REGISTRATION | REFER | Just How Bad is the Public School Battle Zone? Click Here For Free Report! | PEERS | BOOKSTORE
Contact: 1-866-617-2035
We subscribe to the three stages of the ancient trivium, as described by Dorothy Sayers in her essay, The Lost Tools of Learning. The Trivium involves three phases of learning -- grammar, dialectic and rhetoric -- which apply in two ways to the learning environment. First, it has been observed that the Trivium coincides with the natural phases of child development. Early in life, during the elementary years, a child is naturally curious and absorbed in the accumulation of facts about the world around him -- the grammar stage. Moving into the early teen or Jr. High years, the child begins naturally to challenge, to question, to integrate the data at his disposal -- the dialectic stage. And finally, in the later teen or High School years the young adult begins naturally to express that which he has learned in verbal and written form -- the rhetoric stage. Second, it has been observed that the mastery of each subject or field of study follows this same pattern. From the student's standpoint it is discovery, understanding, and application. From the teacher's standpoint it is state, illustrate, and apply. In the language of the Bible, it is knowledge, understanding and wisdom. In the language of the Trivium, it is grammar, dialectic and rhetoric. The study of any subject begins with the grammar of that subject, the definitions and basic concepts that provide the building blocks of that subject. Once the fundamentals have been mastered a dialectic process of reflecting on the facts, integrating them, and arriving at a deeper level of understanding must occur. The process is not complete apart from the rhetoric phase, in which the student learns to express that which he has learned in verbal and written communication or other modes of application. The initial "grammar", or introductory course, in every subject sequence is free of charge to the student. Eventually this will include 22 free courses. These courses are self-paced and self-taught with immediate reinforcement via computer exercises. Computer administered quizzes are graded automatically and become part of the student's permanent transcript. Thus, it is possible for every student to obtain the rudiments of a classical education at no cost. Each "grammar" course is prerequisite to one or more upper level dialectic or rhetoric courses in each subject sequence.
What is the mission of ClassicalFree Virtual Academy? The answer to that question is wrapped up in an exciting historical drama, studied by all of our students in the Great Books curricula. Robert Bruce had rescued England's young Edward I from a Saracen prison during the 7th Crusade, thus saving his life and earning his friendship. Edward, however betrayed that friendship in 1290 when granted the honor of serving as referee between two disputants to the Scottish throne. He chose the obsequient John Baliol, ignoring the legitimate claim of his old friend Bruce. When the Scots resisted, Edward asserted a bogus claim as Scotland's liege lord to justify an invasion and occupation, thus securing his just appellation, "the Usurper." "After most of the Scottish nobles had acquiesed, William Wallace rallied Scotland from the ashes of defeat to banish tyranny, sounding the battle cry, "GOD ARMETH THE PATRIOT". In all the annals of history there are few examples to match the breathtaking struggle of the nearly crushed Scots rising to cast off the yoke of Edward I. The tales of the means employed to reduce and destroy the castle strongholds of Scotland are pure adventure and classic examples of military tactics. The key to William Wallace' success was his ability to mobilize the nobility (the cultural elite) against the English invasion. This was a difficult task because the nobles were married (quite literally) to the system. Many Scottish nobles had taken English wives and vice versa; thus their loyalties were divided. It was the nobility who betrayed Wallace and it was the nobility who ultimately revived his "lost" cause. Today another "Usurper" has arisen to threaten the freedom of the formerly Christian West. Rather than a ruthless king, it takes the form of a faceless bureaucracy strangling the spiritual and economic lifeblood of the nation and claiming the right to educate all its children. Freedom loving families around the globe have been led of God to fight back by educating their children at home -- true patriots in the battle for human liberty. As William Wallace stood as a symbol of freedom in the day of Scotland's testing, so ClassicalFree Virtual Academy stands today as a bulwark of liberty, helping to "arm the patriot" with the lost tools of learning. Patterned after Dorothy Sayers' "Lost Tools of Learning", ClassicalFree Academy is dedicated to replacing the "cultural elite" of the West with a generation of Christian students thoroughly armed with a Biblical worldview and trained in the ancient Trivium: Grammar, Dialectic and Rhetoric. ClassicalFree graduates are well equipped and highly motivated to assume positions of leadership in their chosen vocations. In some cases these will include callings such as journalists, artists, educators, church leaders, magistrates and jurists--the very people who establish the tone and direction of our culture. These young people are highly trained "ambassadors for Christ" because every aspect of their education is saturated with the Word of God. In this fashion, we contribute directly to Christ's Great Commission to "disciple the nations" (Mt. 28:19,20). The wonderful thing about ClassicalFree Virtual Academy on the internet is that students from virtually every economic strata may aspire to such an education. In analyzing the "Classical Authors" we have a decided bias for the Medieval Period over the ancient Greeks and Romans. Our Great Books commentary is generally critical of the humanism of pagan antiquity, represented by Greece and Rome. Although we are not sparing in criticism where it is warranted, the Middle Ages were a generally Christian era, whose values we moderns have long forgotten. This explains why the motif of this site is Medieval rather than Classical Greek or Roman. Not Just An Information Site - Not Just A Single Course - Not Just A Bundle of Tutorials
We have chosen to start with the Great Books Core -- knowing that that is where many home schools struggle -- and build out from there. The Great Books reading program provides the backbone of the education at ClassicalFree Virtual Academy. It is the skeleton around which all other academics are structured. Critiquing the Great Books from a Biblical perspective furnishes the student with an overview of world history, literature and Biblical philosophy. World History & Philosophy Timeline The program highlights the critical distinctions between the Biblical world view and classical humanism. This is a six-trimester program (Jr. High & H.S.) requiring the student to analyze, integrate and remember the underlying Biblical principles of history, philosophy, science, economics, education, sociology, political science, and theology. In a sense, this course is a unit study focusing on the Classical authors. Detailed Introduction to Our Great Books Program The entire program is summarized and integrated during the Junior and Senior years with an American Government, History & Law sequence utilizing the text, "Discipling the Nations -- The Government Upon His Shoulder." The senior year focuses on formal debate and practicum in the community. The Great Books reading program is supplemented by a 6-trimester survey of Bible History and Doctrine (The Great Book), which alternates each trimester with the Great Books Colloquia. |
to contact us and we will either replace with one of equal value or cheerfully refund your money.
|
|
|
|
© Copyright December, 2001. All Rights Reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 
|