Class Two students saw some of the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, one of the artists they have been studying, during their recent trip to the Art Institute.

As part of their study of the Revolutionary War, students in Class Three each dressed as a soldier from the war.

Class Five students recently wrote, developed, and performed a play entitled "Cadmus and the Dragon's Teeth." Following the performance, students shared with their parents illustrations and entries from their Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology.

Explorers I students examine a map of the world.

Tedd and Margy Tripp's book, Instructing a Child's Heart, gives clear direction to parents seeking to raise godly children. Click here to order this book through the Clapham Amazon bookstore.

Educational Aesthetics and Restoring Our Humanity
by Susan Carrion

In 1944, a book critiquing the state of British education was published  entitled The Abolition of Man. The author was C.S. Lewis. His critique was initiated by a textbook, which he leaves unnamed, calling it The Green Book, written by two authors he also leaves unnamed, referring to them as Gaius and Titius. The authors of this book recount the famous visit to the Falls of the Clyde in Scotland taken by the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in the early 1800s. As Coleridge stood before the waterfall, he overheard the response of two tourists: one remarked that the waterfall was "sublime" while the other saidit was "pretty." Coleridge mentally endorsed the first judgment and rejected the second with disgust.

Stephen Richard Turley’s introduction to the role of Beauty in the classical trio of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful sets the stage for a contemplative look at modern culture’s delegation of this element of genuine education from the objective to the subjective. In so doing, Turley illuminates us to the fact that we have turned the Beautiful from “divine creation to impersonal nature.”  He then continues to discuss the vital importance of repositioning this third part of the learning formula to its proper place, as “Beauty provides us with the allure, the momentum toward the True and the Good.”  Continued reading on his position may be found by accessing his article on page three of the Association of Classical and Christian Schools’ journal, Classis.

Stephen Richard Turley is a faculty member at Tall Oaks Classical School in Newark, Delaware.

Upcoming Events

Friday, March 5: Second Trimester ends; Progress Reports home
Tuesday, March 9, 8:35 a.m.: Moms in Touch at the home of Mindy Rynbrandt
Tuesday, March 9, 7:00-8:30 p.m.: Prospective Parents' Informational Meeting in Room 201; please contact Carolyn with questions.
Wednesday, March 10: Parent-Teacher Conferences for Explorers II - Class 7
Thursday, March 11: Classes 1 and 4 Field Trip to Kline Creek Farm
Thursday, March 11: Parent-Teacher Conferences for Explorers II - Class 7
Monday, March 15: First tuition installments of $500 due for students enrolled for 2010-11.
Tuesday, March 16, 8:35 a.m.: Moms in Touch at the home of Mindy Rynbrandt
Tuesday, March 16th: Assessments for new student applicants; please contact Carolyn with questions or to reserve a time.
Friday, March 19, 12:00 p.m.: Family Lunch in Welsh Hall
Friday, March 29 - April 2nd: Spring Recess
Monday, April 5th: Easter Monday, NO CLASSES

Ideas...Reading...Exhibits
by Julie Reynolds

Tuesday night was the inaugural session of Clapham Conversations.  Maryellen St. Cyr shared from the book When Children Love to Learn, which outlines the pedagogical approach we use here at Clapham, employing the philosophy of Charlotte Mason.

One aspect of this approach is “education as a discipline,” that is, that we can more effectively learn as we grow in habits of discipline toward God, toward others and in ourselves.  We talk quite a bit about habits at Clapham: the habit of attention toward our materials, the habit of respect toward our teachers and other students, the habit of reverence as we approach the Lord.

But how are these habits formed?  We all know that consistent behavior flows from the Holy Spirit’s work in the attitudes and thoughts of our hearts.  Do you know that our teachers are praying for the hearts of your children as they correct behavior in their school lives?  Do you realize that they themselves are depending on the Holy Spirit as they seek words from God’s Word to speak into the hearts of your children?

On that note, I’ve recently been reading Instructing a Child’s Heart, by Tedd and Margy Tripp.  It’s certainly a gift to be able to send our children to a school where we can trust that godly heart attitudes are a priority.  But the command to teach our children biblically is given to us as parents first. We read in Deuteronomy 6:6-7:  “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

Do we realize the extent of this command?  If godly behavior stems from the desires of our hearts, we must feed our children with God’s Word at every opportunity, and pray hard that the Holy Spirit will wield His sword in their hearts and minds.

Here is an encouraging excerpt from this book:

“We have the hope of the heart- and life- changing power of the gospel.  The gospel is your only hope for true change of heart in your children.   All of your instruction and consequences must be energized by this truth.  God has ordained that, 'The unfolding of your words gives light.' (Ps. 119:130)  Your parenting task is to bring truth. God changes hearts.  Behavior follows the heart. Even when you must constrain behavior, you must have a bigger objective in view – to bring God’s truth to your children.  Since God’s word addresses the child’s heart, you must also be focused on the heart.”[1]

I’d recommend this book to your consideration.

And, on the idea of God’s Word being constantly on our minds and as “frontlets between your eyes,” did you know that the Hebrew men took the words of Deuteronomy literally?

If you’ve seen the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, you’ve actually seen the phylacteries, tiny pouches worn by Jewish men on their heads containing the words from Deuteronomy 6.  Our family had the chance to see this exhibit before Thanksgiving at the Royal Ontario Museum.   Amidst all the information attempting to normalize this discovery as simply an event in the history of Christianity, the very words of the Gospel written by Isaiah silently shouted:  “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit....”

This exhibit is currently at the Milwaukee Public Museum.  It’s worth the drive!

[1] Tripp, Tedd and Margy.  Instructing a Child’s Heart.  Wapwallopen, Pennsylvania:  Shepherd Press, 2008.

At the Shedd Aquarium
by Kim Bremner, Clapham parent

Genesis 1:21  "So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems…"

On February 11th, Classes One and Two were treated to a wonderful display of God’s sea creatures at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.  We began our day at the Fantasea marine mammal presentation.  We saw a beautiful and artistic display of the awesome natural talents and learned behaviors of the animals.  We then went “underwater” to catch another view of many of the children’s favorite… the beluga whales.

Then, it was on to the Wild Reef exhibit.  We were greeted by a crash of waves and then got a diver’s eye view of a diverse marine metropolis.  The children saw a variety of sharks and were most impressed by a saw head shark.   We observed an underwater garden of coral and even some garden eels.  The warm humid climate of the reef was such a sharp and welcome contrast to the cold and snow just outside.

We finished our day exploring the eighty river habitats of the waters of the world.  The Shedd has an amazing collection from each corner of the globe.   The green sea turtles in the Carribean Reef exhibit were an end-of-the-day treat.

At the Art Institute
by Laura Mueller, Clapham parent

Last week Class Two spent the day at The Art Institute of Chicago.  Having recently studied Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), the students  encountered nine of his original paintings.  After considering each of the paintings, their teacher, Mrs. Bernthal, had the students choose one painting to sketch themselves.  Jake, Adam, and Xander sketched The Poet's Garden;  Caroline and Grace sketched A Peasant Woman; Riellie sketched The Bedroom.  The class also enjoyed the Miniatures, a  Coat of Arms, and a painting of St. George and the Dragon.

On a personal level, I found myself intrigued by the work produced by such a troubled soul. Throughout his life, Vincent Van Gogh suffered from anxiety and frequent bouts of mental illness.  Van Gogh's short but creative career ended when he took his own life at the age of 37.  I was challenged to rejoice in the truth that the man who "...trusts in the Lord...does not cease to bear fruit."  Jeremiah 17:7, 8

Administrative Notes
by Susan Carrion

Parent-Teacher Conferences
If you have not yet called the school office (630-547-5125) to make an appointment for your Parent-Teacher conference next week on March 10 or 11, please do so.  Note that the Explorers I class does not have conferences in the second trimester.

Family Lunch
Please note that the Family Lunch previously scheduled for March 5 has been rescheduled for Friday, March 19 at 12:00 noon in Welsh Hall.

Hymn of the Month
by Susan Carrion

Walter C. Smith, a pastor in Scotland for forty-four years, was inspired in 1876 by the message of I Timothy 1:17 to write the words for Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise:  “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.”  Although he wrote many hymns, this one only remains.  The Welsh melody, St. Denio, was added in 1839 by John Roberts, a native of Wales who spent his life as teacher, editor, minister, journalist, lecturer, poet, composer and conductor.

Bible Reading
Below is our Bible reading schedule for the next two weeks: