The Classical Parent

 

Visit (or Revisit) Our CCE Corner This Summer!

July 1st, 2020

This summer would be a great time to catch any CCE Corner articles you might have missed during the year. For easy reference, here is a chronological list with links that will take you to each article. Lesson one would be a great place to start!

Read the rest of this entry »


CCE Corner and Virtue of the Month: Looking Ahead

June 9th, 2020

Living intentionally and practicing habits of virtue are not things we leave behind during the summer. We hope you will continue to read together from The Book of Virtues and from other good books, especially The Good Book! Find a place to keep a list of virtues in sight (advertisers know how important this is) and be creative about ways to practice them. Here is our list of 10: Self-Discipline, Work, Perseverance, Faith/Trust, Compassion, Friendship, Courage, Loyalty, Responsibility, and Honesty.

May you be blessed this summer as you are a blessing!


CCE Corner – Being Prayerfully Intentional

June 5th, 2020

We could end our discussion of what we’ve learned from helping to start a classical Christian school with ten lessons. Ten is probably more than enough. But, as we mentioned last time, we have a bonus lesson that goes back to what impressed us about classical education in the first place. We’ve left the first part of the lesson blank on purpose. It’s for you to fill in later.

Lesson 11. ___________________: being prayerfully intentional

Read the rest of this entry »


CCE Corner – Finding Joy in Christian Classical Community

May 22nd, 2020

When we introduced our CCE Corner earlier this year, we began by sharing some lessons we have learned through starting a Christian classical school. We had made our way through lesson 9, when all our attention was abruptly turned in another direction by the COVID-19 pandemic. Quarantine may seem a strange time for a lesson about friendship, but perhaps it provides a good opportunity to step back and think about our relationships.

Lesson 10. Make Hallelujah friends: finding joy in Christian classical community

Our previous CCE Corner about the joy of worship was titled, “We Were Made for This.” We could use that title again. After God created Adam, he said it was not good for man to be alone. He created Eve from Adam’s side to be his friend. In a dialogue on Spiritual Friendship, the medieval monk, Aelred of Rievaulx, observes, “How beautiful it is that the second human being was taken from the side of the first, so that nature might teach that human beings are equal and, as it were, collateral, and that there is in human affairs neither a superior nor an inferior, a characteristic of true friendship. Hence, nature from the very beginning implanted the desire for friendship and charity in the heart of man, a desire which an inner sense of affection soon increased with a taste of sweetness.” In other words, we were made for friendship.

Read the rest of this entry »


CCE Corner – We Were Made for This

May 19th, 2020

Later today, we will have the joy of “coming together” to sing and pray and hear God’s word in an all-school Zoom chapel. “Zoom chapel.” How many of us knew what those words meant just two months ago? They would have sounded very strange back then, but not any longer. One obvious reason for their new familiarity is that Zoom has very quickly become part of our daily lives. The second reason is that this technology is enabling us to do something we have always done, something we were made to do: worship our Lord together.

Read the rest of this entry »


CCE Corner – “Best Practices” for Lives Well-Lived in a Crisis

April 23rd, 2020

People are experiencing this pandemic in a variety of ways. Some are looking for meaningful ways to use extra time. Others are asking, “What extra time?!” Some are struggling with grave situations; others are worrying about or grieving lesser but still significant circumstances. One thing we all share is the desire to continue to prepare our children for “lives well-lived.” In this CCE Corner, we want to look at some “best practices” for continuing your Trinitas education at home. Not surprisingly, they tend to be many of the same practices, attitudes, and habits that work well at school during more “regular” times and in many other areas of life. As a community committed to Christian classical education, it is fitting that we would look not only to tradition but also to each other. Thank you for contributing to this conversation and for furthering our shared mission in your homes.

When things feel out of control, turn toward the One who is in control.

Read the rest of this entry »


CCE Corner – “Standing Firm”

April 16th, 2020

Unprecedented times. So they have been called, and so they are. And yet, our current crisis unites us with Christians from other times and places as we’re called to stand firm. Pastor Peter Jonker of LaGrave CRC provided an encouraging sermon on how Christians are prepared for such a time as this. It’s based on I Peter 5:6-11:

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

You can find the March 22 sermon in LaGrave’s sermon archive. We are thankful for all clergy and lay leaders who continue to shepherd their flocks and minister to our city during this crisis.


CCE Corner – “Learning in Wartime” by C.S. Lewis

March 23rd, 2020

Our previous CCEC was about managing fear, frustration, and failure in school. In the short time since then, the Coronavirus has us all facing new frustrations and fears. But, as we see in C.S. Lewis’s sermon, “Learning in Wartime,” these are not really new. You can read his sermon here. If you prefer a shorter commentary of the sermon’s main points, read this. Lewis’s words, rooted in Scripture, encourage us to live our daily lives as best we can. In our next CCE Corner, we’ll return to our scheduled lesson and talk about the importance of friendship in this time of separation.


CCE Corner – Managing Fear, Frustration, and Failure

March 5th, 2020

You’ve heard of the 3 R’s of education (Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic). What about the three F’s? In this CCEC, we talk about Fear, Frustration, and Failure.

Lesson 9. Keep calm and choose well: managing fear, frustration, and failure.

When I asked my children what advice they might give students and parents in their first year of classical school, one of them said, “Tell them things like lit and comp will be really hard for the first year.”

There will very likely be times when you hear something like: “The other kids know so much more!” “I don’t know what the teacher wants!” “I can’t do this!” “I’m gonna fail.”

Over the years, we’ve learned that it’s the parent’s job in these situations to calm everyone down. Yourself first. It’s like they tell you on an airplane: “Put on your own oxygen mask, before tending to your child.” You may be thinking, “I don’t know what the teacher wants either!” But, don’t let your child see your stress. Calmly try to calm him or her down.

We have a few ideas to share: Read the rest of this entry »


CCE Corner – Managing Your Stuff and Your Time

February 20th, 2020

In this CCE Corner, we return to the lessons we’ve learned about thriving in a classical Christian school. In this lesson, we move from the philosophical to the practical with some age-old advice.

Lesson 8. A place for everything and everything in its place; a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heaves: managing your stuff and your time.

Our CCE Corner lessons have been about habits that help students succeed not only in school, but also in life. Lesson 8 is largely about teaching children how to show up at the right place, on time, and well-prepared. Trinitas gives parents tips at the beginning of the school year about managing stuff and time. They include the following. Read the rest of this entry »