The Classical Scholar

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at four unusual qualities that we hope to foster in our children, especially those older kids who have substantially mastered the three skills of the trivium and are ready to advance towards supervised independent study of subjects. What four qualities are we cultivating? We want our rising classical scholars to:

• Master the material

• Exhibit self-discipline

• Interpret meaning

• Influence culture

Insightful interpretation comes after a full knowledge and understanding of the topic is mastered. You cannot effectively interpret the facts if you no nothing about the underlying causes. The maestro who can bring a musical score to life or the Indy Car driver who can observe the signs of an engine problem have both learned how to interpret meaning because they have exercised self-discipline to become masters of their material. Your children have been observing and accumulating knowledge for years. Now it’s time to interpret the knowledge.

The Simple Question

How can you explain the concept of interpretation to your teens? Some people use the word interpretation as a synonym for translation as in determining the original intent of a foreign language text or conversation. Others use the word interpretation to describe the process of personalizing a dramatic script for public performance. For classical Christian homeschool students and parents, interpretation boils down to one simple question.

What does it mean?

“It” can be an idea, a spoken word, or a deed. The question is the same whether you are reading a text, listening to a conversation, or watching live and recorded action. What is the meaning of this chapter, this lecture, or this documentary?

To interpret is to understand the central message, themes, or truths

Knowing facts is not enough for our kids. Train them to ask the simple question (”what does it mean?”) by consistently asking them to tell you what “it” means as you supervise their work.

The Not-So-Simple Answer

You have enough life experience to know that asking a simple question does not always result in receiving a simple answer. Such is the case with interpretation. The answer is not always clear, nor is the answer always quickly obtained. Sometimes it takes a lot of pondering, exploring, dissecting, and reassembling to figure out the meaning of an idea, word, or deed. Often, especially in the case of the classics, the definitive meaning changes or deepens as each new generation reads and interprets the text while bringing their own perspectives to the material. The classics are considered timeless because they discuss some of the most important questions about being human, so don’t expect simple answers.

For a teen tackling the unabridged classics, understanding the central message takes time and careful thought. In the early childhood years, you have given them the three foundational tools so that they can thoughtfully analyze the possible messages and use the English language to effectively communicate their understanding by summarizing an abstract, composing an essay, or narrating the major points.

But effective communication is not a one-way street. If your kids write or narrate their understanding, you have to be available to listen to their points and ask questions about the idea. They need your participation so that they can wrestle with any counterpoints that you might suggest. Conversations are crucial to clear understanding.

Supervise the Quest for Truth

Many Christian home school parents avoid discussing ideas which are controversial. I have a dear friend who protected her daughter from certain ideas while she was living at home. When her daughter left for college, her faith was shattered because she internalized these new ideas as truth. This young woman now calls herself an atheist and is outraged that her parents withheld the “truth.” My friend’s heart is broken with grief and self-doubt. Should she have discussed both sides of evolution with her daughter? Would things have turned out differently if she and her husband had seriously talked about the opposing position instead of indignantly dismissing the counterpoints as rubbish?

Take this opportunity, while your kids are still living at home, to shepherd them in the discovery of truth. Introduce them to the classics. Don’t be afraid to talk about all the possibilities of meaning. Help them exercise their thinking skills while under your care. If you have trained them in righteousness and not just religion, then they should be able to distinguish truth from falsehood.

“My child, if you accept my words and treasure up my commandments within you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; if you indeed cry out for insight, and raise your voice for understanding; if you seek it like silver, and search for it as for hidden treasures- then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly, guarding the paths of justice and preserving the way of his faithful ones.

Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; prudence will watch over you; and understanding will guard you.” (Proverbs 2:1-11 NRSV)

You don’t have to share the point of view of every writer or speaker, but you can learn from those with other viewpoints. Most of the people that your adult children will encounter when they leave your safe home will have viewpoints about the meaning of life that are drastically different from your own. Prepare your children now, while under your tutelage, to use their language, thinking, and communication skills to interpret meaning, using the classics as their laboratory, so that when you finally send them out, they are ready to respond to the world’s biggest questions with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.

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Next, we’ll look at three practical methods for interpreting meaning.

In “How Do You Measure Mastery?”, the first post of this series on preparing to transition to the supervised study of subjects, I compared classical homeschooling to Indy car racing and defined the finish line, the driver, and the crew. Today, we’ll talk about the car, and I’ll share my personal “must-know” checklists for teaching language, critical thinking, and communication skills .

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The Car

An Indy Car driver does not learn to drive in an expensive race car. He probably drove his Daddy’s tractor, dirt bike, or old beat up Chevy around the farm before he was invited to drive a million dollar vehicle. Simple concepts precede complex concepts.

We use different vehicles for different purposes. Indy Cars are made to travel on a wide oval track, Formula One cars travel on tight European city streets, and good ‘ole boy stock cars are made for intentional frequent crashes! Mountain bikes have fat tires for scaling rocky uphill terrain. Racing cycles are lightweight with thin tires for speed and manueverability on pavement. Gargantuan cruise ships carry loads of vacationers while shrimp boats are perfect for fishing and hauling seafood. So, too, there are different purposes and rules for using language, thinking critically, and communicating effectively. Whether you are transitioning to a classical model or just beginning, you need to decide what basic rules of operation you want to teach your child for each particular skill.

What content will you teach your children?

Now if you were expecting me to lay out a full “scope and sequence” for teaching the trivium, I’m sorry to disappoint you. When I go to home school curriculum fairs and see the words “scope and sequence,” my eyes glaze over, and my brain goes numb. In my opinion, scope and sequence is a phrase invented by professional educators to intimidate home school parents into thinking they need experts to tell them what’s best for their children!

Besides, anyone who tells you what to teach by grade level is advocating a public school model, not a classical model. Remember you just need to focus on the big picture: teach three skills! You don’t need a 12 year plan, and in fact, you need frequent pit stops to reevaluate progress, so I suggest you make short-term plans. Personally, I like to reevaluate progress about every 12 weeks, and I always end up adjusting the course as a result to better meet my goals. Here are my short lists of “must-know” content for the three skills.

Diane’s “Must-Know” Checklist for Language Skills:

• How to read (alphabet, phonetic method)

• How to spell (spelling rules)

• How to write (handwriting – print, cursive, and later typing)

• How to punctuate and capitalize

• How to use proper grammar (all 8 parts of speech)

• How to decipher unfamiliar vocabulary

Diane’s “Must-Know” Checklist for Critical Thinking Skills:

• How to classify, describe, compare, and contrast

• How to identify and complete sequences

• How to identify and interpret analogies

• How to solve problems (math equation and word problems, puzzles)

• How to structure logical arguments (syllogism, fallacies)

• How to think inductively (particular to general) and deductively (general to particular)

• How to perform an experiment using the scientific method (including prediction)

• How to analyze literature

• How to research a topic

Diane’s “Must-Know” Checklist for Communication Skills:

• How to have conversations (face to face, telephone, letters)

• How to write a proper sentence and vary the structure (compound, complex, phrasing)
  

• How to write a correct paragraph, transitions, introduction, and conclusion

• How to add stylistic elements (dress ups, openers, decorations, triples)
  

• How to take notes (key word outline, stick & branch, annotation)

• How to write essays, reports, abstracts, research papers, and speeches

• How to footnote, write bibliographies, and edit

• How to develop a thesis statement and prove it with evidence

• How to give a speech (all 10 NCFCA categories)

• How to listen well and interpret meaning

Each family will teach content in differently. Let’s take an example. Learning how to research and develop arguments are two components of critical thinking. These skills can be taught in various ways. For instance, my husband, David, is an attorney who often finds himself before a federal judge. Learning how to research and debate a national or international resolution meets my husband’s criteria for teaching research skills, developing an argument, listening well, and giving a speech. Consequently, participation in our local debate club is mandatory for the Lockman kids! Whereas, your husband may be an engineer who believes research is best learned in a lab setting and communicated in a research paper. Tailor the content and methods to best meet your family’s abilities and preferences.

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In the final post of this series on mastery, I’ll share my 12 week pit stop plan for evaluating progress in acquiring the three skills of language, critical thinking, and communication.

For your convenience, I’ve prepared my “must-know” checklists for you in pdf format, so click on this link and print out your copy today!

In Adopt a Radical Position, I suggested that home school parents should seek to nurture four unusual qualities in their kids: (1) mastery, (2) self-discipline, (3) interpretation, and (4) influence. Before releasing your child to experience the thrills of step 3, Supervise the Study of Subjects, you need to determine whether mastery of the three skills of the trivium has been attained. Over the next 3 posts, I’ll explore this question:

How do you measure mastery?

The Race

I live in Indianapolis, Indiana, home of the “world’s greatest racing spectacle,” the Indianapolis 500. Every May, nearly 300,000 people gather to watch this exciting 200 lap, 500 mile race. Adrenaline rushes as the cars fly around the track, traveling the length of a football field in one second, at speeds exceeding 220 mph. As drivers compete for placement in the turns, they endure G-force of four times the weight of gravity which is comparable to the G-force of the space shuttle take offs. The sleek fiberglass shell of the Indy car hides a powerful engine that can run at 675 horsepower which is 4 times the speed of an average car. Experienced pit crews perform mechanical magic as they refuel and replace worn tires in an astounding 20 seconds or less. Aggressive, careless, or tired drivers occasionally lose control of their cars, and the yellow caution flags come out when fiery crashes bring the manic race to a screeching halt. Unlike horse races which are over in a few minutes, the Indy car race is a marathon often exceeding three hours!

Imagine for a minute that classical home schooling is an Indy car race. As in the Indy 500, other factors enter into the equation for a successful homeschooling race such as unforeseen circumstances (weather), finances (sponsors), and the community (spectators), but for this post, we’ll focus on the three factors which most impact mastery: your child (the driver), the content (the car), and you, the parent (assuming the roles of both pit crew and clean up crew). But before we tackle the driver, the car, and the crew, let’s define the end of the race.

The Finish Line

Every Indy Car driver dreams of winning the Indy 500. Completing the race is the ultimate goal. In homeschooling, we’re not concerned about finishing before our peers, but we want to finish the race in God’s perfect timing for our particular child. The first race that we need to finish is Step 2, Teach the Skills of the Trivium, so that we can then move on to finish the second race, Step 3, Supervise the Study of Subjects. Both steps culminate in mastery.

According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, the primary definition of the verb “master” is

“to conquer, to bring under control, to overcome, to subdue, to own, to rule, or to solve.”

Powerful images of domination and achievement arise, and, in the purest sense, to master something is to dominate. However, I prefer the second definition in Webster’s which is “to become skilled or proficient in the use of.” To complete the thought left dangling by the above preposition, your task as the classical home school parent is to teach until your child is:

• skilled or proficient in the use of the English language

• skilled or proficient in the use of critical thinking abilities

• skilled or proficient in the use of oral and written communication

Once the trivium race is finished, your job is then to supervise the continued acquisition of skills in areas of interest so that they are on their way to mastery in other areas of expertise.

You know your child has reached mastery when he or she has consummate possession of the skill. Theoretically, full command of language, thought, and communication signals the end of Step 2 and the beginning of Step 3. Practically, your son or daughter needs to have such command of the English language that the vocabulary, complex sentence structure, and literary style of the classics is not overwhelming. The ability to comprehend and wrestle with the meaning of the text is also necessary. Finally, the child who is ready to move on to the supervised study of subjects has the skill to write extensively about the themes of the classics.

The Driver

Some glamourous Indy Car celebrities grow up in renowned racing families, but no matter how famous Daddy was, junior doesn’t just inherit the raw DNA ability to drive. All champions have to learn the basic rules of driving just like every other licensed driver. Once the basics are mastered, then they can then move on to more sophisticated concepts. Your child is no different. He starts as a novice, moves on to apprentice, and eventually becomes a master in his craft.

The Crew

The highly-skilled mechanics who work on Indy Car crews are some of the best in the world. They receive regular training as technology advances. They know their cars and drivers so well that they can anticipate problems and solutions before they crop up. Quick to respond, they are proactive, monitoring the status of the vehicle with wireless radio and detailed gauge readings. To give your kids a classical education, you need to be current on all that you are teaching. Plan time to refresh your memory if you are a little rusty (Mom’s continuing education) or do a little advance reading before you need to teach a concept. You’ll be more confident and serve your children’s needs better if you are prepared. If you find yourself unprepared, that’s ok, too. Declare a reading week and catch up! The kids will love the break!

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In part 2 of this series on mastery, I’ll go into detail about the content to be mastered and share my short “must-know” checklists for language, critical thinking, and communication.

If you haven’t read all the posts under Step 2, Teach the Skills of the Trivium, now is the time to catch up. I’ve got over 30 posts planned for Step 3, Supervise the Study of Subjects, so you want to keep up with me if possible so you’re ready to teach in the fall!

In Three Simple But Significant Steps To A Classical Education, I outlined 3 steps for transitioning to an authentic classical Christian home education. The content that follows is the initial post in an extensive series that explores the components of Step 3, Supervise the Study of Subjects. As each post is published, I’ll add the live link to the master list under the header tab called “Step 3″ so that you can access the entire series. I hope you enjoy this content and gain a fuller understanding of the argument that I am making for adopting a true classical model.

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As the sparkling lights of the symphony hall were dimmed, a hush fell over the crowd. All chattering ceased as the distinguished maestro confidently walked across the stage and silently addressed the musicians with his baton. After many years of diligent practice, the concertmaster was perfectly equipped to escort his audience on a musical journey that would quicken hearts and challenge minds.

Over the years, the maestro had mastered the language of music theory: melody, harmony, and rhythm. The longer he studied music, the more he understood the deeper mysteries of his art. Instruments, movements, and themes became his playground for critical analysis and experimentation. Finally, he learned how to interpret the unique meaning of the music and convey the composer’s intent by coaching the performers in their craft. His mastery of language, thought, and communication within his area of expertise would bless his community tonight during the concert and for many years to come as he continued to influence his culture with his passion for bringing music to life.

The maestro demonstrates four unusual qualities that we want to foster in our rising classical scholars:

• He masters the material.

• He disciplines himself.

• He interprets meaning.

• He influences his culture.

Why call these qualities unusual? Because most of today’s preteens and teenagers are captives of an educational system that breeds opposing characteristics and behaviors. Authentic classical Christian home schooling requires a profound shift in thinking about education. Think about your own public school experience.

Mastery is difficult if you only skim the surface. You went to school for 12 years. You had one textbook for each class. Every textbook had 36 chapters - one chapter for each week of the school year. You read one chapter a week. You were segregated by age into a grade. You studied the same textbook as your peers. That textbook was approved by a committee of certified educators who decided what information every child in your grade needed to know about that particular subject. If you couldn’t keep up with the instruction, you felt like an inadequate failure. If you understood the concepts, you were bored with the repetitive drills. The time restrictions of the calendar dictated the material taught, and there was no leeway for slowing down or accelerating learning.

No time for mastery.

Self-discipline is not necessary if someone tells you what to do. You were assigned a home room, and you had your own desk. You were given a timed schedule. Tardy arrivals and absences were noted on your record. You went where you were told including the bathroom and lunchroom at specific times. You read the chapters, you took the tests, you wrote the essays, and you memorized the material, but for some reason, you can’t remember much of what you learned! You were a good student who did what you were told. Good behavior was dictated not by the heart’s desire, but by the law. As soon as the teacher left the room, chaos broke loose.

No room for learning how to make informed decisions or teach yourself.

Interpretation is impossible when someone else tells you what to think. That committee of certified educators made the important decisions for you about what facts were important in literature, grammar, science, math, social studies, health, home economics, and all the other electives. Surveys, also known as secondary sources, formed the backbone of your education. The highlights of human knowledge were offered. Some might say your education was a mile wide and an inch deep. Education experts decided that you were unable to handle the heavier “classics” (other than a token play by Shakespere or novel by Dickens). Anyway, we all know that the classics are too difficult for teenagers, right? You were required to parrot back the facts that you’d memorized on multiple choice and true-false exams.

No chance for independent thinking or interpretation of meaning.

Influence is negative when your highest goal is self. Public schools no longer teach history; they teach social studies. At the center of all social studies is the individual. Next comes his family then his community then his world. In public school, motivation for action is centered around the individual and his or her vocation. You worked hard to get good grades to get a good job. In our family, we refer to this dilemma as “me is me to me.” If educators dream of shaping kids who will influence their community, these dreams are limited to the creation of “good” citizens although good is defined in a Greek sense and not necessarily a Biblical sense. References to the God of human history are non existent, and as such, young people fail to understand their purpose. Since one of the responses of faith is sacrificial service to others, a major motivation for blessing the community cannot be discussed in public schools. Service to others requires a redirection of focus from the self to the community.

No incentive to influence or share what you have learned with others.

Thankfully, you have chosen a different path for your children! You have the luxury of time to help your rising classical scholars master the three skills of the trivium. You have the luxury of gradually training them to be independent, self-directed thinkers who are responsible for their own learning. You have the luxury of determining your own content so that your kids can learn to grapple with the great ideas of Western Civilization as they read and discuss the classics, selected surveys, and biographies. Finally, you have the extreme privilege of being able to lead your children into an eternal relationship with the Living God, teach them how to use Scripture as the spectacles through which to view the world, and show them how to serve others in a way that influences and blesses. Adopt a counter-cultural stand, and experience the joy of classical Christian homeschooling today!

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Over the next four posts, I’ll explore these qualities (mastery, self-discipline, interpretation, and influence) in detail. Before you can release your kids to the study of subjects, you need to make sure they have mastered the skills of the trivium. But how do we know when they have substantially mastered language, thought, and communication? When is it time to move on to Step 3, Supervise the Study of Subjects? In my next post, we need to answer two questions about Step 2, Teach the Skills of the Trivium: (1) what is to be learned, and (2) how will it be evaluated?

Formal Logic…most of us never learned the rules in school and shudder at the very thought of teaching it! But if you are going to raise a classical scholar in your homeschool, you really need to become familiar with the concepts and terms. In fact, you may find after completing a few lessons that you actually enjoy this methodical way of constructing and evaluating arguments. In this last post in the series on step 2 of the classical trivium, “Thinking Critically,” I’ll briefly introduce you to the study of logic in laymen’s terms.

HISTORY

The western version of classical logic originated in Classical Greece with Aristotle. He called his argument the “syllogism.” Each statement followed a particular order containing a subject and a predicate. There are many vocabulary words, but three important ones to remember when teaching logic are: argument, reason, and conclusion.

METHOD

Reasoning shapes our thinking into intelligent patterns. When someone asks us for our reason for believing something, our minds have to go beyond the information given in order to decide, explain, predict, or persuade. Our reasons support our conclusion. So, a simple definition of logic is:

the system for using reasons and conclusions to construct and evaluate arguments

Whenever we give reasons to support our conclusions, we are presenting an argument. Officially, such reasons are called “premises.” Here’s the structure:

Reason 1 (first statement to justify the conclusion - evidence)

Reason 2 (second statement to justify the conclusion - evidence)

Conclusion (statement that explains, asserts, or predicts based on the evidence or reasons)

Here’s a real-life example of a formal argument:

Murder is against the law.

Destroying frozen human embryos is murder.

Therefore, destroying frozen human embryos should be against the law.

Traditional logic teaches methods for evaluating criteria like validity, truth, and soundness. Anthony Weston provides a brief overview of logic in his Rulebook for Arguments if you want an executive or top-level summary of the subject. In our own home, we’ve used two logic curricula: Canon Press and Memoria Press. My recommendation would be to purchase Memoria Press’ Traditional Logic, books 1 and 2, for a full year of high school credit. Most homeschoolers are ready to tackle this methodical workbook sometime between the 7th and 8th year.

Critical thinking will skyrocket once your kids begin to understand traditional logic. In lesson 5 of the second semester of the Memoria Press text, they learn how to apply all the methods for constructing and evaluating arguments to real-life. They can then take any newspaper article, identify the arguments including premises and conclusions, and evaluate with specific tools whether the argument is sound or not. This is a critical thinking skill that is rare in our culture and certainly unusual among teenagers; you owe it to your kids to give them these tools so that they are ready to take what they’ve determined and communicate their position effectively.

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To recap the posts on step 2 of the classical homeschool trivium, “Thinking Critically,” are:

Three Ways to Prepare your Child for Logical Thinking

Top 10 Traits of a Critical Thinker

What Does your Child Need to Become a Critical Thinker?

Know Why You Believe What You Believe

Can a Critical Thinker be Creative, Too?

Why Writing is a Catalyst to Intellectual Development

‘Shiver Me Timbers!’ Do I Have to Teach Logic?

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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.

Today I’d like to suspend my posts on Teaching the Trivium in your classical home school to share a thoughtful article written by my friend, Amy Barr, co-owner of The Lukeion Project, a website offering live, online classes on antiquity. Amy and her husband, Regan, teach Greek and Roman history, Latin, Mythology, Art, Architecture, and Greek and Latin Word Roots among other fascinating subjects. I had the privilege of taking one of their 4 week summer workshops on Troy, and it was superb. I know you’ll enjoy Amy’s perspective on history!

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I was at a convention speaking to a harried homeschool mom about educating high schoolers in ancient history when she shrugged and confessed, “This semester we are just going to focus on world history.” I said nothing but thought, “focus on world history?!”

I’m not unsympathetic. As a home educator of three myself, I know all about the tyranny of the urgent. By the time kids get into ninth grade, history often takes a back seat behind a stack of essential-life-skill courses like botany, algebra or creative writing. The worst case scenario? History gets crunched into a survey of the whole record of human activity in a mere 16 weeks. Our ambitions to ignite a passion in our children for learning about history are reduced to a card deck of names, dates and places plus an optional craft project.

History is so much more than surveys and flash cards. We realize this best when studying the history of our nation or of our own ancestors. We can walk battle fields, witness reenactments, grind corn like the first Americans, drive Route 66 or walk the Appalachian Trail. These things easily become real and important because they satisfy all of our senses and give us a sense of broader purpose.

At the Lukeion Project, we want to prove that the ancient world was in Technicolor too! We paint from a broad palette of archaeology, literature, and art. Greek and Latin add great depth. As icing, we flesh out the world of the Bible, walk with Paul or tour ancient Jerusalem. Greece and Rome begin at Troy, the site we once excavated and where Homer once celebrated heroism in the Iliad. All world literature opens up for learners who are introduced to Greek and Latin word roots, ancient tragedy, epic, rhetoric and mythology.

Thomas Jefferson prided himself on being able to write Latin with one hand, Greek with the other. Designers of our nation’s capital copied the Parthenon of Athens for the Lincoln memorial and the Pantheon of Rome for Jefferson. In Washington D.C., buildings are encrusted with symbols of two world powers so important that Hitler wrongly named his the “third.” Alexander the Great teaches tremendous lessons in genius, leadership and hubris. Julius Caesar embodies a fatal lesson about the relentless power of tradition. His heir, Augustus, taught Rome new traditions that included him as emperor. Classical Athens informs us of the strengths and weaknesses of direct democracy. Sparta illustrates the generational curse of the systematic (and legislated) destruction of the family. We learn Rome fell not because of barbarian invasions, but because of an addiction to luxury and power unequaled by any nation but our own.

We can not presume to be educated if we do not go beyond surveys. We must present Greece and Rome to our learners in 3-D and living color. The high school mind must be challenged to tackle the difficult life questions presented to us by the Classical world. Learning about the two cultures that have most shaped our own is a priceless life skill. It is well worth the time, effort and enjoyment. Let me just say: I promise that the family field trips are going to be out of this world!

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Coming up next: Teaching the Trivium, step 2, “Thinking Critically.”

As I explained in Teach the Skills of the Trivium, classical homeschooling begins with the following three skills: (1) learning the primary language, (2) learning to think critically, and (3) learning to communicate effectively. “Learning the primary language” is the topic of this series. In Learning the Language through Listening, I discussed three steps you can take to ensure that your kids are learning the language through hearing. In Reading Aloud: the Key to Language Development, I gave you 8 suggestions for raising kids who love to read. You might think that your child is translating the symbols on the paper into sounds in their head, but what he is really doing is translating the letters on the page into meaning. Comprehension is the subject of this post.

Understanding the Language

Do you remember those first board books that you used to read to your children? You’d hold your little one in your lap and point to the pictures and words as you read out loud. Perhaps you’d move your finger from left to right as the sentence progressed. Eventually your child began to point with you, and soon he excitedly “read” his favorite book to you! Why is learning to read so compelling? Because even the young child realizes that reading is not only fun, but reading is both useful and meaningful! The child learns that in the

“hodge-podge of black on white is a story, somewhat like the stories that Dad tells at bedtime, but steadier and simpler in its variation of words and nuances. In its many rereadings, the story will become part of the child’s world of imaginative experiences. And she will crave for ever more new ones.” (Seymour Itzkoff, Children Learning to Read)

Reading is not just sounding out letters in perfect articulation. Reading is comprehending, understanding, or making sense out of the printed text. The search for meaning should be the primary purpose of reading. Even a colorful board book has meaning that the child can comprehend.

One of Meredith’s favorite board books, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, is about a bunny who postpones bedtime by telling all the objects in the room “good night.” In this example, the cute little bunny represents the little child, and the mama bunny represents the child’s mother. Meredith may not have been able to verbalize her comprehension at the time, but she understood that, like the little bunny, she could try to stall bedtime, but eventually she would have to go to sleep. Likewise, the text of sophisticated books, newspaper articles, and instruction manuals all have one final purpose: to convey meaning.

Seeing the printed text is an opportunity for learning the language. There are certain universal concepts about the printed word which every child needs to learn:

* print contains an exact message

* print can be letters and words which have individual sounds

* print corresponds one-to-one with the spoken word

*print progresses from left to right across the page and from top to bottom (with some exceptions)

*print progresses from the front page to the back page of a book

Children are incredible problem-solvers. For the youngest children, pictures act as clues to the meaning. As the books get more difficult, the pictures become less important, and the child has to determine the meaning of the passage from the text. Encourage your child to build a meaningful story in his head as he reads. Emphasize that every book has a lesson to be learned, a story to be told, or an event to relate so that over time he realizes that his foremost task in reading is understanding. In fact, problem-solving skills start with reading comprehension, so when you teach your children to look for meaning, you are helping them develop Skill Set Number 2 of the Trivium, critical thinking!

How can you help your child understand the meaning of the text?

One of the hallmarks of a classical education is the use of Socratic Dialogue in which you ask the child what the text means instead of telling the child what the text means.

*Ask LOTS of questions before you begin the book (and have your teen do the same!) by looking at the cover, the title page, and back cover. Flip through the pages and try to predict what the story will be about by browsing the pictures.

*Ask LOTS of questions AS you are reading the story (or after each day’s chapter for a teen). Find a good stopping place, and ask whether your predictions were correct? What will happen next? How will it end? (An older child is ready for more difficult questions about character analysis, plot, or cause and effect.)

*After you’ve read the story, have your child narrate the story back to you. Make sure he can tell you the beginning, the middle, and the end. Teens should be able to identify the hero, villan, conflicts, climax, and moral or application to his own life. If you want to enrich their learning, occasionally have them write their understanding. I’ll cover this in more detail later.

Another hallmark of classical home schooling is inductive reasoning. Consider the steps: (1) observe, (2) interpret, and (3) apply. In the case of a book, your child observes the details of the story, interprets the meaning of the story, then (hopefully) applies the lesson learned. Back to my example of Meredith and Goodnight Moon, my toddler observed that on every page the little bunny said goodnight to the things in her room (observation.) Then she understood that all little bunnies (and little girls) had to go to sleep even if they didn’t want to (interpretation.) Finally, she applied the lesson learned by allowing me to turn out the bedside light and without a peep and tuck her in for a good night’s sleep (application.) When you teach your children to think inductively, you are on your way to critical thinkers.

Like critical thinking and effective communication, reading or literacy is a cumulative, ongoing process. Think of reading as a continuum of increasing competence. Classical scholars are lifelong learners who, once they have substantially mastered the tools of the Trivium, are able to learn anything! Understanding the language involves determining the purpose or meaning of the written text as well as deciphering the code of the written text. The next post in this series on “Learning the Language” will cover a controversial homeschooling issue: phonics instruction.

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Since I published the post on 3 Simple but Significant Steps to a Classical Education, I’ve received several emails from readers with questions. If you have a question about teaching your children the primary language, especially reading, please click on the “Contact” page, and ask away. I’ll answer through email, and I just might use your question in a future post because if you’re wondering, there are bound to be other readers who are wondering, too. Looking forward to hearing from you!

In Teach the Skills of the Trivium, I explained how the three components of the Ancient Roman and Medieval trivium are skills sets that take time to teach as opposed to discrete subjects that can be learned in an academic home school year. I also emphasized that these three skills should be substantially mastered before allowing the child to pursue the study of discrete subjects. The analogy of the horse and the cart comes to mind: you cannot effectively drive a cart if the horse is behind the cart. You must first master the horse so that you can attach any variety of extras like a cart, a plow, a chariot, a pallet, or other horses. Think of the trivium as the horse and the quadrivium (or in our case “subjects”) as the cart.

The Ancient Romans called this first skill set “grammar.” The dictionary defines grammar as the system of rules governing the language which includes syntax (how sentences are put together), pronunciation (how letters and words are pronounced), semantics (what words mean), etymology (where words originated), and orthography (how words are spelled.) Over the next few posts, I’ll explore different methods for learning the primary (native) language. Today, I’ll explore learning the language through listening.

Hearing the Language

Your children have been acquiring the language ever since the day they were born. When they were young, you probably carried them on your hip and talked to them as you completed your daily tasks. You read picture books to them. You taught them the lyrics to silly songs (I still remember a favorite: “If you wake up in the morning at a quarter to two, and you don’t know just what to do…go brush your teeth!“) You taught them nursery rhymes. You corrected their pronunciation when their first attempts were adorable misses. Hearing the language is the first step to proper pronunciation, pitch, rhythm, accentuation, and inflection.

But learning the language through hearing doesn’t end with toddlers. I’m still learning the language at 46 years old! How do I learn the language through hearing? I listen to intelligent, challenging teaching CDs, watch quality movies or news programs, and engage in regular conversations with people who use good language like my husband and friends. It is through hearing that I learn how to pronounce new vocabulary words and how to pace my conversations for maximum effect.

So what steps can you take to help your children learn the language through listening?

Read to them daily

If they are still young, make reading out loud a daily tradition. Pick a time of day for all the kids to gather on the couch for a snuggle and a good picture or chapter book. If they are older and want to read the book on their own then read interesting newspaper articles to them around the table, or read a passage from the book that you are currently reading and share with them what you are learning!

If you have children of all ages, have the big brother or sister read daily to the little ones. One friend of mine has two girls: a teenager and an 8 year old; they both really enjoyed their special “sister time” when the older daughter read the American Girls series to her little sister, and it gave Mom time to spend teaching their son.

Listen to quality audio regularly

We like to listen to books when we are traveling long distances in the car. G. A. Henty, a popular author of historical fiction, is particularly appealing to boys (probably because he always includes battles), and the vocabulary and sentence structure is always challenging. Lamplighter Books carries several audio versions of Henty by Jim Hodges.

Focus on the Family Radio Theatre classics like Les Miserables, The Secret Garden, and The Chronicles of Narnia are good choices that will engage your children’s attention. My teens have also listened to sermons on CD (Doug Phillips of Vision Forum) and online (John Piper of Desiring God Ministries.)

For older teens, The Teaching Company offers countless opportunities to learn the specialized language of various disciplines like Biology, Advanced Mathematics, or Psychology.

Include them in conversations

My kids learn more sophisticated language by eavesdropping! When David and I talk, we usually try to throw in a new vocabulary word or two just to keep the kids asking questions. They hear the way we structure our sentences and the way we pronounce those new words, and they naturally imitate what they hear. Socialize with other like-minded families who care about using proper language. The positive peer pressure will cause all the kids to speak with style.

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One leading literacy expert states that 10 year olds have a vocabulary ranging from 3,000 to 40,000 words! Do you know which kids have the largest vocabulary? Of course you do! The kids with the greatest vocabulary are the ones who are regularly exposed to the spoken word through great literature and adult conversations. So if you want to raise classical scholars who have mastered the language, read to them and include them in conversations every day!

Next in this series on Acquiring the Language, Skill Set Number 1 of the Trivium is “Reading Aloud: the Key to Language Development in your Homeschooler.“

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.