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Archives for Blog

Blog

Christmas Gift Guide 2022: Staff Picks for Kids

December 16, 2022 by Sydney Ackerman

Welcome to Cedar Classical Academy’s Christmas Gift Guide! Our staff has compiled gift recommendations for the children in your life. Keep scrolling for our practical, tried-and-true, and sometimes unconventional picks for this Christmas season! This post is not sponsored. For even more gift ideas, check out our 2020 guide and our 2020 read-aloud and book […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Building a Strong Family Culture, Christmas, Christmas Gift Guide, Culture, Good Books, Read-Alouds

Classical Education 101: Crash Course

October 24, 2022 by Caroline Hummel

We always say that classical education is better experienced than explained… but we also want you to be able to explain it! Classical Education 101, a new 4-week course that we are offering for parents, is an opportunity to learn alongside other parents how to craft and practice your own explanation of classical education – […]

Filed Under: Blog

Kodály Who?

October 13, 2022 by Christin Peng

If you are a Cedar parent, you may have heard your student sing about a horse that caught a whooping cough, rain that will not go away, Queen Caroline, or John Kanaka. Learning these folk songs is part of the Kodály (pronounced code-EYE) approach that is focused on singing-centered music literacy. Folk songs (our musical mother […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Cultural Literacy, Culture, Curriculum, Extracurriculars, K-12 education, Music, The Liberal Arts

Why We Have High Expectations in Kindergarten

October 3, 2022 by Sydney Ackerman

This is adapted from a talk that Mrs. Ackerman gave at a parent education event called Lightning Talks on September 28, 2022. Watch it here. On the front end I want to warn you that this talk may make kindergarten sound like a battlefield, but in this short time I don’t have time to go […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Character, Character Education, Culture, Discipline, Failure, Faith, Grammar School, Grit, Growth Mindset, Habit, K-12 education, Kindergarten, Parental Partnership, Rigor

In Defense of Mastery: Our Approach to Assessment Pt. 2

September 15, 2022 by Amber Knapp

In our last installment in this series, we discussed the universality of assessment, the history of grading, and who grades are for, concluding that systems of assessment which serve institutional aims do not best achieve our aims for the student. Our aims for your students are self-government, self-control, virtue, mastery of the material, love of […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Assessment, Grades, Grading, Grammar School, Logic School, Rhetoric School, Standards Based Grading

The Adventure of Reading Alone

February 25, 2022 by Maria Berggren

Congratulations! Your child can read. He has mastered the first stage of reading: decoding and recoding. Now that he can sound words out, he has even started reading chapter books on his own. Supporting your child in this next big step is a little bit like un-babyproofing the house. Once the baby gate is stowed […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Building a Strong Family Culture, Character Education, Cultural Literacy, Culture, Family, Grammar School, Habit, Literature, Moral Imagination, Reading, Reading Instruction

Cedar Hallways

January 25, 2022 by Sydney Ackerman

You come into Cedar Classical Academy for the first time and many unique practices fill your first impressions. You notice our uniforms, the orderliness of the students’ boot mat, the friendly greetings of students when you enter a classroom. You say, “Wow! A school in a church!” (To see how the Lord orchestrates this weekly, […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Character Education, Culture, Grammar School, Habit, K-12 education, Logic School, Moral Imagination, Observation visits, Parental Partnership, Rhetoric School, Stewardship, Virtue

In Defense of Mastery: Our Approach to Assessment

October 28, 2021 by Amber Knapp

One of the primary goals outlined in our mission statement is to “offer a rigorous course of study in the Western liberal arts tradition, teaching students to discover goodness, truth, and beauty in every discipline as a reflection of God.” A great deal of preparation goes into the fulfillment of this statement. The governing board supports the school by upholding the […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Assessment, Character Education, Culture, Curriculum, Family, Grades, Grading, Grammar School, K-12 education, Lifelong Learning, Logic School, Mission Statement, Parental Partnership, Rhetoric School, Virtue

Harvesting Where We Did Not Plant: The Story of a Brick-and-Mortar School

October 12, 2021 by Caroline Hummel

In the summer of 2017 on a sweltering weekday morning, I parked just south of the Capitol and walked to the Michigan Department of Education, holding the hands of my two toddlers, in order to get a letter of approval declaring us a school. I had tried and failed to register our school with the […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Culture, Faith, Grit, K-12 education, Mission Statement, Rigor, Stewardship

The Value of Reading Together

August 23, 2021 by Caroline Hummel

If you have a student in Cedar in Kindergarten, 1st Grade, or 2nd Grade, then you are familiar with this instruction on their take-home sheets: “Read at home with your student.” But what exactly does that mean? What should reading at home with your student look like? The Secret Sauce Let’s start with an encouraging […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Cultural Literacy, Curriculum, Family, Grammar School, K-12 education, Lifelong Learning, Parental Partnership, Reading, Reading Instruction, Special Education, The Great Books, The Liberal Arts

The Magic of Reading Aloud

August 6, 2021 by Caroline Hummel

Think of the turning points in great stories that have shaped you. What are the moments you remember? These moments still feel as vividly real to me as my own childhood memories: Bilbo in the tunnel just before he meets Smaug, Aslan coming back to life, Mole apologizing to Rat after upsetting the boat, Puddleglum […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Audiobooks, Building a Strong Family Culture, Character Education, Cultural Literacy, Culture, Curriculum, Family, Habit, Lifelong Learning, Movies, Parental Partnership, Reading, Reading Instruction

Five Tips to Enjoy Nature with Your Family

July 28, 2021 by Emma Setterington

Baby Snapping Turtle

Building family culture is simply about doing things together. Shared experiences, shared interests, and repeated activities (traditions) are what stick in kids’ memories and make your family a fun place to belong. Exploring nature is together is a relatively easy, free activity that is accessible to all. Even if the outdoors isn’t your thing, the […]

Filed Under: Blog, Building a Strong Family Culture Tagged With: Building a Strong Family Culture, Culture, Extracurriculars, Family, Lifelong Learning, Nature Study, Parental Partnership, Parenting, Science, Wonder

Three Ways to Reinforce Classical Education at Home

July 19, 2021 by Amelia Stieren

If what your children do at school matters, then how they live at home ought to matter even more. At Cedar, we want our students to celebrate the continuity in the Lord’s sovereignty and grace in all things, whether that be during a lesson on fractions or while taking out the trash at home. We […]

Filed Under: Blog, Building a Strong Family Culture Tagged With: Building a Strong Family Culture, Chores, Culture, Extracurriculars, Family, Lifelong Learning, Parental Partnership, Parenting, Self-Government, Wonder

Family Worship

June 21, 2021 by Jason Helopoulos

A Neglected Grace

Jason Helopoulos is a Cedar dad since 2019 and pastor of University Reformed Church. He is author of A Neglected Grace: Family Worship in the Christian Home which calls parents and church leaders to reclaim the practice of family worship. To encourage Cedar families to build strong family cultures in their own homes, we asked […]

Filed Under: Blog, Building a Strong Family Culture Tagged With: Building a Strong Family Culture, Character Education, Culture, Faith, Family, Habit, Lifelong Learning, Moral Imagination, Parental Partnership, Parenting, Theology, Virtue, Worldview, Worship

Introduction to Latin

February 10, 2021 by Amelia Stieren

While reading Washington Irving’s book, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., the 3rd and 4th graders came across the phrase terra incognita. A student asked what it means, but already knew half its meaning since he knew that terra, a vocabulary word they learned in their first year of Latin at Cedar, means “earth” or “land.” Why do we teach […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Curriculum, Grammar School, Grit, Homework, K-12 education, Latin, Latin School, Lifelong Learning, Parental Partnership, Rigor, The Liberal Arts

Count the Cost, Part IV: Failure

February 6, 2021 by Katherine Bradford

count the cost

Count the Cost is a blog series designed for prospective parents. In our fourth installment, we asked Miss Katherine Bradford about how a classical school’s high standards inevitably mean that students will deal with failure. (Spoiler Alert: We think that is a good thing.) Katie was a founding teacher at Oakdale Academy in Waterford Township […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Admissions, Character Education, Count the Cost, Culture, Curriculum, Grit, K-12 education, Parental Partnership, Rigor, Virtue, Worldview

Introduction to Singapore Math

February 3, 2021 by Jack Hummel

At Cedar Classical Academy, we teach mathematics in a way that is very different from the way you were likely taught. American math curricula tend to show a pre-solved example equation, explain the steps that were taken to solve it, and then assign a number of similar problems. The student solves these problems by copying […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Curriculum, Grammar School, K-12 education, Logic School, Mathematics, Parental Partnership, Quadrivium, Quarantine Chronicles, Rhetoric School, Rigor, Wonder

Count the Cost, Part III: Tiny School

January 30, 2021 by Anne Poortenga

count the cost

Count the Cost is a blog series designed for prospective parents. In our third installment, we asked the Poortenga family about the steep costs of pioneering at such a small school community in which each family plays a major part in shaping the school culture. The Poortengas co-founded Trinitas Classical School, a Michigan K-8 classical […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Admissions, Count the Cost, Culture, Grammar School, K-12 education, Logic School, Parental Partnership

Count the Cost, Part II: A Singing Culture

January 16, 2021 by Christin Peng

count the cost

Count the Cost is a blog series designed for prospective parents. In our second installment, we asked our music teacher to explain why we spend so much – so much – time singing. If you a spend a day at Cedar Classical Academy, you will quickly notice that we constantly sing together throughout the school hours. The […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Admissions, Character Education, Count the Cost, Culture, Habits, K-12 education, Liturgy, Music, Parenting, Singing

Count the Cost, Part I: Money Etc.

January 4, 2021 by David and Ellen Liebing

count the cost

Count the Cost is a blog series designed for prospective parents. In our first installment, we asked the Liebing family about the financial sacrifices they have made over the past 21 years of their involvement with Mars Hill Academy.  Our core conviction is this: we have a responsibility as parents to do the best we […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Admissions, Character Education, Count the Cost, Culture, Faith, K-12 education, Parental Partnership, Parenting, Stewardship, Tuition

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