Homeschool Curriculum Packages: Classical Education

Classical education focuses study on the framework of the trivium, which consisted of the grammar, logic, and rhetoric. This three part process corresponds to three stages of a child's intellectual development.

The "grammar" stage corresponds to the first years of a child's education-typically first through fourth grade. This stage is marked by both the ability and the desire to acquire factual knowledge. In the early years a child's mind is like a sponge capable of absorbing a wide-range of facts. This is fed in the grammar stage by memorizing spelling rules, math facts, vocabulary, and historical dates, for example. These facts then become the building blocks of the later stages.

The "logic" phase roughly corresponds to the next four school years (or fifth through eighth grade). This is the point in life at which the facts learned in the grammar phase are connected to each other. The student is taught how to analyze the relationships between the facts they have learned. Ideas take precedence of facts. During the stage arithmetic is replaced by algebra, literature is critiqued rather than simply read, and students learn causes for historical events.

The final stage, corresponding to high school, is the "rhetoric." The student of rhetoric combines the analysis skills learned in the logic phase with the raw facts gained during the grammar to generate their own original ideas. The student is then expected to be able to present their ideas with both force and elegance.

There are two items that help to unify each of these three stages. The first is a reliance on learning Latin as a language. Proponents of classical education point to the fact that Latin underpins most of the Western languages-over 50% of English words can trace their roots to Latin, for example. In addition, the study of Latin provides a good foundation for understanding grammar and the parts of speech and how they are correctly used. Lastly, Roman ideas have shaped much of Western culture, and what better way to understand the thought processes of the Roman civilization than by learning their language?

The second unifying measure is a four-year cycle for learning. Traditionally classical education uses history as a focal point. Students learn history in chronological order, with the whole of history divided into four year cycles. These cycles are presented three times (in increasing depth) over the standard twelve years of schooling. Other subjects, such as the arts, literature, and science are focused around the time period which is the current historical focus. This provides an organizing principle for the studies, helping students assimilate the information and allowing them to make connections between the subjects.

Advantages >>