Classical Education: Distinct from Other Methods of Education

 It seems that more and more families are discovering Classical education. If you were to ask most people just a few short years ago about this method, very few would have been even familiar with the term.
The Classical education method makes use of the first three of the seven liberal arts – grammar, logic and rhetoric, or what is commonly referred to as the Trivium. In times past it was a given that the learning of every discipline or subject involved first getting the basic facts, or grammar. For instance, the who, what, where and when of history would be the ‘grammar’ of history. In most instances, this is where modern education stops. They do not go beyond the surface into the logic of subjects, namely to ask How and Why.
It is in this logic phase that Classical education begins to dig deep and help a child to think and make connections and relations to all the grammar they have stored up. Just how was the Civil War related to the American Revolution? Or how are the great philosophers of antiquity like Socrates and Aristotle related to the philosophers of the Enlightenment such as Locke, Rousseau or Kant? How have early scientists influenced our current thoughts on aeronautics, genealogy or physics? In the logic phase students begin to make valuable connections as to why people, nations and ideas are formed over the vast expanse of history. The rhetoric stage builds on the factual mastery of the grammar stage and logical connections and teaches the student to be articulate and persuasive when discussing a topic.
The beauty of Classical education is that it is a perfect complement with how a child develops, making it an ideal tool for teaching children. Grammar age children (K-6th grade) are naturally inquisitive and have a natural hunger for learning. During the junior high years (7th to 8th grade) they become more argumentative. That is the natural, albeit a dangerous, time to teach them to argue will through the mastery of logic. As they mature into the high school years (9th to 12th grade), they are very image conscious and are ripe for training in rhetoric which will teach them how to communicate confidently, accurately and persuasively.
Classical education has been proven over the centuries, and in this modern renaissance of the method, to be a superior way to educate. It produces well-educated, articulate students who enjoy learning.
Trinity Classical Academy is now enrolling grades Transitional Kindergarten through 12th grade for the 2014-15 school year. For more information, contact Trinity Classical Academy at 661-296-2601 or visit www.TrinityClassicalAcademy.com.