The Classical Method of Learning

Talk to any homeschool mom and one of the first questions she'll ask you is "what method do you use?". Well, here's your answer: we use the classical method.

I've always loved the classical method of learning. The classical method began in the Middle Ages and was the approach used to educate some of the greatest minds in history. This approach teaches the student how to learn for themselves. The five tools of learning, known as the trivium, are reason, record, research, relate and rhetoric.

In the grammar stage, (grades K-5) the students minds are like sponges. They soak up information and absorb facts, facts and more facts. Contrary to the modern disdain for it, there is absolutely nothing wrong with an emphasis on knowing by heart and mastering important information during this stage of learning. Whereas it is dull and laborious later, young children can easily retain information and love to display their mastery of it. The students are basically taught the grammar (words, definitions, etc.) of the core subjects. They memorize math facts, history timelines, definitions used in various subjects. The idea here is to hammer in a 'peg' that they can come back to in the later stages to 'hang' further information on as they learn. Mastering the facts gives the student the foundation of further understanding.

During the next stage, the dialectic stage, also known as the logic stage, (grades 6-8) students will spend much of their time doing some serious reading, writing, studying and research. During the dialectic stage the student’s capacity for formal reasoning develops. So why not stick the peg where it fits? This is the stage when learning facts is not enough. Questioning and arguing is commonplace, and often even a nuisance. Children reaching this age are eager to challenge ideas and exercise their newly developing reasoning abilities. Learning formal logic and the correct methods of reasoning fit in this stage like hand-in-glove. Logic, as a subject, matches the structure of their developing minds. Amazingly, classical and Christian schools have been quite successful in teaching college level logic to eighth graders (including formal syllogisms, fallacies, truth tables, and digital logic)!

All of the tools come together in the rhetoric stage, (grades 9-12) where communication is the primary focus. They learn the skills of wise and effective presentation in language. Rhetorical skill is the culmination of the process of learning. It brings knowledge and understanding together to be expressed in a wise, persuasive form.

If you'd like to read more about Classical Education, I would recommend the following books:
The Well Trained Mind (Jesse Wise)
The Well Educated Mind (Susan Wise Bauer)
Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning (Douglas Wilson)
Teaching the Trivium (Harvie and Laurie Bluedorn)

To Be Educated

If I learn my ABC's, can read 600 words per minute, and can write with perfect penmanship, but have not been shown how to communicate with the Designer of all language, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can deliver an eloquent speech and persuade you with my stunning logic, but have not been instructed in God's wisdom, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I have read Shakespeare and John Locke and can discuss their writings with keen insight, but have not read the greatest of all books – the Bible - and have knowledge of its personal importance, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I have memorized addition facts, multiplication tables, and chemical formulas, but have never been disciplined to hide God's Word in my heart, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can explain the law of gravity and Einstein's theory of relativity, but have never been instructed in the unchangeable laws of the One Who orders our universe, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can classify animals by their family, genus and species, and can write a lengthy scientific paper that wins an award, but have not been introduced to the Maker's purpose for all creation, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can recite the Gettysburg Address and the Preamble to the Constitution, but have not been informed of the hand of God in the history of our country, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can play the piano, the violin, six other instruments, and can write music that moves men to tears, but have not been taught to listen to the Director of the universe and worship Him, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can run cross-country races, star in basketball and do 100 push-ups without stopping, but have never been shown how to bend my spirit to do God's will, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can identify a Picasso, describe the style of da Vinci, and even paint a portrait that earns an A+, but have not learned that all harmony and beauty comes fro a relationship with God, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I graduate with a perfect 4.0 and am accepted at the best university with a full scholarship, but have not been guided into a career of God's choosing for me, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I become a good citizen, voting at each election and fighting for what is moral and right, but have not been told of the sinfulness of man and his hopelessness without Christ, I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

However, if one day I see the world as God sees it, and come to know Him, Who to know is life eternal, and glorify God by fulfilling His purpose for me, THEN, I HAVE BEEN EDUCATED!