My conscious journey into classical Christian education began almost 20 years ago when my oldest was a toddler. At only 2 years old, he already had such a magnetic personality - whatever he loved, he threw himself into three million percent, and his enthusiasm was so contagious. Whatever he loved, we loved - we couldn't help it. One of his first "obsessions" that I can remember was with his ABCs. At three, he had mastered all of his letters and sounds with almost no effort. He could even say the alphabet backward! His comprehension was through the roof as well - he knew and understood facts about the solar system, the orchestra, maps, states and capitals, street names and directions to familiar places, and of course I can't forget to mention all the details and stats of his beloved Boston Bruins. In short . . . my son was a genius . . . Well, maybe I was a bit of an impartial judge of that, but one thing I knew for sure was that he absolutely LOVED to learn. His little brain just soaked up new ideas and facts faster than I could even begin to keep up.
I knew I wanted to continue to feed and grow his love of learning even into those years when the realities and stress of homework and tests and late nights set in. But I had dreams even beyond than that.
Recently, I read an advent devotional that articulated so well what I felt back then and what I still today hope my children receive from a classical Christian education. In the devotional, the author expressed his desire to become a man like John the Baptist, who joyfully decreased while Jesus increased (John 3:30). He asked what more a parent could want for a child than that he be a "powerful and passionate witness to Jesus, the Messiah" like John was. He continued to say, "What better story could we write or what other story would we choose than for our kids to be a means by which the rising sun of grace would bring the light of the gospel to the dark places and the broken people of the world?"
I want my children to be passionate lovers of wisdom, truth, and beauty and to have the tools to speak boldly and eloquently as they bring God's truth to a world in darkness. And that is at the heart of a classical Christian education. No, it won't make my kids Christians; it won't make them love Jesus; it's not a magical cure-all for character flaws or worldly tendencies. But at its root, classical Christian education seeks to teach students to love what is good and to be equipped to share that goodness to a world that so desperately needs it.
Alia Rivers, Headmaster
Samuel Fuller School
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