Disadvantages of a Classical Education

While there are undoubtedly many advantages in a classical approach to homeschool education, no method is without some drawbacks. The first among these is that the trivium is designed to appeal to the nature of children in general. This division can fail when the traditional categories breakdown. In general children who are highly gifted can end up chafing under the highly disciplined approach of a classical education. For example gifted children may find the emphasis on memorization during the Grammar Stage to be too rigid and limiting for your child.

A second drawback is inherent in the idea of the cyclical education (see our discussion of the Spiral approach to teaching mathematics). In cyclical methods facts, concepts, and subject matter are introduced when they fit into the cycle. At times these elements may be thrown out in what might appear to be a random manner, detracting from the learning process. It is also possible that students may not be ready to learn the items at the point when they are taught.

A final set of possible drawbacks is related to the curriculum itself. A classical education focuses on language and history and uses those subjects to organize the curriculum. This emphasis on language and history means that classical education has a tendency to be weak on other areas such as science and mathematics. More importantly, students who do not enjoy language can find the language-centered focus of classical education to be quite a barrier to overcome.

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