For most young men in their late-teen years, most of their tutelage to that point was done by women. While appropriate, as Christians we also recognize that men and women are different with unique means to the shared end of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever. King Alfred’s Hall creates space for the young man to build on his strong foundation under the guidance of a Christian male tutor.

This is no criticism of home educating moms who often do the herculean task of laying a strong foundation for future studies (something my wife does, too). Neither is it a rebuke of dads who, due to their work schedule, are not able to participate as the primary instructor of their young children. This seems to be both a natural and appropriate approach.


Related to this, young men must also learn how to engage with - agreeing and disagreeing - their male peers. This dynamic is different than when a young man and a young woman disagree (or agree) on an issue. Learning how to conduct himself in co-educational environments is important, but this male, peer-to-peer interaction is key in this season, too.

This opportunity is designed for Christian young men who are practicing and maturing in their faith. Since one of the foundational principles is that education is discipleship, it is not set up to confront or convince rebellious young men.

There is also an assurance given to the families allowing me to tutor their sons that the peers in the cohort will not be working against our shared goals of seeing young men mature through their studies into adulthood.

Over the 30 weeks of meeting, the young man can anticipate 450-500 hours of work, which includes the reading, writing, researching, and live class meetings. This would provide a workload of about 5 credits, 1 for each discipline studied (History, Bible, Philosophy, Theology, and Literature).