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Our dog’s Object of Worship is an orange, rubbery, sphere: a ball.  

I hesitate even to type the word, because Nessie, the Wonder Dog, has an uncanny ability to sense the word “ball.” She is looking at me now as I write, having written it, and so I suspect while you are reading that as you formed that word in your minds, she may have whimpered in her daydreams.  

Why go through all of that? Why not just focus on what is important? Academics are the thing that will lead to becoming a doctor, a lawyer, a philosopher, or a fill-in-the-blank. So why?

One of the many benefits of being in a Christian academic community is the liberty to discover and discuss treasures hidden in the living word of God. This can simultaneously be a prickling experience as an educator. This semester in my Early Childhood Homeroom, we have been focusing on Bible Truths. And when we came to the account of Jonah this spring, I found myself in the midst of a personal reckoning.  

More than the immersive crash course in French culture, baked goods (of which I did intensive research!), and the European rail system, it was a lesson in patience. As Saint Teresa of Avila wrote, patience obtains all things.

These questions, and questions like them, are the reason that a study of History continues to be an essential enterprise for all ages. It is so, so easy to hear the name “Adolph Hitler” and say – as many of my students did at the name’s first reference – that he was evil, and that “I would never have listened to him.”

Yes, Hitler was evil; he did evil things. That fact is set in stone, unchangeable through time.

But if my students were German children in the 1930’s, if they didn’t know how all of it would end, would they have listened to him? I might have, at least at first.

Why should you buy your child a sword and let them spend hours swinging it at imaginary dragons?

TSCS Super Sub (and occasional Weapons Demo Expert) Ian Reyolds has some ideas.

During the week of spring equinox, my PreK class propagated a pothos plant. They each took turns cutting a leaf from the mother plant, and they placed it in a cup with some water. Since then, the students have been deeply invested in the growth of their baby pothos’ roots. The first week brought some deep concern from my little plant parents. A handful of cuttings had small roots that appeared quickly. Their respective parents were immensely proud. However, many were slow to show signs of growth, and the students to which those belonged were saddened and worried. “Why doesn’t mine have roots yet? What’s wrong with my plant baby?”  

Through the many tours, phone inquiries, open houses, and countless email communications, I commonly share information about our curriculum, our commitment to faith, and our history. Families want to know, rightly so, what does “a day in the life of TSCS” look like?

Recently, I received a phone call that made me take pause.

Nous, a term from ancient Greek, simply means “mind.” When Saint Paul says we have the mind of Christ, that’s the word nous. He doesn’t mean in terms of deductive reasoning. In fact, the Orthodox Church believes you cannot come to know God by operation of the human mind, but by the nous. The nous is distinct from and beyond the rational mind.