The core families in this project are primarily from Good Shepherd including Anne and me. Classical schools have been wildly successful at producing highly educated, well read, articulate, courteous, godly and thoroughly equipped young adults. If you are unhappy with your children’s educational options you might check around to see if there is a classical school near you.

While she genuinely enjoys home schooling her 9-year-old daughter, Samantha Kubik hopes to send her to school in the fall.

But it wouldn’t be a public school or even Ross Corners Christian Academy, which Nori’s elder siblings attend. Rather, the Kubiks are among a group of core families that intend to open the Southern Tier’s first classical Christian school this fall.

“We desire a classical education for our children,” Kubik said.

Classical education, inspired by Dorothy Sayers’ essay “The Lost Tools of Learning,” gears pedagogy to three learning stages, called the Trivium: grammar, logic and rhetoric.

The grammar stage, which is roughly equivalent to elementary school age, capitalizes on students’ aptitude for memorization and has them memorize a wide range of facts—in math, geography, English, the Bible and Latin.

Young teens, who often like to argue with adults, are trained in formal logic, while older students are taught to communicate persuasively through instruction in rhetoric.

To get the basics down, students need to start the classical system fairly young; after the sixth grade, it’s difficult because the grammar stage establishes the foundation for the other stages.

Classical Christian schools are also based on scripture and promote a Biblical worldview. There are only two such schools in the state: one in Manhattan and the other in the Albany area, according to the Association of Classical & Christian Schools.

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Sounds wonderful Fr. Matt.  FYI, its too late for my g-children who are being home-schooled. However, the group my daughter in VA belongs to has organized “Home School Plus”.  A program where parents with degrees/gifts in math, languages, and other higher education teach what their specialty is.. For instance, my daughter teaches English and Creative Writing, her Master’s major, in return she makes enough (and there is a fee structure) to enroll her 14 year old in German..It works pretty well.

Thank goodness Home Schoolers are finding ways to augment, and relieve some of the tedium and of course a bit of tension.

Your group sounds wonderful, starting early is the key.
Grannie Gloria in SC

I’m a big fan of classical Christian schools.

Probably the best we can do for our children is to adopt the “Core Knowledge Curriculum.” 

http://www.coreknowledge.org/mimik/mimik_live_data/view.php?id=1831

Here is a statistical comparison chart:
http://www.accsedu.org/Statistics_at_a_Glance.ihtml?id=291192

Has anyone read Bill Bennett’s The Educated Child: A Parents Guide From Preschool Through Eighth Grade? Eye opening. I feel we have cheated several generations of children.

I have Festivus. He makes several good points.

Matt - I recommend Sister Joseph’s The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric and Dr Randal Hart’s INCREASING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT WITH THE TRIVIUM OF CLASSICAL EDUCATION: Its Historical Development, Decline in the Last Century, and Resurgence in Recent Decades.

Neither is “light” bedtime reading, but both are worth the time.

Charlotte Mason schools are another excellent way to educate children.  Many home schools rely on her principles of education.  There are a few Charlotte Mason schools in the U.S., (amblesideschools.com) and more in Great Britain where she lived and worked in the late 1800’s through early 1900’s.  Home schools can get a ton of useful info from amblesideonline.org. Miss Mason lived in Ambleside in Britain’s Lake District.  The teachers college she established is now part of the University of Lancaster.

We use “Tapestry of Grace” - another classical aproach (though a unit study - unlike CM) that works well for multiple age groups and is often implemented with success in a co-op.

If we were to do it over again we would probably use a Classical approach with our home school.

Go for it, Father Matt!!!!  Prayers coming your way from Southern Maryland.  Would love to have a Classical Christian School closer than an hour away to send my youngest to. OK, that was bad grammar.  I loathe the public school curriculum.  It has NO substance.  Yes, I tried to homeshool him.  He is now 10.  Please don’t go there, I have enough guilt already.  Long story.  But I LOVE you starting a school!!!

My children attend a classical tutorial service two days a week (blackburnstudycenter.org) and yeah, it doesn’t get much better.  All the relational benefits of homeschooling, all the social benefits of a positive peer group, all the academic benefits of classical education.  And they’re Christian too! Not perfect, but very good for my kiddos.

Anyone interested in Classical Education that goes beyond the tools of classical education (fact memorization, Latin, Logic, and Rhetoric) would do well to check out the CiRCE Institute ”> link </a>.  CiRCE challenges and encourages Classical Christian educators (in schools or homes) to cultivate wisdom and virtue in their students by nourishing their souls on truth, goodness and beauty.

In fact, they are currently offering a set of 7 or 8 free audio downloads from the most recent conference, A Contemplation of Nature, for a donation of any amount.  (Top-notch speakers: Vigen Guorian, Andrew Kern, Ken Myers, Laura Berquist)

So where does the quadrivium fit into this?

Excellent news, Matt+! Glad to hear you are undertaking this venture.  Please keep us posted on how it progresses. 

I think these schools are excellent ideas and mission fields.  We are thinking of sending our son to a Charlotte Mason Christian classical school this fall.  I would love to see a series of these schools planted by Anglican churches across the U.S., with the worship and learning deeply rooted in our tradition.  I might even work towards something like that in the Chicago area.

So, again, love to hear more as the project unfolds!