Cultivating truth, goodness, and beauty grounded in the Christian worldview
Cultivating truth, goodness, and beauty grounded in the Christian worldview
The Stonehaven School’s new 'Lords & Ladies' program seeks to form the heads, hands, and hearts of our fifth and sixth grade students. This program seeks to accomplish two goals: (1) carving out space for boys to be together with other boys, and space for girls to be together with other girls; and (2) creating opportunities for students to engage in forms of learning that take them outside of a traditional classroom setting to pursue virtue as they acquire new skills and talents. By exposing students to a wide range of activities, we hope every child will gain at least one new interest that could become a lifelong passion or hobby.
Lords & Ladies meets one afternoon per week for a 75-minute block. The “old-world” theme of many of these activities creates distinctive opportunities in line with our classical, Christian mission. Other areas of integration include instruction in habits and manners (e.g., lunch service) virtue (e.g., gratitude, respect, and responsibility), and culture/relationship training (e.g., friendship skills).
In Genesis 1:27 we are told that our Creator God created us “male and female” (cf. Matt 19:4). From the first chapter of the Bible, God makes it clear that he has created men and women with distinct and complementary natures and roles. Even though we possess many similarities (noses, feet, and brains), we are created with differences that don’t mark our inferiorities but rather our unique callings in service to the Lord.
In a time when our culture has increasingly lost its vision for what it means to be men and women, Stonehaven seeks to acknowledge, nurture, and cultivate these two natures in a way that can help our children appreciate and embody these complementary roles in a true, good, and beautiful way.
We seek to train our boys to fulfill their vocation as men in the contexts of family, church, and world. Throughout Scripture, we see that men are called to be progenitors who initiate life as leaders and heads of families (cf. Gen 1:28; Gen 2:18-25; Ps 127:4-6; Prov 18:22; Eph 5:22-33), providers who toil on behalf of life (cf. Gen 1:29-30; Gen 2:15; Gen 3:17-19), and protectors who defend life sacrificially (cf. Eph 5:25). These godly men will be characterized by love, responsibility, integrity, honor, courage, humility, and perseverance. Our “Lords” programs therefore seeks to challenge young men to learn and acquire these virtues through a variety of fun activities that form physical strength, mental toughness, and spiritual fortitude.
We seek to train our girls to fulfill their vocation as women in the contexts of family, church, and world. Throughout Scripture, we see that women are called to be perfect counterparts to men (cf. Gen 2:18-21; 1 Cor 11:7-9; Eph 5:22-33), bringing new life into the world (cf. Gen 3:16) and filling it with goodness, truth, and beauty (cf. Prov 31:10-31; 1 Tim 5:10). These godly women will become icons of holiness (cf. Eph 5:26; 1 Tim 2:15), hospitality (Prov 31:20; 1 Tim 5:10), industriousness (cf. Prov 31:13-14), modesty (cf. 1 Tim 2:9-10), meekness (cf. Eph 5:24; 1 Tim 2:11), respect (Ephesians 5:22), and faithfulness (cf. Song 8:6-7; 1 Tim 2:15). Inspired by the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason, our “Ladies” program seeks to challenge young women to learn and acquire these virtues through fun activities that form habits of attention, perseverance, and creativity.