Why We're Doing This (Ask Where The Good Way Is)
Kate Orton, our Third Grade teacher and classical education alum herself, spoke to families and staff at our Vision Night in August. Near the end of the first quarter, her words are a good reminder -- why are we doing what we are doing?
Good evening! I’m going to share about one of the Three “C’s”, one of the three pillars that make up VCS -- Classical, Christian, Collaborative. I was asked to share some thoughts on what it means that we are a classical school. My hope is that this will be an encouragement to you.
I so desire to convey to you a hopeful vision of why we have all chosen probably the hardest road -- rigorous academics in home schooling through classical methods - so that when we all get into the trenches in a couple of weeks, you might have a perspective that gives you the courage and faith to keep going. We are after something really hard, but really beautiful, and that’s what I hope you hear tonight.
Before I dive in, I feel that it’s important to first clear up what classical education is NOT. Classical education, the way we do it here, stands in opposition to many things, but I want us to clearly understand that classical education is not the perfect method. It’s not salvation, and it doesn’t guarantee salvation. Everything I hope to convey about what is GOOD in this endeavor will only bear fruit in your surrender to Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and by the grace and mercy of God. That needs to frame everything I’m going to share.
So with that in mind, I want to speak to the ethos; the spirit, aspiration, and hope of what it means when we commit to classical education.
When you think about your children 5, 10, 15 years from now, what are you praying for? Who do you hope they are becoming? It’s our hope, and probably your hope that your child has not just learned a lot when they finish their primary education, but that they are passionate about deep things. Passion and depth -- this is what we are after for ourselves, and this is what we hope our students go after in their lives. Classical education can be the route we take to get there.
In the classical tradition, here is the route as outlined by the Trivium:
We want to train grammar students to soak up all the facts they can, give them all the pieces that build a sturdy foundation. We do this through memorization and repetition -- it’s what they know and love.
And then when they’re ready, we want to train logic students to take a good look at that foundation and let them question it, let them ask “Why?” When they start to look out at the world and process what they know, they begin to weave the different pieces of what they're learning together.
And finally, once they have had years of building a strong foundation, and then time to process and practice the art of valid questioning, arguing, and defending, we want students at the rhetoric stage to learn what it means to articulate what they know, how to communicate what they mean: effective articulation gives them a sense of who they are!
And so this is the route: the grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages through God’s grace, leading students towards what it means to be more fully human, not just brains filled with all the right facts who can give the right answers and get the right test scores. We are laboring and praying for God to be gracious to them, and we are aiming to give them an education that leads them on the paths of becoming people who are passionate and deep.
So as we lean into this hard work and begin another school year, this is what I’m praying for when I’m praying for our students to be passionate and deep:
That our students would know the taste of good fruit, the best-tasting fruit that is won by diligence, and persevering through difficulty
That they would grow into people who don’t think they know everything, but they know how to learn for themselves and have a life-long desire to see where the pursuit of knowledge will take them
That they would become people who are “all in” for the gospel because they are learning now how sweet it is, how much better the joy of obedience is than the all ways of chaos
That God would turn their hearts to earnestly desire truth and wisdom, to seek God’s heart for justice and righteousness all their days
That they would start to catch a sense of what is good, true, and beautiful -- that there is transcendence in all that God has made, and that they want to run after it, and find that they are running after HIM, and that HE is eternally good, always true, and unfathomably beautiful -- this is what it means when we pray for their souls to be passionate and deep.
And as they grow up and go throughout their lives, my prayer is that this would spill over out of their beings and into the world around them to display God’s goodness to the whole world. By God’s grace, may you remember this year, that this pursuit of classical education can be the trajectory, the path towards this good life.
So this being Vision Night -- it’s way easier to stand up here and talk about the vision we have for our students maybe a couple years down the road. Yes, we want all of this for them! But this isn’t about painting the picture of an ideal student or graduate.
I want to circle this back around to you. Your family. Your homeschool days ahead of you… Because several weeks deep into the school year it might be really hard to remember that we’re after passion and depth when your kid just needs to finish their math facts!
I want to challenge you to remember this vision for your child, remember the goal. They’re going to catch that vision more fully when YOU are filled up and passionate:
When YOU taste how sweet the Gospel is
When YOU earnestly seek truth and pursue wisdom
When YOU are worshipping the Lord as the source of all goodness, truth, and beauty
And when YOUR soul is burning for the deep things of God.
But we can’t do this alone, so be encouraged in this: this is why we have the Holy Spirit. This is why we have each other, this sweet community -- so we can remember, so we can help each other remember, so we can put our hand to the plow of classical education and go after what really matters, and what will last in eternity.
I want to close with Jeremiah 6:16 that came to me when I was thinking about this talk: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Let’s ask God to show us the ancient paths, the good way, and let’s help each other along -- for our students, and for the sake of raising up these young souls for the gospel.