I did not start out to write a critique of Classical Conversations. Our family has been a part of it for 5 years, and at present, we plan to continue to be (with supplementation). My initial goal was to write about the history of classical Christian education and my growing understanding of it, but I found that to begin, I needed to lay the groundwork of where we've been.

My wife and I have been pursuing a classical Christian education for our children for the past 5 years. Much of that time has been spent in Classical Conversations, and while we've enjoyed our time there, the more I've learned about CCE, the more I've felt something was missing.

Our oldest child just entered the Essentials program (second stage) of Classical Conversations last year, so I admit that may just be missing the broader, overarching vision of CC that comes through completing the program. That being said, I still have critiques.

The Trivium As Developmental Stages

Classical Conversations is very focused on the Dorothy Sayers model of the Trivium as developmental stages. The book "The Core" by Leigh Bortins, the founder of Classical Conversations was one of my earliest introductions to CCE. At the time, I found Sayers' insight, as implemented by Classical Conversations, to be compelling.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, Sayers' proposed that the 3 parts of the Trivium (grammar, dialectic/logic, and rhetoric) closely align with the developmental stages of a child:

  • Grammar stage - In the younger years, children are sponges, absorbing any information that you give them. Therefore, it's to our advantage to give them the grammar of many subjects at this age so they can commit it to memory. We'll draw from this well of facts in later years.
  • Dialectic, or Logic stage - preteens tend to naturally be argumentative. Given this, let's teach them to argue well, thinking clearly and avoiding logically fallacies, etc.
  • Rhetoric - Teens often feel the need to prove themselves and present themselves well. What better way to do this than through their speech? At this stage we teach them to eloquently deliver the thoughts they've developed through the dialectic stage, based of information stored during the grammar stage.

I do believe that Sayers' insight here is remarkable. I've been amazed at the number of history (and other) facts that my "grammar aged" children have picked up through song. That being said, it is a disservice to our children and to ourselves if we hold too tightly to this framework. Can we as adults no longer learn the grammar of subjects? Can we no longer wrestle with and reason about new ideas? If we did not learn rhetoric in high school, is there no hope for us to share ideas with others in a compelling way?

While I don't necessarily believe that the leaders of Classical Conversations see the world this way, I do believe (and have observed that) it can start to unconsciously creep into the mindsets of parents who progress their children through the "stages" of the Trivium as they grow older.

Content & Method

The CC content is a great start. As I said above, I've been amazed at the number of facts that my children have absorbed through the Foundations (grammar stage) program. That being said, I find it to be lacking. They memorize lists of things, but with no context or details about the items on the list, just rote memorization.

To be fair, my kindergarten through second grade years were in a private school that focused on rote memorization of phonograms and math tables, something I've missed about CC since it's not considered a complete curriculum. For a long time my critique has been around the missing information. More recently though, it has expanded to include the fact that the primary focus is on information transfer, with little room for cultivating wonder.

It has also been my observation that Classical Conversations puts methodology on an equal footing with content. The way that the program is set up there are local campus directors, as well as regional representatives. A regional representative will typically visit a campus once or twice per year, where they'll observe tutors (teachers) and provide feedback to the director on how to do things the Classical Conversations way.

In my opinion, this over-emphasis on methodology gets in the way. It's something we've inherited from the public school system, which in turn inherited it from Prussian schools designed to create disciplined, obedient soldiers, not critical thinkers.