Answering Your Questions about Classical Christian Education

Question

I would love to hear your thoughts on classical education? I am part of a co-op myself and there are days when I truly struggle with the classical methods. I would like to know what were some reasons why you stepped away from it?

Answer

For those who aren’t aware, it was the classical Christian model of education that led us to homeschooling. (I share more about that in this video.) However, we no longer follow the classical model of education in our homeschool. We are more eclectic, drawing from different methods of education based on our family’s circumstances and children’s individual needs at the time.

What Drew Us to the Classical Christian Method

Before I answer why we stepped away from using the classical model, it would be beneficial for me to share why we were drawn to it in the first place. Both my husband and I attended public school and then secular universities. My idea of a Christian education was one where evolution was left out and a Bible elective was added in. I had no concept of a biblical worldview or that learning every subject could (and should) happen through the lens of Scripture.

So the first thing that drew me to the classical Christian education model was that every subject was being taught from a biblical worldview.

The second thing that I liked about the method was the trivium or stages of learning that corresponded to a child’s developmental stages. Learning and memorizing facts in the grammar stage and then building on and reasoning with those facts through critical thinking in the dialectic stage and finally, being able to persuade others and clearly articulate and communicate ideas in the rhetoric stage, were revolutionary ideas to me. I wanted my oldest child to have this type of rigorous academic learning that was also grounded in Scripture.

The third thing that drew me to the classical method was the idea that history should be taught chronologically. As someone who struggled with history in school, the idea of chronological history lessons made so much sense to me.

Finally, I was intrigued with the idea of teaching logic and Latin. I read up on why logic and Latin would benefit children and was sold on the idea of having my kids learn these two subjects.

Why We Stepped Away from the Classical Christian Method

The short version of why we stepped away from following the classical Christian education model is that it just didn’t work anymore for our family. Teaching the classical model is time intensive and I had a baby, toddler, and preschooler to care for while trying to educate an older child and deal with health issues.

Our reason for homeschooling also changed from wanting to give our kids a rigorous classical education to homeschooling so we had time and opportunities to disciple our children. We realized that formal learning was taking over our lives and the daily discipleship that we desired was getting shoved aside so we changed courses and curriculum.

Here are a few other reasons why we moved away from the classical model (although we still think it is an excellent option for Christian homeschool families).

1. We realized that there were other educational methods and curriculum that taught from a biblical worldview. We didn’t have to follow the classical model to teach every subject through the lens of Scripture.
2. While we loved the idea of the trivium, it didn’t work well for our individual children nor our family. Memorization became tedious and Scripture memory got tossed aside to make time for memorizing other facts. Our children were eager and ready to start thinking critically and logically long before they entered the dialectic stage in the curriculum.
3. I personally learned a lot from teaching history chronologically and it certainly made more sense to my children but my husband and I struggled with our kids learning about greek mythology (among other things) before they had a solid foundation in the Bible. While we have always talked openly with our kids about difficult topics and other belief systems, we found that focusing on ancient history at such an early age was causing us to spend too much time on other belief systems and cultures and it was having a negative effect on our young children.
4. We realized that we could teach our children logic apart from the classical model.
5. While I saw the benefit to learning Latin, it was too time consuming for me to teach and my kids to take especially with so many little ones to care for. We got to a point where I had to drop a subject to stay sane and it made the most sense to let go of Latin.

By this point, it just didn’t make sense to continue with the classical method. While I still viewed it as a superior way of learning, it wasn’t logical for us to force our way through the classical curriculum we were using at the expense of our family, my sanity, and our ability to effectively disciple our children.

Do you have a question for me about curriculum, homeschooling, or motherhood? Leave your question in the comment section and I might use it in this new blog post series.