From the French Revolution to the Soviet Union to modern paganism, movements that demand the equivalent of religious devotion from their followers seek to redefine time and change the calendar to center around that movement. While the worship of the goddess Reason, adoration of Lenin and Stalin, and various pagan spirits have obvious religious connections,ContinueContinue reading “The Case for the Traditional Church Calendar in Classical Christian Education”
Author Archives: scriptoriumhalltutor
Four Reasons to Read the Bible While Studying History and Literature
Academically, even pre-Christian pagan works point toward truths revealed in the Bible, and works written after Christ have largely been shaped by Christianity (see J. Warner Wallace, Person of Interest). The Bible explains the source of all the great ideas that have been debated throughout history and in all our literature, from courage, beauty, goodness, suffering, truth,ContinueContinue reading “Four Reasons to Read the Bible While Studying History and Literature”
More than 20 Reasons to Study the 20th Century (and the Modern Era)
Even small lights shine bright in great darkness.
“Don’t Bother Learning to Write?”: Teaching Writing in the Age of Artificial Intelligence – Workshop Handout
This is the handout from the workshop I taught at the CSTHEA Home Education Expo a few weeks ago: 2023-expo-workshop-handout-completeDownload
“Was I the one who actually wrote this article?”: How AI Writing Programs Kill Writing Skill, Thought, Integrity, and Humanity
With their seemingly-superhuman powers, AI writing programs destroy students’ ability to write and think well on their own; and because AI writing programs do that, they also tempt students to be dishonest, and they attack the image of God embedded in students’ souls.
Oh Who’s Afraid of the Elbow Grease? The Case for Hard Work and the Case for Refreshment
If it is true that, in the immortal words of Wesley the Farm-Boy-turned-Dread-Pirate-Roberts, “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something,” there must be an awful lot of “selling” going on in today’s culture.
Charge to the Graduates – Class of 2022
Go slay dragons.
Eleven-and-a-half Scriptorium distinctives so unusual you really might not find them at many other educational institutions
The title says it all…
Writing Workshop Handout
Writing is about thinking well – and that helps build virtue.
Mythology and Fantasy Workshop Handout
Mythology and fantasy are much more about truth than we often like to think.
Announcing a Credit-Granting Partnership!
Scriptorium Hallis pleased to announcea credit-granting partnership withBryan College! Please see the file below for further information: Bryan College – Scriptorium Hall Credit-Granting Partnership Information Download
Why Read Myths? An Apologia
Few people today believe that past history and culture are important. This article is for people who do think the past is important and who are trying to provide their students with a truly good education, but who are concerned that reading classical pagan myths is at best a waste of time or at worstContinueContinue reading “Why Read Myths? An Apologia”
The Nutcracker and The King of Kings
We seek things that are “true…lovely…worthy of praise” wherever they are because they reflect our true, lovely, and praiseworthy Lord who calls us to “think about these things”.
By the Students: What Everyone Should Know about Ancient, Medieval, and U.S. History and Literature (First Semester)
Every modern American should understand the Stargazer analogy from Plato’s Republic because it shows that things that may look useless and like a waste of time can be important.
“I Will Tell You Truths While I Can”: Jane Austen for the Unromantic
Austen’s three novels demonstrate the importance of upholding truth, even when family, friends, and whole towns are deceived or deceiving.
By the Students: What Everyone Should Know about Ancient Greece
The students’ list of key principles gleaned from their study of Homer, Herodotus, and Thucydides shows most clearly that, although we enjoy advantages the Greeks never imagined, we still have much in common with the ancient Greeks, and there is much we can learn from them.
Leonidas, Lenin, and Larry walk into a pub…
I am a Spartan. I am a free man. The Persians wanted to destroy Sparta and to take away freedom from all of the Greeks. They wanted to destroy what we are. They wanted to take away a large part of our very existence. To take Sparta from Leonidas and to take freedom from Leonidas leaves you with someone who is not fully Leonidas. To be fully myself, I must be a Spartan and a free man—not a Persian slave.
The College Quest
Your college dorm or classroom is the really expensive place to realize that you are unprepared.
Why Beautify?
We should incorporate beauty because it teaches us about its creator.
Lessons from the Dancing Horses
The Spanish Riding School exists because, for thousands of years, people have recognized the exquisite beauty of horse and rider in motion. The tradition continues because those who practice it love it, and their love leads them to train the next generation.
Optional Summer Reading
Below are optional recommended readings for each of the 2019-2020 courses:
Five Frequently Asked Questions
The robust humanities education provided by Scriptorium prepares well-rounded students who will be able to enrich their own lives—regardless of discipline—because of their familiarity with great ideas, great literature, and great art.
75th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion – Resources
Resources that demonstrate the significance of that day:
Scriptorium Student Publishes Book
Sweaty rodents slog through a “rat race” and cunning cobras uncoil themselves “out of the box”…
Classical Education and Christian Worldview
Both classical education and a Christian worldview are based on the search for truth.
Homeschool Expo Workshop Handout
Free handout!
Is Eloquence the Goal?
God does not need us to be articulate before He can use us to change someone’s heart.
“This Story Shall the Good Man Teach His Son”: How Most Modern Education Fails Students and How I Respond
Limiting students’ encounter with World War I, or with any instance of suffering, to Owen’s poem and its philosophy that our view of suffering should be determined by its visible effects, gives students a false and soul-embittering view of human life.
What is classical education?
While most modern education focuses on quick solutions, practical or financially beneficial outcomes, moral relativity, and a denial of the existence and importance of the metaphysical, classical education does the opposite because it represents a wholly different view of the purpose, content, and method of good education.
Missing in Action: Why Classical Educators Must Teach Military History
We as classical educators must teach military history to see in sharper relief the causes for which we should act and the causes for which we should be prepared to die.
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