Preface
On Homeschooling
In this book I assume that you, the reader, have already decided to homeschool, and that you have already chosen Classical Christian Education (CCE) according to the Trivium -- the so-called *Lost Tools of Learning*. That is, I won't be trying to convince you to homeschool (you've already decided that). Nor will I try to 'sell' you on CCE and the Trivium as a method. Probably, you have heard of, or already own, the book [_The Well-Trained Mind_](http://welltrainedmind).[1] Also, I assume that you are Christian, and want an educational method and curriculum that is suited to Christians.
[1]: Jessie Bauer and Susan Bauer, _The Well-Trained Mind_ https://www.amazon.com/Well-Trained-Mind-Classical-Education-Fourth-ebook/dp/B01BX7S04Q/ [henceforth, often, **WTM**]
I will also be discussing the 'scope and sequence' documents from [Memoria Press](https://www.memoriapress.com/). I have no connection to or financial interest in either of these companies, and I do not recommend any of their products that I haven't myself purchased or used and that I explicitly talk about. The materials mentioned, the WTM book and the Scope and Sequence guides at *Memoria Press* specifically, are interesting and useful, including comparison to each other as a basis for discussion, and provide a good detailed framework to provide more information about the topics discussed in the K-12 portion of this book. There are plenty of other websites and stores, both online and off, that will sell you curriculum or give you advice on programmes. This is not a resource book on all the curriculum available or methods going by the name CCE. However, the two websites mentioned will give you a good start towards finding others.
Rather than replace WTM, the purpose of this book is:
1/ to provide a full curriculum (education programme) with recommendations, alongside those of _The Well-Trained Mind_ and its scope and sequence, and continuing well beyond '12th grade', a supplement and commentary to WTM as it were;
2/ to extend the typical homeschool curriculum to possible self-study for *graduated* homeschoolers, for use in college and beyond, and also to adult autodidacts, parents, or teachers, who may want more of a Classical or STEM or Philosophical supplement to their own education;
3/ and in particular to fill in details about the so called STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics beyond Elementary School Arithmetic), and how they can be *aided by* and *integrated with* the traditional Classical Components.
It is not necessary to own or use *The Well-Trained Mind* or its website or the curriculum products sold there -- I'll see to that by providing free (mostly), online (mostly) equivalents. However, the book is not that expensive and it is a good idea to have a copy in hand as you read this book, either in hardcopy or a kindle version. Page references are to the 4th edition (fortunately, the Kindle version which is the one I have, tells me page numbers in the print book).
I hope this book will be useful for Parent-Teachers in a Homeschool, as well as potentially useful to Latin Teachers tutoring Homeschoolers, or in a Cottage School, to anyone interested in learning Latin, Greek, and 'The Classics' as an adult, and to autodidacts of all ages, who are old enough to understand its contents -- typically age 13 and up.
I will somewhat correct the notions in the _Lost Tools of Learning[2]_ or _The Well-Trained Mind_[1] by clarifying what Classical Education *is*. Bauer and Bauer define Classical Education, not unreasonably, as Education that is Language-Intensive, *i.e.* text-based rather than image-based, and also History-Intensive. We will examine the meaning and implications of these declarations later. I would add, that Classical Education is something very specific, which we might get at by asking: *What came before the Phonics method and the McGuffey Readers[3] were commonplace?*
[2]: Dorothy Sayers, https://www.pccs.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/LostToolsOfLearning-DorothySayers.pdf
[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGuffey_Readers
The answer to my rhetorical question is, Classical Education is what came before those things. What I mean by 'Classical Education' is a system of education that arose in the 2nd century Roman Empire, and continued more or less without *complete* interruption -- there were many dark ages and recoveries of the tradition over the long centuries -- down to the Revolutionary generation in America, passing from the Ancient, to the Medieval, to the Early Modern world. To provide a benchmark date, both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day -- July 4th, 1826. In that generation, what the founding fathers thought of as classical education, a system they imagined continuing indefinitely, was replaced so thoroughly, starting in the 1830s, that we no longer remember what came before our current one, except in a fragmented, vague sort of way -- bits and pieces here and there.
In fact, within 10 years of that 1826 date, new educational notions, mostly crystallized around importing the Prussian Gymnasium system, began to be introduced into American Education -- first in Massachusetts, in the 1830s, and then in the post bellum period, Reconstruction, in the defeated Confederacy. These changes in American Education are documented by John Taylor Gatto, *Underground History of American Education* [4]
[4]: https://archive.org/stream/JohnTaylorGattoTheUndergroundHistoryOfAmericanEducationBook/John+Taylor+Gatto+-+The+Underground+History+of+American+Education+Book_djvu.txt
Classical Education is simply the system that was replaced in the 'Reform period' of the 1830s, and was finally thoroughly forgotten by nearly everyone, (including its advocates!) by the time the late 20th century rolled around.
This book will *not* spend a lot of time up front going over the 'theory' of Classical Education -- that will be brought in bit by bit, primarily at the point in the curriculum that is appropriate to know how the pedagogy of Classical Education works. Since the Bauer and Bauer programme cycles through history, from Ancient to Modern, we will simply mention 'what is going on in pedagogy' at the time you are teaching your child the history of the same era, assuming you follow that programme. If you are not, at least you know where and when in this book the matter will be discussed! Instead, the book's focus will be stepping through each grade level, one at a time, and giving practical recommendations.
Having tipped my hat as to what my answer will be, to the query 'What is the definition of Classical Education', I now place a veil over it, and will in the future introduce the reader to the underlying notions and concepts, and defend and sharpen the thesis, in due course. In the mean time, I will call Classical Education, Christian or otherwise, as it stood in 1826, 'Received Classical Education'.
Of course, by using such a broad historical description -- 'any education method in common use during a 16 century period ending in the 19th century' -- I am opening myself to the claim that my definition is purely a negative one. However, it is commonly admitted that 'Classical Education' places learning the Latin and Greek languages in the center of education, and what changed ca. 1800 is that English language education, together with the rise of the STEM subjects, replaced them.
Also, the Prussian Gymnasium, which served as a model in the 19th century, for both the English-speaking world and also for the Russian *Gimnaziya*, as used through the Soviet period and perhaps beyond, was intensely Classical in orientation. It is thus very true that it is *nearly impossible*, in a 'school-based' education system, to not, in some sense, have Classical Education being attempted -- though it is quite easy for it to not be Christian Education, the kind worth having for Salvation, having as its point, the healthy moral and physical as well as intellectual development of the child. 'A sound mind, in a sound body'.
If all you wanted was 'a classical education' then you can put this book down now. Pretty much *any* method in common use in the West before 1968, and most lower will be strongly Classical and deliver you that achievment badge. Whether that education will deliver any *benefit* to either society or the individual child or adult is an entirely different question, one that requires Religion and Philosophy (and Science we shall see is part of Philosophy) to answer.
It is true that 'education' in the West ceased to be aware of its history, rationale, or even purpose, but by the end of this book, the reader will be able to supply those, and understand *why* Western education used to be, well, so European and Western.
The global spread of industrial, technological society, along with the English language, has spread 'Classical Education' worldwide. What it has not spread, is the knowledge of how to do it well, for what reasons. This book will supply the How and Why of Classical Christian Education, and help you get the most out of Homeschooling your Child using CCE and the Liberal Arts, of which the Trivium is the first three out of ten.
It will go on, then, to describe the other seven Liberal Arts, and provide instructions for the self-learner who learned the first three at home. The theory bits -- what Classical Christian Education is, and how the pieces 'fit together' and work, and for what reasons -- will be provided in small doses for the parent-teacher, along with the primary focus of what and how to teach Classical Education at home, either to a child or by self study.
We will proceed by the child's age, including one or more chapters for each year of grades K-12 in the American system (ages 5 through 18, with a four year college being typical for ages 18 through 22).
The main portions, following the *Well-Trained Mind* being:
Pre-School
Kindergarten
Elementary School
Middle School
High School
College and Beyond
There will be extensive discussion of 'what is an appropriate age for this or that' -- using both historical norms since the 17th century and what works in practice today (which is implicit in the available curriculum materials that you may purchase). We will find that the Received Classical Education system of the Founding Fathers has had six years added to its timeline (Middle School and High School), after subtracting the last to years of the RCE Eight Grade system.
This provides an opportunity to 'accelerate and compress the time-scale' by moving, in the end, four years faster, with two more likely. It is a rare capable CCE homeschooled child who cannot enroll in a community college during 'grade 11' (what in the British school system used to be called 'sixth form college'). This is normally possible even in our existing public education system, barring dire malpractice in the child's education.
These topics and possibilities will be covered at the appropriate point in the book. The two year acceleration is normal and low risk. More intriguing is the possibility of 'collapsing' the High School and College years, since they are duplicates of each other, with High School originally being the English-language version of the original Classical College.
What has happened in our time is that the credentialing system and its educational purpose have severely diverged, away from the norms and purposes of Christendom, and in favour of particular ideologies. This means that the homeschooling parent is currently asked to deliver over their Well-Trained Mind to an adult world that places little value on a (real) Liberal Arts education. At best, the now maturing child can 'pick and choose' wisely in 'college' and get the appropriate credentials and licenses to take his part in society. In the worst case, he will be subjected to malicious abuse pretending to be 'an education', but rather more in the School of Hard Knocks on the street.
Psst, Hey Buddy, would you like to buy a Classical Education? It's only 400,000 USD. I've got some student loans for you here under my raincoat.
I would not be surprised if, in the future, the departing homeschool student would choose to forgo college, or gather his credentials cynically, being 'innocent as a dove and wise as a serpent', while getting his real education by self-study, both in the College Years and Beyond. Again, this book will *continue* in the second half, describing how to carry 'Classical Christian Education' through the Quadrivium (higher Mathematics), the 'Aristotelian Curriculum' (STEM subjects such as Physics), and into the post-graduate world of the Three Philosophies -- becoming Lawyers, Doctors, and Divines. I will also cover the elaborate on Computing, a fairly primitive subject in Classical Education historically, but now quite important.
(In case you don't know, there are traditionally 10 Liberal Arts -- the first 7 of them called 'The Seven Liberal Disciplines', divided into the Trivium and the Quadrivium, and the last three the 'Three Philosophies' which are professional studies for doctors, lawyers, and divines, as I alluded to.)
The reason why the first seven are called Disciplines, rather than strictly Arts, is because they are meant to be non-controversial and suitable for all students to learn. It is well known that Philosophy (and Medicine and Law and Theology) are contentious subjects about which people tend to hold strong opinions.
Classical Education considers such subjects unsuitable for introduction into the education of young children, in the form of controversy at least. For medicine there is guidance on healthy living, diet, and 'exercise', instilled by the parents using word and example, together with healing from disease or other ills, as necessary; for 'following rules' and the laws of Religion and of Civics, there is moral and social development in the home and community; and for Divinity, daily prayers, the Catechism, the Church Service, and familiarity with Psalms and Hymns and the Bible, probably in the form of 'Bible Stories'.
We will discuss all ten Liberal Arts, starting with the Trivium, the so-called Lost Tools of Learning, and starting with Pre-School and Kindergarten ages (which are preparatory for the Trivium, not part of it).
In addition to the book itself, which will eventually be available as an ebook and in print form, there will be online supplements. This is especially suitable for the 'online bibliography and resources' parts of the chapters, since those require regular maintenance to avoid broken links. The use of the supplements will be explained at the appropriate point.
A world of sunken treasure….
