Classical and Christian

What does it mean to be a Classical Christian School? 

Classical Christian education is the time tested approach to education which produced such great thinkers as our Founding Fathers. This approach stands in sharp contrast to many of the more "modern" methods employed in schools today. Classical education is a proven method of teaching which structures learning in accordance with the stages of child development. This approach enables students to gain knowledge, understanding, and wisdom at an age when subjects are most easily mastered. At Cornerstone Academy, curriculum is taught in a three-phase educational process termed “The Trivium” in which each phase is dependent upon and builds upon the others.

The Grammar Stage (Grades K-5) provides students with the necessary tools and facts of learning in a variety of subjects such as history, science, Latin, math, grammar, and reading. The goal is to equip students with the foundational building blocks of education in life while their minds are most receptive to memorization and observation.

The Logic Stage (Grades 6-8) takes the mastered information from the Grammar Stage and brings it into ordered relationships. Students begin to apply logic to assess the validity of arguments and learn to view information critically with a more discerning mind.

In the Rhetoric Stage (Grades 9-12) students learn to articulate eloquently and persuasively and to use the tools of knowledge and understanding acquired in the earlier stages. This is the point at which the strength of a classical education is made fully visible.

Below are some resources to help you become more familiar with the distinctive pattern being followed at Cornerstone Academy with regard to educational philosophy and pedagogy.

• Why Christian Education? by Michael W. Lee
• The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy L. Sayers

From The Classical Teacher, a magazine published by Memoria Press

• In Defense of Classical Education by Tracy Lee Simmons
• "What is Classical Education?" Revisited by Martin Cothran
• Books to Live With by Bryan Smith
• How to Teach Logic by Martin Cothran
• Teaching Classical Literature Classically by Andrew Kern
• What is Classical Education by Andrew Kern
• Multum non Multa - Much not Many by Andrew Campbell

From Classis, a magazine published by the Association of Classical & Christian Schools

• America's Educational Crisis: A Christian Response by Albert Mohler
• What's So Great About Classical Education? by Steve Wilkins
• Classical and Christian Education Revisited by Gregg Strawbridge
• A Saved Generation by Joe Ben House

Books

• The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education by Leigh Bortins
• The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer

Audio (MP3)

• Education, Wisdom, and Eloquence from Mars Hill Audio (12MB file). An interview with Robert Littlejohn, co-author of the book Wisdom and Eloquence: A Christian Paradigm for Classical Learning, on how education should encourage wisdom and eloquence in students, and why these are Christian virtues. (Posted with permission from Mars Hill Audio)