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Letter from the Editor by Martin Cothran
Civilization by Candlelight
by Martin Cothran
The expression "dark ages" refers to the period of time after the fall of Rome in the fourth century A.D. until the resurgence of learning in Western Europe that started in about the eighth century. We call it "dark" because the light of learning that had been ignited by the Greeks and carried on by the Romans was all but extinguished. Art, literature, and education were nearly eliminated in most parts of Western Europe. It was only with the later rise of the Carolingian empire that learning began to make a comeback. During this time, as Thomas Cahill tells us in his book How the Irish Saved Civilization, a few bands of medieval monks, sequestered in remote monasteries on the lonely cliffs and crags of Ireland, worked in obscurity, copying and recopying manuscripts. The manuscripts they copied out by hand included not only the Bible and their own biblical commentaries, but the great works of antiquity that had almost entirely disappeared from the outside world. They pursued their task with diligence and with little hope that their copies would ever be read or appreciated by anyone other than their fellow monks. Late in the last two centuries of the first millennium, these works were rediscovered by the larger world and their recovery brought about a renaissance of learning.
Once rediscovered, medieval scholars took these works, many of them long forgotten to the West, and poured over them, trying to understand their implications for the way people think and act. Today, we know little about the monks who copied these manuscripts other than a few funny remarks scrawled in the margins: "Thank God, it will soon be dark." We know much more about the later medieval doctors who discovered and read them, thought about them, and incorporated them in their own thinking—Peter Abelard, St. Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, Albertus Magnus, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham—the fathers of education as we know it today.
Our culture today seems to be entering a new dark age. While our time is marked by methods of communication that the cloistered monk could never have conceived, we have failed to use them to ensure the passing on of the accumulated learning of the Christian West. The past three or four generations of children know less and less of their history, their art, and their literature.
But the seeds of renewal are already being sown. The classical Christian education movement might seem small, but through it more and more educators are coming to understand the importance of teaching our children the tradition of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful that was once passed on to every new generation.
We, too, are preserving the embers of Western civilization and livening the fires of learning. Someday someone will write a book: How Classical Christian Education Saved Civilization.
FEATURED ARTICLES
2 Letter from the Editor by Martin Cothran 20 Strategic Study Habits by Jessica Watson 32 The River Daughter's House by David Kern 40 The Accidental Community by Heather Hawkins 52 C. S. Lewis on Why We Should Read Old Books by Dr. D. T. Sheffler
CLASSICAL CORE CURRICULUM
4 Curriculum Packages and Supplements 18 Read-Aloud Programs 46 Curriculum Map Yearly Outlook
PRIMARY YEARS
70 Primary Enrichment & Character Building 72 Alphabet, Numbers, & Coloring 74 Phonics & Reading 75 Spelling 78 New American Cursive 79 Penmanship
LITERATURE, GRAMMAR, & WRITING
34 Classical Composition, IEW, & English Grammar 80 Literature 88 Poetry
AMERICAN / MODERN STUDIES
43 Geography 44 American Studies & Modern European History
SCIENCE & MATH
63 Science & Nature 73 Arithmetic & Math
Spring 2022
60 That Which Is True Is Ours by Warren Farha 68 Moonbeams and Music by Dr. Carol Reynolds 76 Books Worthy to Own by Cheryl Swope 86 A Foundational Fairy Tale by Leigh Lowe 90 Twelve Great Christian Novels by Martin Cothran
CLASSICAL / CHRISTIAN STUDIES
50 Christian Studies 54 D'Aulaires' Greek Myths & Famous Men Series 56 Dorothy Mills' Histories & Classical Studies Supplements 58 Classical Literature
LATIN, GREEK, & FRENCH
22 Prima Latina & Latina Christiana 25 Latin Forms Series 26 Latin Supplements 28 Upper School Latin & AP Latin 30 Greek 31 French
LOGIC & RHETORIC
39 Traditional Logic, Material Logic, & Aristotle's Rhetoric
ART & MUSIC
66 Professor Carol: Discovering Music, Exploring America's Musical Heritage, & Early Sacred Music 67 Art Posters, Art Cards, Creating Art, & Music Appreciation 70 Primary Enrichment
RESOURCES
36 Classical Education Resources 94 Memoria Press Online Academy
Henle Latin Third Year (p. 28) Manner of the Week Flashcards (p. 70) American History Outline (p. 44)
Traditional Spelling III (p. 75) Penmanship Practice: Wisdom Scriptures (p. 78) Cut & Paste Book (p. 71) First Start Reading Storybooks (p. 74) Multiplication & Division Flashcards (p. 73) Insects Flashcards (p. 65) The Adventures of Odysseus & The Tale of Troy (p. 58) NLE: Intermediate Reading Comprehension (p. 26)
We also have full-year curriculum packages for students with special needs. Visit SimplyClassical.com for information or to sign up for the Simply Classical Journal.
