Not long ago, I witnessed the trial of a first-time juvenile offender. Furious with his mom for refusing to drive him to his girlfriend’s house, this fifteen year old young man demolished the back window of her truck. His frustrated parents pressed charges, and he soon found himself in front of a judge and a jury on the witness stand. Regrettably, this in itself is not unusual in our culture; however what I found most astonishing and disturbing was the manner in which this young man communicated with his interlocutors: grunts!

Single word grunts issued from his scowling lips. He was extremely disrespectful towards the judge and showed no indication of repentance or remorse. The judge had to ask the young man to respond in complete sentences! But the real shocker came when the jury was dismissed to deliberate: both parents began an eloquent conversation with the court officials. Clearly, his parents were well-educated and effective communicators. How did this young man end up with such a deficiency in communication skills? Do we run the same risk as these parents? Is it possible that our children, when faced with unexpected situations, will find themselves answering in one word replies? Do we take effective communication skills for granted?

Christians are called to more than grunts! We seek to glorify God in every word and deed. Colossians 3:17 succinctly summarizes our responsibility as Christians:

And whatever you do, in word and deed, do everything in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

What does it mean to speak every word in the name of Jesus? Let’s look at the term “word” in Scripture. The Gospel of John refers to Jesus as the Word of the Father, and the Old Testament prophets regularly delivered the “Word” of Yahweh to the King. The Creator reaches out to the creature and communicates, through spoken words like those delivered to the prophets, through invisible encounters as in the apostle Paul’s conversion story, through the written word of the canon of Scripture, and finally through the incarnation of Jesus. The Word of the Lord is of utmost importance because it is through that Word that the Living God reveals who He is for the sake of a full relationship with us. Communication is vital to our relationship with Him and with others, so we, as little “Christ-bearers,” recognize that our words, whether written or spoken, are also meant for relationship with others, and as such, they have the power to change lives. We speak in Jesus’ name as He would speak…in truth, in love, and with a mind toward advancing His Kingdom.

As classical home schooling parents, we have a deed to do: train our children in effective communication skills. They may have a true desire to speak every word in Jesus’ name, but if they don’t have the tools, their efforts may not reach full potential. All that we have done in teaching the classical trivium comes to fruition in step 3, “Communicating Well.” In order to effectively influence others, our children must marshal the language, seek out the best arguments, and organize ideas with compelling style and captivating delivery. Equipped with the necessary skills, our eloquent children will respond to difficult questions with thoughtful, persuasive words that, unlike base grunts, have the power to change the world!

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Next up for step 3 of the classical trivium, “Communicating Well,” is an introduction to classical rhetoric and the three kinds of classical discourse.

In my last post, Shaky Speculation: The Lost Tools of Learning, I examined the history of classical Christian education and why the current renewal movement is based on the following faulty premise: the psychological development of children (poll-parrot, pert, then poet) roughly follows the chronological pattern of the medieval trivium (grammar, logic, then rhetoric.) I explained how the current “classical” education model regularly recommended in homeschool circles is really just a 12 year public school paradigm with classical subjects tacked on for enrichment. Now if you accept my position, the next question is this:

Where do you go from here if you want to give your kids a true classical Christian education?

Well, in my family, first we strip away the idea of a 12 year, subject-driven schedule and all the trappings of a public school model including start and finish times, standard holiday and vacation dates, textbooks, and dedicated school rooms. Then we go back to the content of the original trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) and establish that we will master these skills (the “lost tools of learning”) over several years. [Note: In order to help you resist the temptation to think of the trivium as 3 subjects, I will refer to the 3 stages as (1) language acquisition, (2) critical thinking, and (3) effective communication.] Finally, during the final stages of the trivium, we then begin to delve deeper into discrete “subjects” (historically called the quadrivium) based upon each child’s gifts, abilities, and interests.

In a nutshell, there are 3 simple but significant steps to a classical Christian home education:

1. Discard the old public school paradigm
2. Teach the skills of the trivium (language acquisition, critical thinking, effective communication)
3. Supervise the study of subjects after the skills of the trivium are substantially mastered

This doesn’t begin to explain the entire process, but I hope it helps you get your mind around the simplicity of the system. Each family will uniquely tailor the three steps. Look for my next post on step one, “Discard The Public School Paradigm.”

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Let’s get a dialogue going on this topic…it was a real stretch for me that took a few years and lots of reflection to realize that our classical home school didn’t have to be so rigid. Have you found yourself tied to a schedule or concerned because your had fallen behind in completing the tasks? Let’s talk! Leave a comment below.

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