The Core: How Classical Education Can Help My Child
My children are playing in the sandbox as I sit here on the chaise lounge decompressing from my day.
A war has broken out between the British and Indiana.
I can only surmise this battle has been prompted by our study of the history surrounding the upcoming celebration titled the Fourth of July.
We have learned a lot of history grammar . . . you know facts. Big words. Lofty ideas.
Freedom. Justice. Independence.
But do my brave warriors really comprehend the ramifications or impact war has upon a society? a family? a land?
No.
Yet, they know that at one point in history the Americas butted heads with the British. This ongoing conflict brought forth an important document that forever changed history.
As my sons continue to play, the battle intensifies. Sand is flying. Water has entered the scene. Soldiers are falling left and right and boats are being sunk. I am not bothered by their fantasy world or their misapplication of knowledge.
Because I see that this “play” is their way of processing the learning that has taken previously taken place.
If the brain could be described as a blank peg board, then each fact is a peg upon which future skills can hang. Once enough pegs are lodged into our cranium through repetition and memorization, things like logic and critical reasoning skills can develop and flourish.
How can a classical education help my child?
By myself, it can’t. I’ll be honest. I’m going to let the cat out of the bag. If I had to educate my children independently, the peg boards would be empty. In fact, the pegs would probably still be in the plastic packaging.
Thankfully, God kept my friend, Debra, gently annoying encouraging us to look into her Classical Conversations community. I did. I was sold. Hooked. Dizzily excited. And have decided to proselytize everyone I meet into converting to Classical Conversations as their “method” of education.
Why? Because I can.
Seriously. It comes down to community and accountability. Classical Conversations takes that body of knowledge that I want my kids to know (all the while acknowledging that everything originates from God) and from there (much like Google Map) will systematically directs me turn by turn toward the goal of raising thinking Christians.
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How Classical Education Can Help My Child is part of our continuing discussion of The Core by Leigh Bortins. Previous chapters can be reviewed on the Classical Education Resource page. My writing today reflects Chapter 3, but also incorporates my learning from attending a Classical Conversations Practicum this week.
