 | Price Comparisons: Rental | | Sorry, the textbook you were looking for is not available as Rental, at any of the stores we searched. | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | Newspapers are filled with stories about poorly educated children, ineffective teachers, and cash-strapped school districts. In this greatly expanded treatment of a topic he first dealt with in Rediscovering the Lost Tools of Learning, Douglas Wilson proposes an alternative to government-operated school by advocating a return to classical Christian education with its discipline, hard work, and learning geared to child development stages. As an educator, Wilson is well-equipped to diagnose the cause of America's deteriorating school system and to propose remedies for those committed to their children's best interests in education. He maintains that education is essentially religious because it deals with the basic questions about life that require spiritual answers-reading and writing are simply the tools. Offering a review of classical education and the history of this movement, Wilson also reflects on his own involvement in the process of creating educational institutions that embrace that style of learning. He details elements needed in a useful curriculum, including a list of literary classics. Readers will see that classical education offers the best opportunity for academic achievement, character growth, and spiritual education, and that such quality cannot be duplicated in a religiously-neutral environment. |
Average Customer Rating:   Good summary of classical, I just don't agree with the approach If you're looking for a good overview of classical Christian education, this is it. However, be forewarned, Wilson's approach explains EVERYTHING in terms if Scripture. I agree that Christians should look to the Bible first to guide their lives. However, not every failure of Western civilization is a sign of the Almighty's displeasure. Wilson wants to see it that way, and manages to hang himself with his own rope more than a few times.
The reason I gave it 3 stars instead of 4:
1) The point of quoting something is to illustrate a completing or supporting opinion (other than your own). Quoting yourself is just crude, and Wilson does it frequently. Can he really not find any other writer as talented as himself?
2) When you quote something, don't bury the citation at the end of the book. I spent half my time flipping back and forth to figure out what he was quoting from. It's annoying, and I believe the reason he did is that at least half the quotes are from his own books (see #1 above.)
3) This is not a homeschooling book, and WIlson is overtly hostile to homeschoolers. Most of the book relates to how to build and run a classical Christian academy.
Despite these shortcomings, the book served its purpose for me. I was truly torn about whether to start homeschooling on a classical model. Having now read both Well-Trained Mind and this book, I have concluded that this methodology is wrong for my kids.
If only to remove an approach from consideration for my family, it was a worthwhile read.
Other books I would recommend on competing approaches:
* Christian Unschooling - it's not an oxymoron, really
* A Thomas Jefferson Education - also classical, but very different
* Charlotte Mason Home Schooling Series - read the original before you buy a modern knockoff Every parent must read this book! Wilson really understands how the biblical worldview plays out into all areas of life - in this case with respect to education. Great book. I'm Convinced! (But A Separate Volume Would be Helpful) I'm convinced.
Douglas Wilson makes a powerful case for a classical, Christian approach to education. He lays out for the reader how and why the government educational system is broken, and then shows how and why it cannot be fixed. Building from that, he proposes that the best solution for this problem is a classical Christian education.
After giving a brief review of how his school got started, he explains what Classical Christian education is. Having everything point to Christ as the unifying principle of education, the classical model is used because of its natural link of the Trivium (Grammar, Dialectic, Rhetoric) to the stages of child development (Wanting to know what things are - Grammar, to Wanting to know why things are and how they fit together - Dialectic, to Wanting to know how to express one's self - Rhetoric).
His later chapters are more about how to start a classical Christian school. The only problem is that they seem out of place in a book set out to simply make 'The Case for Classical Christian Education'. They give some details on how to start a classical, Christian school, but not nearly enough details if one wants to actually start one. In my opinion, it would be best if these chapters were expanded on and put into a separate book.
While I certainly don't agree with everything Wilson says (mainly Covenant theology doctrine - like presupposing covenants made between the Godhead and God and Adam that are not recorded in Scripture, and making no distinction between Israel and the church, as I believe the Scriptures do), this book is certainly a must read for anyone who is curious about why the classical approach to education is the best.
I am further convinced of the classical approach to education, and just as convinced that any true education must be a Christian education. (For more on this, I highly recommend 'Foundations of Christian Education' by Berkhof and Van Til) Back to Future- Is Classical Education the Answer? This is a book that seeks to present a broad overview of the classical Christian model of education.
Today's America's schools are in a mess. Violence and drug-usage at schools are no longer news. Learning to read and write gives people the tools to ask and answer questions in life. But our schools fail miserably in this basic task.
Douglas Wilson is strongly against government schools. He argues that all these happened because we falsely believe that schools can be neutral about morality. He says that education is basically religious. Education deals with the basic questions if life, and these questions demand religious answers. He proposed that we must turn to Christian classic education- in styles, philosophies, even curriculums, with an emphasis on the children development.
Has Wilson gone too far? It is your call. However, he will convince you that education is not the world's savior. Education itself needs to be saved!
Excellent Mr. Wilson presents outstanding arguments on why the public school system is a failure and the need tor classical instruction. I do not share his view of homeschoolers. I know many families that homeschool and none are characterized in his examples. |  |
Select button not working? 
