Why Classical Education?

Someone emailed me recently and asked, "What are the advantages of a Classical Education"? I thought I'd post my response here. I really appreciated this question because it allowed me to think about a succinct way to express our educational approach. I could go on for quite some time about this topic but here was my response.

The thing I like about the classical method is that it is goal-oriented with clearly defined progression in terms of tackling subjects chronologically and skill mastery. I think maybe "logical progression" is the expression I would use to best define classical homeschooling. It's a very good methodology for breaking down subjects into learnable "bites" with an emphasis on critical thinking.

Classical education makes use of the three stages, or trivium, in which children (and adults) learn any subject. In the Grammar Stage (1st-4th), the foundation of each discipline is laid. This is a time of gathering facts and developing basic skills.

The second stage is the Dialectic Stage (5th-8th) in which the student learns to reason or apply the basic facts he has learned. In this stage logic is introduced. The student concentrates on the cause and effect, or the "why," of a subject.

The final stage of the trivium is the Rhetoric Stage (9th-12th) in which the student learns to communicate what he knows about the subject at hand in the most convincing way. The child is led to see the interconnectedness of all academic subjects and to apply their skills to synthesize their subjects.

Basically it teaches our children HOW to learn so that they will have the tools of learning at hand enabling them to teach themselves any subject. This approach resonated with me.

Homeschooling is a decision of the heart and the classical education method is my map.