cCe 101: The Lost Art of Learning

“Is not the great defect of our education today…that although we often succeed in teaching our pupils ‘subjects,’ we fail lamentably on the whole in teaching them how to think: they learn everything, except the art of learning.”

Dorothy Sayers

In modern education, the skill of learning is often disregarded; unfortunately, this disregard does not count the cost of ignorance. Classical Christian students are trained, from an early age, to learn by thinking. cCe embodies a three-fold method to learning called the trivium. The trivium is simply three developmental stages of learning: grammar, logic (also called dialectic), and rhetoric. Each of these phases consists of an approach to learning, an approach to subjects, and a set of subjects. You’ll find a brief description of the phases below; for a closer look at the trivium and for more information about the trivium, additional resources are available from GCA administration and teachers.

Grammar

In the grammar phase, students in kindergarten through sixth grade are absorbing facts. This phase focuses, in many ways, on memorization. By memorizing facts, students are preparing themselves for reasoning in the logic and rhetoric phases. Students at these ages are excited about learning even though they tend to have shorter attention spans. Therefore, the grammar stage incorporates memorization and learning tools such as chanting, hands-on activities and projects, and singing. The grammar teacher leads students in exploring and discovering, while reinforcing the students’ understanding of letters, numbers, and other fundaments.

Logic

In the logic phase, students in seventh through ninth grades are developing their reasoning skills. At this point, students take the facts that they memorized in the grammar phase, and they begin to question that information and to challenge ideas. In order to hone their developing skills and to teach them the proper use of reasoning, students begin the study of formal logic. The logic teacher uses the students’ tendency to argue and question as a method to mold and shape their reasoning skills.

Rhetoric

In the final stage of the trivium, the rhetoric phase, students in tenth through twelfth grades focus on articulation in writing and speech. In this stage, students use the facts the memorized in the grammar stage and challenged in the logic phase to present their opinions and the facts at hand. Rhetoric teachers use the students’ concern for appearance and self-expression as a tool for teaching the proper way to develop presentations that exude wisdom and effectiveness. Rhetoric teachers focus on speech, debate, and writing.