Books on Classical Education
by Douglas Wilson
Review by Martha Robinson
Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning, An Approach to Distinctively Christian Education by Douglas Wilson. Paperback, 215 pages, published by Crossway Books, 1991. Please support HomeschoolChristian.com by using our affiliate links to buy these books. Amazon and Christian Book Distributors.
Summary: Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning discusses a Reformed Protestant view of the theory of Classical Christian education. This book took the lead in advocating a return to Classical Approach education when it was published in 1991. Douglas Wilson, founder of Logos School, a Classical Christian school in Idaho, begins by discussing the failure of public schools to educate children. Religious teaching and general learning go hand-in-hand so Christian parents should consider alternatives to the public school. To fulfill the Biblical requirements of parental responsibility, parents must "know what and how their children are being taught" either by homeschooling or by constant involvement in a private Christian school. Mr. Wilson is clear in specifying what he considers to be the pitfalls of homeschooling and that he feels that homeschooling, while clearly better than public school, should be second choice to a good Christian school. Stages of learning in the Classical Approach are discussed as they relate to a Christian school. The appendices include Dorothy Sayers' "Lost Tools of Learning" essay, Logos school curriculum material, and a history of the decline of public schools.
Recommendation: This is NOT a "how-to" book, but it will give you material for consideration in educating your children. While written by an early leader in the classical Christian teaching revival, it is written from a doctrinal point of view that may not be in agreement with many other Christians, and the author clearly views a classroom environment as preferable to the home school. Still, Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning offers material that may help you in your efforts to implement the Trivium at home.
Classical Education and the Home School by Douglas Wilson, Wesley Callihan, and Douglas Jones. Paperback, 60 pages, published by Canon Press.
Summary: This book provides more information to the parent wishing to homeschool using the Classical Method. It gives basic overviews of the component parts of Classical education, Latin, logic, rhetoric, and Reformed Christian worldview thinking. Handy lists of suggested additional reading are provided at the end of many of the chapters.
Other HomeschoolChristian resources related to this review:
HomeschoolChristian.com's Classical Homeschooling Section with resources, links, and ideas for implementing the Christian Trivium
Interview with Douglas Wilson
Review of Introductory Logic by Douglas Wilson and James Nance
Review of Introductory Logic Videos
Review of A Thomas Jefferson Education, Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century by Oliver Van DeMille
Review of A Thomas Jefferson Education: Supplemental Materials by Oliver and Rachel Van DeMille
Review of Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by Laura Berquist
Review of Introduction to Classical Studies
Review of Teaching the Trivium by the Bluedorns
Review of The Latin Centered Curriculum
Review of The Trivium, The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric by Sister Miriam Joseph, C.S.C., Ph.D.
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