Pursuing Classical Education: Keeping Education Forefront
Thursday 
in mid-afternoon 
Mystie
Pursuing Classical Education Series
Pursuing Classical Education: Introduction
Pursuing Classical Education: Personal Influences
Pursuing Classical Education: Summary of the Parts
Pursuing Classical Education: IV
More important than defining classical, more foundational than debating school v. homeschool, more vital than choosing a curriculum, we must always keep in mind our end, our vision: What is education? Why are we doing what we’re doing? Toward what goal are we striving?
The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, to imitate him, to be like him, as we may the nearest by possessing our souls of true virtue, which being united to the heavenly grace of faith makes up the highest perfection. – John Milton
“Education is a form of repentence” — George Grant.
We educate to work ourselves and our children toward what we were created to be: friends of God and lords of Creation. Education is a facet of sanctification. It requires and teaches humility as we admit we do not know what we should know and that we are not what we should be. It shows us the direction we should go to regain our proper position in this world under God’s sovereign rule.
The most important fact about the subject of education is that there is no such thing. Education is not a subject and it does not deal in subjects. It is instead the transfer of a way of life. – G.K. Chesterton
Education is the nurture and development of the whole man for his proper end. – R.L. Dabney
EDUCATION - The bringing up, as of a child; instruction; formation of manners. Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and dorm the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations. To give children a good education in manners arts and science, is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable; and an immense responsibility rests on parents and guardians who neglect these duties. – Noah Webster’s Dictionary
Education is not so much about what you should know as it is how you should think and live.
The purpose of education is not the assimilation of facts or the retention of information, but the habituation of the mind and body to will and to act in accordance with what one knows. – David Hicks
For the sole true end of education is simply this: to teach men how to learn for themselves; and whatever instruction fails to do this is effort spent in vain. – Dorothy Sayers
“Education is a matter of formation, not information.” — St. Ignatius
So, truly, nothing in the students’ lives are outside the scope of education. The environment they are raised in — the aesthetic dimension, the cleanliness and orderliness, the sounds, the tones of voice, the habits of thinking and speaking — are as much a part of their formation as any book read aloud or any lesson given.
Education is about shaping, training up, and cultivating individuals. The atmosphere of the home, the attitudes exhibited daily, the work ethic expected, the music playing, the books on the shelf and in the hand, all are part of education, more than any spelling lesson.
So, before comparing math programs or book lists, think about what it means to be a whole and complete person, think about what habits of mind and body you want you and your children to possess, and think about how you want yourself and your children to speak to one another and to others. What comes easily and what will require hard work, where most effort should be directed, will be different for every family. There is no stock easy answer. Focus yourself and your efforts towards identifying and meeting those goals and you will have a better foundation on which to build the skills and knowledge of school-learning.
