Why is Classical Education Important?

Classical Education requires the methods change with changes in a child’s mental development. The first stage is often referred to as the preschool years (ages birth to about three years old). During this stage, the child learns to talk and gain a cognitive understanding of the world around them. Somewhere between three and five, most children enter into what is called the pre-Polly or Phonic stage. Students in this stage are excited about learning, enjoy games and stories, have tremendous memory skills, but also have short attention spans. The Classical method makes use of, and takes into consideration, these characteristics in teaching children.

The phonics class is filled with games, songs, chants, and body movements. Games like “popcorn,” can keep a kindergartener focused on his reading. The catchy Skip Counting Songs teach the times tables long before a child has mastered addition. Catechisms can effortlessly not only teach basic Christian theology, but also science and history. Shurley English chants and jingles enable a student to identify the parts of speech in a sentence as they master their writing skills. Self-control and attention spans are systematically improved through practice and class structure.

By the end of the phonic stage, a child will have a strong foundation to build upon. Students should be fluent readers, though comprehension may lag behind. Literature will progress from simple and often silly stories to informative and entertaining books. All the basics of arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) will be understood, but mastery will not come until the next stage of the Trivium. Penmanship, sentence structure, and the eight parts of speech are being developed through extensive use in a myriad of subjects.

The mental tools fashioned in these early years are still clumsy and slow. They lack the tempering and strengthening that comes with the Grammar school. The student still lack the sharpened edges put on during the Logic stage. Comfortable handles, polishing, and the ornate coverings of a keen mind will not be added until Rhetoric is mastered. Still, what is learned will be used the rest of the child’s life.

The classical method emphasizes stages of development rather than the chronological age of a child. Consequently, most students begin the transition to the Grammar stage sometime in second grade and are fully in the Grammar stage by the end of third. Students in this stage love to explain and figure out. While most people enjoy talking, at this stage, children love to talk, just to talk. They love chants and clever repetitious words (e.g. Dr. Seuss, riddles, knock-knock jokes, etc.). They like collections and organizing everything (except their bedrooms and desks). Memorization is still very easy but will begin to require more effort as the child ages into the logic phase.

In the Phonic stage, we teach the basic skills needed to learn (i.e., reading, writing, and the concept of numbers). The Grammar phase is all about memorizing, collecting, organizing, and categorizing information. In English, we require the student to memorize the parts of speech, so that when they have collected the pertinent information and organized it, they can structure a sentence and paragraphs into something that can be understood by others. In math, we require memorization of math facts and formulas so a student can collect the right information, identify a usable algorithm, and then put that information into a useable format to find new information. In science, we talk about major categories of things that God has created. Then, we organize, subcategorize, reorganize, and recategorize to gain a better understand and appreciation of the world around us. Ultimately, the Grammar stage, teaches languages – the language of English, Latin, math, science, history, music, etc. As the student begins to master these languages, we can begin to have meaningful discussions, make appropriate applications, and think meaningfully in each of these disciplines.

By the end of the Grammar stage the student should have all the kindling required to start a good-sized fire. But more importantly, they should know exactly how to find more wood for the fire of the mind. As students enters the Logic stage, they will begin to understand that education is a lifelong endeavor and can be as much fun as it is useful.

The questioning, contradicting, got-to-be right attitude of the Logic stage is God-given to help a child make the shift from the concrete to the abstract, from child to adolescent. Throughout the Grammar stage, the Classical curriculum pushes the child beyond the surface truths to an underlying message. For example, in third grade, a cute story of a pig and a spider (Charlotte’s Web) is really a story about friendship and how real friends behave. In the logic stage, thinking well takes priority, and thinking well often means thinking abstractly. By abstract thought, I mean seeing multiple meanings and applications to a principle or thought. Teaching how to think is the essence of any true education, and it is in this area that modern education often fails. In nearly every area of life, a student should be challenged to question, argue, find errors, and seek truth. Irrational, emotional thinking should be confronted, while reasoned arguments and questions should be explored and applauded.

For the majority of logic students, this is a somewhat painful transformation. Gone are the simple, obvious, one sentence answers. Now, multipart questions and paragraphs become the norm. Math morphs a few simple math properties (e.g., the identity property, associative property, etc.) into something far more complicated called Algebra. English moves from the mastery of grammar into the much more nebulous and difficult art of writing. Even science, which in the grammar phase was so very straight forward, demonstrates a level of complexity that has boggled the mind of modern scientists.

The linchpin for developing a Christian worldview and the cognitive skills needed as an adult is the Omnibus class. Starting in 7th grade and continuing through 12th, students will spend a large part of their school day on the Omnibus curriculum. Omnibus combines history, literature, and theology into one class. It has been described as a great books course, but it is much more than that. Students will cover 15 books each year and be expected to read between 25 to 50 pages nightly. Every book has either great historical, literary, or religious significance for western civilization. The Bible is central to the study of each of these books, and students will read multiple books of the Bible interspersed among the other 15. The class is principally taught using the Socratic method, where the ideas of the greatest human minds (both Christian and secular) are discussed and explored. The student is constantly challenged to evaluate the author’s thoughts and the American culture in the light of the Bible.

I would like to end with a word of caution to parents that send their children through a Classical curriculum. One of the main teaching objectives of Classical education is to teach student how to argue and to argue well. They will learn how people are manipulated through propaganda and emotional arguments and how to persuade thoughtful people using sound logic. In the process, parents should expect to have their own ideas and positions challenged, hopefully tempered with the appropriate degree of respect.

There are many opinions as to what stage of education is most important, but few will argue that the high school years are the most critical.   Decisions and scholastic efforts made during this time can have lifechanging effects – for good or ill.  The older adolescent increasingly desires their independence (i.e., being able to make their own choices) and the respect of their peers.  These desires can easily lead to poor decisions without due consideration of the consequences.  Parents should strive to cultivate prudence and wisdom in their young adults so the decisions they make at crucial times are good.  However, attentive parents know that our culture, their peers, the entertainment industry, and even the education system is working against raising a well-educated, wise, and virtuous adult.  For parents who place a paramount value on raising “godly” children, classical education can make the difference. This may seem to be a pretty big boast, but it is not.  We differ significantly from every other school in Fayetteville on what we teach, how we teach it, and from whom your young adult is learning.

 Our students read and grapple with the great books and minds that have shaped Western Civilization.  Original source documents and great literature provide an understanding of the world that cannot be obtained through a third-party source.  Some authors our students read are pagans or atheist writing from a very different perspective of life and the world.  Many are Christians with an understanding of God that can challenge and broaden a perception of who the Triune God is.  But every author and book has had a profound impact on the world we live in today.

 What the students read and are taught provide the fodder to think deeply about the important issues in life and the values of our culture.   Much of the curriculum is taught Socratically, meaning students learn through answering open-ended questions and teacher led discussions.  As the young scholar wrestles with questions on ethics, politics, economics, culture, and religion, he gains a deeper understanding of the topic at hand.  Each student is encouraged to bring the cultural and biblical questions home to discuss with their parents.  Parents can use these discussions to further help shape your child’s worldview.  On every topic the student is pointed back to the Bible and shown what history teaches on these subjects.

 Finally, the classroom culture is designed to foster a strong Christian environment.  Students are expected to be socially gracious with a principled demeanor.  Class sizes for upper grades are small to facilitate discussions and a sense of cohesion.  The workload is sufficiently taxing as to teach diligence and self-discipline. Students will regularly read 25 to 75 pages a night, answer questions, and write a grammatically correct essay.  Parents can expect from 20 to 30 Math problems daily.

 This Classical Christian model does a superb job of preparing the student for either work or college.  The graduate will have a solid Biblical worldview of history, ethics, economics, the American government, literature, and our culture.  Ultimately your child will be highly educated and equipped to serve their Savior, homes, church, vocation, and communities.