The Atrium

On Classical Education

4 min read

On Classical Education

For those of you who are unaware of what classical education is, or have only heard of it in light of our current political climate, this short overview aims to either bring you up to speed or offer a course correction. Classical education’s goal is to teach someone how to learn and think, whereas most of our traditional education teaches us what to learn.1 There is no shortage of information on what properly ordered classical education is. You can read a bit from Susan Wise Bauer,2 whose wisdom our family has leaned on over the years. You could also read Joshua Gibbs’ piece published by the US Department of Education.3 Finally, you could visit the “About” and “Curriculum” pages on The Chesterton Schools Network’s website to see how a network of schools is developing around this ancient methodology.4 I highlight these sources to orient us around two big ideas. Classical education is a well-worn path towards life-long learning, and it is decidedly not political. Though classical education has acquired specific political associations in recent years, the Trivium’s components are older than American politics by two thousand years. They have been carried by Catholic monks, Protestant reformers, secular humanists, and modern educators.56

The three components of the Trivium are grammar, logic, and rhetoric.12 The grammar stage has students focusing on the basic building blocks of their discipline. It is here that they learn the language and the meanings of words across several disciplines. The logic stage asks students to stop sorting the blocks and start building with them. Causation and correlation become relevant as learners see the grammatical and conceptual connections between the disciplines. Finally, students move into the rhetoric phase where they use the logical flow of thought to construct fully formed arguments and conclusions.

Imagine watching someone interact with LEGO bricks for the first time. They might sort them out by size, color, or shape, or some combination of these. They are learning the contours of the bricks, noticing their differences. At some point, they begin to connect them. Maybe they make a blue wall, or a stack of 1x2 bricks of various colors. Whatever it is, they take their basic understanding of the blocks and build rudimentary structures. After several walls, floors, and doorways, they understand that the blocks have purpose, not just in shape and size, but also in color. The subtlety of the structure is just as important as the construct. There is art in the math and science of the building. It isn’t just functional, nor is it just beautiful. It is both and so much more. Maybe LEGOs are a bad analogy, or maybe you haven’t seen the Rivendell set yet.7

Why spend time doing a write-up on LEGOs and the foundations of Classical Education? My hope is that as we read through our books together, we implement this structure. We will likely encounter new words and concepts that are foreign to us. Even if the words aren’t new to us, perhaps the way the author uses them is. This is my way of saying, take your time. Read slowly. Look up words and concepts and ask, “Why say that?” or “What could the author possibly mean by using that word here?” Perhaps we could start by asking, “What does Trivium mean?”

Invite curiosity and keep her close. Shake loose the cobwebs of comfortable arguments and explore something unknown.

Footnotes

  1. “Classical Education 101: What Exactly Is It?” The Classical Academy, accessed April 26, 2026, https://www.the-classical-academy.com/classical-education-101-what-exactly-is-it/. ↩ ↩2

  2. Susan Wise Bauer, “What Is Classical Education?” Well-Trained Mind, accessed April 26, 2026, https://welltrainedmind.com/a/classical-education/. ↩ ↩2

  3. Joshua Gibbs, “A Teacher Defines Classical Education,” Homeroom (US Department of Education blog), accessed April 26, 2026, https://www.ed.gov/about/homeroom-blog/teacher-defines-classical-education. ↩

  4. The Chesterton Schools Network, accessed April 26, 2026, https://chestertonschoolsnetwork.org/. ↩

  5. Bruce A. Kimball, Orators and Philosophers: A History of the Idea of Liberal Education (College Entrance Examination Board, 1986). ↩

  6. Dorothy L. Sayers, “The Lost Tools of Learning,” paper read at a Vacation Course in Education, Oxford, 1947. ↩

  7. “LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell,” LEGO, accessed April 26, 2026, https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/the-lord-of-the-rings-rivendell-10316. ↩

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