Let’s not give short shrift to the role of theological study in spiritual formation. This has always been an indispensable ingredient in the church’s recipe for healthy Christians. When we turn our eyes to the example of those who came… Continue Reading
Whenever I ponder the question of whether Christian schools make “spiritual formation” a mission objective, I reflect on my own childhood education, which included fourth through seventh grade in a parochial school. These years happened… Continue Reading
I am glad to be invited into this conversation, but I need to make it clear up front that I am the Christian leader of a school instead of the leader of a Christian school – I head up a Classical Core Knowledge Charter School. While I know… Continue Reading
Nuance. My gut tells me this is an important word in this discussion. Our role in teenagers’ spiritual lives is not primarily one as authority, but as example. That was not the case when they were younger. We adults – educators and parents… Continue Reading
I agree that “academic training in a Christian context IS spiritual formation.” While there is more to spiritual formation than training the mind there should not be less. Intellectual training is an important component of spiritual… Continue Reading
The fashionable fallacy is that by education we can give people something that we have not got… [U]nless you can save the fathers, you cannot save the children; that at present we cannot save others, for we cannot save ourselves.” — G.K… Continue Reading
Serving schools in two cities affected by the tech bust eight years ago, I saw the effect that a tight economy has on parents’ decisions about private school. First, it becomes evident very quickly that private school tuition falls into… Continue Reading
Thirteen year old girls don’t take women seriously who wear ugly shoes.” At least that was the argument I gave my husband when he commented on the sudden increase in my shoe collection shortly after I started teaching middle school… Continue Reading
One of the most helpful ways to tackle the question of “spiritual formation” is to step back and ask very basic questions like, “What is the goal of education?” “What kind of person are we trying to form?” If we answer them well, the… Continue Reading
During their seventh and eighth grade years, my students engage in a unique and highly popular course. Dialectic incorporates elements of both logic and rhetoric through the study of logical fallacies and practical debate. The disciplines… Continue Reading
Most Christian school missions say something about training students to become servant leaders. As we train our students and teachers to strive for excellence, school leaders can model a biblical servant’s attitude by simply paying… Continue Reading
I really enjoyed reading Wisdom and Eloquence by Robert Littlejohn and Charles Evans. This is a well-written book, with certain chapters that should be read and re-read by all educators seeking to provide a classical and Christian… Continue Reading
