More on schooling

Remember my recent post on schooling? I thought I might share my thoughts on curriculum, just for fun. If this doesn't sound fun to you, call me crazy and don't read further!

This is the book that I devoured, cover to cover, in 2 days. It's called The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. It is a secular book describing the classical education model. I was first exposed to classical education in college when my roommate let me borrow her current read, Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning, by Doug Wilson. Thanks for a life-long fascination, Rach! I find myself quite often constructing the "perfect" classical school in my mind, always looking out for a new book or tool to use. Strange, I know! Who does this?

The classical model is centered around the "trivium". The trivium is the word that is used to describe the three stages of child development. The stages include the grammar, logic and rhetoric stage. Experts disagree on the ages of each stage. But basically, the elementary years are called the grammar years because this is a time of laying a foundation in each subject area. During this stage children memorize and soak up knowledge like little sponges. During the logic stage (middle school years), they begin to ask, "Why?". They continue to obtain knowledge, with a bent toward answering their questions. They are introduced to logic, which teaches them how to discern between truth and fallacy. The last stage, the rhetoric stage, is filled with training the child to present arguements informatively and articulately. In addition to teaching around these stages, the classical model is very rich in literature and the arts, particularly great books.
The most exciting part of teaching my children about God's world through this model is the integration of history, science, art, music and the Bible. The book pictured above suggests dividing the history of the world into 4 eras: ancient times, medieval/renaissance, late renaissance/ early modern and modern. You teach the four eras three times (1-4rth grade, and again 5th-8th, and again 9th-12th, each on deeper levels.) So for example, for ancient times we would spend some time studying the Egyptians in history, the Exodus from the Bible and make hieroglyphics in art. Doesn't that sound fun? There is a lot of memorization in the grammar stage, so the children might learn the names of the Pharoahs, the major rivers in Egypt, etc. And they will learn what went on all over the world during the time that the pyramids were built and how to reference this time with biblical history. I am fascinated with this chronological way to unfold history because I did not learn this way. What was going on in Asia when Jesus was born? I have NO idea! But I hope that my kids will! And the science is equally fascinating, alternating earth science, biology, chemistry and physics.
Without expounding any more on my new obsession, I am in prayer. I think we will be homeschooling in a year or so simply because I can not shake the "bug". It's nice to have time to pray and research (and let the baby grow a little). Hope I haven't bored you all to death!