What is Classical Christian Education?
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CLASSICAL
Unlike education in America today, having an emphasis on job training, a distinctly classical education accounts for the whole of civilization, particularly in the west, from Ancient Greece to the globalization of the world's nations. It seeks to recover and implement the academic subjects and questions that drove education for the majority of recorded history. Classical education cares deeply for tradition and the education of the whole student. Academic subjects are taught alongside one another with an emphasis on primary texts and the liberal arts. Wisdom and virtue are the highest academic goals, the manifestation of a great education.
Latin and Greek are also pillars of a classical education. Students will start Latin in Jr. Kindergarten and continue learning it throughout their education. Each student is required to have a minimum of four years of Latin and two years of ancient Greek to graduate from MCA.
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CHRISTIAN
A distinctly Christian education means that the purpose and practice of education starts and ends with the Triune God. It takes in the whole of Church history, the breadth and the depth of the history of mankind, and does so under the Lordship of Christ. It means that there is no academic subject, proposition, work of art, or vocation which cannot be properly studied to the glory of God and the joy of man. Christian wisdom and virtue are the highest academic goals, to the glory of the Triune God. We recognize the scriptures as the very word of God and affirm the faith summarized in the words of the Apostle's Creed, the Athanasian Creed, Nicene Creed and the Creed of Chalcedon.
How Will Students Learn?
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THE TRIVIUM
The trivium in classical education is a set of three phases comprised of the grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages in which children first learn knowledge, then understanding and finally wisdom. The trivium, which is part of the 7 liberal arts, was first used in antiquity and then adapted to suit Christian medieval times.
The "grammar stage' of each subject is the fundamental rules of that subject. The "logic stage" is the ordered relationship of particulars in each subject. The "rhetoric stage" is how the grammar and logic of each subject may be clearly expressed. While contemporary classical Christian education divides K-12 into these three stages of student development (K-6 is Grammar School, 7-8 is Logic School, and 9-12 is Rhetoric School), teachers in each course divide particular subjects into this three-fold pattern of pedagogy.
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PRIMARY TEXTS
Learning content by reading original sources, our students ought to chew for themselves, thereby strengthening their intellectual and emotional faculties through direct interaction with great texts and great ideas. Most schools use textbooks with a few paragraphs written about each topic. However, it is not enough to read the recipe of a good dish, or even hear someone else describe the dish for you. It is not even enough to have someone try to remake the dish. A great meal must be experienced. In the same way, why would we have our students read a brief recap of what King Charles 1 wrote when they can read for themselves the very words that King Charles wrote to parliament so long ago?
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EXPLORATION AND IMAGINATION
One of the most important teaching tools available to the teacher is the students themselves, their own imaginations and free curiosities. Humans naturally want to understand, to ask and to answer questions of exploration and understanding. This is most especially true of children. Therefore, the classical Christian classroom seeks to engage and enliven the child's imagination, using their own desire for beauty, truth, and discovery in the pathway to knowledge.
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SOCRATIC METHOD
This method is a teacher-led, student-engaged pedagogy of discussion and dialogue. Named after the first major Greek philosopher Socrates, in this method the instructor seeks to lead students to a reasonable conclusion by asking a series of questions. The Socratic method assumes students are being taught the art of speaking and listening well.
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LECTURES
Classical Christian education primarily employs excellent teachers, rather than simply utilizing curricula. Teachers are the text. This does not mean texts are not vital, only that teachers are to have an expertise in elaboration and explanation which goes beyond specific text. This places before our students living, breathing academic models worthy of imitation.
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ORDER AND DECORUM
Classroom management is necessary for a proper education. This means the overall school culture and the culture of each classroom ought to showcase and expect order and decorum (etiquette). This is also why the students will be expected to wear clean and tidy uniforms. When rules are properly and graciously enforced, there is true freedom.
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RIGOR IS NOT MORTIS
Classical Christian schools expect much from their students, holding them to a standard of both moral and academic excellence. When rigor occurs in the midst of healthy community, gracious teachers, and good books, learning is enjoyed for its own sake.