A glimpse inside Hillsdale College's network of classical schools across the country.
One of the most essential elements in the early years of education is instruction regarding the English Language. The ability to read and write well is of great importance as the student advances through the grade levels. Reading makes a whole world of knowledge accessible to students as they transition from “learning to read” to “reading to lean” in the upper elementary grades.…
Why do we study the fine arts, and how should K-12 schools cultivate a love and understanding of great art among their students? How should we study sculpture, and what makes the great sculptors so excellent? How should we study Michelangelo’s David in particular?
I had a fascinating conversation with Prof. Anthony Frudakis, Associate Professor of Art at Hillsdale College on these topics and many others.…
At its core, Hillsdale College is a teaching institution, and the mission of the K-12 Education Office is to teach others about the core principles of excellent K-12 education, especially in the areas of governance, leadership, curriculum, pedagogy, and school culture. There are many ways we pursue this goal, one of which is the K-12 Program Guide.
The K-12 Program Guide, a comprehensive scope and sequence for all subjects and grades was developed and is updated every year through a collaboration among members of the K-12 Office, Hillsdale College faculty advisors, and master teachers across our network of K-12 schools.…
by Larry P. Arnn, President
Hillsdale College
Over the last several years, parents have taken more interest in what their children are learning at school. What they have found is troubling. Instead of classes of substance, they find lectures on highly-charged subjects like racism and sexuality—subjects that should be broached, not by teachers, but by the child’s own parents.
This is not necessarily the fault of the teachers.…
In the best classical schools, students are immersed in a curriculum that is both deep and wide. They study Latin, Ancient Rome, Shakespeare, astronomy, trigonometry, and all sorts of wonderful things.
But the books don’t teach themselves. It takes an educated and engaging teacher to bring them to life. That’s why teacher training–not just in the curriculum, but in the principles of classical pedagogy–is so important.…
by Larry P. Arnn, President
Hillsdale College
Today there is confusion about the role of the teacher. It stems from a larger confusion about the role of education in the life of the student. The unfortunate truth is that education is seen primarily as a kind of job training, reducing students to receptacles for information and teachers to its delivery system.…
Teachers should be free to use their natural and developed gifts to teach a robust curriculum in science, literature, mathematics, the arts, history, physical education and civics. This is the kind of schooling experience that students deserve, parents desire and society demands.
-Dr. Dan Coupland
by Larry P. Arnn, President
Hillsdale College
In our day, many think of education as filling empty heads with the trendy notions of the times. Indeed, elites tend now to think that is all that it has ever been. Instead, education has a timeless—and much more demanding—purpose. It properly develops the mind and improves the heart of students.
This means that, rightly speaking, education cultivates our ability to recognize what is true and encourages our desire for what is genuinely good.…