Teaching essay-writing is a challenge for many teachers. I’d like to share a method I’ve used successfully with middle school and high school students both in the classroom and as a private writing tutor to homeschoolers. The method relies on recognizing how a well-structured paragraph can be expanded into longer and longer essay forms. The…
If you’ve been around the homeschooling world for a while, you’ve no doubt heard about classical education (CE). Known for its academic rigor, the classical method provides a liberal arts education that emphasizes strong language skills and a solid grounding in literature and history. Most classical homeschoolers follow the method outlined in The Well-Trained Mind…
I get it. You want to give your child the very best education, but you’re overwhelmed. There are so many moving parts: phonics, math, science, history, and on and on. It’s hard to keep all the different methods in order. What’s the difference between classical (or is it “neoclassical“?) and Charlotte Mason? What does “literature-based”…
Why, in the age of Google, would we want our children to commit facts to memory? Why can’t they just look them up when they need them? The short answer is “the Matthew effect.”1 In education, this refers to the observation that students who come to their studies (specifically, reading) with more background knowledge are…