The classical method was born in ancient Greece and Rome, and by the 16th century, it was used throughout the Western world. This system educated most of America's founding fathers as well as the world's philosophers, scientists and leaders between the 10th and 19th centuries. What other period can claim so many advances in science, philosophy, art, and literature?  In the last 30 years, there has been a revival of this proven method of education.

Rigorous academic standards, a dedication to order and discipline, and a focus on key, "lost" subjects is fueling the rapid growth of the nation's classical schools.  There is no greater task for education than to teach students how to learn.  The influence of "progressive" teaching methods and the oversimplification of textbooks make it difficult for students to acquire the mental discipline that traditional instruction methods once cultivated.  

The classical method develops independent learning skills on the foundation of language, logic, and tangible fact.  The classical difference is clear when students are taken beyond conventionally taught subjects and asked to apply their knowledge through logic and clear expression.  For education to be effective, it must go beyond conveying fact.  Truly effective education cultivates thinking and articulate students who are able to develop facts into arguments and convey those arguments clearly and persuasively.

In her 1947 essay “The Lost Tools of Learning,” Dorothy Sayers, a pioneer in the return to classical education, observed "although we often succeed in teaching our pupils 'subjects,' we fail lamentably on the whole in teaching them how to think." Beyond subject matter, classical education develops those skills that are essential in higher education and throughout life - independent scholarship, critical thinking, logical analysis, and a love for learning.  

Gregg Strawbridge sums up classical Christian education as "the Trivium provides the tools of learning, Scripture and the classics furnish the core content, and biblical truth is the fixed point of reference.  The Trivium is the hammer, the classics are the wood, and the Bible is the ruler."  

© portions used with permission Foundations Academy