Who doesn’t like a good success story? Classical Christian Education is on the rise and the impact is far reaching across the USA and around the world. The growth of start-up schools, 5 day a week brick and mortar schools, hybrid/collaborative and homeschools, not to mention schools in almost every setting from rural countryside to inner city. My guest today is part of a team serving under-resourced youth in our nation’s cities. The Spreading Hope Network has been an inspiring force in helping to launch numerous urban schools. In this episode of BCL, you will be inspired by their vision and accomplishments in reaching the next generation no matter where you live.

Classical Christian education is growing around the world and the influx of new students comes with a range of distinct learning styles and even learning abilities. Dyslexia, it turns out, impacts more than 20% of students and more than 30 million adults. Yet this different way of processing words and sounds impacts students’ experiences throughout our schools, especially in the liberal arts. There are ways to work through these challenges. Sometimes those who are dyslexic are actually better thinkers and contributors to classrooms and society with notable examples like Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci and over half of NASA’s employees. So how do we help welcome these students and add to the richness of our classical Christian Schools? Leslie Collins is back to help us sort through these questions on this episode of BCL.

In the world of classical Chrisitian education, if there is one enemy that has the ability to undermine our work in shaping habits and affections, it is the one-eyed cyclop – the digital screen. We live in a tech world and are blessed in many ways because of it, but the all-pervasive screen voices flood into the eyes and minds of so many of our students, and us, for hours a day. Short of all heading off to Amish country, what can we do to be in the digital world, but not of it? My guest today begins with a thoughtful exploration of God’s command for us as humans to have dominion over the earth, which includes technology. How do we make informed choices based on our faith and theology in a way that practically impacts our lives as adults and for the sake of our children?

What is a healthy school? There are many ways to answer this question because schools are complex organizations. Healthy schools have the right curriculum and well-trained teachers but also have to be guided by capable leaders and boards. If you were to have in front of you, a dashboard monitoring all the key indicators of a healthy school and what should be attended to, what gauges would you want to have? We will talk about these key indicators in this conversation with Walter Kearns who helps schools answer these important questions of what it means to be healthy. Whether you are a parent wanting to know the right questions to ask when choosing a school or a school leader wanting to be sure you have all your bases covered, this episode is for you.

Classical Christian educators aren’t just interested in the old stuff for nostalgia sake or to hide from the crazy modern world (although it may be tempting at times), we hold on the great writers and thinkers going all the way back to the greeks and romans because generations because they have stood the test of time as they point to what is true, lasting, permanent. Not to mention great thinkers like Plutarch back in the first century wrote biographies retelling the great stories of Roman and Greece that became deeply embedded in the minds of so many great leaders from Beethoven to Harry Truman. We live in a world of the temporary, the disposable and the flippant and so many are desperate for depth. Join us for this episode where we are reminded again of why we believe the ancients have so much to offer to us frazzled moderns.