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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The Liberal Arts of the Trivium (pt. 1)
The liberal arts have fallen on hard times. Of course, I don’t mean that bachelor’s degrees from liberal arts colleges are in decline. The presidents of liberal arts colleges across the nation can wax eloquent about the importance of the “liberal arts,” by which they mean general studies, rather than a purely technical job-focused degree. […]
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The “Way of the Will” and the Body of Christ
By Ashlyn Duff, Explorers II Teacher In 1 Corinthians 12 the apostle Paul uses a unique metaphor to explain how the Church is supposed to function. Take a look: For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong […]
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An Unexpected Encounter
by Sally Woodhouse, Class Three Teacher Last month I made a new friend. She must have been expecting me as she was standing patiently with her hands resting gracefully at an open door as I walked toward her. Immediately she struck me as being a gentle woman. She was rather plain, but there was a […]
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Theseus and the Minotaur
One aspect of a Clapham education that sets our school apart from many is our focus on narration. Why have students narrate? One cannot narrate well, unless one has listened and digested the information given. Narration requires the habit of attention, an immense focus on the task at hand with a responsibility to communicate back what has been offered. Children narrate naturally every day—telling back playtime stories, games they’ve played, or memories. Narration at school focuses this natural ability, refining and strengthening their attention for a wide variety of content and ideas. […]
Read More ›Language Learning and Clapham’s Summer Language Institute
by Kathy Bailey, Spanish Teacher for Summer Language Institute I decided I was going to learn Spanish when I was ten. My father, a Christian college professor, often had students visit in our home. One evening, a young woman from Puerto Rico brought her three-year-old daughter. The little girl spoke only Spanish and I spoke […]
Read More ›Geography: Utilitarian or Imaginative?
by Elise Redfield, Class Four Teacher Geography can mean many different things to people. Much of what we feel and know of this subject is linked to our school experience. Rarely do adults have an indifferent attitude. It can sometimes have the connotation of boring memorization or perhaps be lost in the broader subject […]
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