Looking for Christ centered classical approach

[andrewd]

I am a homeschooling father looking to classically educate my children (my oldest now being 5). My wife and I used the "Classical Conversations" curriculum last year, and there are many things I like about the curriculum. However, it does not satisfy my desire for a Christ centered education. I want my daughters to have more than an education with God squeezed in to an otherwise secular core, I want them to know the one true God, and I want them to see and know Him in everything and through everything. I'd like to find a curriculum that teaches my children how to think, reason, and communicate so that they can discover the truth, and I want the truth to be weaved into every aspect of their education. I want to start with God in the core and teach logic, rhetoric, etc from that. Does Memoria Press have what I'm looking for? I've looked at other curriculum, but they seem to fall short in one area or another. For example, I found one that was decidedly God centered and took a classical approach to history, but did not include logic, rhetoric, and the like, which are a very high priority for me.

[jeremiah213]

Andrew, Memoria Press was founded on the very thing you are looking for. Our materials begin with instructions in grammar (through Latin), move to logic and rhetoric, we approach history the same way... and are aiming all the time to produce...not consumers or even elligible people for the job market, but thinkers... Because if you have learned how to think... then you are capable to pursue any field of work/study including your main aim...the study of the one true God.

[andrewd]

Does Memoria Press have an explicit goal to lead children into an understanding of God? How does it differ from a Christianized classical conversations?

[jeremiah213]

Andrew,

No... not explicitly, but all of our materials are written from the perspective of a biblical world view ie: there is objective truth, natural law, moral order in the world... etc. We simply don't pick up the mantle of instruction in matters of faith.

Glen Moore

[Laudo]

Andrew,
If I may build on what Jeremiah has already said...
I would add that the very form of Classical Education IS Christian education, even before you mention God. Unlike post-modern public schools (as well as many private schools) Classical education is built on 1. learning language 2. building on that language base skills in logic, and 3. building onto that logic base skills in rhetoric. Classical education immerses the child in teachings that lead him to understand that there are universal truths, inherent rights and wrongs, etc. The post-modern school first destroys the belief in truth, right, wrong, etc. and then it is a small leap from there to destroy a child's faith in Jesus. They begin by producing children with poor language skills and then from there it's easy to tear down their logic and rhetoric.
So just the classical education itself builds what is necessary to retain one's faith. I do not agree with programs that stick God into every little thing, including math problems and whatnot. I think that is unnecessary, and if it's done outside of a classical approach, that is not what makes a Christian education.

The second consideration is that Christians believe many different things, and so it would be hard for a publisher to stick Christian truths into their whole curriculum. I am Lutheran, and so I complement my kids' classical education with readings from Luther's Small Catechism, the Bible, and sometimes things that are published by our Lutheran publishing company (Concordia Publishing House). A Roman Catholic would do the same, except using the Catholic Catechism and books published by Catholics.

[jeremiah213]

Laudo,

~I praise~ your response...if I may use a pun on your login name... although I don't think Andrew is wanting God stuck in everywhere. I did appreciated what you said about sticking God in everywhere, . When I was in college and just getting my eyes opened to the Bible, I realized that having "Christian" things was irrelevant to the life that honors God, rather, as is said in Micah 6:6-8, the last line is mostly what I'm refering to, but the set up is necessary.

"With what shall I come to the LORD {And} bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn {for} my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Mic 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?"