Teaching Methods
Home School Marketplace - Homeschool Teaching Approaches
The Classical Approach
The Classical Approach is derived from successful courses of study throughout history and recently revived through the writings of Dorothy Sayers.
The Classical Approach
to education has produced great minds throughout history,
and has strong elements of perennialism (the view that the
core body of knowledge that students should learn has
remained constant throughout hundreds of years).
The modern proponent of the Classical Approach was British
writer and medieval scholar Dorothy Sayers. As the Nazis
rose to power in the 1930s, Sayers warned that schools were
teaching children everything except how to think. Because
young adults could no longer think for themselves, Sayers
felt they could be easily influenced by tyrants. To remedy
this, Sayers proposed reinstating the classical form of
education used in the Middle Ages.
In the Classical Approach, children under
age 18 are taught tools of learning collectively known as
The Trivium. The Trivium has three parts,
each part corresponding to a childhood developmental stage.
The first stage of the Trivium, the "Grammar
Stage," covers early elementary ages and focuses on reading,
writing, and spelling; the study of Latin; and developing
observation, listening and memorization skills. The goal of
this stage is to develop a general framework of knowledge
and to acquire basic language arts and math skills.
At approximately middle school age, children begin to
demonstrate independent or abstract thought (usually by
becoming argumentative or opinionated). This signals the
beginning of the "Dialectic Stage" in which the child's
tendency to argue is molded and shaped by teaching logical
discussion, debate, and how to draw correct conclusions and
support them with facts.
The goal of the Dialectic Stage is to equip the child with
language and thinking skills capable of detecting fallacies
in an argument. Latin study is continued, with the possible
addition of Greek and Hebrew. The student reads essays,
arguments and criticisms instead of literature as in the
Grammar Stage. History study leans toward interpreting
events. Higher math and theology begin.
The final phase of the Trivium, the "Rhetoric
Stage," seeks to produce a student who can use language,
both written and spoken, eloquently and persuasively.
Students are usually ready for this stage by age 15.
Here are some questions to ask yourself before trying the
classical approach with your child:
1. Does my family like to read good literature?
2. Are my children intellectually oriented and comfortable
with a rigorous academic program?
3. Am I a learner? Am I comfortable learning alongside my
children so I can teach them things I never studied?
4. Do I like to study and discuss ideas that have influenced
civilization?
Strengths of the
Classical Approach:
Is tailored to stages of mental development
Teaches thinking skills & verbal/written expression
Creates self-learners
Has produced great minds throughout history
Weaknesses of the Classical
Approach:
Very little prepared curriculum available
Requires a scholarly teacher and student
May overemphasize ancient disciplines and classics
See Resources for each of the Home School teaching approaches
Other Resources:
Homeschooling Your Special Needs Child by Isabel ShawHomeschooling and Its Many Faces
Approaches to Homeschooling from HomeTaught
The
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