Educating the whole child and the belief that children are more than their standardized test scores.
Liberal Arts schools are unique among school choice options for three main reasons – a virtuous education, a content-rich curriculum, and a traditional classroom environment. Classical, liberal art schools are sweeping the nation - and for good reason - Classical education simply works.
What's the difference between modern and classical education?
Modern education embraces a common core of information that all students verify with standardized tests scores. It teaches students "what" to think. Learning is fragmented among different subject areas. While exploration of subject matter may be academically rigorous and challenging, each is taught without regard to another and misses key connections and what it means to be human.
A Liberal Arts education focuses on the development of the whole child and teaches all students the tools necessary for self-education. It teaches students "how" to think. Learning is integrated across subject areas. Students learn about and experience God's world in an integrated manner across subjects such as history, literature, art, mathematics, music, nature studies, language arts. For instance, a class studying Greek culture might read and discuss stories from Greek mythology to think along with the Greeks ‘from the inside’. A class studying the Middle Ages might learn Gregorian chant in music or consider the symbolism of Gothic architecture in art or the symbolism of shapes in medieval stained glass in conjunction with their introduction to geometry. Visit ourCurriculum page for more information.
Classical education depends on a three-part process of training the mind.
Grammar Stage - The early years of school are spent in absorbing facts, systematically laying the foundations for advanced study. It is critically important and where students should fall in love with learning as they see everything with awe and wonder.
Dialectic or Logic Stage - In the middle grades, students learn to think through arguments and begin to understand cause and effect and to reason logically. Children learn discernment as they sort out the facts learned in the grammar stage.
Rhetoric Stage - This is where young adults begin to apply logic to all of their academic subjects.
a Liberal arts education seeks to:
Foster the development of the whole person
Build a firm foundation of knowledge
Instill a sense of truth and beauty
Train the mind through discipline and rigor
Not underestimate the ability and capability of the young human mind
Develop the child into an adult who maps their own destiny in concert with God
Encourages lifelong exploration, learning, and wonder
Maintains and continues the great heritage of Western Thought and Culture
Develop students who think and speak for themselves (critical thinking)
Preserves tradition
Pursues Truth, Goodness, and Beauty
Focuses on mastery and excellence
Focuses on wisdom and virtue
Is consistent with nature and human development
Sees education as a high and noble goal
Rejects education as a means to an end
Educates for the present while setting the stage for the future
Connects the student with history and presents it in chronological order
Sees the subjects of education as interrelated; no subjects are studied in isolation
Builds the skills of logic, debate, public speaking, clear reasoning, research, writing, and communicating
Teaches the student to read, analyze, and evaluate
Prepares the child for a complex and challenging adult world
Develops the foundation for leadership
Encourages students to choose meaning (truth) from experiences.