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CLASSICAL APPROACH **Please note: GVCS is neither advertising nor advocating these resources, their links, suggested materials, opinions, or beliefs. Keep in mind that restrictions apply to what materials may be purchased with public funds. Your ES can provide you with further clarification of which resources are acceptable for instructional funds purchasing. In recent years there has been a renewed interest in the academically-challenging classical model of education. The classical approach is a history-based, idea-oriented educational model that exposes students to the great minds of the past through literature, essays, philosophy, etc. It has been successfully used to educate students for hundreds of years and has produced many of history's great minds. Advocates of this language-intensive approach believe the key to educating students is to provide them with intellectual tools that will help them learn to teach themselves. Dorothy Sayers is one of those associated with the recent interest in classical education. Sayers was an English writer and scholar who became concerned that people were displaying a general lack of intellectual ability to discern and think logically. She proposed that without critical thinking abilities the citizenry could be too easily influenced and persuaded by such tyrants as Adolf Hitler. In 1947 she advocated a return to the classical form of education through presentation of her well-known essay "The Lost Tools of Learning". Those "lost tools" of learning include language and thinking skills that can be applied throughout one's life. Advocates of the classical approach believe that children move through certain developmental learning stages. The learning strengths of each of those stages are considered carefully as classical educators systematically teach students to learn in three sequential, interrelated levels. They apply teaching methods they consider appropriate at the various levels in order to help students learn more effectively. The three level process for educating students using the classical approach is called the trivium. The three levels include the grammar, dialectic/formal logic, and the rhetoric stages. The trivium educational pattern is designed to train students to learn and apply facts, think logically, and express themselves effectively. Grammar stage (elementary grade level) - At this stage, children display a natural ability to memorize and absorb large amounts of information. The emphasis at this level is on filling the students' minds with facts and on developing and refining their skills of memorization, observation, and listening. Dialectic / Formal Logic stage (middle school level) - At this stage, children begin to demonstrate independent and abstract thinking. Teaching at this level, takes advantage of the students' natural tendencies to argue and question. Students are trained to support their ideas with facts, draw logical conclusions, and recognize flaws in arguments. Rhetoric stage (high school level) - At this stage children become more concerned with how they are perceived by other people. Knowledge and skills acquired from the prior stages are applied and built upon. Students are trained to write and speak with clarity, eloquence, and persuasiveness in order to present their ideas and express themselves effectively. Resources: Adler, Mortimer J. and Charles Van Doren HOW TO READ A BOOK: THE CLASSIC GUIDE TO INTELLIGENT READING, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1972. Wise, Jessie and Susan Wise Bauer THE WELL TRAINED MIND: A GUIDE TO CLASSICAL EDUCATION AT HOME; W. W. Norton & Company, 1999, Vendors who carry some Classical Approach materials include: Audio Memory Publishing www.audiomemory.com Bluestocking Press www.bluestockingpress.com Calvert / S. Campbell Cobblestone Publishing-Pearson Education Continental Press Critical Thinking Press Cuisenaire - Pearson Education Delta Education Educational Resources Educational Software Institute Educator's Publishing Service Glencoe-McGraw Hill Great Books Foundation Holt, Rinehart and Winston Home Learner's Catalog Jackdaw Publications Library Video Company Math-U-See California McDougal Little / Houghton Mifflin McGraw-Hill School Division Modern Curriculum Press - Pearson Education National Writing Institute Perfection Learning Corporation Power Glide Saxon Publishers, Inc. Social Studies School Services Steck-Vaughn Usborne Books Writing Company Zaner-Bloser Various art, science, and educational materials suppliers and bookstores Web Links: http://www.aclclassics.org American Classical League website http://www.welltrainedmind.com/ The Well Trained Mind website http://www.centaursystems.com/sites.html Websites for the Classics http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/ University of Kentucky Classical Studies website Trisms homework helps, resources, links History Online website, many links American and British History Resources on the Internet from Rutgers University Library History on the Internet website Website of The Classical Academy, a K-8 charter school in Colorado Springs, Colorado Capital Research article about classical liberal arts programs. Dorothy Sayers' 1947 The Lost Tools of Learning article The American Communication Association website Minnesota State Univ., Mankato e-museum tours Tufts University Perseus project, on-line Latin books Latin and Greek information and links, etc. Latin-related links On-line Latin dictionary and grammar aids Library of Congress Greek and Latin Classics web resources An Index to Online Great Books, English Translations The Great Books Foundation website Jolly Rogers website -- Great Books and the Classics |
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