Articles by author: Brian Tonnell

The Good Old Days: What Were You Doing in Eighth Grade?

by Brian
Friday, 08 May, 2015
categories: Articles, Classical Christian Education, Dialectic Stage (ages 12 to 14), Grammar Stage (ages 4 to 11), Rhetoric Stage (ages 14 to 18)

Ahh, eighth grade. I remember it well. The year was 19-something, and I was attending a private school in Montgomery, Alabama. I made my first 2-point goal in the second half of an actual basketball game (unfortunately, no one told me we swapped ends after halftime)....

Percolating Awe

by Brian
Tuesday, 07 April, 2015
categories: Articles, Big Ideas: Truth, Beauty, Goodness and more!, Dialectic Stage (ages 12 to 14), Grammar Stage (ages 4 to 11), Homeschooling Life, Rhetoric Stage (ages 14 to 18)

Last week in my Challenge B class, I was fervently attempting to cover our introductory material for chemistry. There was plenty to discuss and the concepts were new to the students. Hence, I knew there would be some deer-in-the-headlights reactions to some of the...

The Faster You Go, the Faster You Go Faster: What Acceleration Can Teach Us about Classical Learning

by Brian
Monday, 16 February, 2015
categories: Articles, Classical Christian Education, Dialectic Stage (ages 12 to 14), Grammar Stage (ages 4 to 11), Rhetoric Stage (ages 14 to 18)

Back in the “glory days,” when I was flying fast, pointy jets, there was a maxim among pilots that was frequently articulated: “The faster you go, the faster you go faster.” This unusual axiom referred to the fact that getting from 100 knots to 200 knots took much...

You Might Be a "Drop Out" Parent If....

by Brian
Tuesday, 20 January, 2015
categories: Articles, Classical Christian Education, Dialectic Stage (ages 12 to 14), Grammar Stage (ages 4 to 11), Rhetoric Stage (ages 14 to 18)

Classical Conversations stresses parent involvement. In fact, parents are supposed to be the primary teachers. And for the most part, parents are the primary teachers. Taking on that role is never easy, but it is probably easier to do when the children are young. It...

Is Christmas Reasonable?

by Brian
Tuesday, 23 December, 2014
categories: Articles, Big Ideas: Truth, Beauty, Goodness and more!, Homeschooling Life

God or no God? It all basically boils down to this question. Many worldviews exist and many philosophies pervade our culture, but they can all be reduced to this single question. Aristotle, the “Father of Logic,” a product of a pantheistic culture and a skeptic of...

To know God and to make Him known.