Classical Education and the Homeschool by Wesley Callihan, Douglas Jones, and Douglas Wilson

When we moved here, a family with five children (oldest is 7) had us over for dinner one night. It was really fun to get to know them and see how they manage their home. We would like a lot of kids like them, but actually living day to day with that many kids is still sort of an abstract idea. I wasn’t too overwhelmed by this large family’s life…until I noticed the Latin on the kitchen whiteboard.

I started thinking I would homeschool my children several years ago, but again, it was sort of an abstract idea. Oh yeah, I can do that, I thought. No problem. Now that I actually have a kid that will need a formal education in just a few short years, though, I’m getting a little more than nervous.

It would be nice to send Nathan and any other children we have to a classical, Christian school, but that will most likely not be possible financially for at least the first several years Nathan is in school. So (gulp), it’s looking like homeschooling for us. (Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of homeschooling. I think it would be so fun to learn everything over again and learn the things I never did and then teach my kids. It’s that whole lack of self-discipline thing I’m worried about.)

Since I’ve been thinking about this more and more, I picked up this short 67-page book Classical Education and the Homeschool off our bookshelf to try and figure out what classical education looks like when homeschooling and how I can prepare myself now.

The book goes over the basics of classical and Christian education – why Christians should use this type of education and the components that set this education apart from others. The “classical” refers to the use of the three stages of education (or trivium): grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric. It includes subjects like Latin, logic, theology, and rhetoric as well as other basic subjects like math, history, science, etc. The “Christian” part of classical, Christian education describes the centrality of the Bible in all educational endeavors and the goal of education in loving God with all of our minds. The authors write,

“What is meant by a Christian worldview and a Christian education? Christian education is not a secular and humanistic education with prayer and Bible class attached to it. Rather, we view the Scriptures as the sole rule of faith and practice. The Bible must be at the center of our thinking. It is not central as a vase of flowers is central to a table – nice, but decorative only – but rather central as an axle is central. Everything in the educational process is to revolve around the Word of God. The Bible, and the Bible alone, occupies this position.” (17-18)

Parents are called to “teach every subject in light of the Lordship of Jesus Christ” (52) and to teach “in such a way that all thoughts are brought under the headship of Christ [2 Cor. 10:4-5]” (52). This requires a “commitment to hard work over a long period of time” (9-10), “reading and reading some more” (10), and diligence in setting aside time to actually instruct your children. They provide a recommended reading list as a starting point to this preparation that includes ancient texts, early Christian and medieval texts, modern texts, and books on education, literature and reading, logic, rhetoric, and worldview thinking. They suggest reading a book every week or two.

Unfortunately, they described my attitude throughout my education and to the present day perfectly:

“Tragically, even many Christians have been infected with the ‘affirmative action’ approach to learning. We want equal results for unequal effort, but God did not create the world this way. He is not mocked; unequal efforts will routinely bring us unequal results.” (10)

And that’s what scares me. This isn’t just me anymore. So I didn’t try my best in school; I know I didn’t reach my full “potential” by skating through (and many times still getting A’s and B’s, which unfortunately only reaffirmed my laziness). But my children deserve better than a half-hearted attempt on my part to educate them. Regarding the intense preparation needed from parents, they write:

“This may be intimidating at first, and if it were considered a hobby, it would be overwhelming. But the task is the education of your children, which is not a hobby but a vocation. The word vocation comes from the Latin word voco, which means ‘I call.’ A person’s vocation is his calling; a parent’s vocation is to learn in order to teach.” (59)

This book’s description of a classical, Christian education in the homeschool does intimidate me. But it has also given me a plan of attack with that reading list which is so doable now that I don’t have the Internet to distract me and that Gus works most nights. I know educating my children will be one of the most important things I will do in my life, and I’m praying that God will help me discipline myself to be diligent for this task.