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 […]
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Count the Cost, Part IV: Failure
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 […]
Count the Cost, Part III: Tiny School
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 […]
Count the Cost, Part II: A Singing Culture
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 […]
Count the Cost, Part I: Money Etc.
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 […]
Christmas Gift Guide 2020: Books
Our staff has compiled some family read-alouds and gifts for grandparents or friends interested in classical education. Keep scrolling for our top book picks from the year. Family Read-Alouds Mrs. Berggren: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle Mr. Hummel: The Binding of the Blade by L.B. Graham Mrs. Hummel: Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome Mrs. Peng: Where […]
Christmas Gift Guide 2020: Staff Picks for Kids
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 read-aloud and book list. Boys Kindergarten-2nd Grade Mr. […]
Why the Badger? The Story Behind Our Mascot
We are excited to introduce our mascot: The Badgers. Why did we choose a badger to represent our vision for our students? Badgers hold on. In Prince Caspian, C.S. Lewis introduces us to a talking badger named Trufflehunter who provides steadiness in an uncertain time of exile and disunity among the Narnians. He is the […]
Training to Serve: Our Physical Education Curriculum
Human beings are composed of Mind, Soul, and Body. As a classical and Christian school, you are right to assume that we care about the mind and soul. But how many classical school graduates do you hear about in the NFL? Did we forget about the body? (The short answer is “no.”) The education of […]
“Beauty out of dust”: Our Art Curriculum
God the Creator has formed us to be worshipers, creators in his image, and stewards of what he has made. He creates universes out of nothing but words! He forms living beings out of dust and calls them good! We create art with lowly paper and paints, clay and scissors. In studying and practicing art, […]
“Joy beyond the walls of the world”: Why & How We Teach Lit
We teach literature at CCA because of its unique ability to make a profound impact on a reader. The best stories prepare students for the great, life-long battles they will face as they strive to live righteously. They also give memorable encouragement to persevere in the fight. The Development of the Moral Imagination Preparation for […]
From Great to Okay: What we’ve learned about distance learning
We at Cedar Classical Academy are confident that, right now, mid-pandemic, we continue to offer the best K-6 educational option in Lansing. Now beginning our ninth week of distance learning, we have kept our mission alive. Cedar Classical Academy’s culture has been marked since our founding by parental partnership, high standards, character emphasis, and real […]
Quarantine Chronicles: One Thing We Miss
We asked our teachers one thing they miss about school during distance learning. Here’s what they said: “I miss the laughter and enthusiasm each student brings to my class” – Mrs. Meibeyer, Physical Education “I miss circling up to read poems with the kindergartners!” -Mrs. Setterington, Kindergarten “I miss hearing the students sing!” – Mrs. […]
“Beauty is not an elective”: Our Music Curriculum
Here is a glimpse of Wassail & Carols, our December 12 celebration of Christ’s incarnation through recitation and carols. This was also a night to revel in the musicianship that our music teacher, Mrs. Peng, has been teaching to our students. At Cedar, we like to say that beauty is not an elective. We think […]
The Mission Series, Pt. VI | Learning to love: God as the source and goal of all knowledge
“What is your favorite subject?” I, for one, default to that question far too often in my conversations with grade school students. It generally results in a profound dialogue something like this: “Math.” “Why?” “It’s fun.” “What are you learning in math?” “Times.” “So, do you like multiplying?” “Um. I don’t know.” Or imagine another […]
The Mission Series, Pt. V | “A springboard to understanding the created world”: The Western liberal arts tradition
Those who become involved with classical Christian education quickly discover that, as with any specific discipline, there is a vocabulary that usually seems foreign and intimidating to newcomers. Classical educators liberally spice their conversation with words like “headmaster,” “dialectic,” “rhetoric,” “the Great Conversation,” and “trivium.” From context, most pick up some vague idea of what […]
Feedback: “What we have in common is more significant than what divides us”
A primary purpose for our events here at Cedar Classical Academy is to welcome people with different views to the table to continue what Mortimer Adler calls The Great Conversation. Our friend Dr. Peter Vande Brake spoke on classical education in an urban context at our May 10 Academy Dinner. Here, our friend Dr. David […]
“A fountain of joy alive in you”: How Music Tunes the Soul
What did Plato observe in music that prompted him to label it the most important of the liberal arts? He perceived that, of all seven, music best “tunes the soul.” Here Plato addressed the development of character, for music can inspire the unfolding of moral and mental qualities needed to be a virtuous person. Our […]
The Mission Series, Pt. IV | “The joy of finding hidden treasure”: The Classical Curriculum
Thinking is hard work. Being disciplined in your thinking is even harder. This is not always obvious because thinking requires little or no physical exertion, it has not been made into a sport, and you cannot post pictures of it on Instagram. It is often taken for granted that kids will learn to think clearly […]
The Mission Series, Pt. III | “Give me a place to stand and I shall move the world”: A Well-Ordered Understanding of Reality
This post is the third in a series aimed to unpack the kind of education Cedar Classical Academy will offer, through the exposition of our mission statement piece by piece. In our previous posts, we have covered parental responsibility and school partnership in bringing up children (Pt. 1), and the key concepts of moral and […]