The Classical Model
What is "classical, Christian education"?
The classical, Christian model of education has been used throughout the growth of Christianity until the modern era. Classical education trained such fine minds as Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson, and C. S. Lewis.
Many school and home educators are working hard to recapture this model.
The classical model divides learning into three stages known as the Trivium (Latin for "three roads"). These three stages of learning are grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric.
The Grammar Stage: Soaking in Knowledge
The first step in learning any subject is to learn the vocabulary. For example, when you learn to read, you learn the names of the letters and the sounds they make. When you learn mathematics, you memorize multiplication tables. Classical educators call this the grammar stage. Young children enjoy this phase; they love repeating songs, chanting rhymes, and pronouncing big words. We capitalize on their enjoyment by teaching young students the grammar of many subjects, using songs and chants and practicing with friends.
Foundations is the Classical Conversations grammar-stage program. In this program, students receive the building blocks for later learning in science, math, geography, Latin, English grammar, history, fine arts, and public speaking.
The Dialectic Stage: Growing in Understanding
The second step in learning a subject is to sort, compare, and understand the words and the rules that apply to them. For example, students will move beyond reciting the timeline of history to understanding why Julius Caesar invaded Britain. Students will move beyond chanting the multiplication tables to more abstract concepts like algebra. We call this stage the dialectic stage because much of the work done in this process is accomplished through dialogue. Children generally enjoy this process most between the ages of ten and thirteen.
Classical Conversations nurtures the dialectic stage in our Essentials, Challenge A, and Challenge B programs.
The Rhetoric Stage: Bearing Fruit in Wisdom
The third step in learning a subject is to use what you've learned to solve a problem, write an original paper or speech, or lead a discussion. In reading, this would be the time to focus on the themes and context of what you have read and to apply the lessons learned. Older teens usually enjoy this process because they long to express themselves and be creative problem solvers.
This is called the rhetoric stage, and our Challenge I through Challenge IV programs are designed to help students learn and exercise these skills across many subjects.
More about the Term "Classical"
Classical schools vary in their definition of "classical." Some educators believe that classical education simply means adding Latin to a modern education; others define it as the study of classical works of literature. Classical Conversations includes both Latin and classical literature, but when we say "classical," we are referring to the skills associated with the three stages of learning listed above, which guide our programs, tutors, parents, and students.
Preparing Leaders
Classical education is sometimes called "leadership education" because it builds skills needed for leadership: logic, debate, public speaking, clear reasoning, researching, writing, and communicating. These skills are practiced in every subject (math, science, history, geography, Latin, fine arts, and more), which prepares students to become leaders in any field they pursue.
It's classical, but is it Christian? Can an education be both classical and Christian?
Parents often associate a classical education with "non-Christian" content such as Greek mythology or philosophy. Naturally, they then wonder how these studies can be Christian.
First, because God has dominion over all, Christians can find profit in studying Greek literature and philosophy.
Second, this study is most useful when it prepares the heart for the acceptance of Christ and then leads an individual to develop a rational, defensible faith---a faith that is also unlikely to be susceptible to false teaching.
Third, Christians must approach all reading carefully, pulling out that which is true and profitable and rejecting that which is untrue.
This conversation among the Church Fathers about classical, Christian education shaped the medieval schools in which the Trivium---grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric---was formalized. In our programs, we encourage students to view every subject with a Christ-centered worldview. As they read literature, students evaluate decisions of characters to search for wisdom and virtue. As they study mathematics, they learn to see it as God's language of creation. We hope to inspire students to echo in celebration of who God is and to make wise, virtuous choices of their own.
For further reading about classical, Christian education, see "Classical and Christian? Can It Be?" by Jennifer Courtney on Writers Circle. For a complete explanation of classical, Christian education,
please see Classical Christian Education Made Approachable from
Classical Conversations MultiMedia:
What is "classical, Christian education"?
The classical, Christian model of education has been used throughout the growth of Christianity until the modern era. Classical education trained such fine minds as Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson, and C. S. Lewis.
Many school and home educators are working hard to recapture this model.
The classical model divides learning into three stages known as the Trivium (Latin for "three roads"). These three stages of learning are grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric.
The Grammar Stage: Soaking in Knowledge
The first step in learning any subject is to learn the vocabulary. For example, when you learn to read, you learn the names of the letters and the sounds they make. When you learn mathematics, you memorize multiplication tables. Classical educators call this the grammar stage. Young children enjoy this phase; they love repeating songs, chanting rhymes, and pronouncing big words. We capitalize on their enjoyment by teaching young students the grammar of many subjects, using songs and chants and practicing with friends.
Foundations is the Classical Conversations grammar-stage program. In this program, students receive the building blocks for later learning in science, math, geography, Latin, English grammar, history, fine arts, and public speaking.
The Dialectic Stage: Growing in Understanding
The second step in learning a subject is to sort, compare, and understand the words and the rules that apply to them. For example, students will move beyond reciting the timeline of history to understanding why Julius Caesar invaded Britain. Students will move beyond chanting the multiplication tables to more abstract concepts like algebra. We call this stage the dialectic stage because much of the work done in this process is accomplished through dialogue. Children generally enjoy this process most between the ages of ten and thirteen.
Classical Conversations nurtures the dialectic stage in our Essentials, Challenge A, and Challenge B programs.
The Rhetoric Stage: Bearing Fruit in Wisdom
The third step in learning a subject is to use what you've learned to solve a problem, write an original paper or speech, or lead a discussion. In reading, this would be the time to focus on the themes and context of what you have read and to apply the lessons learned. Older teens usually enjoy this process because they long to express themselves and be creative problem solvers.
This is called the rhetoric stage, and our Challenge I through Challenge IV programs are designed to help students learn and exercise these skills across many subjects.
More about the Term "Classical"
Classical schools vary in their definition of "classical." Some educators believe that classical education simply means adding Latin to a modern education; others define it as the study of classical works of literature. Classical Conversations includes both Latin and classical literature, but when we say "classical," we are referring to the skills associated with the three stages of learning listed above, which guide our programs, tutors, parents, and students.
Preparing Leaders
Classical education is sometimes called "leadership education" because it builds skills needed for leadership: logic, debate, public speaking, clear reasoning, researching, writing, and communicating. These skills are practiced in every subject (math, science, history, geography, Latin, fine arts, and more), which prepares students to become leaders in any field they pursue.
It's classical, but is it Christian? Can an education be both classical and Christian?
Parents often associate a classical education with "non-Christian" content such as Greek mythology or philosophy. Naturally, they then wonder how these studies can be Christian.
First, because God has dominion over all, Christians can find profit in studying Greek literature and philosophy.
Second, this study is most useful when it prepares the heart for the acceptance of Christ and then leads an individual to develop a rational, defensible faith---a faith that is also unlikely to be susceptible to false teaching.
Third, Christians must approach all reading carefully, pulling out that which is true and profitable and rejecting that which is untrue.
This conversation among the Church Fathers about classical, Christian education shaped the medieval schools in which the Trivium---grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric---was formalized. In our programs, we encourage students to view every subject with a Christ-centered worldview. As they read literature, students evaluate decisions of characters to search for wisdom and virtue. As they study mathematics, they learn to see it as God's language of creation. We hope to inspire students to echo in celebration of who God is and to make wise, virtuous choices of their own.
For further reading about classical, Christian education, see "Classical and Christian? Can It Be?" by Jennifer Courtney on Writers Circle. For a complete explanation of classical, Christian education,
please see Classical Christian Education Made Approachable from
Classical Conversations MultiMedia: