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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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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Why Shakespeare?
By Hannah Bramsen Upper School Humanities, Class 8 homeroom, and Middle School Shakespeare director As spring slowly approaches, and students begin to feel the February blues, there is one thing that has faithfully brightened up the middle school atmosphere: the Shakespeare play. Rumors begin to flurry around as to what play it will be, and […]
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Biblical Integration: Christian Schooling as Discipleship
by Katie Klos Class Five Lead Teacher, Middle School Girls’ Bible, and Middle School Literature I borrowed the title of this blog post from a conference that Jon Simons and I had the pleasure of attending at Cairn University last summer. I was very encouraged by how much of what was presented at the conference […]
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Relevant or Non-Essential?
The Use of Original Languages in Our Faith by Brian Kelly, Class Six and Latin Teacher In a recent conversation with one of my pastors, we discussed the tact that is needed in a sermon to introduce technical language terms or excerpts from the original languages. It has always been odd to me how some […]
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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. […]
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Creation and the Image of God: A Reflection on The Zeal of Thy House, by Dorothy L. Sayers
by Hannah Bramsen, Upper School Humanities Teacher and Middle School French Teacher Classes Nine and Ten just finished studying Dorothy L. Sayers’ play, The Zeal of Thy House, in Medieval Humanities Seminar. As we were reading, this question came up in our discussion: does God rely on us to accomplish his glory in the world? […]
Read More ›Why is the study of Western Civilization so important for today?
By Doug Reynolds, Head of School The ideas and principles that underpin Western Civilization date back to the days of Ancient Greece. The city state of Athens (and others) embraced the idea of democracy as early as the sixth century BC. In Greece, it was eventually the landowning adult males who were able to vote. […]
Read More ›Why Fairy Tales?
By Christine Escareno, Director of Instruction for Lower School During a recent trip to Mexico, I brought my father-in-law “Los Cuentos Completos de los Hermanos Grimm,” as he enjoys reading to his grandchildren. One night before bed I picked up the book and read “El Ratoncillo, la Pajarito y la Salchicha.” to my daughters and […]
Read More ›Cursive Handwriting
by Zach Ward, Middle/Upper School Science and Art Teacher My relationship with cursive handwriting is one that is probably not uncommon to many, up to a point. It began when, in the upper half of primary school, I had to begin practicing my D’Nealian letter forms in order to prepare for the transition to […]
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