The Classical Academy

Number 2 Pencil links to The Classical Academy in Colorado Spring as a reference on the value of memorization of foundational information. I have at various times looked forward to school choice as a source of just such a school with a classically inspired curriculum. The website is impressive and its sources and inspirations are classically grounded. I wonder how much of a classical curriculum it has. I see two years of world literature, in addition to 9th grade English and one year of American. I hope that this is a Great Books approach based heavily on the work of classical and classically influenced works, light on modernism, romanticism, and other 19th and 20th century works, except where merit is overwhelming and to juxtapose how such works are not classical. I would rather students read one too many plays of Sophocles than one too many modern novels. There are three required semesters of world history and geography, followed by a year of American history and a year of Civics. This would appear to support my social studies curriculum with a semester of the Greeks, a semester of the Romans, a semester of English history all building to a knowledge of the Founding and the ideas which are essential to a knowledge of the American experiment. I would cover the rest of world history in an 8th semester.

Regarding character education, my own preference would be for an Aristotelian approach. I see that they integrate character education rather than making it a seperate study. This is the correct approach. Their basic statement in this area is: “We will demonstrate the virtues of integrity, honesty, respect and responsibility, upholding others to that standard.” I was at first given pause when I read the following, "A classroom dialogue which resembles situational ethics is also discouraged. Therefore teachers are encouraged to resist the temptation to create artificial moral dilemmas for students which pit character traits against each other (e. g. family loyalty vs. honesty). " Immediatly the importance of competing values got my back up. Aristotle's middle path is only complete by understanding that an excess of loyalty can lead to the kind of blindness that was characteristic of the US Grant administration. Then I continued to read, "However, issues in history can provide an appropriate place for students to explore the meaning of responsible judgment and action, and to study events that involved complex ethical issues. " Yes! It is indeed better to confine conflicting values to historical examination rather than conjectural situations because in historical examples, the consequences are natural, and not supposed by the author of the dilemma. As in my example of Grant, the specific problems of Grant's loyalty and his assumption of the honesty of his officials are factual. In a hypothetical, the right balance can be struck according to the aesthetics of the author, but in a historical situation, it is the nature of things that governs what is and what is not. This preference for the empirical over the rational pleases your humble author.

They have a nice page of recomended books. I clicked and picked up three of them.