Classical Christian education is unique in that it seeks to faithfully restore the most proven form of education ever developed. This educational system was developed over two millennia with the goal of developing young minds to be wise. Classical education produced the greatest thinkers, leaders, and scientists in the Western world from the time of the Greeks until the late 19th century (including America's founding fathers). From the heritage of America's Ivy League colleges and classical day schools, leaders in every field continue to emerge from the legacy of classical education.
What makes classical Christian education so effective?
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First, it is based on what has been called the Trivium. No matter how your child learns, he or she goes through three phases of development:
In grades K-6, students are excellent at memorizing. They learn chants, songs and rhythmic verses well and can be taught an enormous amount of information, much of which is retained for a lifetime.
In grades 7-8, students become more argument-oriented. Their ability to draw conclusions from a series of facts begins to develop. They are ready to be taught logic and critical thinking.
In grades 9-12, students become independent thinkers and communicators particularly concerned with their appearance to others. To this end, classical education teaches them rhetoric, the art of speaking, communicating, and writing.
American Christian School integrates subjects like literature, history, language, art, math, and science. Students read the great works of Western literature and philosophy. Classical languages (Latin and Greek) help students understand and think with greater depth about the world around them. Formal logic and rhetoric help students become great leaders and communicators. Classical teaching methods range from class lectures, to debates, to Socratic (discussion-oriented) teaching. Independent learning skills are sharpened at all grade levels.
Is classical Christian education still relevant? Yes, more now than ever. Our world is accelerating as technological, cultural, and geo-political forces reshape our daily lives. The subject matter and skills required in the market are evolving and changing rapidly. However, thinking, articulate people are always in demand. Those who are able to acquire new skills rapidly and independently are sought after regardless of the field. Classical Christian education has a proven track record of turning out these types of students.
Overview of Classical Education
Those who assume that methods used for millennia can be dismissed within a generation forget that time is the best laboratory, especially regarding human behavior.
It has taken modern educators only 50 years to disassemble an educational system that took thousands of years to refine and establish. The classical method was born in ancient Greece and Rome, and by the 16th century, it was used throughout the Western world. This system educated most of America's founding fathers as well as the world's philosophers, scientists and leaders between the 10th and 19th centuries. What other period can claim so many advances in science, philosophy, art, and literature?
Why Classical Education?
For education to be effective, it must go beyond conveying facts. Truly effective education cultivates thinking and articulate students who are able to develop facts into arguments and convey those arguments clearly and persuasively. Parents from Seattle to Orlando to New York City are recognizing that classical education adds the dimension and breadth needed to develop students’ minds. Rigorous academic standards, a dedication to order and discipline, and a focus on key, lost subjects is fueling the rapid growth of the nation's classical schools.
There is no greater task for education than to teach students how to learn. The influence of progressive teaching methods and the oversimplification of textbooks make it difficult for students to acquire the mental discipline that traditional instruction methods once cultivated. The classical method develops independent learning skills on the foundation of language, logic, and tangible fact. The classical difference is clear when students are taken beyond conventionally taught subjects and asked to apply their knowledge through logic and clear expression.
In 1947, Dorothy Sayers, a pioneer in the return to classical education, observed, "although we often succeed in teaching our pupils 'subjects,' we fail lamentably on the whole in teaching them how to think." Beyond subject matter, classical education develops those skills that are essential in higher education and throughout life - independent scholarship, critical thinking, logical analysis, and a love for learning.
We hope you agree that this movement back to and beyond classical education develops timeless skills that are as important in today's rapidly changing world as they were to our founding fathers.
