In the homeschooling world, classical education is a hot buzzword. At its most basic level, classical education refers to traditional studies that students would have done pre-20^th century. There is heavy emphasis on the great books of western civilization, studying the ideas and thoughts that shaped Greek, Roman, and all of Western thought. In addition to basic subjects, Latin, music, and art are important. The understanding of truth, goodness, and beauty drives much of the learning process.

Classical education follows a trivium approach – essentially 3 levels of learning (we might think of these in terms of elementary, middle, and high school). Level 1 is the grammar stage, where children learn the basics of things – vocabulary words, formulas, lots of memorizing. Level 2 is the logic stage, where the basics of cause and effect and argument (isn’t that appropriate for those tweens?) are taught, as well as grammatically correct writing. Level 3 is the rhetoric stage, where everything comes together when children are able to communicate effectively the ideas they have learned.

There is heavy focus on discussion and debate of big ideas. Classic literature is studied extensively. History is studied chronologically, usually over a period of 4 years. That cycle repeats itself 3 times – getting more in depth each time. History, combined with literature, is a significant part of your studies.

In classical education, the understanding of truth, goodness, and beauty drives much of the learning process.

A great place to learn more about the classical model is with Susan Wise Bauer’s Well Trained Mind book. You can read more of her work on her website. There is quite a bit of information and support for this method. There are companies like Memoria Press that offer complete curriculum kits. (Note that they are Christian based. However, many non-religious families choose to omit the Christian studies and still use the rest of their packages).

This method provides a solid education well-versed in literature, composition, and big ideas, but it does require dedication and hard work for you and your children.

Christian Classical

The classical model has a (rather large) branch within it considered Christian Classical. The addition here is that Bible teaching is central and all other subjects are aligned with that. For example, history will include Bible history alongside studies of the Ancient World. Science is taught from a Christian perspective. A popular group that offers once-weekly group instruction is Classical Conversations. With this option you are mostly required to use their curriculum (although there is plenty of room for personalization) but you have a built-in support group.

You can use Christian Classical on your own as well. Classical Christian Homeschooling offers extensive lesson planning ideas and resources for learning more. Veritas Press offers materials in all subjects. There are other companies like Apologia and TruthQuest History that offer single-subject curriculum that fits well in the Christian classical approach. With these materials you can pick and choose what you like in each subject, thereby creating a classical education but using materials from a variety of sources.

Find Out More

Great resources to learn more:

• Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer
• Memoria Press (sign up for their magazine, the Classical Teacher. It’s free and packed with articles that describe the classical method)
• Classical Conversations
• Classical Christian Homeschooling
• The Core by Leigh Bortins

What do you think about the classical method? Does it appeal to you or do you find it too restrictive for your needs? You can read about 6 other major homeschool methods here to compare.

If you like the idea of learning big ideas, completely chronological history, foreign languages, and logic, this approach may be for you.

*Please note, there are so many more resources on classical education out there. The ones I have noted above are websites and books I have personally read or used and would recommend.