K-12 Classical Education Archives

Little House on the Prairie: A Journey into America’s Westward Expansion

By Monica VanDerWeide, ’95 Beloved by generations of children for more than 80 years, the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder holds a special place in […]

Second Chances: Discussing The Secret Garden with Sarah Kiesewetter

By Avery Lacey, ’20 “The Secret Garden is one of my very favorite books to teach,” says Sarah Kiesewetter, 5th grade teacher at Golden View Classical Academy. The novel’s sympathetic […]

Romeo and Juliet: Exploring the Delights and Dangers of Love

By Katarzyna Ignatik, ’20 Romeo and Juliet is easily one of the most known, referenced, performed, and adapted plays in English. Dr. Benedict Whalen, assistant professor of English at Hillsdale […]

BCSI Teacher Spotlight: Kate Nadolny

Kate Nadolny teaches music at Pineapple Cove Classical Academy at West Melbourne, Florida. A native of the Sunshine State, she received her bachelor’s degree in music from Stetson University and […]

Civilization and Violence: Discussing Lord of the Flies with Dr. Tom West

By Avery Lacey, ’20 Lord of the Flies by William Golding, according to Professor of Politics Dr. Tom West, “is a great little book.” He says the novel “reveals secrets […]

The Jungle Book: Cultivating Virtue and Imagination in Young Readers

By Tomek Grzesiak Barney Charter School Initiative Instructional Coach Written over 100 years ago, Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book continues to be read by and to children of all ages. […]

Hillsdale Track team running on the football field during practice.

Mind and Body: Why Physical Education Needs to be an Essential Feature of Classical Education

Physical education: Where does it fit in today’s classical schools? Is it an afterthought or a filler class to give the homeroom teacher a free period? Far from it! In […]

Watercolor cover art of the book 'The Wind in the Willows', featuring Rat and Mole rowing down a river.

Friendship in The Wind in the Willows: Timeless Lessons from a Children’s Classic

The beloved children’s book, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, has delighted readers with its whimsical animal characters since its publication more than a century ago. But those […]

BCSI Staff Spotlight—Dr. Kathleen O’Toole

This July, Hillsdale College welcomed Dr. Kathleen O’Toole as its first-ever Assistant Provost for K-12 Education. In this new role, O’Toole will help to bring all of Hillsdale College’s classical […]

young students in class at charter school

Finding Common Ground on our “Islands of Sanity”: Preserving Classical Tradition in a World of Chaos

In 2003, author and economist Thomas Sowell sent a letter to then-Hillsdale Academy Headmaster Ken Calvert, thanking the school for being “an island of sanity in a crazy educational world.” […]

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales: Four Tips for Approaching a Medieval Masterpiece

Without a doubt, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales endures as a masterpiece of English literature. At the same time, its archaic language makes it one of the most feared classics […]

BCSI School Staff Spotlight—Mrs. Juliane Hillock

Juliane Hillock is the founding principal of Hozho Academy, a K-5 BCSI school that opened in 2018 in Gallup, New Mexico. She graduated from Hillsdale College in 1991 with an […]