Standing on the shoulders of giants
A well-worn path, centuries in the making
The classical Christian model was the norm for Christians in the West until midway through the 19th century. Its distinctives include an appreciation for the tradition of Western civilization, the learning of Latin, conversation with the “great books,” and a focus on the seven liberal arts — the trivium and quadrivium.
Dorothy Sayers’ 1947 essay The Lost Tools of Learning linked the stages of the trivium — grammar, logic, rhetoric — to the stages of child development. Douglas Wilson’s Rediscovering the Lost Tools of Learning picked up that thread decades later and sparked the modern movement: close to 2,000 classical Christian schools have since been founded across the United States and Canada.
Stages of the trivium
Teaching with the grain of childhood
Each stage of the trivium matches how students naturally learn at that age — so school works with a child's development, not against it.
The Grammar Stage
“Read well”
- Cultivating the skill of interpreting symbols — letters, numbers, and facts
- Memorization is fun and exciting for young children
- Teachers use singing, chanting, and repetition
- Early training in language, behaviour, character, and basic skills
- Equipping students with the foundational building blocks of education
The Logic Stage
“Think well”
- Cultivating the skill of understanding why and how
- Students at this age naturally push back against ideas — we harness it
- Abstract thinking: forming sound arguments, debating, analyzing, persuading
- Interactive, dynamic lessons that apply what was learned in the grammar stage
The Rhetoric Stage
“Speak well”
- Cultivating the skill of applying knowledge — that is, wisdom
- Students care about how they are perceived; we train winsome expression
- Foundational skills and reasoning combine to solve real problems in the community
New to classical education?
ClassicalU offers excellent free introductory videos for parents who are unfamiliar with classical Christian education — a great place to start exploring.