For centuries, a classical philosophy of education has informed the education of children and inspired them to think and learn for themselves. The founders of this Republic and its great thinkers were educated under the influence of classical education. Only in the past century did the mainstream of educators in Western civilization depart from this vision. By structuring the curriculum around the Trivium, classical education focuses on critical thinking skills, the classic languages, Latin and Greek, and a defined body of content knowledge. The Trivium capitalizes on age appropriate strengths of students at each of three primary stages of development:
- Grammar/Knowledge Stage (K-5th grade): Students grasp the basic building blocks foundational to life-long learning by applying meaningful memorization and mastery of content knowledge. Focus is placed on delivery of factual information through poetry, vocabulary, mathematics, literature, geography and historical narrative.
- Logic/Understanding Stage (6-8th grade): Students critically analyze more complex issues applying the difficult “why” and “how” questions to each subject area. Studying formal logic, they develop reasoning skills, recognize and avoid invalid conclusions, and construct persuasive arguments.
- Rhetoric/Wisdom Phase (9-12th grade): Students emphasize the integration of academic content by understanding the connections between bodies of knowledge and building the power of persuasion within the world of ideas. Based on the knowledge and reasoning skills developed through the grammar and logic stages, students culminate their academic experience by applying the art of both written and spoken presentation.
