Friday, Sept 26 10:30am - 12:00pm

For Grades 5-8

(Parents are welcome to attend also)

By late elementary school, students at a classical school will begin to see just how different their school is from the public schools depicted in film and television. They will have conversations with friends from church and sports teams and begin to wonder, “Is my school normal?” In this lecture, Joshua Gibbs walks younger students through some of the distinct features of a classical school and helps them make sense of the differences they’ve noticed between their own school and other schools. 

*If your family is attending both student events, there are many options for lunch near the church and there is also a park nearby if you choose to pack a lunch.

Friday, Sept 26 1:00pm - 2:30pm

For Grades 9-12

(Parents are welcome to attend also)

One of the most unfair things about being young is that—like it or not—you’re already turning into an adult. At sixteen or seventeen, you’re already settling into the habits that will stick with you for the next fifty years. If you ask miserable adults how they came to be miserable, most will begin their story “back in high school.”  

While every school claims to “prepare students for adulthood,” a classical education prepares a student for adulthood in body and soul. Other schools are primarily concerned with forming workers and voters, whereas a classical school acknowledges that many “successful people” are miserable. In this lecture, Joshua Gibbs talks with older students about what to do with the staggering amount of power they have over their adult lives — and how to work with their teachers now so they can be joyful and satisfied in the next stage of life.

*If your family is attending both student events, there are many options for lunch near the church and there is also a park nearby if you choose to pack a lunch.

Friday, Sept 26 7:00pm - 8:00pm

For Parents

Many people have picked up a copy of Paradise Lost in a bookstore, read a few stray lines form the middle, and thought, “I wish I understood this kind of thing,” then placed the book back on the shelf and purchased something newer and easier to understand.  

Likewise, many people have listened to a few seconds of a Beethoven symphony on the radio, thought, “I wish I liked this sort of thing,” then turned the dial to a pop station and found something more immediately pleasant.  

Why do so many people “wish” they liked classic literature and classical music? And why are so many people willing to learn to like old things, whereas nobody treats blockbuster films or Top 40 hits as “an acquired taste”? 

In this lecture, Joshua Gibbs argues that these questions are more important than they might seem at first glance. While the contemporary world is largely content to believe that taste is a trivial matter of preference, Gibbs argues that acquiring good taste is a matter of great spiritual concern. The connection between good taste and virtue sits near the heart of classical education. 

Saturday, Sept 27 8:30am - 4:00pm

For Teachers, Tutors and Home Educators

Price includes lunch

How Do You Teach Classic Literature to High School Students? A Two-Part Demonstration 

While a great lecture on pedagogy can be incredibly helpful, many teachers want to see sound pedagogy for themselves. What does it look like when classic literature is taught in a way that sinks deeply into a student’s soul? 

In this two-part demonstration, Joshua Gibbs takes teachers through Book IX of Paradise Lost in the same manner he led high school sophomores through the book for nearly twenty years. Teachers will see what it means to “read and discuss” a classic work using all the tools in a teacher’s tool belt. 

Explaining Classical Education with Common Sense Analogies (Almost Anyone Can Understand) 

Perhaps you’ve attempted to explain classical education to a stranger and failed in spectacular fashion. You started by saying something about stages of human development, then said something about the Trivium, then tried to explain the Trivium, then tried to explain why Latin matters, then gotten quite lost and frustrated and vowed to do better next time.  

Of course, it’s not only strangers to whom you have to explain classical education. In the course of your career, you’ll also have to explain it to students, parents of students, coworkers, administrators, and board members.  

The best explanations of classical education don’t involve theories or obscure definitions, but common-sense analogies that anyone can understand.  In this lecture, Joshua Gibbs gives teachers guidance on fielding questions about classical education from just about anyone.  

What High School Teachers Can Learn from Elementary School Teachers 

Have you ever noticed that many elementary students like school and that many high school students don’t? Some of this may have to do with the moodiness of teenagers, but we should also consider the significant changes that take place between sixth grade and seventh grade. Most high school classrooms are modeled after business meetings—and sane people don’t like business meetings. Elementary school classrooms, however, work on a completely separate logic. They’re nothing like business meetings, which is why we remember so much more of what we study in elementary school than what we study in high school.   

In this lecture, Joshua Gibbs looks at ways high school teachers can incorporate effective elementary school pedagogies into their own classrooms.  

How to Test, How to Grade 

For many classical teachers, testing and grading are anxious subjects. Many classical educators use testing and grading practices they picked up while attending secular schools, and they wonder whether there is any other way to do it. Is there a classical way of testing and assessing? If so, what is it—and can we put it into practice at our school? 

In this lecture, Joshua Gibbs puts classical ideals into play with contemporary testing and assessment needs. Less philosophical and more practical, this talk offers teachers a wide array of blueprints for testing and assessing that can work across grade levels and subjects.