Peace on Earth: A Christmas Homily
If you’re like me or the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, for that matter, Christmas time may cause you to wonder, just a little bit, about that confident angelic announcement: “Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men!” In our more cynical moments, we may think to ourselves, “Peace on earth, really? When has there ever been peace on earth? From that first dark night when those humble shepherds heard the angelic host proclaiming peace on earth, throughout the long centuries of persecution, wars, injustice, slavery, crime, oppression, hatred and strife, when has there ever been peace on earth?” And perhaps we’ve heard the simplistic answer from well-meaning pastors or friends, that the peace is just that internal peace in our hearts that we experience through believing in Christ. But maybe that doesn’t quite sit well with us. Perhaps it seems like there should be more to it than that. […]
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Diligence and Joy
Today I’m going to unpack the third aspect of our school’s mission, which states that “Clapham School inspires students with an education...approached with diligence and joy.” […]
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3 TIPS TO HELP YOUR CHILDREN DEVELOP GRATITUDE
Gratitude is one of those qualities we all know we should practice more. In our busy family lives it can be challenging to find the right ways to develop a sense of gratitude in our kids without coming across as nagging. After all, telling your children to be grateful seems like the least likely way […]
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Charlotte Mason and the Growth Mindset
By Jason Barney, Academic Dean Fall Curriculum Night Address 2018 Good evening and thank you so much for coming to this evening’s Curriculum Night. I know it’s another evening event in what is generally already a busy week for most of us. But I feel that it’s so central and important for us to come […]
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What Is Joyful Discovery?
At Clapham School we talk a lot about cultivating joyful discovery, but what do we actually mean by that phrase? First, let me begin by saying what joyful discovery is not. Joyful discovery is not watching TV, surfing the internet or playing video games. Joyful discovery is not dumbing down challenging content to make it […]
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On Theology
By Kolby Atchison, Secondary School Principal Our culture is hungry for truth, or so it claims. From news headlines to commencement addresses to talk show discussions, the concerned demand for truth seems to be as a strong as ever. And yet, at the same time, there seems to be a daunting amount of confusion over […]
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Natural Science and Philosophy
This last year (2017-18) we’ve been exploring the classical liberal arts tradition together as a school. Our mission is to inspire students with an education founded on a Christian worldview, informed by the classical tradition and approached with diligence and joy, and that second part “informed by the classical tradition” is central to so much […]
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Classical Education and STEM: a Common Misconception
I’d like to address head on a common misconception about classical education. And this is a misconception that classical schools all over the nation have to address, and it’s the type of thing that sort of hovers on the background of conversations. And that is the idea that classical education is really great at the […]
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The Liberal Art of Rhetoric (PT. 4)
Why do we need the art of rhetoric today? The fear of public speaking is known as glossophobia. And pretty much everywhere I look, the statistic given is that 74% of people today suffer from some form of speech anxiety. 74%, virtually 3 in 4 modern people! It is the highest ranked phobia, followed by […]
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The Liberal Art of Dialectic (PT. 3)
In this blog article series we are exploring the trivium, the three arts of language, what Dorothy Sayers called the lost tools of learning. These arts are not subjects, that is, topics of study unto themselves, like American Government or Biology. Rather, the classical liberal arts are more like intellectual skills or virtues that, when mastered, enable students […]
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