Classical Eclectic Please!

What is your homeschool flavor?

Classical- regarded as representing an exemplary standard; traditional and long-established in form or style.

Eclectic-  deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

When I first began researching homeschooling, a couple of years ago, I was overwhelmed with the amount of information available. I know more is better, but overwhelming at the same time.  At first I just needed to figure out how in the world was I actually going to do this. {Coming from a public school background I needed some serious unschooling}. My little ones were only pre-kers at the time so nothing I tried was going to make or break them at that point. Whew!! Unit studies (themes) worked great and we did all of the fun pre-k stuff. We still do have fun but themes, no so much. 

I always seemed to come back again and again to The Well Trained Mind - Classical method. At first I liked it but thought there was no way- Latin and The Illiad, Oh My!. I would love to teach them Latin and read all of the great books, but how could little ole me pull that off. I also think, initially, it was the organizational approach that appealed to me. I loved the fact that someone was laying out for me what to do in an organized chronological way. Can you say Type A? 

I did like the rigor of the method as well, but something just did not sit well about it. I do appreciate Bauer and Wise developing curricula, but I feel that they can be used with any style of education, not just classical and that is what was bothering me most. I felt like I had to use their products, their way, or I was not providing a classical education. Well as I have researched more and figured all of this "homeschooling" out a bit more, I have come to the conclusion that I get to make the curricula, or lack there of, choices as I see fit for my kids at whatever level they are at.

If you ask people to define a classical education everyone is going to give you a different answer. I believe this to be true even among homeschoolers stating they are using a classical method. Part of the reason is that, in our modern world, it seems too naive an approach to only teach our children what the kids of 100+ years ago needed to become fully educated young adults. For me I see a classical education as a rigorous language, history, and logic focused education which is organized according to the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric). There are many ways to achieve this and that is where I get the "eclectic" component of our educational method. 

There is even indecision on when children reach each stage and I think that is because all kids are different and as homeschoolers we don't have to fit our kids into a mold. They will each transition from the grammar, logic (dialect), and rhetoric stages naturally and we can build upon that transition in their time. 

For those of you new to homeschool or what the stages of a classical education look like, I will touch on each of them a bit.

The Trivium

    The Grammar stage (birth through elementary aged) is the foundation of learning. The kids are acquiring the basic building blocks in which later learning will be built upon. I like to use the analogy of them gathering pegs upon which to hang future knowledge. This is the fact gathering stage which starts at birth. Kids are developing the tools of inquiry which will take them into the logic stage where they will develop the tools of investigation- the Why's. Oh the teenage years....but why mom? Why, why, why? 

    The Logic stage (middle school) is when reasoning and abstract thinking begin to develop. At this stage they begin to connect the facts which they have already learned in the grammar stage. They need more of a guide than a teacher at this point to help them through their learning journey to understanding.

    The Rhetoric stage (high school) is the time during which kids learn how to express and apply facts effectively. As well as begin to specialize in their interests. 

   

    This is a very brief overview of the stages. If you would like to read more here are some links to understand further what a classical education is and how to implement it. 

   http://www.welltrainedmind.com/getting-started/

   http://www.triviumpursuit.com/articles/transformation_of_classical_education.php

   http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/trivium.html#summary 

    

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