What is Classical Education?

Classical Education is a philosophy and way of learning that is currently popular in the home school community and some private schools. In 1999 Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer wrote a book called The Well Trained Mind. Accordinding to Wise and Buaer..“…classical education teaches a child how to learn.”

The Well Trained Mind was one of the first home school books I read and although I didn’t follow their model exactly, their influence is what gave me the confidence to leave public education and embark on the journey of home schooling with my own children seven years ago.

Basic Ideas of Classical Education

1. Language focused- Learning is accomplished through words, written and spoken, rather that through images (pictures, videos and television)

2. Education follows a specific 3-part pattern
-the mind is supplied with facts and images
-the mind is given the logical tools to organize facts and images
-the student learns how to express conclusions from the facts and images

3. All knowledge is interrelated.

3 Stages of learning

1. Grammar Stage Kindergarten through 4th Grade. Also called the parrot years, children are filled up with information and facts. These years are spent collecting information to be used in later years. It’s all about content and reading, reading, reading. Later the child will make sense of it, analyze it and decide how they like it. This stage includes lots of memorization. They are not digging for information; they are absorbing what you give them.

2. The Logic Stage 5th grade through 8th grade. The student begins to connect all the facts they have learned and they are now discovering the relationships between them. Their work becomes about critical thinking and asking “why” instead of just absorbing facts. As they move into this stage, they will have a good foundation of reading skills, math skills and writing skills.

3. The Rhetoric Stage 9th grade through 12th grade. This stage is all about self-expression and flexibility in writings and speeches. If the student has gone through the first 2 stages of the trivium they will be ready for rhetoric. There is also a focus on the great books during this period. A student has learned about cultures and history and now they read the literature from these time periods and analyze what the ancient authors are saying.

People Associated with Classical Education