Classical Et Cetera

Have you ever sat down to read and found you couldn’t focus for more than a few minutes? In this mailbag Classical Et Cetera we answer that question and more. We discuss why Rod & Staff math moves slowly on purpose, whether you can mix and match curriculum (and where that goes wrong), Charlotte Mason narration versus comprehension questions, and how adults can rebuild the habit of reading in a world full of distractions. We also talk Henty and Ballantyne, spelling videos, pencils versus pens, and balancing Scripture with everything else on your shelf.

Read the The Memory of Old Jack with us: https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/mcp/the-memory-of-old-jack/243

*What We're Reading* from This Episode: 

"The Dying Light" Anne Cleeves (Tanya)

"A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys" Nathaniel Hawthorne (Tanya)

"The Magician's Nephew" C.S. Lewis (Paul)

"The Memory of Old Jack" Wendell Berry (Paul & Jessica)

"The Island of Missing Trees" Elif Shafak (Jessica)

"The Boys" Ron & Clint Howard (Maritn)

"Louis LA'mour short stories" Louis LA'mour (Martin)

This episode of Margin Notes takes on Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It is the strange, bitter confession of a man who lives entirely in his own head, convinced he is smarter than everyone and unable to stop ruining his own life. We talk through why the narrator feels so modern, how reason fails him, and what Dostoevsky understood about desire, pride, and the human soul.

A bilingual mother in Canada wants to pass her French heritage on to her two-year-old, but worries there isn’t time for both Latin and a modern language. In this Classical Et Cetera we discuss why it isn’t an either or choice, how studying Latin first gives you the grammatical foundation that makes French and the other Romance languages far easier, and how one of us went from no French to living his whole day in it in a single semester, thanks to Latin.

*What We're Reading* from This Episode: 

"Bleak House" Charles Dickens (Martin)

"The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages" Henry Carey Baird (Martin)

"Philosophies of Education" G. Max Wingo (Martin)

Ronald Knox Murder Mystery (Tanya)

"The Magician's Nephew" C.S. Lewis (Paul)

Some books stay with you long after the last page. In this episode of Margin Notes, the team talks through Harper Lee's _To Kill a Mockingbird_ - Is it a story about human dignity, about compassion, about what separates class from character? We follow Scout through Maycomb, weigh the mystery of Boo Radley, and wrestle with a verdict everyone senses is wrong and what it has to do with a mockingbird.

What makes a picture book worth keeping, and how do you spot the difference between a great one and a forgettable one? In this _Classical Et Cetera_ we discuss the picture books that have earned a permanent place on the shelf, from _Ferdinand_ to _Blueberries for Sal_. We talk about what separates a book with “the magic” from one that isn’t worth your time, why these stories still reach grown readers, and how good picture books gently open the door to a lifetime of reading.

See our Read-Aloud Collection here: https://www.memoriapress.com/read-aloud-programs/241

*What We're Reading* from This Episode: 

"The Trumpet of the Swan" E. B. White (Paul)

"The Magician's Nephew" C.S. Lewis (Paul)

Robin Hobb Series (Ian)

Margin Notes is back, and this episode the group tackles Flannery O'Connor's short story "Good Country People." A PhD-wielding atheist, a pious-but-hollow Southern mother, and a "Bible salesman" walk into a barn. What follows is a very strange short story with a lot more going on beneath the surface than it first appears.

Is classical education "light" on STEM? A listener asked, so we answered! The short answer is "no." Classical schools run math and science straight through calculus and physics. The deeper answer: if school is just job training, you're preparing kids for an economy that won't exist when they graduate. We're after something higher. We discuss what an education is really for, why the most durable skills come from Latin and math, and why the best preparation for STEM isn't STEM.

*What We're Reading* from This Episode: 

"The Feast" Margaret Kennedy (Tanya)

"The Merchant of Venice" William Shakespeare (Mandy)

Margin Notes is back, and this episode the group tackles Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Our conversation covers the duality of man, the addictive nature of sin, and the question at the heart of the story—if Hyde is pure evil, how does he end up destroying himself?

Classical Et Cetera continues our best-books-by-century series, this time spanning 1500 to 1799 — from Gutenberg's press to the eve of the Romantics. Returning guest Kyle Janke joins Jessica, Paul, and Tanya to build a reading list from Don Quixote, Shakespeare, Paradise Lost, and more. Along the way: is Dracula secretly a Christian classic, why this era gave us more thinkers than storytellers, and how to read difficult old books without giving up. 

Don Quixote – Cervantes

*Best Books by Era*

Greece: https://youtu.be/dijEqf0kcAM?si=9kVIpElDUhPlexqW

Rome: https://youtu.be/gMcuWkz6XQ4?si=HzXnHEfm6wQBlzhz

Middle Ages: https://youtu.be/rDB05FAPP0U?si=YuKH062Kr6uBrRak

Can your child sound out a word, or just guess from the picture? On this episode of _Classical Et Cetera_ , Jessica, Martin, and Paul are joined by returning guest Michelle Tefertiller to talk about teaching a child to read! We cover how to know if your child is reading-ready, what mastery actually looks like, where to start, and why a step-by-step phonics approach works when guessing doesn't. Whether you're just beginning to teach reading or wondering if you're on the right track, this one's for you.

Learn more about our program here: Phonics & Spelling | Memoria Press: Classical Education

What We're Reading from This Episode: 

"Wisdom and Innocence" Joseph Pearce (Martin)

"The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales" The Brothers' Grimm (Paul)

"Between Shades of Gray" Ruta Sepetys (Jessica)

"The Iliad" Homer (Michelle)