Classical Education
Classical Education Classical education carries two significant aspects. Firstly, it's a three- part pattern of training the mind and secondly, it is language-focused. In the early grades, students learn to absorb facts and information for their higher study. In the middle years of school, students learn to think through logics and arguments. And in the high school years, they learn to express themselves. This classical pattern is termed as the Trivium.
Early Years of School(Grade 1-IV)
The early grades of schooling are called the 'Grammar Stage' when building blocks for all other learning are laid. At this stage, children actually find memorizing things fun. The mind of a child is ready to absorb facts and information that is delivered to him. Students are made to get familiar with the rules of phonics and spelling, rules of grammar, poems, the vocabulary of foreign languages, the stories of history and literature, descriptions of plants and animals and the human body, the facts of mathematics and so on. This process of memorizing things to the children lasts till they reach to Grade V.
Middle Years of School (Grade V-VIII)
By fifth grade, a child's mind begins to think more analytically and begins to pay attention to cause and effect. This phase is marked as 'Logical Stage'. During these years, the student begins algebra and the study of logic, and begins to apply logic to all academic subjects. Emphasis is given on the logic of writing, reading, history and science etc which includes patterns, formats, analysis, criticism, reasoning and arguments.
Final Phase of Classical Education (Grade IX-XII)
The final phase of a classical education is named as the 'Rhetoric Stage' and is built on the first two. At this point, the high school student applies the rules of logics and learns to express himself through speaking and writing. They also begin to specialize in the desired branch of knowledge they aspire to. It may either be music, dance, technology, medicine, biology or creative writing. These are the years for art camps, college courses, foreign travel, apprenticeships, and other forms of specialized training.
In classical education learning is accomplished through written and spoken words rather than through images. According to classical approach, Language requires the mind to work harder whereas, on the other hand, a video screen may cause the brain to sit back and relax.
Classical Education Approach to study History & Science
The Classical Education Approach lends coherence to the study of history, science, and literature -- subjects that are too often fragmented and confusing. The pattern widens and deepens as the student progresses in maturity and learning.
Students working on ancient history will read Greek and Roman mythology, the tales of the Iliad and Odyssey, early medievial writings, Chinese and Japanese fairy tales, and the classical texts of Plato, Herodutus, Virgil, Aristotle.
The sciences are studied in a four-year pattern that roughly corresponds to the periods of scientific discovery: biology, classification and the human body, earth science and basic astronomy, chemistry, and then basic physics and computer science (very modern subjects).
The classical education is, above all, systematic -- in direct contrast to the scattered, unorganized nature of so much secondary education. This systematic, rigorous study has two purposes. Rigorous develops virtue in the student. Aristotle defined virtue as the ability to act in accordance to what one knows to be right. Secondly, classical education also enables students to join the 'Great Conversation' -- the ongoing conversation of great minds down through the ages.
The beauty of classical education is that students have opportunity to make connections between past events and the flood of current information.
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