Last week I sent the first of a series of paragraphs that articulate the vision of our school.  These statements are not official or formal “policy” or “vision” declarations lifted from our Handbook, but they are descriptive of what we are all about at Veritas.  They spell out the reasons for why do what we do and why we think the way we think.  Here is the second statement.

At Veritas Academy we are committed to Classical Liberal Arts.

We are committed to the traditional and long established, exemplary forms and standards in education handed down from ancient and medieval educators.

We are committed to a classical liberal arts education; the traditional and long established, exemplary forms and standards in education handed down from ancient (Greek, Roman) and medieval educators.  We follow the methodology of the Trivium, seeking to apply the framework of Grammar, Dialectic (Logic), and Rhetoric in all subjects and to teach all subjects in a manner consistent with the appropriate developmental stage of the child.  We understand that the liberal arts of antiquity denoted the education “worthy of a free man” (Latin liber, “free”) -an education intent upon cultivating wisdom, virtue, and eloquence through the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty.  We emphasize and seek to preserve and pass on to successive generations the richness of our Western cultural heritage.

Finally I am pointing you to an article about the influence of technology on our children.  In a recent article from Breakpoint.org, Hey, Kid, Put Down that Tablet, Eric Metaxas argues that parents must be informed, thoughtful, and restrictive in giving their children access to digital devices.  While Christian parents are typically careful about the content they allow their children to watch, they often fail to see that the medium itself, the way the content is conveyed, is potentially just as detrimental to the child’s mind and heart. A cute video game on the tablet is not necessarily a harmless experience.  It seems that a new study comes out every month that identifies the negative effects of digital media on attention spans and cognitive development in children.  Metaxes quotes from a recent article that cites ten possible negative consequences of digital media for children.  So, Hey, Parent! Have your child put down that tablet.  Grab a book and read to your child.