S/O - - What is classical education?

[Teachin'Mine]

When I had been home schooling 1st grade for a couple of months, another mom mentioned that she was doing classical and I said that we were too. She than asked me what made our home school classical, and I just stared blankly at her. :lol: I had no idea because I thought that meant something totally different from what it does mean. We were actually doing more eclectic, and even now, other than Latin, I don't think anything would remotely qualify as classical education.

 

So now for the question, what does classical education mean to you? :)

[Veritaserum]

To me it means a systematic, rigorous education comprised of three stages (Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric) with a focus on history, literature, languages, and science.

 

I like SWB's article:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/classical-education/

[Teachin'Mine]

Great link and explanation! :)

[Chris in VA]

(Not having read the link...)

I'd say it's word based, not image based, also.

[forty-two]

I go with the Climbing Parnassus definition, as quoted in The Latin-Centered Curriculum: "a curriculum grounded upon - if not strictly limited to - Greek, Latin, and the study of the civilization from which they arose."

[ladydusk]

I like Andrew Kern's (from CiRCE) definition, "Classical education is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul on truth, goodness, and beauty by means of the seven liberal arts and the four sciences."

and expanded on here.

[Crimson Wife]

One that focuses on the traditional liberal arts, with a special emphasis on the history and literary canon of Western Civilization. It is a "perennialist" education philosophy.