Classical Education
For those who Classically Educate:
I'm reading Teaching the Trivium and loving it, but I really want to get on the ball here and I am just learning about Classical Education (neither of us were homeschooled that way and I don't personally know anyone who is following this method either).
- What books would you recommend we begin reading with Kathrynne now?
- What books would you recommend that we read to prepare for the future?
- Also, any particular websites you would recommend to help us learn more?
posted by Crystal Paine at 6:32 PM
15 Comments:
I've got 'Teaching the Trivium' by the Bluedorns and it is very helpful for the christian side of things.
I've also got 'The Well Trained Mind' By Susan Wise Bauer. This book is for the "how do I actually do it".
Another super good book to read is 'Climbing Parnassus' by Tracy Lee Simmons.
HTH
Books to read to Katherine would be: 'The Golden Children's Bible'.
A couple of websites to peruse:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/
http://www.memoriapress.com/
There are also yahoogroups that exist for the support, encouragement and learning about classically education like:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LatinClassicalEd/
As a side note, I educate my children in a christian classical way.
I've started reading the book, The Trivium, The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric by Sister Miriam Joseph. I don't know if it's what you're looking for, as it's more an explanation of the foundational aspects of language and learning upon which the Classical Education model is built, rather than a practical how-to book.
When I spoke with a lady earlier this year who teaches in a Classical Christian school, she highly recommended the books Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning by Doug Wilson and
Seven Laws of Teaching by Dorothy Sayers.
I haven't checked into these yet.
She also gave me the website for the Association of Classical Christian Schools. I know you're coming from a homeschool perspective, but they might have some helpful information on the site. I haven't looked over it very extensively.
I would love for you to post more on this as you learn about it! I wasn't taught this way either, but find it very fascinating and would love to know more about how it actually plays out in a homeschool setting.
Crystal,
I don't have an answer to your question, but I had an idea. It would be neat if you picked one day and showed us pictures from "A Day in the Life of Kathrynne"..like showing everything you do in a normal day with her.
Just a suggestion, she is such a doll and so photogenic!
Just a slight correction to Natalie's post. Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning is by Douglas Wilson, but The Seven Laws of Teaching is by John Milton Gregory. I should warn you that the Gregory book comes in more than one version. One version has all the Christian emphases edited out (or a good many of them, anyway.) Better is the unedited version. To see which is which, I'd recommend going to the Canon Press website.
I would only add that Wilson's book is what got me into classical Christian education. It has life-changing impact, and is not only a wise book, but a very well-written book. But it is not a specific curriculum guide, only a general one. It will not necessarily give you wisdom in practical everyday matters.
God bless!
I taught language arts and reading for 14 years before we got our first baby. To prepare a baby for reading, the best and easiest things to do are read anything and everything out loud and sing, sing, sing.
Babies about Kathrynne's age start to appreciate things that rhyme, even if they make no sense (Dr. Seuss). Our oldest son loved One Fist, Two Fish ad nauseum. They also like books with one 'thing' per page; too many 'things' per page are visually overstimulating if you are reading together. If you are reading TO her, you can read whatever you want.
For the singing, sing about everything! If you can't remember folk songs, get some Raffi CDs from the library. If you want Christian songs, we LOVE Gregg Nash's "Songs I want my kids to know". We also really like Rebekah Pearl's "ABC Bible Verse Songs". In our house, we sing about each meal, brushing teeth, getting dressed, putting away toys, going outside, everything! My boys also take a class called We Joy Sing (www.wejoysing.com). It is soooooo fun and so helpful. Ozzie's receptive vocabulary has always been large but now that he's talking, it's amazing how large it really is. The music and the constant exposure to language makes a HUGE difference.
I was going to mention "ABC Bible Verse Songs", too! Here are a few other ideas for the early years:
-Within the next year you might consider ordering the Bluedorn's Greek Alphabet flashcards. We "sing" them to the tune of "twinkle twinkle little star."
-Play classical music throughout the day.
-Start a routine for visiting the library. Bring home many books!
-Encourage creativity with everything from Play-Doh to dress-up, and other imaginative activities.
You may find that you would like to blend classical education with the Charlotte Mason method. (discussed on pgs 280-281 in the Trivium book.) What I really love about the Charlotte Mason method is the emphasis on nature study.
Enjoy the journey!
Thanks ladies...good info! I don't know much about this myself but am interested in finding out more. I'm going to see if my library has any of these books you've recommended.
Crystal, you've always got helpful stuff on here!
Your already reading my favorite! :) Teaching the Trivium...the Bluedorn's do list Five In a Row in their resource list, so you may want to look at the booklist for Before Five in a Row, they are sweet stories! :)
for those of us who haven't heard of classical education, would you like to add a threat summarising and explaining exactly what this is? thanks! :)
Actually in the 5th grade I went to a school that had classical education.
I think I mentioned before that I studied Latin in the 5th grade and middle school. I didn't go to a private school, it was public. I don't know if you know what it is, but I went to what is called a magnet school. This particular magnet school specialized in classical education. The school I went to now even has uniforms; they didn't do that when I was there. Of course not all things in a modern day public school can be taught through a classical model. Of course we had the regular DARE (anyone want to talk about a BIG waste of tax payer dollars? DARE was horribly useless! I’m sure all non-home school graduates here would agree.) And sex ed classes just like everyone else.
It has its advantages and disadvantages. I certainly wouldn't have a problem with Austyn being educated that way. If I were to home school, I would use a combination between modern and classical ways.
Could somebody tell me the differences between classical and modern forms of teaching?
-Zan
I have homeschooled for over 10 years now and I think that the Heart of Wisdom teaching approach is by far the best. It's main focus is the Bible and so you can spring so much off of it. On the web site you can see for yourself just what an education is and compare it to the "world/roman" method or the Biblical method of teaching a child. The Hebrews had it down pretty good in my humble opinion.
I also would suggest that no one should really peg themselves in a hole with a label....there are many good resources and I think you just have to research and look for the best material on a subject (whatever it might be....not just a book!) and go for it!!! Education is life!!! Live it well! :-)
I plan on starting to collect books from Veritas Press for our children (14mos & 38 weeks in utero). Especially some of the illustrated Bible curricula. We have one book of this sort, but I don't like the theological approach to this particular title. We read a few questions from the Westminster Shorter Catechism too.
www.veritaspress.com
Right now, I'm just reading a variety of books to Ethan (14 mos) (Sandra Boynton has some really fun ones) and he just loves looking and listening to them when I read them to him. I find him often in his play area sitting quietly looking at them and gingerly turning the pages. We listen to a good deal of baroque music during the day (Vivaldi especially lately). And, of course, trying to maintain a schedule and order during the day is helpful too.
The advice I've been given by older Classical homeschool moms is to work on character and self-governance at this early age, and to develop a love for reading and an ability to sit still. (Of course, I have boys, so I will have to be careful to let them rough and tumble too so they are not frustrated).
Thank you for this post Crystal and thanks everyone for your input. I have had the same questions as Crystal and this information is incredible!
Julie
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