According to the honorable Zell Miller, former governor of the state of Georgia and United States Senator,

“Twenty years of votes can tell you much more about a man than twenty weeks of campaign rhetoric. Campaign talk tells people who you want them to think you are. How you vote tells people who you really are deep inside.”

Although you’ve heard the word “rhetoric” used in contemporary conversations, you might not have a clear idea of what it means in terms of an authentic classical education. The two most common usages of the word rhetoric in my community of Christian home schoolers are as follows: (1) the inflated verbosity of politicians to win votes at all costs, and (2) the misuse of the original term to describe a “stage” of classical home education, generally the high school years. Our lack of understanding stems from the fact that the term rhetoric belongs to an art (remember the 7 “liberal arts” of a classical education?) that was constructed during ancient times, practiced for thousands of years, yet abruptly abandoned as a fundamental discipline in our public schools during the middle to late 1800s. In short,

Rhetoric is the art of oratory.

For thousands of years, classical rhetoric was classified as (1) verbal, (2) conciliatory, (3) persuasive requests (as opposed to coercive demands) that were (4) delivered by a single orator. More recently with the invention of the printing press, the term rhetoric was broadened to include written as well as spoken oratory. Oratory, derived from the latin infinitive “orare” which means “to pray”, is simply the art of speaking in public and writing for the public. The same principles of rhetoric are applied to both oral and written disciplines.

Classical rhetoric is the art or discipline of using written and spoken discourse to persuade, inform, or motivate an audience…the very essence of the speech or essay is meant to move the listener or reader. According to Scottish Presbyterian Minister and Master of Rhetoric, George Campbell,

“we discourse to enlighten the understanding, to please the imagination, to move the passions, or influence the will.”

Although Campbell was primarily interested in the art of rhetoric because he believed it would result in better preachers, contemporary home school parents see the application of rhetoric to a whole slew of opportunities from platform, interpretive, and limited preparation speeches and essays to books, sermons, and face-to-face encounters in the community.

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Classical rhetoric, simply put, consists of 3 steps: (1) the idea, (2) the proof, and (3) the delivery or style. In my next post, I’ll elaborate on the three kinds of classical discourse. Please consider telling a friend about The Classical Scholar by clicking on the email envelope above this post.

Reviewing content to increase understanding is a critical component of a classical education. So, before we start the next homeschooling series on the classical trivium, “Thinking Critically,” here’s a short primer on classical education.

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Western Civilization was built on the classical education model, and the majority of history’s leaders were trained under this method. Classical education dates back to Ancient Israel, Greece, and Rome. Medieval Europeans, especially leaders of the Christian Church, were classically educated as were the founders of the American Republic. During the 19^th century, the U. S. immigration population soared, and the common school movement was born which effectively obliterated classical education in the United States by the beginning of the 20^th century. With the exception of a minute group of Christian home schoolers, our nation’s leaders are now being trained on the public school conveyor-belt which teaches children what to think and not how to think. (See “The World is Waiting” for a detailed chronology of the history of classical education.)

The classical home education renewal movement is still in its infancy, and many variations in practice exist like the classical model of Charlotte Mason, Susan Wise Bauer, and Oliver Van DeMille. In their excitement to embrace a classical home education, many parents jump right in without really thinking about what distinguishes classical education from other viable homeschooling methods. For example, some would tell you that classical languages like Latin are a critical component of a classical education (more on my opinion of this in a later post!), but the content of the classical education is not nearly as important as the methods by which the content is taught. The trivium and quadrivium provide structure for organizing content while Socratic dialogue and inductive reasoning provide the tools by which to understand the content.

A classical Christian home education is not as difficult as many people believe it to be. In fact, when you know your main objectives, classical homeschooling can be extremely freeing and relaxing while still rigorously challenging both parents and children. There are Three Simple but Significant Steps to a Classical Education:

1. Discard the public school paradigm

2. Teach the Skills of the Trivium

a. Learning the Language

b. Thinking Critically

c. Communicating Effectively

3. Supervise the Study of Subjects

Unlike some proponents of classical homeschooling, I do not view the trivium as distinct phases in the child’s life; rather, I see the trivium as three necessary skill sets that should be substantially mastered before moving on to the deeper study of subjects. Think of these three skills as a continuum of increasing competence. The more the child works on the skill, the better the child becomes at the skill. All three skills begin developing at birth but are not mastered for many years. In fact, you are probably still working on these skills just as I am! There does come a day, however, when you know your child is ready to go deeper into subjects, and it is at that point that you can tailor the study of subjects to the individual tastes and interests of the child.

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“Thinking Critically,” step two of “Teach the Skills of the Trivium,” is the topic of the next series.

This post is a continuation of a series entitled, “Three Simple But Significant Steps To A Classical Education.” The first step in moving toward classical Christian homeschooling has to do with lightening your load: abandon the public school model. The second step, teach the skills of the trivium, is introduced in this post while the third step, supervise the study of subjects will follow soon.

If you’ve read my book, A Brief History of Classical Education, you recall that Ancient Rome took the Greek idea of a classical education and organized it into 7 liberal arts made of 2 steps: the trivium and the quadrivium. The trivium was composed of three basic skills sets that every educated man and woman in Rome (and later Western Civilization) had mastered. After the student had become reasonably adept at all three skills, the quadrivium was initiated which I’ll explain in a future post.

As I began to study the ancient model of classical education, it became clear to me that acquiring these three basic skills was critical to deeper study of subjects. The ancient Romans and medieval Europeans called these three skills grammar, logic, and rhetoric. (I emphasize the word skills in the prior sentence to help those parents who were publically educated and perhaps predisposed to consider the words grammar, logic, and rhetoric as discrete subjects which they are not.) In order to avoid any confusion, I’ll be describing these three skills as follows:

• Learning the Language

• Thinking Critically

• Communicating Effectively

When you consider the three phrases above, it’s a little easier to see a skill which takes time to acquire as opposed to a discrete subject which can be learned in a semester or two. Just like the ancient and medieval trivium, the classical trivium that you compile and structure for your children will take time to complete. In some cases, acquiring the skills will be consecutive, and at other times, acquiring one skill will happen concurrently. Teaching the trivium is a process that will vary in length for each child in your family.

You might also have noticed that I chose the word “teach” the skills of the trivium. In order to teach any skill, you need to be proficient (and preferably an expert), in the particular skill. For instance, I wouldn’t even begin to teach my daughter how to play the guitar because I don’t know the chords, the fingering, or even how to tune the strings, but I would be able to teach her the basics of piano performance and theory. (I confess that I am only proficient not an expert!) I mention this caveat about your own abilities with the three skills so that you will be thinking about what you need to do to bring your own skills in language acquisition, critical thinking, and effective communication up to speed before teaching your children.

“Learning the Language Through Hearing,” is the topic of my next post.

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Have you pinned down your home education philosophy yet? Do you have any questions?

How are you doing with breaking the bonds of the public school model?

I’d love to hear your experiences, so please leave a comment if you feel led to share.