The roots of classical education go back to Plato and Aristotle who wrote about pursuing wisdom and loving virtue, forming the whole person rather than just preparing children to work in a job. In the Middle Ages, classical learning was outlined into seven liberal arts: the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric—those are language arts) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy).
Find special guest Mystie at Simply Convivial and Schole Sisters Podcast.
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QUOTABLES
Mystie: "there is no checklist that says, 'Well, as long as you are doing these things in your homeschool day, then you're classically educating.' It's less about the books or the curriculum that you're teaching from and it's really more about a mindset, an approach, and a set of goals... [It] takes continual re-evaluation."
Ximena: "Yes. It's funny that you say that about being willing to be relaxed because when I read Susan Wise Bauer's book, I felt really small. I was like, 'Okay, I'm never going to be able to do this to the T.' It just felt super overwhelming, super strict. And then she was one of the keynote speakers at this conference that DeeDee and I spoke at last year, and she was the most relaxed, encouraging person. I was like, 'Did you write this book?' Because it was like awesome to hear that from her mouth, how she uses her intuition and just, again, focusing on the love of learning versus the everyday grind. And so, that was really freeing to hear that from her."
Mystie: "...classical education is a books-centric approach. The books are important, but there are different ways to get those books in rather than just, well, the kids have to read everything on their own."
Mystie: "That's really a homeschool mom's job—noticing what's going on with your child and experimenting with different ways to help them and finding out what works. It's challenging, but it's also rewarding to figure out how to help your child learn."
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TIMESTAMPS
07:59 A brief intro to classical education.
13:25 What is Susan Wise Bauer's role in classical education.
14:12 The challenges of using the classical approach.
30:39 Getting into the nitty gritty of the homeschool day with Mystie.
36:57 How to get started with the classical approach to homeschooling. Mystie suggests The Liberal Arts Tradition by Kevin Clark and Robby Jane, published by Classical Academic Press.
38:19 How to use classical education if your child hates reading.
43:11 How giving kids checklists can soothe a great deal of frustration.
46:46 Mystie's advice for her former self: the need to follow through on whatever you assign to your children.
