What is classical education?

There are at least two common understandings of the word "classical." One use of the term "classical" simply means "the best," not necessarily implying age. For example, a movie critic may dub a film a "classic" even though it was recently released. Another use of the word "classical" is to refer to the literature and art of the past, particularly from the age of the Greek and Roman empires.

Our vision of a classical education is essentially the former meaning, though this vision is in harmony with the latter. Often that which is truly best is that which has stood the test of time. This does not mean a blind preference for things ancient over things modern. Rather it means a commitment to examine works from across the ages and determine which ones are most worthy of our children's attention. This commitment does, however,  lead one to include more ancient authors than one would read in a contemporary public classroom.

The distinctives of  classical education go much deeper than simply one's choice of authors to study. A classical education is one in which students are taught not simply what to think but rather how to think, so that they have the ability to learn for themselves. They are equipped with the basic tools of accumulating data, sorting that data, and presenting what they have learned. The content of a classical education is shaped by the flow of the culture and heritage of the West from creation to the present. Subjects include Western history, literature, logic, and languages, as well as science and the arts. The method of classical instruction is the trivium.

What is the trivium?

The trivium is a course of study developed in the Middle Ages. Each academic subject consists of its grammar (accumulation of facts), dialectic (the study of ordered relationships between these facts), and rhetoric (presentation of this information). These elements correspond to three stages of child development.