What is a Classical and Christian school?

It is helpful to think of the phrase "Classical and Christian" as a brand name. Just as you can have many brands of automobiles, you can have many brands of schools. Most of us are familiar with public schools, which can also be known as state schools or government schools because they are funded and guided by the state. There are private schools, some of which are religious in nature, others of which are not. There are Montessori schools, reform schools, and gender-specific schools. And of course, there are Classical and Christian schools. And just as it is true that not all cars are the same, but certain brands outperform others, so it is with schools.

So that returns us to our question...what does it mean for a school to carry the brand "Classical and Christian?" Classical and Christian schools (hereafter CCS) trace their current configuration to to a man named Douglas Wilson; to the Logos School in Moscow, Idaho; and to the association that came from them, the Association of Classical and Christian Schools (www.accsedu.org). Even the Logos School had to start somewhere, and it takes as one of its formative documents the 1946 essay delivered by Dorothy Sayers called "The Lost Tools of Learning" (http://www.brccs.org/sayers_tools.html). And where did Sayers get her inspiration? From the Medieval form of education, one that was successful for more than one thousand years, known as the Trivium.

Ok, so what does all that mean? Let's start with the Christian part of these schools. The Bible is quite clear that the primary responsibility for the education of children rests with the parents God gave them. Consider these passages:

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. (Deuteronomy 4:9, NIV)

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9, NIV)

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6, NIV)

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4, NIV)

Because of these commands from God, not to mention that He created everything that is, the only proper way to study anything is from a Christian perspective. Yes, that means there is a Christian way to approach math, a Christian way to approach literature and history, even a Christian way to approach physical education. The God Who has revealed Himself as One God, eternally existing in three Persons...Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...is the God Who created the universe. Therefore, He has something to say about everything from spelling and coloring to string theory and quantum mechanics.

A Classical and Christian school takes this seriously. The CCS works with parents in helping them faithfully live out their God-given responsibilities.

While there is daily worship in a CCS, it is not a mere add-on. It is not something to check off the agenda to qualify as a Christian school. Children are taught from Kindergarten on to understand their world from the perspective of the God Who created it. To pursue any area of study as if God is irrelevant is like constructing a school in which everyone pretends there are no such things as numbers. There would be no numbers in the books, no numbers on the clocks, no numbers on the classroom doors or the gym score board. Does that sound ludicrous? So is attempting to construct an educational system that says, "For the next six hours, we teachers and students will pretend that God does not exist." It is the goal of a CCS to develop help children and their parents develop the only worldview that is consistent and coherent...a Christian one.

What is a Classical and Christian School? Part II

When capitalized, the word "Classical" refers to the language and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. You can major in Classics or Classical Studies at the university. Of course, you often hear people refer to classic literature, classic cars, even classic rock 'n' roll, so what exactly does this term mean in the title of a Classical and Christian school (hereafter CCS)?

In part, it carries with it the connotations of that which has to do with ancient Greece and Rome. A CCS, for example, typically teaches Latin from the third grade onward. There is an emphasis on understanding the Greco-Roman culture because it was into this world that Jesus was born, and within this world that Christianity first flourished. This world also provided the foundations for Western civilization in its language, architecture, laws, art, and literature.

There is much more, however, to the word "Classical" in a CCS. It also refers to the structure of the education, one that draws its inspiration from the Medieval Trivium and fits amazingly well with the natural cognitive development of children.

The first stage of the Trivium is the grammar stage and corresponds to what Dorothy Sayers called in her essay "The Lost Tools of Learning" the poll-parrot stage. Young children like to memorize things. They naturally enjoy rhythms and rhymes. In his poem "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot," Alexander Pope once wrote:

As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame,

I lisp'd in numbers, for the numbers came.

Here "numbers" refers to poetic meter. If you don't think children enjoy meter, try listening to children who have watched Barney even once. They know the songs because of their heavy rhythms, which make them memorable. At the grammar stage, children learn the grammar of the different subjects. In other words, they learn the basics. They learn the grammar of history...that there are dates and places and people of importance. They learn the grammar of mathematics...that there are numbers and these can be added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided.

The second stage is the logic stage, corresponding to what Sayers calls the pert stage. Anyone who has dealt with a pre-teen or early teen knows that young people of this age have a natural talent for arguing. The logic stage teaches children how to argue well. Rather than becoming argumentative, children learn to argue their position, to spot weaknesses in an argument, and to make that argument stronger.

The final stage of the Trivium is the rhetoric stage, which fits in with what Sayers terms the poetic stage. You may think that rhetoric is simply about public speaking, and that is the word's original sense, but used here it takes on a broader meaning. This is the stage, approximately high school, where students begin to synthesize what they have learned and to present that information to others. Clear communication is key, and a valuable skill for any occupation or relationship in which the child will find himself as an adult.

In summary, a Classical and Christian education is one that explores the wisdom of the past, in the light of the One Who is the truth, Jesus Christ, to enable children to fulfill their God-given purposes for the future.