Classical Education

Segueing from how one goes about forming one's conscience, comes this article about how a Denver Catholic school turned itself around by implementing a Classical curriculum.

In 1947 English author and playwright Dorothy Sayers published an essay titled "The Lost Tools of Learning" (you can read it at the link), which has become a rallying cry for education reformers. One such reformer is Laura Berquist, a Catholic who has been at the leading edge of the homeschool movement for a decade or more. The article mentions her contributions such as the book Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum, and originating Mother of Divine Grace School, an online Catholic school in the Classical tradition. She was also a student at Thomas Aquinas College in California.

The money quote in the article on the Denver school states, "Anderson noted that classical education is meant to help students learn how to think, rather than merely teaching them 'subjects.'"

And one teacher at the school explains it this way, "I have to read and discover knowledge on my own before I can share it with my kids...It's definitely changed my teaching; I can't just look at a book anymore and read the lesson, and be prepared for the next day.”

“I've had to almost flip everything I know about education upside-down to teach classically,” she said.

Her students are now “required to think more,” rather than having “the information they need to know fed to them. ”

Thinking more can't be a bad thing. ;-)

(H/t to Fr. Z)