Leigh A. Bortins - The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education

Leigh A. Bortins

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THE CORE

Copyright Leigh A. Bortins, 2010.

All rights reserved.

For information, address St. Martins Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

First published in 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United Statesa division of St. Martins Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

ISBN 978-0-230-10035-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

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Bortins, Leigh A.

The core : teaching your child the foundations of classical education / Leigh A. Bortins.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-230-10035-0 (pbk.)

1. Classical educationUnited StatesHandbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Education, HumanisticUnited StatesHandbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Home schoolingUnited StatesHandbooks, manuals, etc. 4. EducationParent participationUnited StatesHandbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.

LC1011.B615 2010

370.11'2dc22

2009052000

A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.

Design by Letra Libre, Inc.

First edition: June 2010

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America.

Dedicated to my son, John

As I went through the process of finishing this book, I read Stephen Kings book On Writing and learned that we share two perspectives in common: The Elements of Style is the definitive guide for authors, and your editor is always right. As this was my first time working with an editor, I didnt know what to expect. But as we proceeded, I realized that Luba Ostashevsky was as interested in producing a well-received, intelligent book as I was. Luba took the time to listen to my perspectives and then help me come up with the best way of discussing classical education with a broad audience of parents. I am thankful that my agent, Andrew Stuart, tried very hard to understand the books message and then found the right editor. I also want to thank my copy editor, Mark LaFlaur, for making my final edits clear through his interesting and helpful comments and corrections. Im pleased with the whole Palgrave Macmillan team.

I also want to thank my assistant, Karen Hubbard, for so ably pretending to be me while I was writing, Jen Greenholt for double checking my resources as I wrote, and the whole Classical Conversations team, who went out of their way to relieve me of responsibilities so I could work on this book. I also appreciate the encouragement I received from Becky Norton Dunlop to reach out beyond the homeschooling community.

Mostly, I want to thank my children for thinking I have something worth saying and allowing me to practice ideas on them before I share them with the rest of the world. I like that you like to be with your parents and I pray that its because our hearts are knit together and not just because your Dad and I are easy targets for your sharp wits. Thanks Rob for giving me a family that laughs a lot.

Leigh Bortins

The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education is:

For parents frustrated with their childrens inability to reach their academic potential.

For stay-at-home moms and dads who want to homeschool.

For work-at-home parents who want to reinforce rigorous academics at home.

For principals trying to strengthen basic academics.

For school board members tired of seeing innovative curricula repeatedly fail children.

For employers wondering why they need to teach the basic skills to high school graduates.

For community leaders struggling to offer a low-cost, highly effective, private academy.

For adults frustrated by job displacement and ready to broaden their abilities.

For headmasters of classical schools frustrated by low certification standards.

For teachers trying to teach rather than be surrogate parents.

For anyone trying to understand how to raise a generation of capable thinkers and leaders.

The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education is not just for families with a full-time, stay-at-home parent. Dual-income families want to be just as involved in their childrens education as those who have figured out how to survive on one income. Single parents need ideas for their childrens education that fit naturally into the limited time they have together at home. Professional educators want to be able to give parents practical ways to help their children with homework. This book can help anyone become more involved in raising not only academically successful students but also children enlivened by a genuine and enduring interest in learning.

Education is the key that unlocks the door to infinite possibilities for everyone in a free society.

Family is the basic building block for success for human beings the world over. It is the unit designed to enable us to love, share, learn, grow, practice, and prosper in a secure place. Family ties are the most important relationships in the lives of boys and girls.

Classic describes something special, important, valuable, or authoritative. Something classic stands the test of time and sets a standard of excellence. Classic cars, classic music, classic literature a classic education.

How-to books are popular and immensely useful to those who want help on a project important enough to them that they are willing to invest their own time and effort.

Take these four elements and weave them together and you have a beautiful tapestry for childrenno, for families to experience. Differences, complex personalities, unique designs all integrated, producing a rich lifetime of loving and learning. Families thrive. Children excel.

Leigh Bortins has done exactly this in the book you hold in your hands. If you have children of your ownof any ageand you long for a way to be certain they will prosper in life, you will love this book. If you deal with children in an educational situation, this book will motivate you to think differently about how they might learn in the best possible ways. And, if you simply care about the children around you, in your neighborhood, in your church, in your extended family, or in the families of your coworkers, you will find this book personally inspiring and you will want to share it.

Debates over the best way to educate children have been going on for years and years. I personally have come to believe that public education has far too often eliminated parents from the equation. Naturally, the result is that parents are removed from knowing what their children are learning, how they are learning it, and what motivates the children to learn, as well as from knowing about key decisions in their childrens educational life. This cannot be beneficial to the children, their parents, or the family. There is a better way, and in this book Leigh Bortins shares it clearly and concisely, and in a manner that reveals a lifetime of experience in, commitment to, and love for educating children.