Definition of
Classical Education
Classical education is a historical and traditional approach to learning that teaches wisdom and virtue by training the mind, soul, and body. This is accomplished through learning classical languages and reading classic texts within the framework of the Liberal Arts, as defined by the trivium and the quadrivium. The trivium consists of grammar (assembling the facts), logic (determining their relationships), and rhetoric (constructing persuasive arguments using facts and relationships). These three liberal arts serve further as a guide to teach children at developmentally appropriate levels and as the path to master any area of study. The quadrivium incorporates higher levels of learning in arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy (science) and applies these lessons to life. All seven of the liberal arts prepare and encourage students to appreciate and pursue truth, goodness and beauty. Additionally, the body is trained through the discipline of gymnastics (exercise and athletic endeavors), completing the education of the entire person. Together, these are proven tools by which students learn how to learn and delight in becoming life-long learners.
Definition of
Christian Education
Christian education is a form of Christian discipleship involving the nurture (paideia) and instruction (nouthesia) of the Lord. It anchors itself in the truth of Jesus Christ as illuminated in the divinely inspired Word of God. Students are taught to know God as he is revealed in his creation, in history, in his divinely inspired Word, and in his son Jesus Christ our Lord.
A Christian education cultivates the biblical virtues of faith, hope, and love to inspire students to love God with their whole self - heart, soul, mind, and strength - and to love their neighbor as themselves. Christian education teaches the Word of God, and leads students in the regular practice of corporate worship guided by liturgy, prayer, and song. Students are taught that all areas of learning are part of God’s creation and are intended to lead us into the worship of God. Students are encouraged to use a biblical lens to address ideas within school life and the broader world.
As Scripture gives particular responsibility to parents (Ephesians 6:4), school personnel will partner with, and not supplant, parents in their calling to raise up disciples of Christ.
Definition of
Christian Classical Education
Classical Christian education is a system of education that harmoniously integrates Christian and classical thought for the formation of the entire person: heart, soul, mind, and body. Classical Christian education infuses the wisdom of classical thinkers with the power of the Gospel, recognizing
that what classical thinkers were seeking is ultimately found in the person of Jesus Christ. Classical Christian education takes the best of Greek and Roman thinking about how to live and think as free and virtuous citizens and brings these ideas under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, in whose service is perfect freedom.
The aim of Classical Christian education is to form mature disciples of Jesus Christ who are well-educated, virtuous, and faithful individuals prepared to go out into the world as ambassadors for Christ and to glorify God for eternity.
