A Contemporary School in the Wisdom Tradition. “O come, thou Wisdom from on high. Who ord-‘rest all thing mightily. To us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go.” (O Come, Emmanuel,” c. 9th century). What with the fast-growing influence of AI and everything technological, could there be a better time …
On Education as a Tapestry of Three Threads. Weaving Together the Three Eternal Qualities. When speaking of learning and the human mind, we are speaking into a mystery. But like many mysteries, there are hints as to how to best understand them. One hint regarding the purpose of learning is to consider what has been …
Divine Disgust – Mistreating Children. “Enough! How long will you defend the evil-doers? How long will show kindness to those who do wicked things? You’re here to defend the defenseless, to give justice to the weak and fatherless, to maintain the rights of the oppressed and needy. Your job is to rescue the powerless and …
(50.) Raise the Alarm – Boys in Danger. “It has become fashionable to attribute pathology to millions of healthy male children. We are turning against boys and forgetting a simple truth: that the energy, the competitive and corporal daring of normal, decent males is responsible for much of what is right in the world… and that …
(49.) Social Grace: The Need for Common Courtesy. “There are no ‘ordinary’ people… You have never talked to a mere mortal… It is immortals whom we joke with, marry, snub, and exploit…” (C. S. Lewis). Christian schools are not charm schools. They don’t necessarily worry about proper etiquette. Who cares, really, if you lift your pinky …
Christ-Centered Education: A Primer for Home, School and Church by Steven W. Larson, stevewlarson@gmail.com ** TABLE OF CONTENTS (1.) The Pedagogy of Love (2.) Summing Up: The Big Picture of a Christ-Centered School (3.) The Teaching Methods of Jesus: Introduction (4.) The Teaching Methods of Jesus: Imagination (5.) The Teaching Methods of Jesus: Conscience (6.) The Teaching Methods of …
(47.) The Cookie Tree. “If you listen carefully you can hear the truth from the unlikeliest sources, especially from the unlikeliest sources, from an enemy, from a stranger, from children, from nuts, from overheard conversations, from stupid preachers… Are not great discoveries also made at the unlikeliest moments?” (Walker Percy, The Second Coming, p.181) One of my family’s favorite …
The Teaching Methods of Jesus. Jesus was a businessman, and His business was discipleship. He was a true entrepreneur in His teaching ministry employing a wide variety of teaching methods as He went from person to person, crowd to crowd, village to village. He chose to labor long and hard in the role of teacher, …
(6.) Teaching Methods of Jesus: Intellect. Sharpen the Intellect. Jesus was a rigorous thinker, He was a spiritual intellectual. He was able to outthink the scholars and professional theologians of the day. And He earnestly sought to renew the minds of His followers, of everyone who listened to Him. In Jewish homes, the parents were the …
(5.) Teaching Methods of Jesus – Conscience. Nurture the Conscience. Down through history, well-trained intellects who haven’t developed a virtuous character have proven to be a danger to society and useless to the Kingdom. Smart but immoral, intelligent but morally clueless. Raw intelligence without a conscience courts disaster. A well-educated person includes the development of integrity, …
(4.) Teaching Methods of Jesus: Imagination. Capture the Imagination. Very little learning will occur without forming mental images of something that isn’t present, and so the self-motivating inspiration of an energized intellect is crucial. The imagination is the intellect at play. It is reason listening to a story, or logic painting a picture. The imagination is …
(3.) Teaching Methods of Jesus: Introduction. Jesus Christ designed the human mind, the mysterious seat of consciousness of each person, and the pinnacle of creation. The brain’s unlimited complexity means there is no “brain expert.” The more we know about the brain, the more we discover we don’t know. We do know it is a …