Raised hands pop up. Little wrists, fingers and arms wave frantically. Quiet spurts of enthusiasm fill the classroom as children whisper, “Ooh ooh, I know, I know.” All seven fourth- and fifth-graders in teacher Nichole Falb’s classroom at Redeemer Classical School eagerly wait to be called upon. Eloquent, in-depth answers spill from the lips of the students as they explain and identify the three types of conflict that occur in literature as it pertains to their reading assignment. Classical education has been witnessed, and these children are not only learning, but being challenged to reach their greatest potential.
A wave of classical learning is pouring into the minds of young students in the Shenandoah Valley as they become immersed in the same educational model used to teach America’s Founding Fathers and great scholars of the Middle Ages.
In an attempt to recover what has been lost through modern education, classical learning has been readopted in the classroom to develop the trivium — an intervening path of curriculum that converges grammar, logic and rhetoric. Redeemer Classical is in its second year of enrollment and as early as grade school, students are fascinated by Greek mythology, the happenings that led to the fall of Rome, and engaging in a Socratic dialogue.
Frustrated by what he calls the shortcomings of modern education, Brian Augustine, chairman of the board for Redeemer Classical School, began reading about classical schooling, which describes educational philosophies and practices up until approximately around the 20th century. Augustine learned that education in the past was more rigorous and left students with lifelong, practical skills: argumentative strategies, logical thought processes and proficient writing abilities.
“Education as it was done in the Middle Ages was superior in many ways to modern education,” Augustine says. “Young kids are good at memorization, which classical education takes advantage of. Modern education in many ways shuns memorization for young kids — thus they are not doing what they are good at — and then for older kids, it does not teach them how to think through concepts, theories and ideas.”
Classical schooling goes beyond sheer memorization by providing students with a strong educational base from which they can build. In early childhood education, students memorize the “grammar” of a particular discipline to lay down the building blocks. Then the “grammar” is taken to the next level. According to Augustine, the memorized material provides a foundation for subject matter that will be revisited again and again throughout their educational career in classical learning. What results is a well-developed mind. Students sharpen their cognitive aptitude and gain the ability to think critically on subjects of any sort.
A chemistry professor at James Madison University, Augustine has works of great thinkers like C.S. Lewis nestled between books on quantum physics and nanotechnology in his office. Augustine values the importance of an intellectual mind, but realizes that the mind can’t reach its fullest potential without great effort.
“If you want to run a marathon or get yourself in good shape, you work out and push yourself every day,” Augustine explains. “If you don’t force yourself to do harder things, you’re not going to get much better. Training the mind should be no different.”
Augustine fears the present bar is being set too low in order to let everyone through, leaving many unchallenged minds to suffer and not develop to their fullest intellectual capacity. He has learned, “If you set the bar appropriately, kids are going to jump over it.”
But in some instances, the bar unfortunately stagnates, as do the minds of young students. Such worries have been brought forth in modern debate about education. In 1947, a concerned Oxford University professor, Dorothy L. Sayers, gave a speech, “The Lost Tools of Learning.” Augustine keeps a copy of her speech close by, in his desk at work, often revisiting the words of Sayers’ ideology. In her manifesto, Sayers addresses her concern for inadequacies of modern education and its effects on the pupil. Within her oration, she says, “We fail lamentably on the whole in teaching them how to think — they learn everything, except the art of learning.”
Augustine explains that Sayers’ ideas resonated, and more educators and philosophers were drawn to the movement to reinstate classical education. In the 1980s, another wave of interest in classical schooling sprung after Doug Wilson read Sayers’ speech and set out to prove her message was valid. In his essay, “Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning,” Wilson reiterated Sayers’ ideas that education of the past was better than modern schooling.
Feeling compelled to bring such rich educational experience to Harrisonburg, Augustine read up on educational criticism and continued his own research, brainstorming and sharing his ideas with others. Due to significant interest, a book club was formed to delve into theories and commentary regarding classical education. Along with contributions from fellow church members, friends and colleagues, Augustine began plans for a school in Harrisonburg. After much correspondence with an old friend, the headmaster of a classical school in Chapel Hill, N.C., the committee started to establish their own bylaws, doctrine and a board. The arduous journey to bring classical schooling to the Valley was a lengthy and meticulous process, but now Redeemer Classical School is up and running.
Part of Redeemer Classical’s fundamental principle is founded on historic Christian philosophy as it pertains to the Protestant Reformation.
“I would like our students to walk out of this school seeking to honor God and use this knowledge to honor their fellow man,” Augustine emphatically explains about his vision for the students of Redeemer Classical. “We want kids who are going to grow up to be virtuous.”
Augustine says much of this can be achieved by “just having a literature-based curriculum … and history as the main thread woven throughout.” Although the school teaches all subjects from geography to science to mathematics, there is a heavy emphasis on linking the course material with that of other classes. The subjects form an interdependent relationship and reiterate concepts that carry across the disciplines.
As a teacher of fourth and fifth grade at Redeemer Classical, Falb teaches history, math, reading, grammar, spelling and writing. But within each subject, she and her students dig deeply into its meaning and purpose.
“It’s a curriculum that builds, and we expect the kids to know it, explain it and apply it,” Falb says.
In history class, Falb’s students often act out the position of historical figures and use role-playing to better identify with the event. Science class provides opportunity for hands-on experiments and lab time.
Last year in geography, using only a sheet of white paper and lines of latitude and longitude, students were able to map out the entire world.
What they do as students of Redeemer Classical is impressive, but nothing short of hard work and great effort. “Academically, it’s more challenging, and I find children rise to the challenge,” Falb adds.
Falb observes the connections students are making on their own. After learning about Stalin and his tactics to deprive his people of consumption, a student remarked that it reminded him of the Irish Potato Famine in 1845 as a result of English economic policy. Falb’s face gleamed with delight. “They are making connections between two events that happened almost 100 years apart,” she says. “My kids are getting a sense of the cause-and-effect chain reactions that happen throughout history.”
One of Falb’s students, fifth-grader Tyler Miller, recently transferred from public school in January. After just eight weeks at Redeemer, his mother, Shawna Miller, said she already is pleased with his progress and adjustment to the new school. She explained that now he is focused, and for the first time, came home excited to show his parents his report card, proud that he had earned almost all A’s.
The students of Redeemer Classical learn not only the conventional class subjects of modern education, but also drama, music theory and Latin. Students chant cheerful songs that help them practice conjugating Latin verbs. In music class, students learn to play hand bells and read music. The middle school students form a hand-bell choir, in which each student is responsible for a certain part of a musical production. The students perform for their parents and participate in statewide music productions. During a performance in March, kindergartners recited verses from the Bible, the fourth- through sixth-grade literature classes put on a play and the hand-bell choir performed tranquil melodies.
Falb’s fourth- and fifth-graders said the most memorable lessons they’ve learned were Greek mythology, the Civil War and a science experiment that demonstrated how metal conducts heat.
Lead teacher Jane Fowler teaches history and literature to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at Redeemer Classical. She explained that she loves teaching by the classical model, and feels children enjoy striving for academic excellence. In Fowler’s classroom, she exposes her students to subjects as advanced as Shakespeare and argumentative writing. “I’ve been amazed at how much children enjoy Shakespeare,” she says. To Fowler, being able to challenge each student to excel past his or her own ability has been very rewarding.
Valerie Stapel has two children attending Redeemer Classical — Aaron in fourth grade and Zachary in seventh grade. She explained that both her children come home from school thrilled about what they have learned. “It’s a different depth of teaching,” Stapel says. “Even though the boys are two years apart, they speak the same language. I was calling out Latin words for Zachary, and Aaron chimed in.” Stapel has seen tremendous change in their ability to be challenged.
“It really stretched them a lot academically,” Stapel adds. “[It] broadened not only the content they learn, but their ability to express it.”
Bright-eyed and eager 4-year-old Faith Underwood attended an open house with her father to learn more about Redeemer Classical. While reading a book about Benjamin Franklin, Faith said she is excited to go to school next year to “make new friends.” Her father, Wes Underwood, says they are looking into sending Faith to Redeemer Classical for kindergarten, where she can receive a richer and more challenging education. “I’ve had her in different schools, but she’s further along than most kids,” he says, as Faith interrupts and asks if she can answer another question. Wes smiles at his daughter and says, “It was the curriculum I was reading about that really impressed me.”
As of this academic year, the school has 30 students enrolled in kindergarten and grades fourth through eighth. Projections for next year already have surpassed this year’s enrollment numbers, and the school hopes to continue to grow. Faculty members, students and parents alike all wish for the school to expand to include grades K-12.
