First and foremost, who is this author, Rebekah Merkle? Rebekah Merkle is a joyful soul, a smiling wife to one, a zany mom to five, and a Christ follower who is living her dreams with winsomeness and a quality sense of humor. Even if you do not long for more tools on the subject of classical education, her book would be worth reading. As a classically-taught daughter of Doug Wilson and a high school Humanities teacher, Mrs. Merkle shares a unique perspective on the value of classical Christian education that any pizza-loving, music-blaring teenage sports fan might appreciate.
The book is brief and effective, with plenty of fun. Busy parents can ingest the content between the changing of "hats," pondering concepts, and quotes to share at critical moments of opportunity. Whether the reader is a teenager or the parent of a teen, this thin volume is worthy of savoring between its witty words, intriguing questions, and occasional "off the wall" pictures.
The first three chapters present the big ideas in classical education in a conversational yet thought-provoking way. Then follows seven chapters focusing on specific subjects: Latin, literature, logic, rhetoric, worldview analysis, math, and history. Have you ever heard these words muttered (or whined . . . ): "Why do I have to learn this? When will I ever use this again?" If so, you will be encouraged and maybe even delighted by Merkle's answers.
Offering tasty tidbits of thought, she reveals the secret "sauce" growing from the daily drills. She does not shy away from the hard questions and potential pitfalls (modeling the refutation we teach in effective persuasive writing). She encourages, "The facts you are being taught are not the end goal of learning, any more than the wall sit is the end goal of basketball" (page 33). This book scores point after successful point.
Bottom line: Mrs. Merkle is a parent and a teacher who wants what many of us desire for our children and students. On our behalf, she explains, "They want you to be anchored, to know who your people are, to fight for the right causes, to be wise, and to leave the world a better place than you found it" (page 68).
Cheri Lawler is the sassy and sometimes tired mother of seven successful and engaging children, ages 25 to 9, one or more of whom have been a student at Logos Online School since 2013. She is gratefully in her fifth year of teaching English 1 at LOS.