In principio…

Welcome. I’m starting this blog in the hope of opening up further discussion on classical Christian education; as a channel of communication for things of central and peripheral interest to students, parents, and teachers at Scholars Online; and as an introduction to who we are to those who aren’t already part of our community. I am a complete novice at the art of blogging and blog management, so I hope you’ll bear with me as I learn my way around the block. Expect changes in the look and feel of it for a few days or a few weeks, while I get used to the various bells and whistles that WordPress affords.

I’ve delayed starting a blog for some time, since the whole prospect seemed a little intimidating—less because of the technical requirements than because of the expectation that I would have to update it fairly frequently, while swimming in the various other duties of teaching. But I’ve come to the conclusion that it can well be a useful tool for dissemination of information, addressing some of those frequently asked questions in a discursive way, and allowing readers to respond. We’ll see where it goes.

By way of introduction for anyone who has come this far without knowing quite why, let me say that I’m Bruce McMenomy; I teach Literature, Latin, and Greek with Scholars Online, and have been doing so for the last decade and a half—first through Scholars’ Online Academy, part of the Institute for Study of the Liberal Arts, and then, as of 2006, through the reorganized and independent Scholars Online, a non-profit educational corporation my wife Christe and I founded separately in 2005. I do this work because it’s what I feel called to do. I have been fortunate enough to work with some of the finest students and finest teachers I have known, and I’m allowed to teach more or less what I want, in a way the works for me and for my students, without an excess of oversight or constraint.

I received my undergraduate degree from Pomona College, an M.A. in History, an M.A. in Classics, and a Ph.D. in Classics from UCLA. My wife and I homeschooled our three children, the eldest of whom is now herself a professor of Classics, currently at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. I strongly believe in a strong liberal arts education as the foundation for wider learning and problem-solving in every aspect of life.

I’m hoping we can have contributions here from a number of our Scholars Online teachers; I’d also like to see feedback from parents, students, and other interested parties. The ground rules are the same as otherwise at Scholars Online: we will insist on civility and charity. Feel free to disagree with ideas; we won’t support attacks on people — either here or elsewhere, present or past.

More later…

— Bruce McMenomy