Foundation Father
Ever since the Enlightenment, we have fetishized education. It has been touted as the solution to all problems, from poverty to crime to war. For education to be effective, however, it has to be received properly, and in order to be received properly, the student must be virtuous. The fool exists. Scoffers will scoff. The […]
In Xenophon’s Oeconomicus, Socrates is getting a farming lesson from Ischomachus, an estate manager held in high regard. Socrates says that if you don’t know what the soil is capable of growing, how do you know what to plant or sow? Ischomachus gives a straightforward answer. …you can tell by looking at the crops and […]
Judge Judy was on both TVs. For the second time in a week, the kids and I were subjected to the muted melodrama of courtroom television. We would never watch by choice. For some reason, however, this was the second restaurant to have it showing. My oldest, after finishing her food, decided she wanted to […]
There is no greater improv practice than playing with kids. They have abounding joy and imagination and they expect you to be swept up in their schemes. If you don’t want to slow down their pace and temper their mood, you have to roll with the punches and think fast. The good news is that […]
What does it mean to be a man? When does a boy know that he has become a man? These are important questions that our modern culture fails to answer. Even inside the church, answers are sparse. We have done a terrible job directing boys toward manhood. Is it any wonder that they wander? Is […]
Children memorize things. It’s what they are good at. Their brains are made for it. Lean into it. Helping them memorize stuff is the number one thing you can do for them when they are young (under 8). It’s still important until they reach an age where they can work to memorize things on their […]
Being a father helped improve my public speaking. You don’t get this upgrade automatically. It takes discipline and diligence just like anything else. But being a father is like being given a full scholarship to your chosen university. You aren’t going to get handed a diploma just for existing, but the path has been cleared. […]
It is your responsibility to educate your children. You may delegate some of the tasks of their education. You may hire tutors and teachers, send them to a private school. You may even send them to government schools (though I wouldn’t recommend it). But you may not abdicate your responsibility to educate them. When all […]
When I was a child, I had trouble paying attention. My knees would be bouncing constantly. I would shift in my seat to my knees, to one leg, to standing to whatever I felt like in that moment. (I still do this when “sitting” at a desk.) I also had (and still have) some symptoms […]
Children need to be taught by men. Not every subject and not all of the time, but they need real men involved in their education. I don’t mean men with a degree in education looking to join the teacher’s union, coast on a guaranteed salary, and have summers off. Those aren’t men. I mean men […]