Classical Education
The classical education at Saint Benedict is characterized by four key elements:
- A timeless and enduring system of forming the mind and character of human beings
- Based on the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome
- Preserved and developed throughout history by the Church
- Placed entirely in the context of Jesus Christ as savior of the world
We believe that a Catholic classical education provides the best education possible for a child and the surest way to discover truth. Classical teaching methods and the early integration of Latin from the first grade help students to learn faster and move ahead of their non-classical peers in most subjects. This prepares them to be advanced learners in high school and college, where classically educated students score in the top 10-15 percent on college entrance exams. In addition, the study of Latin helps students acquire the building blocks of English and develop a more extensive vocabulary and a better command of English grammar, which leads to more effective reading, writing, and speaking, as well as the ability to quickly pick up other languages.
Saint Benedict School’s classical education curriculum can benefit almost any student, not just those inclined to academic pursuits. Children gravitate to the classical method because it builds on their natural intellectual curiosity. The classical approach nurtures students’ intellectual and spiritual potential, inspiring them to want to learn; it teaches them logic, reason, and critical thinking, showing them how to learn; and it holds up examples of good citizenship and moral and virtuous behavior, demonstrating why they learn.
Classes are naturally integrated so students see the relationships between what they are currently learning in math or Latin, for example, and its relevance to what they have already learned in science or history. This natural integration gives students a greater understanding of their subjects and helps them to permanently retain lessons they learn, instead of just memorizing facts, repeating them for a test, and then forgetting them soon after.
What you will find at Saint Benedict is a teaching system based on more than 2,000 years of experience. While students learn the fundamentals – math, history, science, English, and theology – they also learn at the feet of the giants of history by studying the classical literature, language, art, music, and philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome and the long Western intellectual tradition that was built on their foundation.
Additional Resources:
- The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy Sayers
- What is Classical Education? by CIRCE Institute