As I mentioned not so long ago, I, not so enthusiastically, read a chapter out of “The Core,” a book that outlines a classical model of education. I found after that first chapter I had to keep reading. The more I read, the more it made sense to me and sounded like something my son and I could do successfully and happily. Previously, I saw the Classical model of education as boring filled with memorization and hours at a desk with little joy. I was also turned off by the christian undertones I sensed from the classical community. I then realized that we can still have a joyous educational experience with lots of freedom to choose what works for us while having an educational model that ensures we learn the 3 Rs. After I finished “The Core,” I went and checked out a copy of “The Well-trained Mind” (TWTM) from my library. I had previously read parts of it and was bored and overwhelmed. Even after I brought it home this last time, I was intimidated (it’s a huge book), but I took it slow and it started making sense too. I also only read the sections thst covered K-4. I liked that “The Core” was a great overview and inspiration and TWTM offered some more details on laying things out.
So, I’m now on a path to set ourselves up for something that resembles a classical education, keeping in mind that I have no interest or desire to have a full day of school each day which is what you seem to be looking at if you follow TWTM to the tee. So, we’ll take what works for us and leave the rest.
Here is why I’m attracted to the classical model:
– It offers a foundational structure (which I’m finding is important to nurture the personalities of both my son and I) while not holding us to an expensive and daunting packaged curriculum.
– It is strong in the language arts. I truly believed that being a strong reader is the key to gaining knowledge and it’s already abundantly clear that my son will be a knowledge hog like his parents. I’d also like to save my son the embarrassment I suffered with my poor spelling and grammar skills and I want to make sure he’s set up if his future job(s) require good writing skills.
– It leaves lots of room for us to explore and choose our science education.
– This educational approach may have high expectations but I feel that we can get in a rhythm with it that will allow us to learn the 3 Rs as a foundation for success by lunch time each day and then still have the freedom to explore the world and play.
Now to figure out what we do next. I’m planning to take it slow adding one new subject at a time and getting it settled in before adding the next. Per my sons request, we are adding Chinese first (no, foreign language is not recommended this early with classical ed but languages are important and loved at our house). I just placed the order yesterday for the materials.