Episodes

  • Episode 7 Grammar Part II - Continuing Grammar School Foundations and Aims

    Episode 7 Grammar Part II - Continuing Grammar School Foundations and Aims
    Dec 31 2024
    We continue our journey today into Grammar School foundations and aims. Mr. Bianchet and Mr. Mullins begin by discussing pre-rational/ pre-classical stages of learning. This is achieved through exposure to classical literature (fables, fairy tales, and mythologies) and music. It allows students to be primed to recognize and accept Reason when it arrives in Logic School. It also, cultivates the desire for beauty and longing later in the student's life. This is especially helpful in the Rhetoric stage where the beautification and effectiveness of language are both taught and honed. This stage is much more difficult if the Grammar and Logic stages are lacking, both for the instructors and students.

    Our hosts then bring insight that may often be overlooked when one is gathering resources in a Grammar or Primary school; one must make sure the resources are of the best quality. Only quality resources will allow the students to build quality structures (intellectual frameworks) that can withstand the rigors and demands of life, academic or otherwise. Mr. Bianchet and Mr. Mullins weave a web of interconnectedness from the Three Little Pigs to Plato to Sherlock Holmes to Narnia to The Metalogicon by John of Salisbury, synthesizing the disciplines of Philosophy, Theology, and Literature to further prove their position.

    It cannot be overstated that the Grammar Stage of Education may well be the most important, yet most neglected in the formation of fully formed humans, Christians, and citizens.

    You will not want to miss this episode!



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    34 mins
  • Episode 6 Grammar Part I - Understanding Grammar School Foundations and Aims

    Episode 6 Grammar Part I - Understanding Grammar School Foundations and Aims
    Dec 16 2024
    Welcome back for this two-part series on Grammar. In Part I, Mr. Wes Mullins and Mr. Ryan Bianchet continue developing their argument for what is Classical education and exposit how one achieves the primary aim of Classical education--becoming a great orator.

    The first step in the process is the mastery of Grammar education, so the hosts begin by defining Grammar and elucidating its role within the broader Classical framework. Mr. Bianchet uses the metaphor of one gathering building supplies for a house as that for the grammar aspect of our classical pedagogy. This requires repetition, memorization, and exposure to imaginative literature like fables and fairy tales; they must become familiar with the basics of both thinking and communicating. Far from being a lesser school in the Trivium, the Grammar School may be the most important of the three. We find it is extremely important to prime the students minds correctly so they can later master language and thought.

    We hope you enjoy this two-part series, and please consider rating this podcast and subscribing so that you do not miss any episodes.
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    32 mins
  • Episode 5 Why Be An Orator_ Part II

    Episode 5 Why Be An Orator_ Part II
    Nov 13 2024
    Mr. Bianchet and Mr. Mullins continue explaining the "why" of becoming an orator, and what are the many benefits. One can see very quickly that the benefit cost ratio of time spent learning to think and speak far out weigh other educational approaches that are solely focused on specified knowledge or future employment. This is why, here at Veritas, we are training the students to be "thinkers and communicators," not merely social participators. There is no one area of life wherein these oratory skills are not the best outcome of education. Even in the arena of self, both in understanding and personal dialogue, just knowing how to formulate ideas and construct them into viable and comprehendible thoughts will be a boon to our own self-talk. It will allow us to create and sustain optimal personal aims and defensible worldviews leading us into intellectual, spiritual, and physical harvest or flourishing.
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    47 mins
  • Episode 4 - Why Be An Orator? Part I

    Episode 4 - Why Be An Orator? Part I
    Oct 29 2024
    In this episode of The Lost Tools, Mr. Wes Mullins and Mr. Ryan Bianchet explore the practical benefits of pursuing oratorical training for your child. 'Why would I want my child to be an orator? Will this help them get into college? Will this assist them with finding a meaningful career? Will my child miss out on necessary academic training if they are trained as an orator?' We will address these questions and many more on this fourth episode of our "What is Classical Education?" series.

    Please let us know if you are enjoying the podcast by reaching out to the school, and feel free to suggest ideas for future episodes that you would like to hear discussed. Blessings to you!
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    33 mins
  • Episode 3 - What is an Orator? Part II - How to Speak Well

    Episode 3 - What is an Orator? Part II - How to Speak Well
    Oct 16 2024
    This is the final episode in the "What is an Orator" series.

    Today, Mr. Bianchet and Mr. Mullins are exploring what it means to speak well through the understanding of copiousness, using words fitly spoken, and mastering the trio of voice, countenance, and gestures.

    Even though it may seem obvious that we all need effective communication skills, many of us overlook the actual training required to speak well. This may cause us to dismiss a good rhetorician as being naturally gifted and that their eloquence is seemingly unattainable. Yet, with the proper training all of us can achieve the excellence of proper speech and words well spoken. Isaiah 50:4 says, "The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed." Here it indicates that there are proper and precise words spoken to us by God, and that we in-turn should offer to others, for encouragement, instruction, and restoration.

    Well spoken words are frequently found in the works of CS Lewis, GK Chesterton, JRR Tolkien, etc. to the point where we may exclaim, "I have always had that thought but didn't know how to express it." These masters spent their lives honing their craft to deliver these treasures that sustain us in the darkest of times. Their methods they used might be Medieval, but their results are equally relevant in today’s world. Just think, by honing these skills you too might be able to offer hope and instruction to others desperately trying to steer their ship clear of the crushing rocks ahead. It seems both a noble and worthy cause.
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    33 mins
  • Episode 2 - What is an Orator? Part I - How to Think Well

    Episode 2 - What is an Orator? Part I - How to Think Well
    Sep 30 2024
    One of the key components of Classical Education is mastery of language. In short, its focus is all about equipping students to be able to think and speak well. Mr. Bianchet reminds us that if one can master language then one can master thought. And if one can master those two then there's a shot they can become master of themselves, being able to set chaos into order wherever they may be.

    In the case of being able to think and speak, the ideal emerges of an Orator. Yes, this antiquated term from the ancient world comes raging back with vim and vigor...but what does that really mean? And how does it translate into the 21st Century world? Mr. Bianchet and Mr. Mullins will answer those questions and more in today's episode.
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    38 mins
  • Episode 1 - An Introduction into Classical Education

    Episode 1 - An Introduction into Classical Education
    Sep 30 2024
    Welcome to the Lost Tools Podcast! This is our first official episode.

    Today, Mr. Ryan Bianchet and Mr. Wes Mullins will introduce themselves and ultimately set out to give an introductory overview of what Veritas Christian Academy is and what it means to be a Classical, Christian, and University Model institution. They will explore the mission and goal of Veritas and how they are trying to achieve them. Furthermore, they will discuss what the benefits that you and your students will enjoy if they succeed.
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    20 mins