What is Classical?
C5 is committed to a Classical education. What does that mean?
Definition of Classical
The Society for Classical Learning defines “Classical education” as Classical Christian education aims to cultivate virtue and wisdom in students so that they will live for the glory of God, flourishing as human beings and loving both God and neighbor. It pursues these goals through an ordered exploration of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful that is grounded in the liberal arts tradition and that forms students’ affections and the habits of lifelong learning.
W.E.B. Dubois argued adamantly that African-Americans deserved more than job training. Just like their white counterparts, they deserved the very best—a Liberal Arts Education. This is what he meant when he stated, “I insist that the object of all true education is not to make men carpenters, it is to make carpenters men.”
The term “Liberal Arts” comes from the same root as “liberation”—to be free. Frederick Douglass said, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” This is why learning to read, reason, and speak well are the foundational elements (what we call the “Trivium”) of a Liberal Arts education.
Being shaped by this education is the path toward experiencing life to the fullest, equipping the child with the tools and habits of lifelong learning. These habits are cultivated by educating your child in history, literature, music, and art that is True, that is Good, and that is Beautiful.
“Education means emancipation. It means light and liberty. It means the uplifting of the soul of man into the glorious light of truth, the light by which men can only be made free.”