Listen Now

Parents love their children and desire the best for them. Yet at times the world seems full of dangers and obstacles to a child’s ultimate good. Because of this, a certain fear may cast a shadow on the ways parents relate to their children.  To discuss parenting and fear, we welcome back Mr. Alvaro de Vicente to HeightsCast. In the episode, Alvaro explains some of the dangers of being overprotective and parenting from a sense of fear. Rather, he encourages parents to prudently discern moments to give their children the space for making the right choice on their own, which of course means that they also have the freedom to make a mistake. At the same time, Alvaro offers advice on optimistic and formative ways to say “no” to one’s children, when such is necessary.  As Alvaro reminds us, gratitude for the good received helps one to make positive decisions about the good to be done. If families make intentional time to remember and give thanks to God for the goodness in the world, parents and children alike will be naturally drawn to that Goodness from which the world came. Chapters 0:40 Introduction: fear based parenting  2:15 Why we fall into parenting with fear 3:50 Manifestations of parenting with fear  9:05 How and when to say “no” 11:58 The middle class myth and parental anxiety  14:05 Why parents should avoid this mode of parenting  17:20 Rebellious children  19:05 Why we shouldn’t be afraid 21:40 Practical considerations 27:12 The unexpected, difficult questions  30:30 Parenting with optimism  Also on the Forum  Parental Authority: Our Role with Dr. Leonard Sax Discipline in the Classroom: The Art of Order with Colin Gleason Friendship for Fathers: Living and Teaching the Art with Prof. John Cuddeback Parenting: Patience or Optimism with Andy Reed His Anxiety and Ours: Confessions of an Anxious Parent Who Happens to Be a Therapist with Alex Berthé

In the past twenty years, research suggests that parents are worrying more about their children and spending more to provide them with comforts. In spite of such worry and wealth, the past twenty years have also seen an increase in these same American-born children from well-to-do families being diagnosed with various psychiatric disorders. Meanwhile, parents tend to swing from overly strict to overly lenient. Balancing love, both tender and tough, is a difficult art.  To help us dive deeper into this parental task, we welcome Dr. Leonard Sax to HeightsCast. In the episode, Dr. Sax discusses his book, The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups. Drawing both from the wisdom of the ancients and the insights of modern science, Dr. Sax explains the importance of parental authority in raising children. Besides discussing parenting authority, he also offers thoughts on the importance of culture and schools, urging parents to consider carefully and choose prudently the school to which they will send their children.  As Dr. Sax reminds us, authentic freedom is not mere license, and if children are to be free in the end, they must, at the start, have the right amount of parental guidance. To give too much freedom too soon may end in the very loss of the freedom which one would have hoped to give.  Chapters 0:30 Introduction 2:15 What is parental authority? 11:00 Parental worries  19:05 Some statistics on psychiatric diagnoses in America 21:30 Parents and the transmission of culture 23:35 The middle class myth  27:52 “Elon Musk” schools vs. “Mother Theresa” schools 32:20 Shifts in American culture from 1967-2017  34:40 Approaching difficult grades as a parent 38:25 Too hard, too soft, or just right: should parents negotiate? 45:50 Advice for single parents  49:10 Fake it until you make it 53:45 The importance of intergenerational bonds Recommended Resources  Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men by Dr. Leonard Sax Why Gender Matters, Second Edition: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences by Dr. Leonard Sax Also on the Forum  Discipline in the Classroom: The Art of Order with Colin Gleason Carpool: Making Commute Time Good Time with Kyle Blackmer Friendship for Fathers: Living and Teaching the Art with Prof. John Cuddeback

Hell, Dante expresses, is being trapped by our false attempts to be free. Thus, the Comedy’s Satan is forever stuck in the ice of a lake made frozen by the beating of his wings as he attempts to “free” himself from the reality of God. Education, on the other hand, frees us from such a lake by leading us to embrace, with the fullness of our being, the Truth which sets us free. This week on HeightCast we welcome Dr. Joseph Lanzilotti for a discussion of what Pope Benedict XVI can teach us about such an education. Drawing especially from the late pope’s 2008 address to educators at The Catholic University of America, Dr. Lanzilotti explains how hope and the beauty which engenders it rests at the heart of Pope Benedict’s response to what he called a crisis of education in the modern world.  Moving between theology and praxis, Dr. Lanzilotti focuses our attention on the nature and calling of educational institutions, both as they relate to the Church and to the world at large. Beyond places of data transfer or ready-made success measurable by test scores, such institutions are meeting places that reverberate with the life of the Church. They are places where students encounter the truth and especially that Truth which is found in prayer. They are places where beauty—the splendor of truth—can reverberate first in the hearts of students and then in the families and communities where they are called to serve after graduation.  Chapters  1:23 Introduction: Pope Benedict XVI’s address to educators 2:40 The virtue of hope and education for the future  6:22 What does it mean to be a Catholic educator?  11:00 Restoring the fullness of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty  13:30 The importance of why questions 14:30 The communal dimension of education 19:10 Egalitarian elitism and intellectual charity  21:35 The intellect and the will  25:15 The will and our heart 28:25 The interaction between affectivity and the human heart 30:50 Moral truth 33:55 The adventure of education  37:53 Both for Catholic institutions and Catholic teachers who are not in Catholic schools 40:15 Concluding thoughts: more than a facade  Additional Resources  Introduction to Christianity by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger  Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger "Joseph Ratzinger as Doctor of Incarnate Beauty" by Tracey Rowland  "Address to Educators at The Catholic University of America" by Pope Benedict XVI  "Letter on the Urgent Task of Educating Young People" by Pope Benedict XVI "General Audience on Prayer and the Holy Family of Nazareth" by Pope Benedict XVI "Message on Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization" by Pope Benedict XVI Also on the Forum  Order and Surprise: On Beauty and the Western Tradition with Lionel Yaceczko Artwork in Schools: On the Buildings that Build Us with Joe Cardenas On the Education of the Human Heart with Anton Vorozhko

What does it mean to be “civilized”? What is justice? What is a citizen? Given the opportunity, would you have killed Julius Caesar? Was Nero inevitable, or is it possible to keep one’s wits while running such a powerful empire?  These are a few of the questions that eighth graders at The Heights are challenged to ponder together in their core class. With the help of their teachers and a new history textbook, the boys not only consider these questions amongst themselves but do so in dialogue with some of the greatest thinkers of the Western tradition.  This week on HeightsCast, we discuss Tom Cox and Bill Dardis’s new book, Becoming Rome: Foundation, Republic, and Empire in the Words of Eminent Romans. In addition to sharing the story behind their writing, Tom and Bill introduce us to their method of teaching history at the primary and secondary school levels. Drawing on fourteen years of experience in the classroom as well as graduate studies in the liberal arts, Tom and Bill offer practical insights for teachers who hope not only to bring history to life in the classroom but also to prepare their students to bring those lessons into their own lives. Chapters 0:32 Introduction 2:00 A better approach to the history textbook 4:50 The big questions hidden in the narratives of history 7:00 The contemporary approach to history lessons 9:56 Receiving tradition and engaging it  11:00 Why study history at all?  15:50 A roadmap to history  19:15 Method of the book  24:23 Seminars and discussing difficult topics  28:15 Why write a book?  31:32 The book’s target age level  32:45 The relationship between Christianity and the book  Also on the Forum  The Importance of Ugly History by Mark Grannis Keeping the Story in History by Mark Grannis Seeing History: On Using Images in the History Classroom by Kyle Blackmer Hillsdale’s M. Spalding on the Importance of History Pt. I with Dr. Matt Spalding Hillsdale’s M. Spalding on the Importance of History Pt. II with Dr. Matt Spalding Plutarch’s Lives Teach: Character Education through Story with Tom Cox History the Way it Was…and the Way it Should Be by Bill Dardis Writing and Thought; Oratory and Ethics: What We Give Our Seventh Graders in the Core with Tom Cox

As teachers and parents, it is often difficult to find the balance between leniency and strictness, love and fear. Getting the right tone, being firm in principle and flexible in preference, is indeed an art and an especially difficult one. While nothing can replace personal experience for growing in this art, self-reflection is a great aid to this end.  This week on HeightsCast, Mr. Colin Gleason, Head of the Lower School, offers an aid to our personal reflection. The episode features a presentation by Mr. Gleason from our recent Art of Teaching Conference. At that conference, he spoke to seventy men from across the United States and beyond about how we, as teachers, can foster an environment of respectful dominion in the classroom. Colin offers a list of twelve principles, together with a great many practical pointers and delightful anecdotes. In the end, the point of discipline is to foster the right tone for learning, the proper culture for growth. Whether this growth occurs in the home or in the classroom, having the right tone is ultimately about love. Rome, they say, was not loved because she was great; she was great because she was first loved. So too our sons and students.  Chapters  2:25 Beginning with the end 3:50 A question of balance  6:35 Principle #1: Discipline begins before class begins 8:32 Principle #2: Best disciplinary tool is a good lesson plan 12:25 Principle #3: Fostering class culture is more effective than listing class rules 14:40 Principle #4: We earn capital outside to spend inside  17:05 Principle #5: Smiling isn’t enough; we need to laugh 19:45 Principle #6: Let them love what they see and fear what they don’t  24:45 Principle #7: Don’t confuse personal preference with principles  25:40 Principle #8: Non-correction corrections 27:35 Principle #9: Replace star stickers with handshakes 29:15 Principle #10: Learners over lessons 31:25 Principle #11: Replace line-writing with push-ups 34:30 Principle #12: When you send students to the principal’s office, your authority goes with them  Also on the Forum  Boys, Education, and The Heights with Alvaro de Vicente Raising Contemplative Sons: The Problem with Boys with Colin Gleason  Our Little Protectors: How Do WE See Our Boys? with Alvaro de Vicente On Recess: The Benefits of Free Play with Colin Gleason Toughness for the Adolescent Boy by Kyle Blackmer Seeing Our Boys with Loving Eyes: Not Projects, but Persons with Tom Royals Why Boys Need to Be Given Freedom by Andy Reed Material Order and the Middle School Boy with Kyle Blackmer  Can I Catch It?: On Handling Wildlife with Eric Heil *For lyrics and history of  the Ave Regina Caelorum, please visit adoremus.org.

It’s not merely where you are going, but how you get there, that matters. And as we often find ourselves going places in cars, it is worth stopping to consider how we spend our car rides.  In this week’s episode, we welcome back to the podcast Mr. Kyle Blackmer for a discussion of the daily commute. Whether we carpool or ride solo, Mr. Blackmer helps us to reframe how we approach this daily endeavor which can easily become, at best, dead time and, at worst, dreaded time.  Kyle shows us how the car, with the right attitude and a little creativity, can become its own classroom. He encourages us to think about how we can best use this time by praying, engaging in good conversation—at times mere fun, at other times more formative–, listening to good music and books, and celebrating.  Chapters  00:45 Introduction: reframing the daily commute  3:20 How can we make carpooling more fruitful for our sons?  5:43 The car as a classroom: the first and last period of the day 6:22 Four modes of teaching in the Car 6:45 Prayer, especially the Rosary, especially in the morning  9:28 Car as a place for friendship, shared life  10:55 Conversation in cars 16:20 The art of asking good questions and listening  17:15 Tuning into the boys in front of you 19:16 Setting guidelines for your carpool 21:10 Being intentional about what you listen to  25:35 Audiobooks and classic rock 27:50 Celebrating the in little ways 31:20 Finding moments for little points of correction  33:30 Advice for solo commuters  35:50 The last three minutes: preparing for your return home  Recommended Audiobooks for the Road The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart Seabiscuit by Charles Rivers Editors Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame Treasury for Children by James Herriot Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingallas Wilder The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs The Once and Future King by T.H. White The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells The Complete Father Brown Collection by G.K. Chesterton A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller Also on the Forum On Home as Social Hub: The Importance of Hosting Our Sons and Their Friends with Tom Royals Friendship for Fathers: John Cuddeback on Living and Teaching the Art with John Cuddeback  Sarah Mackenzi on the Read-Aloud Family with Sarah Mackenzi

In a recent national survey of adults in America, a striking sixty-one percent of young adults (age 18-25) reported feeling serious loneliness. Such feelings of loneliness were also accompanied by anxiety and depression. Although humans are by nature social animals, it would seem that forming deep friendships may not always come so naturally. How do we form friendships? How do we help our sons form friendships? What even is friendship? To help us answer these questions, we welcome to HeightsCast John Cuddeback, professor of philosophy at Christendom College and Life Craft writer and speaker. In this episode, Professor Cuddeback helps us understand what friendship is, how to practice the art of friendship, and how friendship goes hand-in-hand with happiness. As he explains, friendships do not merely happen. Rather, they require intentional cultivation and sustained effort. Indeed, like any art, the art of friendship requires discipline and practice. Specifically, Professor Cuddeback focuses our attention on how a husband can form a deep friendship with his wife and a few male friends, as well as how he can help his children to grow in their own friendships. Being a father first, he may one day become a friend of his adult children.  As Professor Cuddeback explains, true friendship is the only way to overcome loneliness in life. And, in the end, it will be in sharing our lives with friends that we come to find the ultimate meaning of our lives. Chapters  1:25 What is friendship?  4:15 Different kinds of friendship  9:05 Friendship and human flourishing 11:05 Happiness today  14:00 The activities of friendship 19:40 The number of friends 24:40 Friendship for the twenty-first century father 28:00 Selecting friends  33:30 Friendship with your spouse  41:10 Friendship with other men 44:30 How to prioritize relationships 47:15 Parenting and friendship 50:47 How to coach our children in forming friendships 55:37 Advice and encouragement for single mothers Resources Life-Craft.org True Friendship: Where Virtue Becomes Happiness by John Cuddeback  Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle Spiritual Friendship by Aelred of Rievaulx Treatise on Law by Thomas Aquinas Also on The Forum Cultivating Friendship in the Classroom by Austin Hatch On Friendship after Senior Year: Higher Stakes and Beautiful Opportunities with Dave Maxham Friendship for the 21st Century Boy with Alvaro de Vicente  On Home as Social Hub: The Importance of Hosting Our Sons and Their Friends with Tom Royals

With another year having passed—perhaps even sped by—and a new one underfoot, HeightsCast returns with a discussion of time and solitude with Mike Ortiz and Rob Greving. Together, Mike and Rob invite us to slow down as they unpack their two recently published articles on the Forum.  Mr. Ortiz dives into Henry David Thoreau’s cabin life and the importance of intentional times of solitude in our lives, while Mr. Greving considers our often uneasy relationship with time and the good of slowing down, even as the world speeds up.  As we look forward to the new year with hope and anticipation, let us not forget to slow down and, in Mr. Greving’s words, listen for the present moment. After all, you can’t read a poem in a hurry. And if you are always in a hurry, you might miss the poetry of life.  Chapters 1:45 Background to the articles  5:43 Thoreau’s way of solitude: the path to a greater appreciation of the world  10:15 Never less alone than when alone 13:30 Time alone and listening for God 15:55 Silence and the capacity to attend  20:55 Having more that is worth less 22:55 Handling time gently  30:08 Times of leisure in the life of a school  32:30 Beyond life hacks: cultivating a disposition  40:56 Poetry, solitude, and time 45:13 You can’t read a poem in a hurry  48:02 Slowing down in family life  53:00 The importance of not over-scheduling kids 57:15 Conclusion and a closing poem Recommended Resources  Walden by Henry David Thoreau  The World of Silence by Max Picard Living in Liturgical Time by Terence Sweeney  "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost "Mossbawn": Two Poems in Dedication by Seamus Heaney  Also on The Forum  Thoreau’s Cabin Life: Why It's Not Anti-Social to Savor Solitude by Mike Ortiz  Handling Time Gently by Rob Greving  The Freedom to Form Bonds: Kevin Majeres on Mindfulness and Attention with Kevin Majeres Forming Deep Workers with Cal Newport What Is the Difference between Free Time and Leisure? by Joe Bissex

From the very start, the founders of The Heights understood education to consist in the communication of a culture. As culture often enters a boy's mind through his senses, an important means of this transmission is the art and architecture of a school. Indeed, in many ways buildings embody the ideals of an institution.  This week Joe Cardenas, head of mentoring and long-time art history teacher, joins us for a conversation on the importance of beauty in education. Rooting the conversation in the American tradition, Joe helps us see why and how the art and architecture of schools is as important as the books in its curriculum.  As we hear from Joe, the art on a school’s walls become the images adorning a student’s soul. If we want to help our boys be at home in their very selves, the art of schools is an indispensable means to this end. Chapters 1:25 An evening of art for parents at The Hawthorn School 4:40 Art and beauty in the American tradition 5:35 Washington’s leadership at Valley Forge 7:23 Why does beauty matter? 9:00 The museum of our soul and the archive of our experiences 10:43 What is the role of beauty in a school building? 14:13 Pope Benedict XVI on Beauty 16:00 Cardinal Newman on Beauty 17:22 Beauty and the daily reality of boys 21:25 Beauty in business 24:00 Robert Jackson and the early years of The Heights 28:30 Churchill’s speech on rebuilding the House of Commons Additional Resources  Adoremus.org's explanation of the Four Seasonal Marian Anthems (includes history and translation) PDF of Music and Lyrics to Alma Redemtoris Mater from gregorian-chant-hymns.com Speech on the Rebuilding of the House of Commons by Winston Churchill Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson The Feeling of Things, the Contemplation of Beauty by Joseph Ratzinger A Catholic Eton? by Paul Shrimpton Also on the Forum  School Tone, the Most Powerful Teacher with Alvaro de Vicente Building Little Houses: Why Random Art Projects Are Awesome by Joe Bissex Manners: The Art of Happiness by Robert Greving Why Our Politics Needs Poetry with Dr. Matthew Mehan Five Fruits of a Poetic Education by Nate Gadiano

In many schools, education is understood in reductively intellectual terms. The point of teaching, it would seem, is merely to inform, to fill the mind with data, to train the intellect to perform tasks and solve puzzles. To be sure, information and intellectual virtues are essential aspects of education; but they are not the whole, and to make them so would be to reduce the person to his mind.  In this talk, taken from our recent Art of Teaching Conference, Anton Vorozhko helps us understand the role of the heart in the education of the whole human person. Starting with a reflection on the greatest of teachers, Christ—the one to whom all other teachers ought ultimately to point—Anton offers advice at once practical and personal. His talk centers on three areas, or apostolates, which he suggests teachers should consider: presence, correction, and prayer.  In the end, considering these three apostolates will help teachers turn their daily work into what St. John Henry Newman called a cor ad cor loquitur—a heart speaking unto heart—making his task not only to inform the mind but equally to move the heart. Chapters 0:05 Other men are teaching! 1:00 Looking to the ultimate models: Our Lord and many of the saints  3:40 The dream of Don Bosco and the Preventive System  7:20 Conquer through love: seeing Christ in our classroom  10:03 Not a job, a vocation  11:24 Three apostolates of the teacher: presence, correction, prayer 11:40 Apostolate of presence  15:30 Apostolate of correction 17:48 Suggestions from Don Bosco  19:05 Apostolate of prayer 21:45 St.  John Paul II as a university professor  Additional Resources  Forty Dreams of St. John Bosco: From St. John Bosco’s Biographical Memoirs by St. John Bosco  Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II by George Weigel  Also on The Forum  The Art of Teaching: On Forming Contemplative Souls with Rich Moss Developing Your Son’s Will with Andy Reed The Freedom to Form Bonds: Kevin Majeres on Mindfulness and Attention with Dr. Kevin Majeres The Talk and Beyond with Michael Moynihan

In this episode, we feature a recorded lecture given by Rich Moss in his introductory presentation at the Art of Teaching conference hosted by The Heights Forum last week. In this talk, Rich explains why teaching is an art, what that art is, and what are the tools utilized by the teaching artist.

Boys love concrete details and, even more, they love when those concrete details form the fabric of a hero's tale. Indeed, as Aristotle himself knew, better than telling adolescents merely about virtue is giving them examples of heroes, for good men are not made in theory, but in practice and boys need to see virtues practiced to be inspired themselves. What better place to turn than an author who has taught generations of leaders, not least of which were our own country’s founders. That man is Plutarch and our guide is Tom Cox, one of the architects of the eighth grade core humanities class and current upper school classics teacher.  In this episode, Mr. Cox shows why and how we teach Plutarch to our boys. He explains why it is important to find the good even in heroes that are less than saints and helps us understand that education is more than something that merely happens; it requires a boy’s freedom. Although heroes may not be saints, they are good starting points. It is perhaps not mere happenstance that Plutarch wrote his biographies as the Evangelists were writing their lives of life’s Author. As the Greek philosopher was a master at portraying those little details which form a hero’s character, it is the man from Nazareth who teaches us to turn them into heroic verse—and that is the beginning of holiness. Chapters 1:15 How did you find Plutarch?  The eighth grade core  A biographical approach to history  4:20 Why read Plutarch? A good storyteller An inspiration to Shakespeare 6:10 What does Plutarch tell us about being a good man?  The peak of a mountain of tradition  Seeing the goodness first: heroes and saints 13:10 What are some of the best lives to take a look at?  Alcibiades  Mark Antony Publius  Cicero Cato the Younger 19:54 Connecting pieces of the curriculum with Plutarch  Government and Literature  20:20 Gospels 22:35 On the formation of leaders  24:20 Connecting to the American leadership  28:10 Plutarch and the education of citizens  33:04 Where to start?  Alexander the Great and Pompey  Brutus and Caesar  36:09 How to teach Plutarch Difficulty of translations  A little at a time 38:15 The Plutarch Podcast and Grammaticus.co Additional Resources  The Plutarch Podcast Grammaticus.co Lives by Plutarch Also on The Forum  Writing and Thought; Oratory and Ethics: What we Give Our 7th Graders in the Core with Tom Cox History the Way It Was… And the Way It Should Be by Mark Grannis Aristotle on the Student’s Job by Tom Cox Seneca on the Teacher’s Job by Tom Cox

This week on HeightsCast, we feature headmaster Alvaro de Vicente’s open house speech on the mission and vision of The Heights School. In the speech, Alvaro helps parents discern the right school for their son. Understanding education to be essentially about partnering with parents to transmit a culture, he encourages parents to thoughtfully consider the culture of our school and how it relates to the culture of their own homes. In addition, Mr. de Vicente offers a few words on our vision of manhood, suggesting that to be a good man, one must also be quite dangerous: powerful enough to do damage, but with the moral character to do great things.  Chapters 1:17 How to discern the right school for your son 1:45 Education as transmission of culture 2:46 Our vision  3:20 Dangerously good: what it means to be a man 6:15 Our goal  6:50 How to make this vision a reality 6:57 Partnership with parents  8:35 Growth in virtue 11:40 Model the culture and counsel your sons  Additional Resources  Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro’s Gulag by Armando Valladares The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis Also on The Forum The Man Fully Alive with Alvaro de Vicente  Self-Mastery: Alvaro de Vicente on Fostering Interior Freedom in Schools with Alvaro de Vicente Who Am I?: The Question of Persona with Alvaro de Vicente Our Little Protectors: How Do WE See Our Boys? with Alvaro de Vicente Forming Wise, Courageous Risk-Takers with Alvaro de Vicente

This week on HeightsCast, we feature a recording of the 2022 Headmaster’s Lecture on the man fully alive. In this lecture, Mr. Alvaro de Vicente helps us understand what we mean when we use St. Irenaeus’ oft-quoted though seldom understood words that gloria Dei est vivens homo: the glory of God is living man.  Mr. de Vicente shares his thoughts on the destination and the road ahead, suggesting that to live fully on earth we must understand that the fullness of life is found only in heaven. And if we are to reach this destination which is our destiny, we should see this life as practice for the next.  In particular, he offers three actions that are the best practice for heaven: To play To see To commit  Taking us through each of these, Mr. de Vicente helps us to approach life in a playful way, taking ourselves lightly and others seriously; to discover the beauty of the world, contemplating with loving eyes and a grateful heart; and to commit fully, passionately persevering in our love for others. Our boys will not live these ideals perfectly—we will not live them perfectly—but if together we begin and begin again often, we will be well on the way; and that will be a taste of heaven.  Chapters  2:43 Origins of the tagline “Men fully alive” 4:01 Man fully alive: what does this mean?  4:14 Common notions 5:18 Man as the masterpiece of God 7:56 What is man?  9:01 Crisis of masculinity: either brutes or wimps 9:45 Life on earth as a preparation for heaven 11:07 What is heaven? 12:36 Practice for heaven 13:16 A man with a mission 16:31 To play 16:33 Physical play  19:06 Approaching life in a playful way  22:31 A game with two halves 26:09 To see 27:56 Blindness as an illness of the soul 29:36 The Little Prince and our inability to see beauty  30:54 When the truth complicates my life 32:48 Who you are and what you are here for 33:32 On contemplation  34:36 Finding beauty   36:47 Life as a museum  37:21 Seeing with the mind’s eye 39:41 Seeing with the heart  41:33 To commit  42:11 The man in a wheelchair 43:40 Closing doors 45:20 On the passions 48:01 Commitment is different from a self-help book  48:41 Screwtape on love and marriage  51:58 Faithfulness over time is the name of love (Benedict XVI) 52:41 The danger of overcommitting  54:26 Conclusion  Also on The Forum Foundations of Hope: Raising Optimistic Men Fully Alive with Alvaro de Vicente The Education of “Men Fully Alive”: The Mission and Vision of The Heights with Alvaro de Vicente Who Am I?: The Question of Persona with Alvaro de Vicente  Our Little Protectors: How Do WE See Our Boys? with Alvaro de Vicente  Forming Wise, Courageous Risk-Takers with Alvaro de Vicente In Defense of Victory by Kyle Blackmer Additional Resources  Against Heresies by St. Irenaeus

In this week’s episode, we discuss science fiction with Mr. Joe Breslin, fifth grade teacher and soon-to-be published author of Other Minds: 13 Tales of Wonder and Sorrow. Surveying the wide umbrella of literature and film termed “sci-fi,” Mr. Breslin helps us understand what makes this genre of literature valuable, interesting, and beautiful. As Mr. Breslin explains, science fiction done well offers a celebration of the human person, showing us in often strange ways what is possible for us as thinking beings. Moreover, by removing us from the humdrum of our ordinary lives and instilling a sense of awe as we experience another world, science fiction can provide new insights into old problems, helping us rediscover the wonder of our own everyday lives. And this is often much needed–for although our world may never be lacking in wonders, we may at times find our weary selves lacking in the wonder to see it. Chapters  1:40 What is science fiction? 2:20 Science fiction vs. fantasy  4:30 Kinds of science fiction Space opera Hard sci-fi Dystopia  Post-apocalyptic  Steampunk  Military  Horror  Classic 11:30 Insights from different genres 13:03 Personal favorites of Mr. Breslin  16:10 Why is science fiction valuable? 17:37 Perception vs. reality  18:27 Anthropology through another lens 19:19 Science fiction as a humanistic kind of literature  22:13 Challenges of writing science fiction  28:45 Mr. Breslin’s own writing 30:30 A common thread: strange encounters 32:32 Self-publishing  34:35 Good fiction infused with Faith  38:38 Why read science fiction?  40:25 A caveat: the danger of focusing on man under a single aspect 42:43 Literature: utility and enjoyment  44:50 Learn more about Mr. Breslin’s work Also on The Forum Modern Literature: On Curating the Contemporary with Michael Ortiz Guiding Our Boys through Modern Literature with Joe Breslin and Lionel Yaceczko Exploring and Expressing the Human Condition through Literature with Michael Ortiz Forum Reviews Additional Resources  Joey Breslin Writes, Mr. Breslin’s writing website

From the boys’ choir in the lower school to the men’s chorus in the upper school, informal performances at faculty dinners to songs at the annual Maryland Day Gala, singing echoes throughout the whole of The Heights experience. This week, we sit down with Mr. Patrick Love, music teacher at The Heights since 2004, to discuss not only when and where we sing at The Heights but why we love to sing so much. As you’ll hear, singing—broadly understood—is at the heart of our school's mission. Cantare amantis est, St. Augustine tells us: singing belongs to the one who loves. And as Arthur Clutton-Brock wrote, “education ought to teach us how to be in love always and what to be in love with.” In educating our boys to become men fully alive, then, we are ultimately helping them to love, to find their voice, and to fall in love with One who sings them into existence. Chapters 3:40 Where does singing happen at The Heights? 4:30 A musical history of The Heights 8:00 Where does singing happen amongst the faculty? 12:27 What motivates us to sing? Why do we sing? 13:45 Only the lover sings 15:30 From The Magician’s Nephew 18:40 Singing: the real deal 21:00 Love, education, and singing at the crossroads 22:23 Fr. Luigi Giussani and the CL Songbook 23:30 Singing in the home 25:28 John Senior 29:45 Cal Newport on technology fasts 31:10 On iTunes 32:46 Singing in the homeroom: teaching as singing 39:00 Singing and silence Also on The Forum Leisure and Acedia: R.J. Snell on Contemplative Homes in a Frenetic Age with R.J. Snell Digital Minimalism: Creating a Philosophy of Personal Technology Use with Cal Newport What Is the Difference between Free Time and Leisure? by Joe Bissex Fall Poems We Love to Memorize by Tom Cox Additional Resources Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation by Josef Pieper In Tune with the World: A Theory of Festivity by Josef Pieper The Risk of Education: Discovering Our Ultimate Destiny by Fr. Luigi Giussani The Restoration of Christian Culture by John Senior Education at the Crossroads by Jacques Maritain The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

This week on HeightsCast we talk with upper school head, Michael Moynihan, about a new initiative of his on the Forum: the Initiative for the Renewal of Science Education. In the episode, Michael discusses the need for a new synthesis in the liberal arts, combining the best of modern science with the wisdom of ages. In particular, he explains how the recent tendency in science education to begin with theory and then proceed to phenomena is unscientific, producing students with a habit of intellectual surrender, rather than the inspiration to become great scientists.

In this week’s episode, we talk with headmaster Alavaro de Vicente about a central theme from our faculty workshop: self-mastery. As Alvaro explains, self-mastery is a certain integration of action, words, thoughts, and desires that gives one the interior freedom to not only do the good but to want to do the good. What does this self-mastery look like for teachers, for students, and for parents? How do we help our boys develop self-mastery? What is the role of a school in assisting parents with this great endeavor?  As man is not made virtuous in a day, Mr. de Vicente encourages us to think long term. At the same, he reminds us to focus on the little things, those small, daily realities where aspiration becomes actuality. In particular, he suggests dress code, punctuality, and language as three battlefields on which we can wage war alongside our sons—not against them—as they grow in interior freedom. Self-mastery, Alvaro explains, is not about mastering the world or others. It is rather about mastery of oneself so as to be able to steward the little piece of creation which the Creator has given us. For some, this may be a team. For others, it could be a whole company or even a country. For most, this will be a family, for whom the father has a special kind of care—a care which is best lived out when he recognizes that he is both a father and the Father’s son.  Chapters 0:57 What is self-mastery? 2:30 The role of the school in developing self-mastery of students  5:00 Practical advice for developing self-mastery in students  6:23 Dress code 9:35 Punctuality 10:30 Language 13:12 School tone and self-mastery 14:54 Advice for teachers 15:45 Armando Valladares and interior freedom 19:20 Trusting our students 22:52 John Henry Cardinal Newman and the education of boys 23:30 Two applications of Newman’s educational philosophy 26:45 Self-mastery and the order of creation  30:00 Living life to the fullest: how self-mastery can help us enjoy life more 31:15 Advice for parents 35:20 Implementing change in the home 39:38 Stories from Alvaro’s upbringing 42:20 Recommended reading 43:50 A question to spark discussion Also on The Forum Respectful Dominion: Colin Gleason on Discipline with Colin Gleason Learn to Turn: Tom Royals on Parental Prudence with Tom Royals Manners: The Art of Happiness by Robert Greving  Why My Computer Science Students Should Master the Guitar by George Martin  Training the Hand to Train the Mind by Robert Greving  Additional Resources A Catholic Eton? Newman’s Oratory School by Paul Shrimpton  Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro’s Gulag by Armando Valladares

In this week's episode we discuss fights. Most boys, especially at a young age, have a beautiful need for rough and tumble physical play. But what happens when it's not play? What happens when egos are insulted and the fists go up? Or when there's an unjust aggression? At what point is a young lad–or an older one–justified in puttin' up his dukes? Teacher and Coach, Kyle Blackmer, gives us some points for consideration as we coach our sons on the use of physical force. In the end, this is another one of those areas where parents–most often, but not always, dad–are the primary educators of boys learning the proper employment of one of God's great gifts: their strength.

In many quarters of contemporary society, busy-ness has become a sort of cliche greeting. To the question “How are you?”, the response, “So busy,” is often automatic. To borrow the words of Dr. R.J. Snell, many of us are conspicuously busy; and we wear our busy-ness as a sort of badge of honor, rooting our worth in our work. In last week’s episode, we talked with Dr. Snell about work and acedia. This week, we round out that episode with a discussion of what is ultimately the point of work, namely leisure. While we may often think of leisure as ordered toward work—we rest so that we may work more—Dr. Snell explains how the reverse is nearer the truth, not only etymologically but also metaphysically. Work is for the sake of leisure, as instrumental goods are for the sake of intrinsic goods. As you’ll hear, if we take the Eucharistic feast seriously on Sunday, then the rest of our days will be caught up into that Eucharastic feast. Monday will be different, for though we may be just as busy as before, our activity will no longer be so frenetic. It may even take on the mysterious rhythm of a divine dance. 0:20 Relationship between leisure and acedia  0:35 Acedia as frenetic busy-ness  1:05 Total work and workaholism 1:44 School as leisure 2:30 Leisure is not an absence of activity   3:02 Sabbath work and goods for their own sake 5:04 Modern education and its discontents  5:52 Education as the feast 6:35 Mistake 1: Not respecting students as sovereign knowers 7:56 Mistake 2: Olympian vision of education 10:55 Overscheduling as a form of acedia 12:05 Conspicuous busy-ness 12:45 A culture of having and doing, rather than being 13:35 Sin as loving a lower good at the expense of a higher good 14:40 Sloth as a flattening of the Sabbath 14:56 Where do we begin? 15:40 Suggestions for the Sabbath 17:00 Sabbath overflowing into the work week 17:30 A Eucharistic life 18:25 Another sort of leisure 18:50 Leisure and contemplation in the work-a-day world 19:20 Living in and approving of the good 20:11 Dance as contemplation 21:53 Backyard sports as contemplation 23:50 A good question for conversation 24:10 What can we do to enjoy our time with each other more? 24:25 Catching the little foxes  Also on The Forum  Work and Acedia: R.J. Snell on Our Original Vocation with R.J. Snell OptimalWork series with Kevin Majeres  What Is the Difference between Free Time and Leisure? by Joe Bissex Additional Resources  Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper In Tune with the World by Josef Pieper Portsmouth Institute  Family, Leisure, and the Restoration of Culture by R.J. Snell Acedia and Its Discontents: Metaphysical Boredom in an Empire of Desire by R.J. Snell Summa Theologiae, II.2.35: Sloth by St. Thomas Aquinas