“I don’t know.” Perhaps you thought you understood a concept then when pushed to summarize the concept in a clear, concise statement, you found yourself uttering the feeble words “I don’t know.” Or maybe you asked your son to explain what he just read, and he weakly stammered “I don’t know.” If you can’t explain why you know something, then you don’t really know it!

The English word “critical” derives from the Greek word “kritikos” which means to question, to make sense of, or to analyze. Critical thinkers know why they believe what they believe because they have asked lots of questions, analyzed lots of data, and have made sense of the evidence. According to Merriam Webster, a belief is “a conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based upon examination of evidence.” In evaluating beliefs, we need to consider four different kinds of evidence:

• Expert Authorities

• Written References

• Hard Facts

• Personal Experience

Expert Authorities

An authority is one who is an expert in a field and has usually devoted the majority of his working career to gaining a deep understanding of his area of expertise. Biblical scholars specialize in interpreting particular books of the Bible. Supreme Court justices specialize in Federal Constitutional Law. Anthropologists specialize in indigenous cultures. Who are the authorities for your core beliefs? Are they particularly knowledgeable in the area of the belief? Are they reliable? Have they ever given inaccurate information? Do other authorities disagree with their positions?

Written References

Original source documents like books, newspapers, online publications are written by authors who could be authorities or work for authorities. What texts do you rely upon to support your beliefs? Is the content of these texts based upon factual evidence? What are the credentials of the authors? How much personal experience does the author have with the topic? Does the author have a relationship with someone who is an authority on the topic? Are there other authors who disagree with the position that your texts endorse? Is there evidence to support the opinion of these texts?

Hard Facts

Facts are pieces of information presented as having objective reality; that is, facts can be objectively quantified or substantiated and are not subject to the interpretations of the user. When considering the facts behind your beliefs, inquire of the source of the facts. Were experiments performed to statistically quantify the facts? Was evidence obtained to substantiate the conclusions? Can this evidence be interpreted differently? Does the factual evidence support the conclusion?

Personal Experience

Many times our beliefs are based upon personal experiences. In evaluating these experiences, ask yourself the following questions. What were the circumstances of the experience? Were distortions or mistakes in perception possible? Have other people had similar or conflicting experiences? Are there other explanations for the experience?

You don’t have to examine each of these four types of evidence for every belief or position that you consider, but critical thinking skills will be improved if you practice asking these questions regularly. Think of a core belief that you hold about life then go through this exercise step by step. Some possible beliefs that you could examine are what you believe about marriage, parenting, or homeschooling. Here are the steps:

1. Describe the belief.

2. Explain the reasons why you feel so strongly about the belief.

3. Identify evidence for your position.

4. Describe an opposing point of view.

5. Identify evidence for the opposing viewpoint.

6. Evaluate the evidence for both pros and cons using the four categories above:

a. Who are the authorities?

b. What are the written references?

c. What are the facts?

d. What are your personal experiences?

Was that difficult to do? Now you’re ready to try this exercise with your child. Select an easy belief to start with then move on to more difficult beliefs. For instance, in my household, Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream is favored above all other brands, so I might guide the kids through the following analysis:

1. Handels Ice Cream is better than Ritters Custard.
2. Flavor, variety, texture, and price all support our position.
3. We know this from personal experience and newspaper articles showing consumer preferences.
4. Ritters Custard is better than Handels.
5. Some people prefer the lighter, creamier texture of custard as evidenced by all the cars parked in front of the building.
6. Finally, authorities, references, facts, and personal experiences would be considered for both Handels and Ritters.

You can use these tools to evaluate all kinds of beliefs from moral positions (like “I believe lying is wrong”) to scientific theories (like “I do not believe global warming is a threat to the earth”) to difficult worldview issues (like “I believe in the Trinity”). Start with the easier concepts from their math lessons (like “I believe nine times eight is seventy-two” or “I believe a right triangle has one 90 degree angle”) or from their history reading (like “I do not believe the American Civil War was caused by slavery” or “I believe that Benedict Arnold was a traitor”).

You might want to set aside a few minutes every morning to practice this exercise just like you would practice an impromptu speech. Give the kids a topic (abstract ideas like love and power or concrete ideas like evolution and property ownership), and set the timer for 10 minutes. Give them a notecard and have them complete the 6 steps above. When the timer goes off, have them narrate their thoughts from the notecard. I promise you that this exercise will really stimulate their thinking; it really reveals how much they do or do not know about their belief! Train your kids in how to evaluate their beliefs so that they can confidently give a precise, thoughtful answer next time when you ask them why they believe what they believe.

Children don’t necessarily learn to think critically in public, private, or home schools. The U.S. educational model emphasizes “acquiring unrelated bits of information instead of developing a coherent framework of knowledge. But information is not knowledge. It doesn’t become knowledge until the human mind acts on it and transforms it.” (John Chafee, Ph.D., The Thinker’s Way) According to the Greek playwright, Sophocles, “knowledge must come through action.” In other words, the only way to become a better thinker is to think.

10. Critical thinkers are open-minded.

They listen carefully to every viewpoint, evaluating each perspective carefully and fairly. They recognize their own bias and are not afraid to hear other people’s positions…in fact, they welcome hearing other viewpoints because then their own knowledge is broadened. They empathize with others.

9. Critical thinkers are knowledgeable.

They have a broad knowledge base. Remember that knowledge is not the same as information…knowledge comes when you act upon the information by interpreting and applying it to your life. They base their opinions on facts, evidence, or personal experience. If they lack knowledge, they admit it.

8. Critical thinkers are mentally active.

They love the challenge of learning. They actively seek understanding and confront problems with glee. They do not respond to events or information passively. All of life is learning and acquiring new understanding. They are excellent observers.

7. Critical thinkers are curious.

They have not lost the curiosity of their youth. One of their favorite questions is “Why?” They explore situations with probing questions that penetrate below the surface instead of being satisfied with easy answers.

6. Critical thinkers are independent.

They don’t borrow the ideas of others. They are not afraid to disagree with the crowd because they have developed their own opinion through thoughtful analysis and reflection. They can explain why they believe what they believe to be true.

5. Critical thinkers are conversationalists.

They are skilled at discussing the issues in an organized and intelligent manner. Controversial issues don’t scare them because they are good listeners who consider all the facts before responding.

4. Critical thinkers are insightful.

They are able to get to the heart of the problem. They are not distracted by superfluous data. They can boil down an issue to the bare bones. They see the forest and the trees. They evaluate the accuracy of alternative positions and the credibility of their sources.

3. Critical thinkers are self-aware.

They know their own bias and are quick to point them out. They take their own position into consideration when analyzing a problem and look at all the alternatives equally.

2. Critical thinkers are creative.

They are innovators who break out of established patterns of thinking. They imagine another way of solving the problem. They think outside of the box.

1. Critical thinkers are passionate.

They have a passion for understanding. They are always striving to see the issues and problems with greater clarity. They engage in debates not for the purpose of proving their position “right” but to increase their own understanding.

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Can you see the beginnings of a critical thinker in your own home school? Do you have a curious child? Does your child show great imagination? Do you have a listener in your family? Everybody thinks. The challenge is not producing thoughts but producing useful thoughts that are capable of changing their world for the better. As you consider teaching your children step 2 of the classical trivium, “thinking critically,” remember that a classical education teaches a child “how to think” not “what to think.” Give them the tools that they need to achieve their fullest potential. In my next post, “What Does Your Child Need To Become A Critical Thinker?“, I’ll outline the steps a critical thinker takes when facing a problem and share some of my favorite thinking activities.

Did you miss the first post in this series on “Thinking Critically?” “Three Ways to Prepare your Child for Logical Thinking” defines and explains the origin of logic and offers three steps you can take today to get started teaching your children step 2 of the classical trivium.

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.

Writing consists of two skills: first, the child practices the mechanics of developing correct letters and putting them together in properly spelled words, and secondly, the maturing child practices incorporating meaning into the composition. In this final post of the series, “Learning the Language,” step one of the classical homeschool trivium, I’ll give you concrete steps that you can implement which will help your child master the mechanics of writing. Writing with meaning will be covered later when I discuss step three of the classical trivium, “Communicating Effectively.”

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Setting the Stage

You’ve been encouraging your child since birth to expand her spoken language abilities by surrounding her with music, conversations, nursery rhymes, and reading. You’ve gently corrected her when she made mistakes and always respond to her attempts to communicate with praise and excitement. You, your spouse, and her siblings are good role models in that you all love to read. She sees you reading all the time for pleasure and for learning. You read to her every day, and you answer every question with enthusiasm and maybe even more information than she wanted. You’ve looked at the pictures in the books and predicted the story plot line. You’ve shown her that the text moves from left to right and down by using your finger to point out occasional words. You’ve already taught her the Alphabet song. You’ve diligently laid all the necessary groundwork of a rich, literate home where printed text is meaningful and pleasurable to read. Somewhere around the age of 5 or 6 years old, she’ll be ready to acquire another critical skill of language development: writing!

Learning about Letters

Now that she can sing her ABCs reasonably well (even if she slurs the phrase “lmnop”), it’s time to start writing the letters of the alphabet. She may already know the names of some letters from your daily reading-aloud time. You don’t need to purchase an expensive curriculum to teach your kids their ABCs. Just purchase a unlined art sketchbook with smooth paper, or go to Kinkos and have them bind 100 pages in a spiral. You’ll put one letter on each of 26 pages then later you’ll add the letter blends like the sound “sh” and the sound “ck.”

Start with her name. Teach her how to make the letters of her name by saying each letter as you write. Be very specific when you show her how to make each letter. For example, to make the uppercase letter “T” say something like “draw a straight line across” then “now find the middle of the line and draw a straight line down.” Or when showing her how to draw the letter “B” say “start at the top and draw a straight line down” then “go back to the top and draw a fat tummy that points to the right and stops halfway” then draw a 2^nd fat tummy that starts at the center also points right.” Make sure you show her how to write both the uppercase and lowercase letter on the page. Be sure to use the words uppercase and lowercase instead of big and little when describing the letters.

Help her find pictures from magazines that start with each letter, or if you or she are good artists, draw a picture and color it like an apple for the letter “A.” So now you have one page with the uppercase and lowercase letter and a picture or drawing of an object that starts with that letter. When you are finding pictures for the consonants, select images that sound like the single consonant and not a blend. For example, pick a “sock” for the letter “S” and not a “sheltie.” You’ll be adding photos of blends later.

In addition to working in your ABC book, use magnetic letters on the refrigerator, dry erase boards, magna doodles, paint, sand, or play letter games. You can make an easy BINGO board game on cardstock with the letters and letter blends, but don’t just say the letter “D;” say “D as in dog.” I really appreciated the DIY games in Peggy McKay’s book, Games for Reading. Even as the kids got older, we played a reading game every Friday. Make learning the alphabet fun!

Putting it all together in 30 minutes a day

Now that she is becoming familiar with her ABCs, she is ready to begin reading out loud, narrating the story, then writing her synopsis. This will probably be hardest for you because it will take longer, and it might be painful at first as she struggles with pronouncing and deciphering each word, but it is worth the effort! Continue reading out loud to her, but give her 30 minutes a day of dedicated reading time where she reads instead of you. (Caution: many parents make the mistake of discontinuing read-alouds once the child is reading by herself, but this is a big mistake. They need to hear an advanced reader speak difficult words and add inflection, pauses, and emphasis where needed.)

Here are some constructive ways to spend that 30 minute daily reading and writing time. (Don’t worry if you spend more than 30 minutes in the beginning…they’ll pick up speed as they gain proficiency):

1. Select a familiar book that is below her reading level (easy.)

2. Have her read the book out loud.

3. Select a new book from your own collection or from the weekly library trip that is slightly above her abilities. (difficult.)

4. Have her read this book out loud, too.

5. Work on a letter or letter blend in your ABC book, or play a game.

When you think she has mastered her ABCs (both upper and lowercase), you can introduce a handwriting book or purchase a handwriting pad at the local school supply store and create your own contextual words and sentences for her to copy as she practices writing.

Adding narration, dictation, and copywork through stories

When you begin to notice progress, create another blank book for her stories and incorporate this step in the daily routine:

Write a short story together. Let her generate the idea. In the beginning, have her dictate the story, and you write it down. Spell the word back to her before moving on to the next word. Repeat the entire sentence as it is completed. As she progresses in her skills, have her copy your dictation. Eventually, she can write her own story. (It can be 1-2 sentences long in the beginning.)

Here are two options for the story book.

Option one: take a blank piece of copy paper and turn it so that the short side (8 1/2”) is north. Draw a horizontal line about 2/3 down the page. Then draw lines like wide-ruled notebook paper under the horizontal line to fill the bottom 1/3. First she will write the story on the lines, then she’ll illustrate the story above the text. (This is also great for narrating and dictating daily Bible stories.)

Option two: have Kinkos bind 100 blank pages like the alphabet book, but this time use one side for the draft and the opposing side for the final, proofed text. Open the book flat, turn the book sideways so that the 11” side is north and have her write the first draft of the story on the top page. Have her read it and decide if she likes it the way it is. Gently correct any errors with a red pen, and add any new adjectives or details that she wants to add in red. Then have her recopy the edited draft on the bottom page. This is valuable groundwork for the 3^rd stage of the Trivium, “Communicating Effectively.”

Have her read her story to Daddy when he gets home or to brothers and sisters after she’s completed it. Affirmation of her accomplishment will greatly contribute to her joy in her new skills!

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So there you have it, step one of the classical trivium, “Learning the Language.” Your children learn the language through hearing, seeing, speaking, and writing.* All efforts to teach the language should result in the ultimate message that language, both spoken and written, has meaning or purpose. Spend the early childhood years helping your child master the language so that they have the necessary tools for steps two and three of the classical trivium, “Thinking Critically” and “Communicating Effectively,” respectively.

Focus your energies on copious amounts of reading of great variety, and dump the public school myth that would have you believe you need to plop the kids down with workbooks and textbooks by subject!

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To recap, the posts of this series on “Learning the Language,” are:

Learning the Language through Listening

Reading Aloud: the Key to Language Development

What is the Purpose of Reading?

Is Phonics Instruction Really Necessary for Teaching Reading?

Practicing the Mechanics of Beginning Writing

*(For those of you who are wondering where “English Grammar” is in this laundry list, you’ll have to wait until step 2, “Thinking Critically.” ) If you think this series will encourage a friend who is already homeschooling or thinking about homeschooling, please tell her about The Classical Scholar by forwarding this post.

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.

Do you know a friend who might be interested in this conversation? You can forward this post to a friend by going back to the Home page and clicking on the envelope icon called “Email This Post.”