Growing Classically

The completion, test, and confirmation of teaching must be made by reviews. In the final episode of our Seven Laws of Teaching series, Ryan Gilmore is joined by Oak Grove teacher Michelle Stevens to explore John Milton Gregory’s Law of Review and Application. Together, they discuss why learning is not complete until students actively use, articulate, and revisit what they have been taught. This co...

Learners must actively reproduce in their own minds the truth they are acquiring. In this seventh episode of our Seven Laws of Teaching series, Ryan Gilmore is joined by Logic School Humane Letters Chair Cara Pilgreen to explore John Milton Gregory’s Law of the Learning Process . Together, they examine how true learning moves beyond memorization into understanding, expression, proof, and applicati...

Excite and direct the self-activities of the learner,  and tell him nothing that he can learn himself In this sixth episode of our series on John Milton Gregory’s Seven Laws of Teaching, Ryan Gilmore is joined by science department chair Caleb Garrett to explore the Law of the Teaching Process. Together they examine the difference between delivering information and cultivating real thinking, empha...

In this fifth episode of our series on John Milton Gregory’s Seven Laws of Teaching , Ryan Gilmore is joined by longtime first grade teacher and lower grammar department chair Don Montgomery to explore the Law of the Lesson. Together they reflect on why effective teaching must begin with what students already know and intentionally guide them toward what they do not yet understand. The conversatio...

The language used in teaching must be common to the teacher and the learner. In this fourth episode of our series on John Milton Gregory’s Seven Laws of Teaching , Ryan Gilmore is joined by beloved grammar school teacher and department head Brooke Peyton to explore the Law of the Language. Together they reflect on why shared meaning, clear definitions, and patient communication are essential to re...

"The learner must attend with interest to the fact or truth to be learned." In this third episode of our series on John Milton Gregory’s Seven Laws of Teaching , Ryan Gilmore is joined by experienced grammar school teacher, Kay Nunn, to explore the Law of the Learner . Together they reflect on why attention and interest are essential to real learning and how teachers can spark curiosity rather tha...

"A teacher must be one who knows the lesson or truth to be taught."  In this episode, Ryan Gilmore is joined by Dr. Nathan Sherman to explore John Milton Gregory’s first law, the Law of the Teacher. Through stories from the classroom and years of teaching experience, they reflect on why true teaching is about formation, not just information transfer, and why preparation, humility, and curiosity ma...

In this opening episode of our eight-part series, we introduce John Milton Gregory and his Seven Laws of Teaching and explore why they continue to matter for Christian classical educators. Gregory reminds us that teaching works best when it aligns with the way students actually learn rather than personal preference, and that this kind of teaching leads to deep and lasting formation. We also consid...

What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. - New City Catechism Question #1 https://newcitycatechism.com/ https://www.oakgroveclassical.com/ https://www.instagram.com/oakgroveclassicalacademy/ https://www.facebook.com/OakGroveClassical/ https://circeinstitute.org/what-is-classical-education/ https://naumsinc.org/ 

"I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." - Psalm 119:11 https://www.oakgroveclassical.com/ https://www.instagram.com/oakgroveclassicalacademy/ https://www.facebook.com/OakGroveClassical/ https://circeinstitute.org/what-is-classical-education/ https://naumsinc.org/ 

After a short break on the production line, we're back with the second to last episode of the Season One! On this edition of the show, we invite Melissa Duerksen, our Head of Rhetoric School at Oak Grove Classical Academy, to join us to discuss some of the hallmarks of the rhetoric stage of learning. She helps us think about the rhetoric stage of learning, and how it differs from the grammar and l...

“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” - Credited to Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin Christian/Parenting: The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt The Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens by Paul David Tripp George Muller: Man of Faith and Miracles by Basil Miller Classical Education:  The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education by Leigh...

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“Spoon-feeding, in the long run, teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.” - English author, E.M. Foster https://www.oakgroveclassical.com/ https://www.instagram.com/oakgroveclassicalacademy/ https://www.facebook.com/OakGroveClassical/ https://circeinstitute.org/what-is-classical-education/ https://naumsinc.org/ 

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"The minute you get away from fundamentals--whether it's proper technique, work ethic, or mental preparation--the bottom can fall out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, whatever you're doing." - NBA legend, Michael Jordan. https://www.oakgroveclassical.com/ https://www.instagram.com/oakgroveclassicalacademy/ https://www.facebook.com/OakGroveClassical/ https://circeinstitute.org/what-is-class...

" We become what we behold ." While not a direct quote, we'll credit English poet William Blake ;) https://www.oakgroveclassical.com/ https://www.instagram.com/oakgroveclassicalacademy/ https://www.facebook.com/OakGroveClassical/ https://circeinstitute.org/what-is-classical-education/ https://naumsinc.org/ 

Character: the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing - Random House Unabridged Dictionary https://www.oakgroveclassical.com/ https://www.instagram.com/oakgroveclassicalacademy/ https://www.facebook.com/OakGroveClassical/ https://circeinstitute.org/what-is-classical-education/ https://naumsinc.org/ 

'Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.' - Unknown (but often falsely attributed to C.S. Lewis) https://www.oakgroveclassical.com/ https://www.instagram.com/oakgroveclassicalacademy/ https://www.facebook.com/OakGroveClassical/ https://circeinstitute.org/what-is-classical-education/ https://naumsinc.org/ 

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.” – C.S. Lewis from Is Theology Poetry? “Classical education is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul on truth, goodness and beauty so that, in Christ, a student is better able to know, glorify and enjoy God.” – Andrew Kern "The roots of education a...