To classically educate or not....that is the question.

     Okay, so I had said in my last post that I would be talking about some changes in our homeschool.  Recently, Motormouth looked at me and said, "Mom, I want to learn to speak Latin."  Any of you who know my oldest child will not be surprised by this.  So of course, I say yes.......because I speak Latin, right? NOT. A. WORD.  But hey, why not add it to the million other things that we do everyday?  That thought (about the million things we try to squeeze in every day) brought me to another thought.  (I know...two thoughts in this head in a short period of time....unheard of!)  WHY do we try to fit in a million different things?  It seems to me that, anymore, MORE is better.  So we try to do a bunch of different things just sort of mediocre, as opposed to some things very well.  Hmmm.....which brings me to my next thought.....

     "Multum non multa".-Pliny the Younger.  Not many things (multa), but much (multum).  Multum non multa is described very well by Andrew A. Campbell in his book The Latin-Centered Curriculum.  Mr. Campbell states, "Formal education should not merely introduce us to many things---the multa, which can by necessity lead only to superficial knowledge---but should encourage us to drink deeply at the springs of our culture." (The Latin-Centered Curriculum, Andrew A. Campbell, pg. 49, para. 3)   I want my children to grow up with a love for what is good and true and beautiful, and to become knowledgeable and virtuous men and women.  I want them to know about the amazing people of our past, and not just the past that began when our ancestors came to the New World.  I want them to read great works of literature, and understand them.

     I've had a few people say to me, "Don't teach your kids Latin, it's a dead language.  Teach them something useful."  If you can master Latin, the English language will be easy.  So much of our language is based in Latin and Greek, that if we learn those two languages, our grammar and vocabulary will come naturally as a result.  I mean, take it from Gus Portokalos:

You cannot argue with this logic.  By the way, put some Windex on it.

     So, I'm going to research.  I'm going to pray.  I'm going to try my very best to do what is best for my kids.  Sometimes I feel like I'm experimenting on them, but hey, I'm a mom, it's my prerogative, right?  

    This is what I think our school day will look like when I'm done:

       Daily: Classical languages, math and composition

       A few times a week:  Literature, Religion, History, Geography and Science (Logic and Philosophy will be introduced in 7th and 11th grades, respectively.)

     The one difference in our schedule from the above schedule is that we will have Bible study daily, not just a few times a week.  Other than that though, I'm going to try to stick to this. 

      I'm in the process of deciding what to use for our composition.  Motormouth loves Sonlight curriculum, which we will still use parts of.  Sonlight seems to kind of go along with classical education, to a point.  It's very literature based, so in the book lists for Sonlight are some of the books suggested by Mr. Campbell in his book.  One interesting note is that The Hobbit is in Motormouth's reading list for this year, but Mr. Campbell doesn't list it until 8th grade.  Seeing as he's super excited to read it, I think I'll have him read it for enjoyment now, and then take a more in depth look at it again in 8th grade.  

     So I guess what I'm going to finally do after all these years, is quit being a slave to curriculum, and make it OURS.  I'm going to take a deep breath, quit worrying about what public schools are teaching, and when-and just teach my kids.  It's as simple as that.  

     If you read this, and have experience with classical education, please, feel free to leave some comments with advice for me!  If you read this and don't have experience with classical education, please, feel free to leave some advice for me!  Wish us luck!

Good night.