“ If we lose the ability to imagine how words are like seeds, we risk presuming that language cannot serve any purpose greater than our own. If we cannot imagine how human words can communicate self-giving life, then we lose the ability to imagine how Christian faith is possible.”

The Lost Seeds of Learning invites readers to consider how our understanding of the learners, the teachers, the content, the forms, and the purposes of the verbal arts becomes transformed in light of Christian faith. Recovering the vision of how grammar, logic, and rhetoric can be like seeds and not merely neutral tools helps us remember why these arts are crucial to Christian formation. These arts have an intrinsic purpose not of human choosing and a particular purpose to communicate new life. Such life communicated is a divine gift and the form of such communication can be self-giving. Such verbal giving and receiving is a living knowledge that relies on the testimony of particular persons over time. By imagining words as seeds, Christian educators can cultivate attention, patience, and responsible action rather than distraction, impatience, and paralysis.

The post The Lost Seeds of Learning: Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric as Life-Giving Arts appeared first on Classical Education Books.

Written by a homeschooling mother and qualified teacher, who has walked the talk and understands how to work with children at home, you will learn about the practicalities of homeschooling. Things like creating timetables, lesson plans, organisation, and scheduling are easy once you know-how. You’ll even learn how to run a sane and tidy household while homeschooling, how to choose the best curriculum for your children, how to make extracurricular activities work with your family, and so much more.

By working through this book you will be homeschooling successfully in no time, while also saving time and money as you learn how to avoid all the overwhelming information, unsuitable homeschooling curriculum, and events.

What people are saying about Successful Homeschooling Made Easy:

• I now feel confident in my own ability to homeschool my children and to not get too stressed about doing it all right. – M S
• I really liked the way you gently walked me through the process of establishing what suits our family and how we want to work. Planning and homeschooling are so enjoyable now. Thank you. – B S
• I can’t explain how invaluable this has been and still is. In the everyday bustle of life it is easy to forget why you set out on this particular journey so now, every time I look at our Homeschool Goals, which is on our fridge, I am reminded why we are homeschooling and exactly what we want to achieve. It provides that hope and inspiration and excitement that we felt when we first decided to homeschool. It keeps us going when things get tough. I also love the variety of templates for lesson planning and scheduling. – A G
• This has been a wonderful experience for me. I loved reading the stories and getting organization ideas. You have really got me thinking about my values and helped me to work out why I want to homeschool. Thanks. – H E

The post Successful Homeschooling Made Easy appeared first on Classical Education Books.

“THE FOUNDATIONAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN TRADITIONAL EDUCATION AND MODERN EDUCATION IS THAT THE ANCIENTS BELIEVED THAT EDUCATION WAS FUNDAMENTALLY ABOUT SHAPING LOVES.”

The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education introduces readers to a paradigm for understanding a classical education that transcends the familiar 3-stage pattern of grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Instead, this book describes the liberal arts as a central part of a larger and more robust paradigm of classical education that should consist of piety, gymnastic, music, liberal arts, philosophy, and theology. The Liberal Arts Tradition also recovers the means by which classical educators developed more than just intellectual virtue (by means of the 7 liberal arts) but holistically cultivated the mind, body, will, and affections. This is a must-read for educators who want to take a second big step toward recovering the tradition of classical education.

What’s NEW in the Revised Edition

Now in hardcover, the revised edition of The Liberal Arts Tradition has been expanded and updated throughout to reflect the most recent understandings and philosophies of classical education. It also includes 40 percent new content, featuring:

• Expanded Trivium pieces
• Expanded “Moral Philosophy” piece, with more nuanced discussions of virtue and the role of the Church
• Completely new “Calling, Culture, and Curriculum” section addressing (1) biblical foundations for classical Christian education, (2) the relationship of classical Christian education to the Church and other cultures, and (3) the relationship between the liberal, common, and fine arts
• Revised “Natural Philosophy” piece
• Updated paradigm of the liberal arts tradition
• Glossary
• New appendices, including one on reading and one entitled “A New Natural Philosophy”

The post The Liberal Arts Tradition (Third Edition) appeared first on Classical Education Books.

Examine the tradition of Socratic conversation to preserve its future!

Socratic Conversation reveals the natural connection between great philosophical dialogues and the art of philosophic conversation that is in pursuit of the truth. In distinct yet complementary ways, the three parts of the book build a bridge between the philosophical dialogues of Plato, and others, and the contemporary practice of Socratic conversation as a pedagogical method.

Part 1: To build this bridge, author Jeffrey Lehman examines some of Plato’s best-known and most-loved dialogues. Each chapter in part 1 focuses on those aspects of the dialogues that help one see the connection between the way Plato has crafted his philosophical dialogues and his hope that reading them will engender in his readers a desire to engage in philosophical conversation themselves.

Part 2: Join the author on a journey from Plato’s time to our own. Along the way, the author examines particularly striking examples of philosophical dialogue and shows how they continue the work Plato had started.

Part 3: The focus in the final section turns to Socratic conversation in our own time! Informed by the investigation of the examples of philosophical dialogues in the second section, the reader is in a better position to understand and appreciate the challenges and delights of Socratic conversation as a pedagogical method. Along the way, the author shows how remarkably fitting Socratic conversation is to classical education and considers some of the basic principles of effective Socratic conversation.

The post Socratic Conversation: Bringing the Dialogues of Plato and the Socratic Tradition into Today’s Classroom appeared first on Classical Education Books.

Talking with Your Kids about Jesus will give you the confidence you need to have the conversations that matter most in today’s skeptical world. In a friendly, parent-to-parent voice, Natasha Crain will walk you through essential topics on Jesus’s identity, teachings, death, and resurrection. Each chapter clearly explains what skeptics are saying and provides a concise, easy-to-understand response you can discuss with your child–one that can be tailored for any age.

Related Products:

Talking with Your Kids about God

The post Talking with Your Kids about Jesus appeared first on Classical Education Books.

In a friendly, parent-to-parent voice, Natasha Crain brings clarity to this question by walking you through thirty essential conversations about God that parents and kids must have today, including discussions about:

· the existence of God
· science and God
· the nature of God
· believing in God
· the difference God makes

Organized so that each chapter builds upon the last, this book provides a cumulative learning experience appropriate for home, church classes, youth groups, small groups, and homeschools. Every chapter has a conversation guide, and content is adaptable for use with kids from elementary age through high school.

Related Products:

Talking with Your Kids About Jesus

The post Talking with Your Kids about God appeared first on Classical Education Books.

“Many adults face daily struggles because no one took the time and effort to help instill good habits in their lives when they were young. If you are one of those struggling adults, or if you simply want to keep growing by laying down new rails toward other good ends in your life, this book is for you.” — Sonya Shafer

Discover how habits are

• like railroad tracks, making your days run smoother and easier.
• a powerful lever, enabling you to do things you never thought you could.
• like a well-trained horse, helping you overcome your natural tendencies.
• the result of conflict, teaching you the secrets of strengthening your willpower.
• a parent’s business, pointing out how habit-training yourself is different from habit-training your child.
• little hammers, shaping and moulding who you are becoming.
• a thing of now, encouraging you to start today!

Related Products:

Laying Down the Rails
Laying Down the Rails for Children
Laying Down the Rails Workshop Audio CD
Laying Down the Rails Workshop DVD

The post Laying Down the Rails for Yourself appeared first on Classical Education Books.

Now you can read Charlotte Mason’s original writings with confidence. This study edition of the Original Home Schooling Series presents:

• Authorized page replicas of the complete text as originally published, so you can be sure every word is authentic and accurate
• Keeps the original page numbers, so you can easily look up favorite quotations and cited references—great for study groups
• Enlarged text (28% larger), meticulously restored for ease of reading
• Wide margins for note-taking, so you have plenty of room to document your growth as you study her rich and practical ideas
• 8.5″ x 11″ page size, so your book will lie open more easily

“We all stir out minds into action the better if there is an implied ‘must’ in the background; for children in class the ‘must’ acts through the certainty that they will be required to narrate or write from what they have read with no opportunity of ‘looking up,’ or other devices of the idle.” —Charlotte Mason

“Teachers owe much to Charlotte Mason’s deep insight into child psychology and to the new principles in character building and mind training which she advocated. The gratitude of [those] who have profited by her counsel will be her enduring memorial.”—Elizabeth R., Her Majesty the Queen Mother of England

Companion Books in Series:

Original Home Schooling Series Volume 1: Home Education
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 2: Parents and Children 
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 3: School Education
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 4: Ourselves
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 5: Formation of Character

The post Charlotte Mason’s Original Home Schooling Series Volume 6: A Philosophy of Education appeared first on Classical Education Books.

Now you can read Charlotte Mason’s original writings with confidence. This study edition of the Original Home Schooling Series presents:

• Authorized page replicas of the complete text as originally published, so you can be sure every word is authentic and accurate
• Keeps the original page numbers, so you can easily look up favorite quotations and cited references—great for study groups
• Enlarged text (28% larger), meticulously restored for ease of reading
• Wide margins for note-taking, so you have plenty of room to document your growth as you study her rich and practical ideas
• 8.5″ x 11″ page size, so your book will lie open more easily

“Education in morals the young people must get at home, or not at all. The chief of their duties is the duty they owe to their parents: from this stem, all other duties, to kindred, commonwealth, and neighbours, branch out.” —Charlotte Mason

“Teachers owe much to Charlotte Mason’s deep insight into child psychology and to the new principles in character building and mind training which she advocated. The gratitude of [those] who have profited by her counsel will be her enduring memorial.”—Elizabeth R., Her Majesty the Queen Mother of England

Companion Books in Series:

Original Home Schooling Series Volume 1: Home Education
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 2: Parents and Children 
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 3: School Education
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 4: Ourselves
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 6: A Philosophy of Education

The post Charlotte Mason’s Original Home Schooling Series Volume 5: Formation of Character appeared first on Classical Education Books.

Now you can read Charlotte Mason’s original writings with confidence. This study edition of the Original Home Schooling Series presents:

• Authorized page replicas of the complete text as originally published, so you can be sure every word is authentic and accurate
• Keeps the original page numbers, so you can easily look up favorite quotations and cited references—great for study groups
• Enlarged text (28% larger), meticulously restored for ease of reading
• Wide margins for note-taking, so you have plenty of room to document your growth as you study her rich and practical ideas
• 8.5″ x 11″ page size, so your book will lie open more easily

“Humility is perhaps one with Simplicity, and does not allow us to think of ourselves at all, ill or well. That is why a child is humble. The thought of self does not come to him at all; when it does, he falls from his child estate and becomes what we call self-conscious.”—Charlotte Mason

“Teachers owe much to Charlotte Mason’s deep insight into child psychology and to the new principles in character building and mind training which she advocated. The gratitude of [those] who have profited by her counsel will be her enduring memorial.”—Elizabeth R., Her Majesty the Queen Mother of England

Companion Books in Series:

Original Home Schooling Series Volume 1: Home Education
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 2: Parents and Children 
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 3: School Education
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 5: Formation of Character
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 6: A Philosophy of Education

The post Charlotte Mason’s Original Home Schooling Series Volume 4: Ourselves appeared first on Classical Education Books.

Now you can read Charlotte Mason’s original writings with confidence. This study edition of the Original Home Schooling Series presents:

• Authorized page replicas of the complete text as originally published, so you can be sure every word is authentic and accurate
• Keeps the original page numbers, so you can easily look up favorite quotations and cited references—great for study groups
• Enlarged text (28% larger), meticulously restored for ease of reading
• Wide margins for note-taking, so you have plenty of room to document your growth as you study her rich and practical ideas
• 8.5″ x 11″ page size, so your book will lie open more easily

“Let us try, however imperfectly, to make education a science of relationships . . . try in one subject or another to let the children work upon living ideas. In this field small efforts are honoured with great rewards.”—Charlotte Mason

“Teachers owe much to Charlotte Mason’s deep insight into child psychology and to the new principles in character building and mind training which she advocated. The gratitude of [those] who have profited by her counsel will be her enduring memorial.”—Elizabeth R., Her Majesty the Queen Mother of England

Companion Books in Series:

Original Home Schooling Series Volume 1: Home Education
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 2: Parents and Children 
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 4: Ourselves
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 5: Formation of Character
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 6: A Philosophy of Education

The post Charlotte Mason’s Original Home Schooling Series Volume 3: School Education appeared first on Classical Education Books.

Now you can read Charlotte Mason’s original writings with confidence. This study edition of the Original Home Schooling Series presents:

• Authorized page replicas of the complete text as originally published, so you can be sure every word is authentic and accurate
• Keeps the original page numbers, so you can easily look up favorite quotations and cited references—great for study groups
• Enlarged text (28% larger), meticulously restored for ease of reading
• Wide margins for note-taking, so you have plenty of room to document your growth as you study her rich and practical ideas
• 8.5″ x 11″ page size, so your book will lie open more easily

“The child brings with him into the world, not character, but disposition. His character . . . is original disposition, modified, directed, expanded by education; by circumstances; later, by self-control and self-culture; above all, by the supreme agency of the Holy Ghost.”—Charlotte Mason

“Teachers owe much to Charlotte Mason’s deep insight into child psychology and to the new principles in character building and mind training which she advocated. The gratitude of [those] who have profited by her counsel will be her enduring memorial.”—Elizabeth R., Her Majesty the Queen Mother of England

Companion Books in Series:

Original Home Schooling Series Volume 1: Home Education
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 3: School Education
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 4: Ourselves
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 5: Formation of Character
Original Home Schooling Series Volume 6: A Philosophy of Education

The post Charlotte Mason’s Original Home Schooling Series Volume 2: Parents and Children appeared first on Classical Education Books.