Classical Homeschooling Newsletter

Is Classical Education for the Intellectual Elite?
By Jennifer Schwilling
SCHWILLING@prodigy.net

Not long ago our loop had a discussion about exactly whom classical education was for. Is it only for the intellectual elite? Is it only for gifted children? Or can this method be used succesfully and to the benefit of any child? This it the post that started the discussion:

" New to Class Ed and stil not well-read concerning it, I have a general question. Is classical education only for the intellectual "cream of the crop?" In a conversation with an aquaintance today, she said they had decided not to use classical education since they didn't think their children "could handle it intellectually". It puzzled me. It seemed to me that the rate of learning is what needs to be adjusted, not the approach. What do you think?"

This is not an uncommon question to be asked when we tell others that we use the classical method of education. Classical education is not widely known, even less understood and has a bad reputation with some. As one member put it:

" ClassEd has a reputation for being tedious, harsh, boring and irrelevant". It doesn't help matters when there are slight differences in reasons why people choose to teach this way.

Here are some of the responses that followed this question:

"The classical approach isn't any more difficult than any other approach, maybe with the exception of no appraoch at all. Through my experience, I have found the classical approach to be more simple and enjoyable for my children.
...I guess Classical Education (CE) could seem very advanced to the outsider looking in. When you think about Latin, Greek, and lots of memorization. But when you go with the flow of how the child learns best at his age level, it's logical that there will be optimum learning
... Kids will generally meet the goals set for them whether they are low or high, so why not set them high?
... I actually have found the classical approach much simpler to implement that the "unschooling" or "unit study" approach, which requires the parent to fill in the gaps. By concentrating on basic skills, a child has the opportunity for daily accomplishments and incremental growth; by teaching the tools of learning, a child will be given the lifelong ability to master any subject.
... I don't think it's "intellectual" to learn how to read, write, compute and commit facts to memory
... As a teacher, I have always found that students rise (or sink) to the level of expectation you have for them. The studies showing the effects of teacher attitudes on students are notorius. So if a parent thinks something is too difficult for their child to accomplish, then I expect it WILL be...

Now while the general concensus was that classical education was not for a select group of "elite intellectuals", many of us felt that we as classical teachers had a high goal set for us -- to educate ourselves completely, so that we can set these high academic goals for our children and help them reach those goals:

"The classical appropach seems so logical to me, yet I tremble a bit when I think of what it might require in the later years...
I think the curriculum is more streamlined in the grammar stage, but once you start going on to the dialectic stage, it does seem rather daunting to me too."

As we set high goals for our children and ourselves, and as we strive for excellence in a world where mediocrity is acceptable and expected, we should never be prideful and feel that we are superior in any way, thus giving the impression that we think we are of the elite:

"Anyway, as the ONE fellwo classical homeschooler [in town] and I were talking, she revealed to me that she doesn't even go to her local group anymore, because she didn't think they were "on the same level". Is this where I am headed, because I'm not sure I want to go in this direction??? "

Now, I have never had anyone using the classical approach saying anything like this to me, but there will always be people who think that the method they use to teach their children is the way to go. Obviously, we think classical education is the best way to go for us, or we wouldn't be doing it. But we also realize that there are other methods which work well for others. Noone participating in the discussion felt that they or their children were superior because of their education.:

"I would never wish to appear to be intellectually superior to anyone, because this would damage any chance of ministry with so many people who live around me"
... I certainly wouldn't try to persuade anyone that my method is more superior than theirs
... We don't educate with the goals in mind to alienate anyone or even to be intellectually superior to anyone. we just want to produce the best educated little Christians that we can."

So is classical education for the intellectual elite? No. Do we believe the classical approach can produce intelligent, mature children with an excellent education? yes! Back to Top