Definition of Classical Education
Would someone who is much more educated and experienced like to weigh in on the definition of Classical Education? There have been some questions raised regarding my last post as to what it is and how it differs from traditional education. All thoughts welcome.
posted by Crystal Paine at 1:50 PM
4 Comments:
I don't know about being all that educated and experienced, but I've read a good deal about classical Christian education. I would define it in the following manner.
Its purpose: know more about God.
Its philosophy: Christ is Lord of all knowledge, including such "supposedly" neutral subjects as mathematics. If Christ is not Lord of the universe, then two plus two is not four. There is no such thing as morally neutral education in any subject whatsoever. Christian education must be totally Christ-centered.
Its methodology: follows that outlined in Dorothy Sayers' article The Lost Tools of Learning. Grammar in the Poll-parrot stage, Dialectic in the Pert stage, and Rhetoric in the Poetic stage. A more biblical terminology is: knowledge in the Poll-parrot, understanding in the Pert, wisdom in the Poetic. Also important to classical Christian education is the Latin language, usually begun about the third grade. Latin teaches many many useful things. Classical Christian education makes use of original sources, and, suprisingly enough, the classic works.
I like this summary given by Alyssa: "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."
It may not be technical, but it is accurate.
Very good summary Adrian! :)
However being a follower of the Bluedorn's methods, even more so important than Latin would be Greek, and then Hebrew, and thirdly Latin.
And these languages are best learned before age 10 as a spoken language the same way we learn English as little tykes. :)
Then the alphabets around ages 5-8, then onto the grammar of those languages around age 10-12.
Definition:
Classical Education follows the trivium: ie grammar stage, logic stage and Rhetoric stage. Each child will naturally progress through these stages. It's how we are made and designed to acquire knowledge.
In the grammar stage children spend most of their time learning the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics.
I'm only just moving into the Logic stage with my oldest child so I am still getting the hang of this. I haven't got to the Rhetoric - one day, one day.
Languages:
Phonics, the fundamental requirement for all literacy. It really is true that you can teach a child to read with 70 phonograms, a few spelling rules and a few syllable rules.
Once a child has mastered phonics and is reading well - languages are introduced. Introduce 1 language at a time and wait for the child to be comfortable with that language before adding another. We are in our second year of Latin and are about to add NT Greek ( one child has already done some Greek, which was before we did Latin ).
I have found that Latin and NT Greek teach grammar far better than an English workbook would. It trains the mind to memory and particular attention to detail.
English:
To learn to write better, one should learn and imitate great writing.
What I currently do is read from a classical story with very good English ( none of these dumbed down books one finds in local bookstores - some sentences have been known to have over 30 words ), then I choose a small passage as copywork for the child to copy. Thus they learn spelling, punctuation, mechanics, style etc... After this they may "imitate" the work in their own words, ie. narration.
History:
Even though this is not the main focus of true classical education it is very good as a content filler. Sometimes the means equal the end.
I currently use SOTW as the main spine and supplement with other resources.
When doing History one should include these areas:
1. One should read a lot about each topic.
2. The child should outline and narrate on what has been read.
3. They should illustrate their work.
4. They should use maps.
5. They should use timelines.
6. They should define unknown words, make glossaries, build vocabulary.
7. Write short biographies and narrations on specific people and events.
By adding all these different components a child will build skills required for literacy and understanding of the bigger world.
Anyway, these are just some thoughts off the top of my head in regards to Classical Education as I view it.
Of course my view has been painted by others - from what I've been exposed to and read from.
Compare this type of schooling to what takes place in a public school.
Well, where do I start? - oh the many places we could go~!!
However, what I really do want to say at this point is that public schools always cater to the lowest common denominator and they LOVE busy work - work that has no real meaning or does not teach real academic skill.
Hope this gives a little more of an insight
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