Introducing Picta Dicta for Groups!
Starting at 6 licenses, you can now purchase Picta Dicta for your group! This is ideal for any situation where a teacher or administrator (vs a parent) would oversee a group or class using Picta Dicta. The administrator account can set up each student, track progress and grades for each student, and add new students. Explore Picta Dicta Natural World for Groups Explore Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder for Groups Sight Sound Context Stories Definitions “The world’s best system for learning Latin vocabulary”
The Mass Extinction Nobody Talks About
[dropcap]B[/dropcap]iologists have theorized that the earth has witnessed several mass extinction events—apocalyptic events in which as many as ninety percent of the earth’s animal species suddenly died off as a result of some abrupt change in climate. Some alarmists warn that another such mass extinction is going on even now. Whether there is any truth to this I cannot say, but I will take a page from their book with an alarmist claim of my own: we are in the middle of a mass extinction event of a sort—not of species, but of words and their meanings. This should be … Continue Reading “The Mass Extinction Nobody Talks About”
Women of the West: True Femininity in C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength
[dropcap]P[/dropcap]erhaps one of the most striking things about That Hideous Strength in comparison with the other two books of C. S. Lewis’s Ransom Trilogy is the large number of female characters. There are none in the first book (excepting poor Harry’s mother) and only the Green Lady in the second. But we have a long list of female characters who appear in the final installment. Jane Studdock, Mrs. Dimble, Camilla Denniston, Ivy Maggs, Grace Ironwood, Fairy Hardcastle-this list is just a few of the more prominent female characters we encounter. Why is this? Is there any significance to the sudden … Continue Reading “Women of the West: True Femininity in C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength”
The Old Western Culture Great Books List
Old Western Culture is a great books curriculum with a distinctly Christian “great books” reading list. It includes all the famous favorites you’ll recognize from series like the Britannica Great Books of the Western World, but also includes books that are often left out of modern editions for various reasons, most often because they are from the “Age of Faith.” We include more works from the early Church Fathers, Medieval period, and the Reformation. These are deeply influential and formative books on Western civilization, and worthy of inclusion in great books series. These books are part of our Christian and cultural inheritance, and … Continue Reading “The Old Western Culture Great Books List”
A Debt Owed to Love | Communication & Gift-Giving
[dropcap]C[/dropcap]ommunicating accurately and well is an act of love. We have to love both the object that is being communicated as well as the recipient of that object. Communicating means giving and not taking. We need to care about the person to whom we are writing or speaking—in every instance. We all have read certain writers who appear to write in order to see themselves on the page. They write as if they are constantly looking in a mirror. They are the obsessive selfie-takers. They are the ones who walk down the sidewalk with their headphones in so that they … Continue Reading “A Debt Owed to Love | Communication & Gift-Giving”
Fitting Words Rhetoric: Sample Lesson (Lesson 12)
Here is one full lesson from the Fitting Words Rhetoric curriculum so you can get a feel for how the course works. Each lesson of Fitting Words Rhetoric has two videos: Lesson and Application. In addition, there is an exam prep video for each of the nine exams throughout the course. We recommend students follow these steps while going through Fitting Words: Read the lesson in the textbook Watch the Lesson portion of the video course Work on the exercises in the Student Workbook. Watch the Application portion of the video course (workbook open). Where appropriate, put the application/workbook to … Continue Reading “Fitting Words Rhetoric: Sample Lesson (Lesson 12)”
Why do we Learn to Read Latin?
Latin is the ancient language originally used in the central region of Italy onced called Latium, where Rome is located. As Rome’s empire grew to include most of Europe and vast portions of Asia and Africa, the Romans’ native tongue, Latin, gradually became the official language of the peoples they had subjugated; and within a few centuries after Christ it had become the equal of Greek as a language of literature, philosophy, and theology. When the Roman empire finally disintegrated as a political entity, Latin lived on: the history, literature, and science of the ancient Romans had unprecedented influence on … Continue Reading “Why do we Learn to Read Latin?”
THE NEWBURGH CONSPIRACY OF 1783
“I have ever considered that the United States are indebted for their republican form of government solely to the firm and determined republicanism of George Washington at this time.” – David Cobb, member of Washington’s staff [dropcap]O[/dropcap]n a chilly Wednesday morning in December, Colonel Thomas Pride and the Regiment of Foot took up position on the steps leading to the House of Commons, while Nathaniel Rich’s Regiment of Horse stood by if reinforcements were needed. As the members of Parliament arrived to perform their usual duties, they were astonished to find these military troops stationed on the steps. Colonel Pride … Continue Reading “THE NEWBURGH CONSPIRACY OF 1783”
DESTROYING the TEMPLE: C.S. Lewis on Distorted Love
But love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion. It is a state not of the emotions but of the will; that state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people. – C.S. Lewis [1] [dropcap]I[/dropcap]n just two short sentences, C.S. Lewis strikes a hard blow against the understanding of love that runs wild in our current popular culture. Words like “will” and “learn” are words that rarely, if ever, crop up in any discussions about love. They sound so contrary to the spontaneous eruption of emotion and infatuation that … Continue Reading “DESTROYING the TEMPLE: C.S. Lewis on Distorted Love”
Why the King stood for the Hallelujah chorus
When the music for this biblical passage began, King George, I believe, made a statement about royal authority and honor: The Christian King of England is not the Supreme Authority, but he is one under authority and must show honor and respect to his Supreme Lord, the King of Kings. Just as people rise to show honor and respect in the presence of their English Royals, King George could do no less, as one under Authority. Here’s my argument for why the King George stood that day and why we should still do so today. King George II stood up … Continue Reading “Why the King stood for the Hallelujah chorus”