Classical Education

Classical Education is a philosophy committed to a broad liberal arts curriculum in the Western tradition. Critical thinking, communication skills, and an appreciation for the development of western culture are essential components of a Classical Education. Our Classical philosophy embraces a developmental model embodied in the Trivium, a three-stage (Grammar. Logic and Rhetoric) method of education patterned after a child’s intellectual development.

The classical approach is language-intensive, requiring students to develop strong verbal and written communication skills. Students are required to read many of the great works of Western literature and are exposed to the political, philosophical, and social institutions that have helped to shape the Western world. The curriculum emphasizes mastery of the liberal arts and teaches students to think critically, form and defend logical arguments, and recognize weaknesses in false and illogical positions. Parents interested in learning more about the classical methodology of education are encouraged to read Wisdom and Eloquence: A Christian Paradigm for Classical Learning by Robert Littlejohn and Charles T. Evans.

The Grammar Stage

The first years of schooling are the "Grammar Stage,” not because students spend the entire time studying English, but because these are the years in which the building blocks for all learning are laid. In the Grammar stage, students enjoy memorizing and naturally absorb information. Therefore, during this period, education involves not just self-expression and self-discovery, but rather the learning of facts. Hill Country students learn rules of phonics and spelling, rules of grammar, poems, the vocabulary of foreign languages, the stories of history and literature, descriptions of plants, animals, and the human body, the facts of mathematics—the list goes on. These tools prepare a student for the second phase of Classical Education, The Logic Stage.

The Logic Stage

The second phase of the classical education, the "Logic Stage," is a period when a student begins to pay attention to cause and effect, the relationships between different fields of knowledge, and to the way facts fit together into a logical framework. By middle school, a child's mind begins to think more analytically. Middle-school students are less interested in discovering facts and more interested in asking "Why?" During these years, the student begins algebra and begins to apply logic to all their academic subjects. The logic of writing, for example, includes paragraph construction and learning to support a thesis. The logic of reading involves the criticism and analysis of texts, not simple absorption of information. The logic of history demands that the student find out why the War of 1812 was fought, rather than simply reading about the events. The logic of science requires that the child learn the scientific method. These tools combined with the tools learned in the Grammar Stage prepare a student for the final phase of Classical Education,The Rhetoric Stage.

The Rhetoric Stage

The final phase of a classical education, the "Rhetoric Stage," builds upon the first two stages, Grammar and Logic. Students have acquired the knowledge and skills necessary to arrange facts into arguments. At this point, the high school student learns to write and speak with force and originality in order to communicate his or her ideas. The student of Rhetoric applies the rules of logic learned in middle school to the foundational information learned in the early grades and expresses his conclusions in clear, forceful, and elegant language. Students research important themes and present these concepts in papers and speeches. They finish Hill Country well prepared to become lifelong learners, and to influence the world for Christ in college and beyond.

History of Classical Education

Classical Studies is a branch of the Humanities dealing with language, literature, history, art, and other aspects of the ancient Mediterranean world. The history of this education focuses particularly on Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during the time frame known as classical antiquity which spans roughly from the Ancient Greek Bronze Age in 1000 BC to the period known as Late Antiquity circa 500 AD. The study of classics was the initial field in the humanities. The word "Classics" is also used to refer to the literature of the period. The classical method was born in ancient Greece and Rome, was used throughout the Western world by the 16th century, and remained the norm until at least 1850. What was the reason for its widespread use? It worked. The world’s great authors, statesmen, scientists and politicians were classically educated. For the last 50 years, conventional education has taken an experimental attitude – trying a new approach and then abandoning it for the next thing when it fails. Meanwhile, in the 1940s, Dorothy Sayers advocated a return to classical education and to teaching students how to think. Her essay, The Lost Tools of Learning, and later, Doug Wilson's book, Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning, started a movement among educators and parents to restore the classical philosophy in Christian schools. Instead of the latest fad, Classical education is a return to a system proven for more than 1,000 years.