Why Classical Education?

What is Classical Education and why have I chosen that over other methods of learning? I really embraced the Classical style of education before I even really understood it completely. During seminary, my husband taught at a local Christian school that used the Classical method and he loved it-- he saw how it worked!

The only thing I really knew when I first started was that it was a method that really embraced great literature and studied all subjects as a whole, not taken out of context. Since then, I've done a lot of reading and research on the method (probably too much!) and have a much better understanding of what it really is. I am nowhere near an expert, and I really can't tell you from any kind of personal experience how it all works out. I just know I'm going to use it as a base for choosing my curriculum, and go from there. If I have to stray in order for my kids to get the best education, I will, but for right now, this is what I want to stick with.

The best place to get a quick overview online is: classical-homeschooling.org

From that website: "The word “trivium” comes from the Latin prefix “tri” meaning “three,” and the Latin root “via” meaning “way,” or “road.” The word literally means “the three-fold way or road.” The trivium refers to the three stages, or ways, of learning that coincide with a child’s cognitive development as he matures. We should begin an in-depth look at the trivium--the three stages of learning--by reminding ourselves that the trivium is not some arbitrary theory of teaching methodology or new fad of learning philosophy. Rather, the trivium was developed by long trial and error, through the observation of the ancients in the way children learn during the whole course of their instruction from young child to young adult. They realized that time after time, they followed three stages in the learning process. They simply pointed out what was obviously there; what God had designed: that there are three stages, which they named Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric; and they progress in that order."

It goes on to say (in my own words) that the Trivium is composed of 3 phases: the Grammar Stage (grades 1-6), the Dialectic Stage (grades 7-9), and the Rhetoric Stage (grades 10-12). (I haven't even really thought too much past the grammar stage at this point, and don't know if we'll homeschool that long or not, but I can still try to explain those to the best of my ability!) In the Grammar Stage, students concentrate mainly on memorizing facts. Sure, they will learn them in context so they can understand them, but if you think about it, young kids are much better able to memorize things than we are as adults. So we focus on lists and rules and facts. Then in the Dialectic stage (sometimes referred to as Logic), instead of just facts, we start teaching more why and how-- essentially, we teach them how to argue using what they have learned. Pre-teens naturally tend to argue anyway, so why not take advantage of that phase and teach them how to do it academically? In the Rhetoric Stage, we then start to focus more on being able to regurgitate, or express what they are learning.

If you think about it, anyone learning something new goes through these three stages as well. "A baby learning his native language starts with vocabulary first (the grammar stage), advancing on to stringing that vocabulary together in meaningful ways (the dialectic stage), and ending with finally becoming proficient in completely expressing his thought in the common standard of language usage (the rhetoric stage.)"

Did you know that less than 50% of American high school students graduate as proficient readers, and less than 15% graduate as proficient mathematicians. (In fact, only 60% of high school seniors even graduated from high school in 2006!) In contrast, back in the days of one-room community schoolhouses, our country had proficient literacy rates of over 90%-- 1st graders were in the same room as 7th graders & children attended school only a few months out of the year. (This is from Leigh Bortins' book The Core.) Schools today have set their standards so much lower, that even if a student is getting A's, they still don't know half as much as students their age in the early 1900's. A lot more could be said-- but basically I have been made a believer that education works the way it has been done for thousands of years!

Here are some of the great books I've read:

Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style (Bluedorn)

The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Wise & Bauer)


The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education (Bortins)

Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning (Wilson)


The Case for Classical Christian Education (Wilson)


Helpful online articles:

Intro. to Classical Education

Ten Things to Do With Your Child Before Age 10

My next post will help understand what this whole method will look like in our homeschool.