Hello Friend,
One of the best things to do as a family is to read classic children’s literature.
These stories teach profound lessons in a way that produces wonder and delight in the young and old alike.
And today, when so many schools are closed and parents are home from work, you have a special opportunity to enjoy and learn from these great stories.
For this reason and more, Hillsdale College is launching a new free online course titled “Classic Children’s Literature.”
While most agree that reading to the young is vital, the trouble is knowing where to begin.
Thousands of children’s books are published each year. Most are boring and uninspiring. Some are even vile.
Only a rare few are capable of entertaining and instructing in the best things.
This new free online course aims to help parents and grandparents identify the best stories.
In the course, you will study eight of the best examples of children’s literature, including Aesop’s Fables, Beauty and the Beast, Treasure Island, and The Wind in the Willows.
With the help of supporters like you, Hillsdale College has been producing free online courses for a decade, and I ask for your support once again as we prepare to release this latest course, “Classic Children’s Literature.”
“Classic Children’s Literature” is especially important because many of the greatest children’s stories have been revised or ignored.
Modern children’s literature often presents a distorted view of reality that minimizes the danger, sacrifice, or trouble that can be involved in doing good.
Thus these modern stories fail to teach children—and adults—profound lessons that stretch beyond their own experiences.
Friend, these defects in children’s literature today proceed from the widespread belief that education is something we do to the young. Rather, education is something we do with the young—and they do most of the work!
Children have a great desire to know about the world and the goodness of things. The best children’s literature helps them do so in ways that are vivid and clear.
We must restore the proper understanding of education. One way is to read the best books to our children.
This new free online course is a good place to begin. Great children’s stories prepare the hearts and minds of the young to lead lives of virtue.
But, Friend, we need your help to make this course a success.
“Classic Children’s Literature” will launch at the end of this month, and I ask for your help in promoting it far and wide—especially to families who suddenly find themselves homeschooling.
We produce free online courses like “Classic Children’s Literature,” as we do all of our work while refusing to accept ONE PENNY of government funding—not even indirectly in the form of federal or state student grants or loans. So, your support is essential to this effort.
With your tax-deductible gift today, we can enroll thousands of families in “Classic Children’s Literature.”
And, your gift will help support Hillsdale’s other vital educational outreach efforts, such as the Center for Teacher Excellence and the Barney Charter School Initiative, which work to restore excellence to K-12 education nationwide.
Because this course is so vital to our future, and because of the unique circumstances we find ourselves in, we have set a goal to invest $200,000 in the promotion of “Classic Children’s Literature,” which we must raise by May 16.
It’s an ambitious goal, but one I know we can reach with your help.
So please help promote this new online course in this critical year for America, by giving your best gift right now. I’ve included a secure link for you to make your tax-deductible gift below:
https://secured.hillsdale.edu/hillsdale/support-classic-childrens-literature
Thank you for helping us share this valuable opportunity to learn from the best stories with America’s children and their families.
Warm regards,
Larry P. Arnn
President, Hillsdale College
Pursuing Truth—Defending Liberty since 1844