FellowshipMATCH

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Click to join FellowshipMATCH

Gentle Readers, a friend and I have started a new e-mail loop called FellowshipMATCH: Fellowship for Mentors, Administrators, & Teachers of
Classical Homeschoolers. This is a place for those of us who are teaching or providing a community of learning for homeschoolers from a classical Christian perspective, to get together, share ideas, and encourage one another. If you:
1. Are teaching homeschooled students who are not your children in any setting (individually or in a class, in person or online, in a co-op or study center or on your own);
2. Can assent to the Apostle's Creed as a statement of your faith in the triune God; and
3. Want to participate in civil, humane discussion about classical Christian education;
you are invited to join us! Membership must be approved by one of the moderators (myself or my friend Beth).

I hope to see some of you there!

Less is more

"Before he is 18, no one has time to do more than a few things well;
therefore, better to teach a few subjects thoroughly than to force a
child to be a mediocrity in many subjects, destroying his standards,
obscuring the nature of mastery, and concealing the measure of his
ignorance."
~David hicks, Norms and Nobility

Fun stuff for Friday

After most of a week of fairly serious subjects for blogging, how about some fun for the weekend? Here are a few things I've collected this week:

• Here are two funny items from Tominthebox Network News: the first is a rivetting new Sunday School curriculum, and the second is a new twist on an old scheme (oh what fun Tetzel could have these days....)

• Want to help your kids develop a passion for missions? The folks at Desiring God ministries offers this helpful, simple list.

• Martin Cothran from Memoria Press has a fun article in their recent catalog/magazine on the Harry Potter books, entitled, "Harry Potter and the Attack of the Critics". Cothran claims:

"To a child who is not well-read, Harry potter is dangerous--and so is any other book he or she may read. But the best defense against one idea is not fewer ideas, but more of them; and the best defense against one book is a whole host of them. Being widely read, in other words, is the best inoculation agaihnst the dangers of literature. Being widely read enables a person to not only see an idea, but, as Chesterton put it, to see through it.

"Literature is dangerous--except when taken in large doses."

I went hunting for a link, but the current issue is not online yet. It is published as their catalog, along with several other interesting articles. The articles in this issue are by Joe Paterno on how his love of Latin affected his view of football, another article by Cothran on what makes a "great book" great, an article by Andrew Campbell entitled, "Ordering Knowledge to the Child's Nature", and an article by Cheryl Lowe on why read the Iliad. The catalog is worth it just for the article! You can get a free subscription here.

• I thought I was a pretty virtuous homeschooling mom when we mummified a chicken with our study of ancient Egypt (one was named King Cluck...), and when we did all of life science and biology dissections in my kitchen. But check out what GeekDad did for his study of anatomy! Hats off to you, GeekDad, and all those other inspiring teachers who labor with their own children at home.
  

Miscellany

I had a lovely talk yesterday with a young homeschooling mom who is pursuing a classical Christian education for her family. How delightful! It has made me think it would be beneficial to write thoughts/inspiration/reflections about my homeschooling journey here from time to time. If any of you who read this blog are aspiring homeschoolers or classical educators, what topics would you find interesting or helpful? Leave a comment or drop me an e-mail.

In the meantime, remember that you can always search the "labels" in the sidebar at the right under Classical Education or Homeschooling and find what I have already posted.

And now for some things completely different...

• There is a fun post here on "Seven Deadly Words for Book Reviews", and I'm afraidf I'm guilty of most, if not all of them! If you don't believe me, just read some of my "Books" posts, and you will see the proof...
  
• I was privileged this week to listen to a series of interviews between C. J. Mahaney and Sinclair Ferguson found here. They men discuss legalism, the cross of Christ, and golfing, among other things. I found the discussion to be challenging and uplifting (I listened while quilting, and so made double-good use of my time!)
• I was reminded by a post at The Blazing Center about a wonderful little work by C. H. Spurgeon on prayer (you can find it online here.) My pastor gave it to me many years ago, when we were dealing with some literal life-and-death issues, and it really changed the way I pray. If you've not read it, take a few minutes and do so!
  
• And this post at Between Two Worlds, with the accompanying music video, made me laugh, but it may just be my sick sense of humor. The author refers to the inane words to a Point of Grace song that they have been playing lately on the local Christian radio station, and I have wondered myself what they thought they were writing... so if you feel like a little jaunt into the spiritual mumbo-jumbo department, head over to the post entitled "Why Should Conservative Evangelicals Have All The Bad Music?"
  

Feeding our souls...

In the Spring issue of the Intercollegiate Review, Peter Leithart offers an interesting historical perspective on the "new" classical schooling movement in America. On beginning the article, I was afraid Dr. leithart might be overly colored in his assessment by his close proximity and work with Rev. Doug Wilson and the Logos School folks in Moscow, ID, but found the article to be very well balanced, and at least mention many of the strains coloring the Christian classical schooling movement that I have encountered.

He says many significant things in the article, including some history of the current movement, the desire to return to some sense of tradition as well as to rediscover true humanism, and the success of CCE (Christian Classical Education) to produce outstanding students. Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

... Liberal education is "above all else, and education in imagination, an initiation into the art of this conversation in which we learn to recognize the voices, to distinguish the different modes of utterance, to acquire the intellectual and moral habits appropriate to this conversational relationship, and thus to make our...distinguishing mark of a human being"...True education is an intiation into our full humanity...

...In the end, however, classical education is more radical than reactionary-- radical, that is, in its original sense, describing something that goes to the roots. Classical educators advocate not a reversion to the imagined certainties and calm of the 1950s but a root-and-branch reform of American education that finds inspiration in medieval, Renaissance, and early American education...

...In a recent essay on "Eating Books", Callihan talks about the virtues of slow reading, reading for more than the "gist": "We in the modern world have too little time, and the same pressure that drives us to to gobble fast-food meals on the run causes us also to read veerything, even our Bibles, mush too fast." Callihan captures the vision of classical education in his Oakeshottian conclusion: "We starve our souls and our minds and wonder why there is so little wisdom in the world."

You can read the whole article here.

And if you are unfamiliar with the Intercollegiate Review, let me give you a little plug. The thought-provoking articles this issue cover classical Christian education, the new Agrarian movement, what makes a great composer of music and can such a genius exist in the contemporary world, and the meaning of the classical movement in architecture. It provides a great return on it's modest subscription price!

The Price of Liberty

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Wendell Phillips

One very real example of the need for vigilance is last week's California appellate court ruling regarding homeschooling in California. In a case of possible abuse of children, a three-panel judge has taken it upon themselves to make sweeping statements regarding homeschooling as unconstitutional, and negating the rights of parents to direct the education of their children. It really is breathtaking and dismaying! In one sweep of judicial arrogance, these judges have attempted to dismantle the constitutional rights of homeschoolers in California, with broad implications for all parental rights. While I agree with the state prosecuting any family guilty of real neglect and abuse (and perhaps the family at the heart of the lawsuit is, indeed, guilty of such...) I rebel in every fiber at the idea that the court would attempt to make broad constitutional interpretations in such a manner! If this holds, no parents are safe from any kind of government interference.

If you wish to educate yourself on this issue, here are some resources I have been reading this morning:

• Denny Burk has listed many excellent resources at his blog here (with thanks to JT for pointing it out...) including a radio clip and several newspaper articles covering the ruling.
  

• The petition from HSLDA to depublish the decision can be signed here. I hope many of you will do so.

• Governor Schwartzenegger has issued a strongly-worded statement you can read here.

• A short video from The Daily Case Report explaining the issues in the case can be found here. (Thanks to LD for her links!)
  

• Kathleen has some excellent thoughts at her blog here.
  

Many of us were involved in the struggle to assure the right to homeschool our children back in the 1980's and 90's, and now we can't just relax on our laurels. Time to respond! Pray, educate yourself, and tell others, and look for ways to let your voice be heard.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke

Vigen Guroian on the Virtues

“When the moral imagination is wakeful, the virtues come to life, filled with personal and existential as well as social significance. The virtues needn't be the dry and lifeless data of moral theories or the ethical version of hygienic rules in health science classes; they can take on a life that attracts and awakens the desire to own them for oneself. We need desperately to adopt forms of moral pedagogy that are faithful to the ancient and true vocation of the teacher -- to make persons into mature and whole human beings, able to stand face to face with the truth about themselves and others, while desiring to correct their faults and to emulate goodness and truth wherever it is found. We need to take greater advantage of the power in stories to humanize the young . . . .”

~Vigen Guroian, Tending the Heart of Virtue

An introduction to the progymnasmata

As the old Monty Python guys used to say, "And now for something completely different..."

It has been some time since I wrote about classical education or homeschooling, likely because I am on sabbatical: that is, because I have two weddings coming (one this December, and one next September) I decided not to teach any classes to the home schoolers in our town this year. Except for chorus, of course.. but that hardly counts. At any rate, while I enjoy choosing music and approaching chorus from a Christian and classical perspective, I've already written about that. And chorus doesn't tend to spawn any deep thoughts on the nature of education or anything.

I have been asked, however, to prepare a little talk on the progymnasmata for Monday evening's classical home school support group. It is a very basic beginner's group, and so I am trying to give a very basic introduction to these classical writing exercises. I am printing the text of my notes below, in case anyone wants to know what the progymnasmata are, and why they are an excellent training ground for the craft of writing.

Introduction to the progymnasmata:

In classical education, writing is about learning a craft. It is a set of tools put in the toolbox of the apprentice that he will be trained in using, and will one day use in growing measure on his own. In Christian education, writing is about dying to self and learning to communicate to others. So in classical Christian education, we want to train our children in the craft of writing well to enable them to communicate that which is good, true and beautiful to a lost and broken world that needs that truth, beauty and goodness.

Rhetoric and Poetics:

All writing is either persuasive or imaginative, and these are the two main divisions of classical upper-level writing instruction. Rhetoric focuses on persuasion, and is really not simply writing instruction, but the end result of good writing, good analysis, good reading and good logic. It is the practical application of both reading and logic.

Rhetoric itself is traditionally organized into 5 canons: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. In the current day, because we use largely written communication, memory and delivery are less emphasized. Basically:

· Invention: what ideas are we going to talk about

· Arrangement: how we arrange those ideas

· Style: how we word our ideas

Progymnasmata:

These are writing exercises that prepare the student for rhetoric. Different teachers present the exercises in different order, but most contain these exercises:

· Narrative: story telling. Includes:

o Condensing

o Expanding

o Changing voice/point of view

o Differing modes of narration (direct declarative, indirect declarative, interrogative, and comparative)

o Narrative elements: action, agent, time, place, manner, cause (what, who, when, where, how, why)

o Attributes of an excellent narrative are brevity, clarity and credibility

· Description: the verbal representation of people. Places and things that exist in time and space.

o Learn how to detail persons, places, actions, things, and time

o Learn to order the details by special, temporal or order of impressions

o The attributes of an excellent description are clarity and vividness.

· Fable: a fictional illustration,

o Primary purpose of a fable is to illustrate a point in order to give advice. This lends emotional impact to an argument.

o In a fable, there is a single incident that illustrates the point at hand, and can be summed up in a pithy statement.

o We retell, condense, expand and invent fables.

o We write moral tags for fables

o We adapt the structure of a fable by introducing it with its moral tag, then telling the fable itself, then drawing an analogy from the fable to real life. We can turn that order around, too. Then we are ready to use a fable in the midst of a longer piece of persuasive writing.

· The Proverb: a short, pithy saying that is true from common experience

o 3 kinds of proverbs:

§ those that exhort to action

§ those that dissuade from action

§ those that instruct or enlighten moral understanding

o We learn how to amplify proverbs or write a fable for them as an illustration

o We learn a pattern for writing a deliberative essay around the proverb (Cite the saying; praise its wisdom; define its key terms; paraphrase or explain its meaning; give reasons to support it; draw a conclusion)

· The Anecdote: a wise saying or short exposition that gives moral instruction

o This is also known as chreia.

o There are verbal anecdotes (similar to the proverb), or action anecdotes, where the short account of an action speaks for itself, or a combination of these.

o We amplify anecdotes, and practice fitting them into larger deliberative essays (Introduction, Narration, proposition, confirmation, refutation, conclusion)

· Refutation/Confirmation: supporting or attacking a position

o This prepares writers to meet public controversy with persuasion.

o We identify the type of question being raised: is it a question of:

§ Fact (conjecture)

§ Definition

§ Qualitative (value, quality or nature)

§ Jurisdiction (who decides)

o We use some of the sub-topics of invention to help us discover ways to refute or confirm our topic:

§ Is it probable/improbable?

§ Is it clear /obscure?

§ Is it possible or impossible?

§ Is it consistent or inconsistent?

· The Commonplace: an amplification of a good or evil that is self-evident.

o This is directed against a deed (as opposed to a person)

o The sub-topics of invention that can be used well to amplify a commonplace are:

§ Contrast (e.g. a good act with a wrongful one)

§ Comparison (a wrong with something worse)

§ Intention (accidental or intentional)

§ Past life of person (how personal background affected the act)

§ Rejection or appeal to pity

§ Question of legality

§ Question of expediency

§ Question of honorableness

§ Question of practicality

§ Question of immediate result

· Praising/Blaming: an amplification of the virtues or vices of a person

o This is also known as encomium and invective

o Again, we will use some of the sub-topics of Invention to discover ideas for our amplification:

§ Background

§ Education

§ Virtues/Vices

§ Achievements/Crimes

· The Comparison: a double composition of praising and/or blaming.

o We will talk about two persons or things in one of the following relationships:

§ Similar things: the good beside the excellent/the mean beside the base

§ Different things: the good and the evil

§ Greater and lesser things

o We’ll use the same sub-topics of invention we used when we talked about encomium and invective (background, education, virtues, achievements) and compare and contrast them in the two things being compared.

o We’ll practice different patterns of arrangement we can use in presenting these comparisons.

· The Speech-in-Character: the imitation of a person’s character, habits and feelings.

o The student here is asked to put him/herself into someone else’s place and express that person’s thoughts and feelings.

o This is related to both soliloquy (a speech in which a character talks to him or herself as though alone) and monologue (a speech in which a character speaks to an implied or real audience).

o We talk about these speeches as being either pathetic (depicting the emotions and feelings) or ethical (depicting the moral character) or both.

o The character can be a specific, definite person (like Hamlet), or an indefinite one who has the features of a class of people (like a soldier).

o Often the arrangement of this exercise involves structuring around time: a statement from the character about the present, followed by one about the past, and ending with one about the future.

· The Thesis: a reasoned inquiry into a yes-or-no proposition.

o The purpose of the thesis is to deliberate on practical and philosophical questions, and the exercise is structured to provide experience arguing both sides of an issue.

o The thesis seeks to persuade or dissuade an audience concerning the advantage or disadvantage of something for the future.

o The topics of a thesis can be dividing into:

§ The definite (specific time/place) or indefinite

§ The practical (political or social) or theoretical (philosophical or speculative)

o The sub-topics of invention we will use for thesis are:

§ Necessary/unnecessary

§ Possible/impossible

§ Advantageous/disadvantageous

§ Easy/hard

§ Fitting/unfitting

§ Lawful/unlawful

§ Customary/uncustomary

§ Just/unjust

o We will again practice this in a specified deliberative essay arrangement (Introduction, narrative, proposition, confirmation/refutation, conclusion) and in others, such as an alternating confirmation/refutation pattern.)

· For and Against Laws: the exercise in legislation.

o This exercise focuses on enabling students to argue for and against laws, ordinances, regulations and rules. It gives them practice again in arguing both sides of topic.

o We will practice using the same topics we used in the thesis to help us discover ideas, and arrange our ideas in the same deliberative essay arrangement.

By the time we have worked through these exercises, you can see that many tools needed for every kind of persuasive essay has been practiced. By the time we are arguing for or against a law, we are narrating, describing, using fables, anecdotes or proverbs, making comparisons, praising or blaming, etc.

As each exercise is introduced, I recommend using imitation and analysis from the ancient and great authors as a starting place. Copy and analyze what they have done. Then imitate it. Write and rewrite. You can see how I have applied this to high school students in my composition classes in my notebooks: feel free to take a look at them.

Some suggested resources:

· Books for the teacher:

o Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, E.P.J. Corbett and R.J. Connors, Oxford University Press

o Composition in the Classical Tradition, F. J. D’Angelo, Allyn and Bacon

o Imitation and Analysis (aka Model English I) & Model English II & Persuasive Speech by Francis P. Donnelly (out of print, Allyn and Bacon)

· Internet Resources:

o http://rhetoric.byu.edu/ {A great rhetoric resource}

o http://www.leeds.ac.uk/classics/resources/rhetoric/prog-aph.htm {A translation of THE early medieval text for teaching the progymnasmata by Aphthonius)

o http://hobbits8.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=28&Itemid=97 {a .pdf document of Francis Donnelly’s out of print masterpiece, Imitation and Analysis}

o http://members.aol.com/cmarsch786/ {Writing Assesment Services, a variety of online writing services by classical educator and homeschooler Cindy Marsch, including her progymnasmata tutorials}

o http://home.att.net/~mikejaqua/may-june-00.html {a good beginner’s reference on the progymnasmata)

Lost Tools of Writing, or what we all ought to know about teaching writing, but don't.

As promied, below are my notes to the weekend workshop in Colorado Springs with Andrew Kern of Circe Institute. These note only include Andrew's "side comments', so to speak. The curriculum-specific notes were written right into my LToW notebook. This is an excellent, new writing curriculum, using the classical approach. For more information on the curriculum, click on the Circe Institute link to the right.

My notes are rather stream-of-consciousness, since we were really talking about a curruculum, but the encouragement Andrew gave along the way was inspiring, so here you have it.

Notes from LToW Workshop, Colorado Springs, October 2006

Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” This is a good goal for education. But what is a Christian classical education? According to A.K., it is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul on truth, goodness and beauty, so that in Christ we may better know, glorify and enjoy God.

Locke said, “The soul is a needless hypothesis.” In many ways, this could be the moto for the U.S. public school system, and is reflected in our society’s free-fall morally. We need to be “radical”—Latin for “roots”, and return to the roots of education.

Language is a gift from God, patterned after Him for the purpose of communicating with us. Our capacity to know and enjoy God is qualified by our capacity to use the tool of language. Rhetoric (in the original sense of the word, meaning sound use of language) is important as communion with the Creator. In teaching from a classical and Christian perspective, we redeem rhetoric.

How can writing cultivate wisdom and virtue? St. Ignatius said, “The glory of God is the man fully alive.” By learning the beauty and intricacies of language, we learn more about God, and can become more fully alive. We, as teachers, can water those dry and impoverished souls to help them be restored. And restored sould respond quickly to nourishment.

One lesson that public schools teach well is anxiety: they are driven by and perpetuate it. We, on the other hand, need to cultivate and teach from a place of rest. Nourishing souls requires rest, contemplation and peace.

Wendell Berry says, “…specialization is tantamount to self-absorption.” If we exert our personal rights above all, we are failing to hope in the possibility of living in harmony with others.

The arts, including writing, are not only aesthetic, but ethical. Christian ethic is not based on a false good/bad dichotomy (since God created all things good), but on an ethic of priority. When we teach the idea of propriety, we gain discernment and judgment. Everything we teach should help aid children to make judgments in propriety. Teaching by formulae can’t teach judgment. Formulae can be good for a start, but we have to go beyond that.

95% of the times we encounter laziness, it is a symptom of despair. Students do not have the tools they need to perform the tasks we've given them.

The goal of classic rhetoricians was to name the basic principles found in all worthy writing.

Honesty leads to depth. If you try to be deep, you will be corrupted. Try for honesty instead. Writing is rooted in death to self for the Christian, like all other acts.

Writing is a craft, with particular tools of the trade. It is not about self-expression, which is thinly veiled self-absorption. An artist has firstly, mastered the craft, and secondly, has something to say.

There are three basic problems in writing: what to say, how to organize it, and how to say it. This breaks into the three important canons of rhetoric for writers: invention/discovery, arrangement, and elocution/style. All writing should fit the nature and purpose of the communication.

The quality of life is determined by the quality of the questions you ask. If your most pressing question is “how can I get a good-paying job?” that will determine many things. If your most pressing question is “how can I become more Christ-like” that will likewise determine some things, and lead to a richer life.

Likewise, the quality of your writing is largely determined by the questions you ask.

When writing, we start with a question, make it into an issue with the word “whether”, and go through the “ANI” process. (ANI is listing affirmative, negative and interesting ideas for your issue.) We can use the 5 Topics of rhetoric as powerful questions:

1. What is X? (Definition)
2. How does X compare with Y? (Comparison)
3. How is X related to Y? (Relationship)
4. What are the circumstances surrounding X? (Circumstance)
5. Who says what about X? (Testimony)

If you ask one good question, and answer it completely, you will be made to think of the whole issue.

Always keep in mind: Nature, Purpose and Judgment.

Arrangement in writing is wired into the nature of things. Everything must have an introduction, body and conclusion. Arrangement is just becoming self-conscious about what works and what we already do. Structure *is* intelligibility.

All narratives have an intro, a rise in action, a climax, a fall in action and a conclusion. History itself is a narrative.

We ought to be obsessively teleological; that is, always asking about the purpose in everything we do.

The world is ontologically semiotic; that is, created by God to employ symbolism. Because we are created in God’s image and He is relational, we are relational, see things relationally, and the world exists relationally. Everything has meaning in relation to something else, because meaning itself is relational.

The arrangement of an essay must be consonant with its purpose and nature. Aquinas said, “It is the part of the wise man to order and to judge.” The wise man can only judge and order rightly when he knows the nature and purpose of the work. We need to concentrate more fully on this.

How do we move from invention to arrangement? We need to see the big picture; to force students to remember that orderliness is important, as is learning self-limitation. All limitations are really possibilities. Division is a moral point: we must be honest about where the agreement and argument really is. Neitsche said, “We will never be free from God until we are free from grammar.” Limitations are actually good for us.

Elocution is teaching that revision is necessary, and teaching how to do it.

Clarity is very important. You must learn to be clear before you can discuss clarity. Tools can help you master clarity, but how then do we create sound judgment? We need to instill propriety, which includes context, circumstances, etc.

Figures of speech: schemes appeal to the senses, while tropes appeal to logic.

Didactic instruction moves from particulars to universals. It explores “types”, and employs induction.

1. Start with what a student knows. This is “pre-grammar”. Review and connect. A third of each lesson should include this.
2. Show the particulars (examples- individuals). This is “grammar”.
3. Make comparisons. This is dialectic.
4. Grasp the lesson at hand- what is the teacher trying to communicate, and make it their own. This is the beginning of rhetoric.
5. Apply what is learned. This is the end of rhetoric.

Fall

Well, a new school year is upon us. This fall I am teaching three classes to homeschooled children.

Composition II:
Composition I was imitation and analysis of sentences and paragraphs ala Francis Donnelly, and the first three progymnasmata exercises (narrative, description, and fable) ala D'Angelo and other sources. We also did a grammar review via sentence diagramming. Now, Composition II is going to introduce the rest of the progymn exercises, and the beginnings of the canons of invention. We are also taking a tour through figures of speech. I am thinking that next year, if atrophy doesn't keep me from teaching Composition III, I will use Andrew Kerns' material, The Lost Tools of Writing. To that end, I am looking f0rward to a conference in Colorado Spring next month on that subject. I'll try to post here some of the things I learn there.

Worldviews:
This is the second of a two year class for highschoolers. Using the material provided by Summit Ministries and David Noebel's book "Understanding the Times" as our jumping-off spot, we study 10 different discipline areas from 4 different western worldviews, and prepare for college work along the way. They have lots of reading, writing, and analyzing. It is the class our homeschooled kids like to complain about :-)

Chorus:
This is described below. This year we have 104 songbirds in the flock, and are adding a second auditioned ensemble for high school women's voices.

All these are keeping me happy and challeneged!

Los Alamos Homeschool Chorus

One of the hats I wear is as the director of the Los Alamos Homeschool Chorus. This group, begun by another homeschool family in town, has been part of my life for the past 10 years. It is a non-auditioned choral arts program for students grades K-12. The chorus is run by the director and a small board of parents who work to aid parents in the training of their children in the following ways:

• To train voices and develop musical skills to aid in life-long worshipping of God, telling others about Him, and using and enjoying the gifts of music and creativity that God has given each of us.
• To provide a variety of educational and performance experiences designed to broaden knowledge and experience with music, increase confidence, and spark interest.
• To create an atmosphere where the biblkical ethic of the preciousness of others is maintained, modelled and reinforced in relationships and discipline.

Our goals, then, are:

• To proclaim Christ and model godly behavior wherever we go
• To represent the excellencies of home education in all we do
• To minister to others in our community through outreach
• To train our children for participation in ministry to others
  

At the start, the chorus had between 25 and 30 students. Currently, our registration generally runs anywhere between 75 and 110 students each semester. The children rehearse for an hour and a half once a week, and present programs twice a year. Some music is done by the younger children alone, some by the older students alone, and much of it all together. We sing four-parts as a group, so the younger children are given mostly the melody, wherever it occurs.

Along with the other homeschool moms that form our board, we began asking, "How would we approach this chorus from a classical perspective?" In answer to that question, we began organizing around the history, content and skill areas appropriate to address in a choral setting.

Our youngest group, who we call our "Junior Choir", spends about 20-30 minutes in the middle of our rehearsal with another teacher away from the older students. This time allows for some special focus with the younger children (grades K-3) as well as with the older group (grades 4-12).

The Junior choir needs some time to move around and work out their jitters, but we decided there was no reason for this to be time "lost" to play alone. Instead, we have three lesson sets, each taking a year to complete, that we work through with the children on a rotating basis. Each set of lessons includes games and movement to give them "wiggle" time. Our three focus areas are:

• Vocal technique basics: We work here with tapes and visuals to discuss and practice the basic elements of good singing: posture, production, diction, following direction, tempo changes, etc.
• Rhythm reading and note identification: We introduce the basics of rhythm reading and note reading. At the end of the year, all these students can identify the names of notes on the treble clef and can read the rhythm of their chorus peices.
• Music History/Composers: Here we place music in its context by looking at great composers through time, and learning a little about their music. The composers we study are Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky.

Each of the students who enter our program in grade K, repeat that year's lesson in grade 3, and are well prepared to step up into our "Senior Choir".

Our Senior Choir, similarly, has a two-year rotation we cycle through:

• Sight singing: We work on all the basic skills of solfege sight-singing, including rhythm and melody, unison and part-singing.
• A cappella singing: Here, we put oursight reading ability to work and sing without accompaniment, working on our reading, intonation and balance.

When we began implementing these skill cycles we hypothesized that we might see a chorus better able to sing parts and more mature than what we had experienced. That has proven to be true! After about 3-4 years of this sort of emphasis, we saw great improvement in our student's abilities to sing more complex part music, and greater success in their performances. We began to see the need to continue to challenge some of our students. That was when we introduced an auditioned Ensemble for students in grades 9-12.

This small Ensemble (usually 4-12 singingers) performs a cappella music only, and music that is more difficult than the chorus at large could tackle. It also give that intimate ensemble experience to our students. The Ensemble has added more depth and joy to our choral programs.

If you are in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in mid-December or mid-May, come to one of our concerts. You will be treated to children in K-3 who can sing in unison and two parts, four-part singing from the whole group, and some lovely a cappella work. We usually present a 1 hour-plus performance of music, all from memory, and with a variety of styles and time periods represented.

If you are interested in the nuts and bolts of how this group works, leave me a comment or send me an e-mail. I love to share what we have learned!

Current Input

I have recently listened to an excellent on-line lecture by Dr. John Mark Reynolds of Biola University, and I recommend it highly! He is speaking to a group of homeschool students and parents about Classical education. You can reach his lecture by clicking on the Torrey Honors Institute link on the right of this page.

Additionally, I am listening to a workshop given by Andrew Kerns of the Cirece Institute entitled, "The Lost Tools of Writing" which is very thought-provoking. You can look at Andrew's excellent resources at the Circe link to the right.

Welcome!

Welcome, friends!

On this page, I hope to share my thoughts and findings and meanderings in regards to classical education. I am an aspiring classical educator: an amateur (from the Latin "amare", which means to love) who pursues classical education for the love of it. I first began this journey as I educated my own two sons at home (they are now both gone off to college) and continue to pursue it as I teach other homeschooled children.

For this first post, I am reprinting an article I wrote for our state homeschool newsletter, which atempts to answer the question: why in the world would a Christian desire to use classical education with their children?

Classical Education: A Godly Foundation by Chris Finnegan

As homeschoolers, we live in a blessed time. The Lord has provided freedom, abundant curriculum choices, and many avenues of support for our endeavors: this is a far cry from the days many remember of fighting for basic rights. But even in a time of such blessing, homeschooling is an intense job, requiring parents to work hard and tirelessly in order to provide the best possible Christian education for their children. Why in the world would an already harried homeschool parent consider a teaching method as teacher-intensive as “classical education”? And, more importantly, why would a Christian, who understands our most important job is to equip our children to glorify God and enjoy Him forever[i], choose such a method?

First, let’s begin with a definition of “classical education”. Indeed, defining just what “classical education” is presents a challenge in itself. It is a methodology and movement that has grown, changed and altered over the centuries. It continues to be adapted today as many of us seek to reclaim the “lost tools of learning”[ii]. It is all too easy to caricature instead of accurately representing this educational method. Classical Christian education, according to Andrew Kern,[iii] is “the cultivation of wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul on truth, goodness, and beauty by means of the liberal arts so that, in Christ, the student is better able to know and enjoy God.” Classical education is that method of instruction which is the legacy of the Christian middle ages, Christian Europe, and early America. Its roots lie in both the Greco-Roman and Hebrew cultures. It is word-centered, rigorous, and has as its goal the practice of Christian virtue--not just the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake.[iv] The mentoring of the pupil by the instruction and example of the teacher is its characteristic ingredient, and together, teacher and pupil move towards study of the “queen of the sciences”, theology.

Classical education is occasionally characterized as the emulation of pagan authors and philosophies. While study of all of history is important, “classical” education, in its broader historical sense does not necessarily imply that we admire and revere Roman or Greek or pagan theology. While classical education may include some careful study of the ancient period, it would be inaccurate to characterize it as focused on pagan beliefs.

Many compelling reasons exist to pursue a classical Christian education.

1. For Christians, the basis of all knowledge in life and godliness is the Word: either God’s general, creative word written in nature, His specific word written in Scripture, or His Incarnate Word written in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Classical education is also based upon the written word. The sciences and arts of language and logic are tools given by God to communicate Himself to His creation and to endow man with the dignity of communicating with his Creator. Therefore, a method of instruction that emphasizes the written word-- understanding it, analyzing it, and creating with it-- seems uniquely fitting for Christians. It gives man the capacity to think some of God’s thoughts after Him.

2. Classical education is about the pursuit of truth, not just the pursuit of knowledge. The idea of objective truth is a basic component of classical Christian education. As such, it is uniquely suited to help students understand that all truth is God’s truth, and to train students not only to identify what is true as measured by God’s plumb line, but to embrace truth wherever it is found and reject error. Classical education thus provides the perfect training ground for the defense of the Faith. The early Church Fathers were schooled in the classical tradition that, built on Paul’s example, met heresy with well thought out, logical and concise canons, creeds and arguments. These documents have helped the Church to navigate rough waters over many centuries as it seeks to defend the faith against the world. And such training will prove invaluable to our children as they navigate the waters of a lost and fallen world.

3. Classical education begins with the premise that there is such a thing as virtue against which vice can be seen clearly. Its goal is not only head-knowledge of such virtue, but practical, experiential virtue in action. As Christians, we know that Christ is the embodiment of godly virtue-- and that the end of all education ought to be greater knowledge of Christ, greater conformity to Christ, and greater appreciation of Him. This motivates us to work vigorously and thoroughly to attain these goals in increasing measure, both as individuals and as teachers who bear responsibility for our students. Classical education provides an avenue by which we can diligently add virtue to faith, and continue adding knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.[v] This goal of virtue in classical education moves our learning from “head knowledge” to “heart action”.

4. Classical education is built on the model of imitation. It assumes there is a body of knowledge and wisdom that ought to be passed on from one generation to the next. Classical education assumes some are teachers and some are learners. In assuming that certain skills and certain persons are worth imitating, classical education provides the perfect vehicle for the discipleship of students by their teachers, and resonates with the models of imitation found in Scripture. [vi]

5. Classical education is grounded in the idea that the world is an orderly, logical place and that it can be understood. The laws of logic and principles of right reasoning are foundational to all instruction. Early Christians understood that the orderly nature of the universe and the rational nature of thought reflected the mind of the Maker. While God is certainly much more than a merely rational being, right reasoning and logical principles flow from His very nature. Thinking is not an option for Christian: it is simply a question of whether we will think rightly or wrongly.[vii] Logis is putting our thoughts in order, and thinking God’s thoughts after Him. Accordingly, understanding the rules of clear and correct reasoning is more than an academic exercise; it is a spiritual discipline whether we classically educate or not. It is also the legacy of the Christian West through the means of classical Christian education.

6. As Christians, we believe that all of history is, indeed, His Story; the details of God at work in time and space. Classical education, with its emphasis on the study of history, gives us a framework from which to study the Great Conversation of human history—both its man-to-man dialogue about the nature of God and man and its God-to-man component found in divine revelation. It prepares our students to enter this great conversation by giving them its context. A sweeping understanding of man’s quest for God, his lostness without God, God’s divine moving in time and space, and the ideas that have shaped the men and women and cultures around us, are all integral components necessary for Christians to impact their culture effectively for Christ. The pursuit of truth provides a “safe” way to view the world through the lenses of the Scriptures. If we can embrace what is true, wherever it is found, sifting it through the Scriptures, and placing it in historical context, we are prepared to meet a dark and broken world. It gives us the confidence to attack what is wrong and stand by what is right.

7. Historically, classical education is the legacy of the Christian West to the world. It was the Christians of the Middle Ages who viewed the Greco-Roman world as providentially brought into being at the right moment in time to cross paths with Christ. It was they who took the truth found around them as God’s truth, filtered it through the worldview of the Scriptures, and laid a firm foundation of how to educate in a way consistent with the Scriptures. In this sense, classical education is Christian education.

8. Pragmatically, classical education has produced the best and brightest minds of every age where it has existed. Even in its pre-Christian incarnation, its method of careful, logical thought and training produced the minds that led to Western Civilization, and paved the way for Christ (even though they were unaware of their divinely ordained role.) In the Middle Ages, it produced the great patriarchs of the early church, and preserved the Word even through Barbarian incursion and plague and disaster. In Europe it educated the men who would be led by God to search His Word and spark the fire that became the Reformation. In England and America, it produced the Founding Fathers of this nation. Any method of education used by God to accomplish so much should not be easily dismissed.

Classical education provides a methodology that is not only compatible with Christianity, but has been blessed by God in this capacity in the past. If this is so, why have Christians failed to embrace it in our time? The answer to this is the ignorance of our current age. For the last century, our nation has built with the lumber left over from our classical, Christian worldview and heritage. But it has been so undermined in the public education system that we have lost our foundation and our way. Since the classical model was in place through the entire history of Christianity (until the last 100-150 years), and succeeded in raising up the great saints of the Church in the past, the burden of proof that it is insufficient actually rests with those who make that claim.

However, home school educators are left in the uncomfortable position of trying to rediscover exactly what a classical educational method entails, without the training that we need to accomplish it. That means a lot of hard work for the instructor who has to learn before he can teach. But this is a familiar kind of territory for homeschoolers! The recovery of the ideals of classical education may well be the next step in our quest to regain a godly foundation for our children, our churches, our communities and our nation.

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[i] Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 1, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

[ii] Wislon, Douglas. Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning: An Approach to Distinctively Christian Education. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1991.

[iii] Andrew Kerns is author of Classical Education: Towards a Revival of American Schooling and director of Circe Ministries.

[iv] “True learning is revealed in character; it is not a matter of courses or degrees or preparation for a job...True learning makes affirmation and acknowledges limitation; it begets honesty and humility, compassion towards man and reverence towards God... True learning knows what is good, serves it above self, reproduces it, and recognizes that in knowledge lies responsibility.” From Norms and Nobility: A treatise on Education” by Hicks, David. New York: University of America Press, 1999.

[v] II Peter 1:5-7

[vi] I Thessalonians 3:7-9, 1 Peter 2:21

[vii] For more on the place of logic in the life of the Christian, see Hawkins, Craig S. “The Nature and Necessity of Logic”, Apologetics Information Ministry, http://aplogeticsinfo.org/papers/naturenecessity.html

A select bibliography on classical education

Bauer, Susan Wise and Jesse Wise. The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home. New York: Norton and Company, Inc., 1999.

http://www.welltrainedmind.com

Hicks, David. Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education. New York: University of Marica Press, 1999.

Veith, Gene Edward, Jr. and Andrew Kern. Classical Education: Towards a Revival of American Schooling. Capitol Research Center, 1997.

Wilson, Doug. Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning: An Approach to Distinctively Christian Education. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1991.

Websites on Classical Education:

www.classicalhomeschooling.org

http://www.gbt.org/res.html

http://www.triviumpursuit.com/

http://www.circeinstitute.org/