Education

One of the most important parenting decisions made relates to the education of our children.

All of parenting of course is education in the sense that the word, from the Latin educationem, means "a rearing, training;" initially relating to social relationship and manners, and later "systematic schooling and training for work." 

But education is much more than social skills and preparation for work. Education involves the formation of perspective, world view, character and values.

Plato viewed education akin to the process of coming out of a cave into the light.

How can we as parents best do this?

Four basic approaches:

1. Public education which was initially founded to enable the poor to read and write in order to function more effectively in society and it's economic system.

2. Christian education which includes Christian perspective, world view, character and values.

3. Classical education may be least understood in our culture but is the means by which many influential leaders have been shaped. More about this later.

4. Home schooling. Some parents (or association of parents) attempt education in one of these streams, outside formal structures, at  home.

There are also two "hybrid" approaches:

1. Sometimes classical education is combined with Christian education

2. Sometimes classical education is combined with secular education in private prep schools.

But which is best?

There are several factors to consider in this question.

What is true and good? Most foundationally it is necessary to recognize each approach is oriented to a vision of what is true and what is good, and to acknowledge that not all worldviews agree on what is true or what is good. Many consequential examples can be given.

What best enables our children's success in life? Another factor is the degree to which each educational approach prepares our children to be successful in our challenging world. By this we mean of course not only successful in terms of advancing personal interests but successful in contributing to the health and healing of our troubled world.

What is within reach? A third factor involves practical matters such as availability, cost and resources. But even within these constraints it is important to do the best we can towards best outcomes.

What is Classical Education?

Classical education starts students with grammar, logic, rhetoric, math, and a classical language like Latin or Greek. What do diverse and seemingly unrelated subjects like these have in common? Interestingly each is "layered" in the sense that step one must be mastered before step two will make sense. With thought it becomes clear how this is true for each subject mentioned. This means that students can't simply memorize isolated facts but have to "climb the mountain" to see the whole. From this vantage point a wider perspective for wise decision making appears.

In addition literary classics from multiple cultures are highlighted.

What is Classical Christian Education?

As the heading suggests this option combines the mental discipline of a classical foundation with the worldview of the Bible. Why is this approach worth considering, even though only a very few schools offer the option?

Primarily because of the results. Consider this summary graph comparing outcomes of six educational approaches:

ACCS refers to Association of Classical Christian Schools. You may wish to review the study conducted by the Cardus Education Survey from which the graph is taken here.