Teachers by Thomas Griffin at National Catholic Register. As schools begin to reopen for the new academic year, it’s worth a look at holy ones who spent much of their lives teaching. Their witness and words can aid teaching endeavors today — for educators, parents and students. Read

Entrusting Disabled Children to Jesus, Via Catholic Schools by Francis X. Maier at National Catholic Register. If the life of an unborn child with Down syndrome is worth saving, then that soul is also worth feeding, and guiding, and forming deeply in the love of Jesus Christ. And where better to do that than in a Catholic school, because who benefits? The child — obviously; but also his parents; his fellow students, who learn, firsthand, what it really means to be human; the donors, who have the privilege of making it possible; and the whole believing community. And that’s why the FIRE Foundation and its work are so important. Read

Marriages, Religious Vocations Fostered at Newman Guide Colleges by Kelly Salomon at The Cardinal Newman Society. While Catholic marriages and religious vocations are declining in the United States, Newman Guide Recommended colleges are bucking this trend. Catholic families should seek out these faithful colleges where students are prepared not only for career but also for vocation—including marriage, single life, the priesthood, and religious life. Read

Throwback Thursday

Fairy Tales and the Awakening of the Moral Imagination by Dr. Vigen Guroian at Memoria Press on July 27, 2020. The American writer Flannery O’Connor spoke a simple but profound truth when she said that “a story is a way to say something that can’t be said any other way. … You tell a story because a statement would be inadequate.” The great fairy tales and fantasy stories capture the meaning of morality through vivid depictions of the struggle between good and evil, where characters must make difficult choices between right and wrong, or where heroes and villains contest the very fate of imaginary worlds. Read