My blog is all about classical Christian homeschooling. But what exactly is it? Before I write anything else, I want to walk you through what a Classical Christian education really looks like (after all, the most important part of any discussion is to define your terms!).
Classical Education teaches students how to think, not what to think. It leads students through the three stages of schooling: Grammar (Memorization), Logic (Argumentation), and Rhetoric (Communication). First, let’s talk about the grammar stage.
When I was in elementary school, or the grammar stage, I participated in Classical Conversations (CC), alongside other curricula. These curricula and CC focused heavily on memorizing foundational information. Over the course of PreK-6th grade I memorized many facts that laid the foundation for my later years of school. In PreK and kindergarten, it was mostly reading and copy-work skills, memorizing sight words, and basic math skills like simple addition or subtraction. As I got older, of course, concepts and memorization tasks got bigger. In first grade, I joined CC during the medieval year (cycle 2). During that year, we memorized basic Latin conjugation endings, math facts through the 15s, English grammar rules, and European geography. I started learning cursive this year as well, using Prescripts. I also began using The Well-Trained Mind First Language Lessons (FLL) and Writing With Ease (WWE). These focus on memorizing English grammar rules and teaching reading comprehension. Another big part of my first-grade year was memorizing history sentences from the Middle Ages, which, as previously mentioned, was the cycle we were on.
This is probably a good place to take an intermission and explain what I mean by “cycle”. Classical education tends to cycle, especially in terms of history and literature (which are often taught in a unified manner). For instance, as I said, when I joined CC in 1st grade, I started with the Middle Ages. Second grade moved on to modern times (specifically American), and third was ancient. In fourth grade, having gone through all three cycles, I was back in medieval times. However, when you cycle through, you are not simply learning the same things over and over. Each time you go through a cycle, you go more in-depth into that time of history. For instance, in second grade, I only memorized history facts about modern, American events. In fifth grade, I began to write papers and read more books (mostly fiction) that related to that time period. And then in ninth grade, I studied primary source texts from events, such as the founding of America, and did a much more in-depth study of events like World War I and II, as well as the various worldviews that have resulted from historical events. I also began to study a bit of world history instead of just American history.
Alright, back to the grammar stage. In second grade, I began using Singapore Math, which I used all the way through sixth grade. Math is one subject that doesn’t really have a classical curriculum, so I’ve seen many different books used. Singapore is a challenging curriculum, but it teaches math in a way that sticks and is a great choice. I continued with FLL and WWE, as well as CC. In third grade instead of using FLL and WWE level 3, my parents decided it would be best for me to focus on the CC memory work for this year, as in the next year I would be going into the Essentials of the English Language program (CC’s writing program for upper elementary). I also began doing more worksheets to reinforce the memory work I was learning in CC each week.
In fourth grade, I started Essentials, which uses the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) program, specifically the history-based books. I also achieved CC’s Memory Master, which meant reciting all the memory work we learned over the course of the year. Another big part of the year was Faces of History, where all Essentials students choose one historical character and write a 5-paragraph research paper about their chosen person as well as a 3–5-minute presentation in the first person. My fifth-grade year was very similar to fourth grade. In sixth grade, I began to study for CC’s National Memory Master, where I became one of the 16 finalists. Part of doing this meant memorizing all the memory work from all three cycles of history.
That was a brief summary of my grammar school years. In the future, I hope to write more in-depth about some of the curricula I chose, as well as the National Memory Master competition!
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