The Trivium: What does classical education look like in practice?

Grammar- Kindergarten to 4th/5th Grade
At this stage, the focus is on developing the memory and on teaching new material using memorization as a primary tool. The fact that young children are especially adapted for memorizing material that will be retained for a lifetime is well known by those in the field of foreign language instruction. Capitalizing on this unique ability of students at this age, classical educators use a variety of techniques, including rhymes, songs, motion memory, and visual aids, to teach the core subjects.

Logic/Dialectic-Grades 5/6-8
Ask any parents of 6th-8th graders if their children argue more in this stage than when they were younger. Undoubtedly, the answer will be a resounding yes! This is because children at this age are uniquely suited to learn to do just that- form an argument. Therefore, classical educators instruct students at this stage in the art of logic- that is, in valid methods of forming and argument. They teach them how to evaluate the arguments of others using logic, too, which paves the way for more advanced study in all disciplines. Lastly, teachers guide students through the Socratic method in all of their subjects to learn to think logically and come to sound conclusions. For the classical student, then, this is more about learning to reason that about the accumulation of facts.

Rhetoric
After learning to construct a sound argument, the student must learn to express it well. Students may have the brightest, most thoroughly trained minds around, but if they cannot communicate well, their ideas will be dismissed. This stage pushes the student's ability to speak and write clearly and persuasively.

Through all three stages of the classical model, the study of history acts as the rudder to guide the content of studies. Students rotate through a four year history cycle that includes: Creation through the Fall of Rome, the Rise of Christendom through the Early Renaissance and the Reformation through Pre-Industrial Revolution to the Present Day. Discussing and memorizing information about the key figures, ideas, and events of each historical marker, in turn, act as organizational memory "pegs" on which to "hang" other learning- such as the reading of Chaucer, a study of Michelangelo's David, or the study of Newton's laws. In this way, students develop a broad tapestry of knowledge held together by the thread of history, which spans the disciplines, thus deepening comprehension.

Beyond using history as an organizational tool, classical educators in the Catholic tradition present history as salvation history- that is, the history of God's action in the world, which draws humanity to Himself and leads us to everlasting life with Him in Heaven. This view of history places Christ at the center of all human action and history both before and since Christ's coming and regardless of whether or not the actors are conscious of Christ as the Savior. When we, as Christians, are able to ponder the Father's loving providence for His Creation from the perspective of the unfolding of history, we are naturally moved to a greater appreciation and tender love for Him. The study of history as salvation history thus facilitates this movement of the soul and ties our studies to the ultimate goal of education- that of leading souls to the salvation that Christ won for us.

If the human mind is considered to be like a garden, it is easy to see the importance of tilling and enriching the soil. No one expects substantial fruit from plants grown in soil that has not been well prepared. Likewise, the quality of fruit that will be borne of our students' future endeavors will be substantially shaped by the quality of the educational foundation that was given to them.