Spell to Write and Read Seminar

Are you interested in learning more about the Spell to Write and Read curriculum used by classical Christian schools and many homeschoolers? Pinnacle Classical Academy is pleased to host a seminar led by two trained instructors in the Spell to Write and Read methods. This seminar will be held at the school on August 6th and 7th, from 8:30am – 5:30pm each day. The cost is $135 per person.   All of Pinnacle Classical Academy's teachers will be taking part in the seminar, and we invite you to join us as well. Please RSVP by contacting the school at 501-240-9080 or by e-mailing headmaster Bill Izard at pinnacleclassical@gmail.com. We hope to see you there!

PCA Hosts Easy Grammar Curriculum Seminar - August 13

PCA is pleased to host the author of Easy Grammar Systems, Dr. Wanda C. Phillips. Dr. Phillips will be offering a two hour seminar which will focus on training individuals to teach the Easy Grammar curriculum. The seminar will be Friday, August 13th, from 9:00am-11:30am at Rose Hill Church of the Nazarene. The seminar is open to the public. Easy Grammar Systems is the curriculum PCA has chosen for 2nd - 5th grade grammar instruction.

Dr. Phillips' first session will be "Easy Games and Easy Grammar," focusing on the strategies and ideas behind effective grammar instruction. The second session will be "Easy Writing," focusing on teaching students to write with higher level sentence structures.

We believe that this seminar will be a wonderful time of learning and fellowship. If you would like to attend, please let us know by emailing your name and contact info to pinnacleclassical@gmail.com. We hope to see you there!

Three Views of the Trivium

Classical education is a conscious return to the ancient goal of education: teaching children to think and learn for themselves by imparting to them the tools of learning. It is an approach to education that is rooted in the ancient medieval concept of the Trivium. The Trivium is comprised of three basic tools of learning: Grammar (the tool of knowledge), Logic (the tool of reasoning), and Rhetoric (the tool of communication and expression). The Trivium can be viewed as 1) an approach to subjects, 2) an approach to students, and 3) a set of subjects. See the chart below for a brief explanation of the Trivium according to each of these views.

Trivium Category	An Approach to Subjects	An Approach to Students	A Set of Subjects
Grammar	Mastery of fundamental facts and rules.	Elementary Age: Concrete thinkers; Information sponges; Memorization comes naturally.	Formal study of word usage & language structure. Studied in English & Latin.
Logic	Training in comprehension and sound reasoning skills.	Middle School Age: Beginning to think abstractly; Growth of analytical thinking abilities.	The study of the science of sound reasoning and argumentation.
Rhetoric	Development of communication, expression and application skills.	High School Age: Abstract thinkers; Interest in self-expression; communication and creativity.	The study of the effective use of language in speech and writing.

If you are a new reader of Pinnacle Classical Academy's blog -- welcome! We're glad that you are curious about classical, Christian education and what God is doing with PCA. If you've been visiting our blog for a while now, we thank you for your continued interest and support! We are excited to see you all at our public informational meeting and to share with you personally how God is blessing us through this adventure.

If you're wondering about some of the distinctives of classical, Christian education - but you are not quite ready to read a whole book about it - click on the links below. Perhaps these summary articles will whet your appetite, giving you a desire to dig deeper.

Jonathan Edwards Classical Academy opened this fall in Nashville, TN. Here is a link to their summary of CCE: http://www.jecanashville.org/index.php/about/what-is-classical-education

Our Savior Lutheran School in Houston, TX, has been around since 1946. Click here to read their explanation of CCE: http://www.oslschool.org/index.php?pgid=7&subid=31

Classical Education of our Founding Fathers

This past weekend my family had the pleasure of hearing a reading of the Declaration of Independence during a local Fourth of July celebration. That brought to mind an article I recently read about the education of our founding fathers. Here were some interesting facts:

• Thomas Jefferson was trained by a tutor at an early age in Latin, Greek and French, then later continued his studies at a classical academy and the College of William and Mary.
• Alexander Hamilton entered King’s College (now Columbia University) with the expectation that he have a mastery of Greek and Latin grammar and the ability to translate the first ten chapters of the Gospel of John from Greek into Latin.
• James Madison was expected to write Latin prose, translate Virgil and the Greek gospels, and have an adequate knowledge of Latin and Greek grammar when he applied to the College of New Jersey (now Princeton).
• Of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, 30 were college graduates (which was an astounding number for that time).

Although not everyone received formal education in those days, it was rare to find anyone who could not read or write. Of note, ministers of that time were the ones most likely to have a classical education; therefore, it was not uncommon to find that several of the founding fathers were taught by clergyman.

The founders were dedicated to learning and had a great respect for the work of the ancients. It was through these works that they studied governments that worked well, and from that, formed their ideas of how they wanted their new government to be structured.

I am inspired by the character and work of these founders, and feel God used their spiritual upbringing and classical education to shape them into the leaders they became. Wouldn’t I want the same for my own children?

Teaching Christ-centered subjects...what does that mean?

As we begin to write the mission statement for our school, it has definitely opened my mind to think through what being "Christ-centered" actually means. St. Augustine stated that we should seek to lead the citizens of earth toward citizenship in heaven, while instilling in them the desire to introduce the values of the heavenly kingdom into the kingdom they presently inhabit. So, does that mean we need to have a bible study within each subject taught? No, but we believe students should understand how Christ is the foundation of everything in our world. Recently, I was browsing another classical school's website and came across the following statement:

Students are taught how history displays God’s providence, how math manifests the order and symmetry of God’s creation, how language arts can provide them the tools necessary to extend Christ’s kingdom, how science testifies of God’s actions and methods, and how through the creative arts God has entrusted them with a finite ability to create. This integrated approach, in concert with scriptural training and regular worship, combines faith and reason to encourage students to develop a thorough and thoughtful Christian worldview.

In Romans 1:20, Paul states that since the creation of the world, God’s invisible attributes, His eternal power, and His divine nature have been clearly seen and can be understood through what He has made. Through the teaching of subjects at our school, my prayer is that the children will see a clearer image of God’s magnificence, as opposed to what they would otherwise see through an education where He is not presented as the center of all things.

Reason Three for a Classical School

My final point regarding why a Christ-centered school benefits from employing the classical model centers around the very nature of knowledge itself. Namely, that all knowledge, indeed all history, math and science, ultimately everything happening everywhere in the entire Universe is centered in Jesus Christ. Consider Col. 1:16-18. "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist."

The Christian understands that there is a point to it all, that Truth is a person, and that at the center stage of all of the "space time continuum" is Golgotha and the crucifixion of Jesus. In Ephesians 1:10, Paul writes of God, "that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him." (NKJV)

The classical school does not view its mission as simply the dissemination of disconnected and independent facts. Rather, it understands the centrality of synthesis and unification, not only within subject matters, but across them. Can it be that "if it is true for you it is true for you and if it is true for me it is true for me" if we hold diametrically opposed concepts regarding the same subject? This is one of the most basic tenets of the post-modernist (and incidentally one of the easiest to refute), and the classical method does not settle for this inconsistent relativism. It would have the student search for universal, unifying truth. Here is where, again, if an education is to be Christ-centered, being classical is of value, because the well-trained classical mind might say with C.S. Lewis- “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” If a mind is looking to put it all together, Christ is at the center. The classical method inherently looks for the center, and in that sense, I believe it is looking for Christ.

Reason Two for a Classical School

The second point in some way springs from the first. We live in a world where 'new' and 'diverse' are buzzwords, instantly equated with superiority. And surely there are some interesting good ideas out there that perhaps we've never heard before; but have not some great thinkers and ideas come before the present age? Solomon enjoins us that "there is nothing new under the sun," and I believe that a classical approach, with its classical emphasis, is the best approach to help us benefit from truly the best ideas, instead of just the latest.

Scripture similarly commands us to consider the past, thus again demonstrating how a school that would be Christ-centered might also benefit by being classical. Jeremiah 6:16: "Thus says the LORD:"Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" Has there ever been a generation more ignorant than ours of the truths and foundations upon which it was built? Has there ever been a people so in danger of forgetting the great things that once were common knowledge? Deut. 32:7 may apply: "Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you." It has been said that those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.

The classical method calls us not only to the history of events but also to the history of ideas. And ideas have consequences. We must emphasize that ultimately we hold to the truth of the Bible as that ancient thing that must be remembered before all others. Even in light of this truth, though, there are concepts not specifically mentioned in the Bible that we would benefit from recalling.

Reason One for a Classical School

First, a classical approach is specifically designed to teach the student to think. No doubt every school in America would at least claim that they are teaching their students to think, but in a classical approach this is central (see the 'The Lost Tools of Learning' by Dorothy Sayers in a previous post).

One of the many benefits of being a Christian is that we understand God to be the author of all reason and understanding and to have endowed men and women with such faculties that he intends for them to employ. Deut. 32:29 says "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!" (KJV). No doubt there are things beyond reason, but in a typical day, it would seem that the Lord calls upon us to think!

As an aside, this is one of the things I love about 'reformed' theology, in that those who adhere to it understand themselves as "reformed and always reforming." One obviously needs a mind to do this, and we are also called upon to love God with all of our mind (Matt. 22:37). So, a classical approach towards education, rather than just giving you a thought to hold between your ears, is specifically designed to train up, strengthen and hone one's mental faculties. And this can then be utilized to the glory of God. Perhaps the analogy of teaching a man to fish versus simply giving him a fish applies. We live in a changing world, and we need to be mentally fit to consider whatever new idea will be introduced tomorrow.

So why bother?

When we begin to think about founding a classical school, as already stated, the glory of God needs to be foremost in our thoughts and designs. Indeed, ideally, the priority and design that God already has in His mind (and our discernment of the same) should preoccupy.

This begs the question, then, why is it that I believe that God is moving to form a classical Christ-centered school in Little Rock? Certainly there are many educational opportunities already available, all with their various strengths and weaknesses. My point here is certainly not to consider arguments for or against any of these other options, but only to discuss the inherent strengths in a classical Christ-centered education. Christ is pre-eminent in all things (the Scriptures teach us this), and so whether a school is classical or not is of little importance next to whether or not it is Christ-centered. However, there are aspects of the classical approach that I think are inherently complementary to a truly Christ-centered education. It is for these reasons, primarily, that I believe that God would have us move forward with this school. (please see subsequent posts)

The Lost Tools of Learning

Dorothy Sayers was a British writer during the early 1900’s, and a friend of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. In 1947 she wrote an essay, The Lost Tools of Learning, describing what is now the foundation for the resurgence of classical education in the U.S. In the introduction of her essay, she makes the argument that the reason for the “great defect of our education today” is the emphasis on teaching students numerous subjects, instead of providing them with tools on how to learn. If a student memorizes and learns information for an exam, but is unable to transfer that knowledge to other facets of his life or even worse, cannot even remember what he learned after leaving school, the education system has failed.

Upon presenting the problems of the education system of her day, Sayer describes the medieval education system, which included the Trivium and Quadrivium. The Trivium consists of the three distinct learning stages: Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric. These stages form the building blocks of learning, thus enabling the student to take what they have learned and to apply it to any new information presented to him. The Quadrivium follows the Trivium and is made up of specific subjects, including geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music. The focus of Sayers essay is the Trivium.

The first stage of the Trivium, Grammar or what Sayers terms as “poll-parrot,” is more than a reference to a subject within language arts. It addresses the foundation of subjects. Like a parrot that mimics what it hears, the Grammar stage is focused on memory. The ability to memorize comes easiest to children at a young age, which is why this is the first stage. For example, this is the ideal time to memorize math facts, history dates and major events and people, geography facts, and language basics.

The Grammar stage is then followed by the Dialectic, or “pert,” stage. This stage in a child’s development is when they start to become more argumentative or impertinent in nature. They are sorting out all the facts within their minds and beginning to construct rational arguments from the information they know. For example, “If A, then B.” This stage is also referred to as the “logic” stage.

After they sort through the logic of what they have learned, the child desires to express themselves in a thoughtful manner, which is the Rhetoric, or “poetic,” stage. Now the student will have an opportunity to utilize the skills he has obtained during the first two stages and to articulate and present logical arguments.

It may appear that classical education is not sufficient, because it does not offer the array of subjects that we see in our current education system. On the contrary, as Sayers concludes in her essay, the goal of classical education is beyond teaching a student how to do a specific task, but about providing students tools, so that they are able to learn anything on their own.

To read the entire Sayers essay, go to the following link:

http://www.gbt.org/text/sayers.html