What is behind Classical Christian Paideia?
The biggest "idea" driving Classical Christian Paideia is God.
My husband and I are Bible-believing Christians, and we take seriously the responsibility we have before God to raise our children to know Him and to love and serve Him with all their hearts and minds and souls and strength. We chose to homeschool, in part, because it would give us the time and flexibility we needed to make that a priority in our lives. At the core of our homeschool is the desire to bring God glory through the Spirit-empowered proclamation of Jesus as the Savior of the world, through both words and deeds.
I am also a teacher by training, and a curriculum nerd by delight. I love researching and understanding how children learn, what the Bible teaches, and what approaches to learning and teaching have been most effective over the years. When I began researching the best homeschooling approach to use with my own children, that journey brought me to the world of classical education - a big world with lots of ideas about exactly what is "classical" and what is not (more about that in a bit).
What you will find in here includes a lot of ideas, resources, and recommendations from that world - but only as far as it supports that first desire above. Of course, it is entirely possible to have a home, and a homeschool, that glorifies God apart from any mention of classical learning. It is also entirely possible to have a classical education that does not seek God's glory - though the very nature of classical learning makes it nearly impossible to exclude Him from it completely.
Nevertheless, since one of the primary reasons we have chosen to homeschool our children is because we believe it is the best way for us to disciple them and to raise them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, we don't want to just include the Lord, but to focus on Him. And a good deal of what we have found to do that is considered to be a "classical" or "Charlotte Mason" style of learning.
I don't really care what it's called. My goal has not been to create the ideal classical approach, but the most effective approach in discipling and educating our children. Mostly, that has meant using classical resources, but not always. My method is pretty pragmatic - what works and brings glory to God?
Click here to read more, beginning with the end.
My husband and I are Bible-believing Christians, and we take seriously the responsibility we have before God to raise our children to know Him and to love and serve Him with all their hearts and minds and souls and strength. We chose to homeschool, in part, because it would give us the time and flexibility we needed to make that a priority in our lives. At the core of our homeschool is the desire to bring God glory through the Spirit-empowered proclamation of Jesus as the Savior of the world, through both words and deeds.
I am also a teacher by training, and a curriculum nerd by delight. I love researching and understanding how children learn, what the Bible teaches, and what approaches to learning and teaching have been most effective over the years. When I began researching the best homeschooling approach to use with my own children, that journey brought me to the world of classical education - a big world with lots of ideas about exactly what is "classical" and what is not (more about that in a bit).
What you will find in here includes a lot of ideas, resources, and recommendations from that world - but only as far as it supports that first desire above. Of course, it is entirely possible to have a home, and a homeschool, that glorifies God apart from any mention of classical learning. It is also entirely possible to have a classical education that does not seek God's glory - though the very nature of classical learning makes it nearly impossible to exclude Him from it completely.
Nevertheless, since one of the primary reasons we have chosen to homeschool our children is because we believe it is the best way for us to disciple them and to raise them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, we don't want to just include the Lord, but to focus on Him. And a good deal of what we have found to do that is considered to be a "classical" or "Charlotte Mason" style of learning.
I don't really care what it's called. My goal has not been to create the ideal classical approach, but the most effective approach in discipling and educating our children. Mostly, that has meant using classical resources, but not always. My method is pretty pragmatic - what works and brings glory to God?
Click here to read more, beginning with the end.