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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If people don’t know what a classical education emphasizes in elementary school here are some examples:

Phonics  is taught systematically using a curriculum. Students will read decodable texts instead of guessing and memorizing whole words while looking at picture cues. Workbooks to practice phonics skills are used.

Spelling is taught and there are weekly spelling tests. Instead of having students in kindergarten and first grade write sentences, paragraphs or pages of journal writing where they write using invented spelling about their favorite animal or what they did during the weekend, in classical education students first learn to copy correctly using correct spelling and punctuation. They memorize and recite poems.

In math students memorize math facts. [/quote]

Oh good Lord. "Classical education" for the last 100 years has meant learning Latin, maybe Greek, and reading Ovid etc. in middle school. And that's how OP is correctly using the term "classical education." It doesn't have anything to do with pedagogy around how reading or math are taught.

You guys are arguing about two extreme fringes. Yes, there's a strain of thought that says that math is elitist and racist and kids shouldn't have to take math tests, but that's crazy talk that will lead to under preparing kids for the real world (hmmm, maybe that's the right-wing plot?). Similarly, associating Latin with fringe right-wingers is equally crazy, as evidenced by the fact that pp can't point to any area classics schools (Lutheran, Washington Latin PCS), or any classics schools around the country, that have actually been taken over by right wingers. Just because some wing-nut on Twitter says he favors a classic education doesn't mean these folks have any power, any power at all, at places like Washington Latin.[/quote]

My friend, you’re thinking about “Classics”. Not the same thing. [/quote]

OP wants the Classics--Latin and Greek. All these digressions into traditional/classical education are besides the point. No idea whether Milo wants Classics or Classical, but nobody cares because he's fringe and doesn't control any Classics or Classical schools.[/quote]

I agree on Milo but you’re wrong about “classical education.” It is a full pedagogy, not “greek and latin classics.”  To me what I really regret is the fact that current elementary education seems to be actually opposed to teaching kids content and memorizing, when they are so primed to do that in elementary. It seems like they jump ahead to teach kids “how to think” before they’ve even given them anything to think about. [/quote]

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