What is Classical Christian Education?
Classical education is a time-tested method of training children in wisdom and virtue, by nurturing the soul on truth, goodness, and beauty. In the Christian tradition, we understand that these ultimately come from God.
The Classical Difference
Character Formation
Knowledge without character is worthless. Worse, it can make us into "cleverer devils," as C.S. Lewis put it. Thus, we seek to cultivate wisdom and virtue rather than simply fill the head with knowledge.
Integrated Curriculum
Since all knowledge coheres in Christ, we teach subjects with an integrated framework. Science connects to Art, History to Literature, Mathematics to Philosophy, and back again. The goal is to produce well-rounded thinkers.
Liberal Arts
The arts which make a person free, the "Liberal Arts" contribute to a well-trained mind. We employ the Trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric to help students move from introductory knowledge to mastery of a subject.
Great Books
From Homer and Plato to Twain and Tolkien, students read and discuss the great books which have shaped Western culture and civilization. We train them to read literature with delight and discernment.
What is the goal of classical education?
“Education is not primarily a heady project concerned with providing information; rather, education is most fundamentally a matter of formation, a task of shaping and creating a certain kind of people.”
James K. A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom, p. 26.
The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, to imitate him, to be like him.
(John Milton, Of Education)
The Trivium
Grammar
This stage introduces students to the basic building blocks of knowledge. Using songs, chants, and rhymes, the goal is to get children to soak up as much knowledge as they can, and have fun doing it.
Logic
This stage invites big questions and encourages hearty debates. Helping students to think logically through dialogue and discussion, we teach them to argue as skillfully as they can, and have fun doing it.
Rhetoric
Learning to persuade an audience is an essential leadership skill, whether the audience is a friend group, your family, a corporation, or a nation. The trivium culminates by teaching students the art of persuasion.