Cheree Harvey
“When I began teaching my children, I realized that even though the world said I was educated, I found out I was only schooled.” Leigh Bortins of Classical Conversations fame cuts to the heart of the matter in her book The Core, published in 2010. I am reading this fascinating book for the third time in as many years, as I practice what I preach - spending time thinking deeply with fellow parents about the reasons why and also how I teach my children in the classical, Christian tradition. Is it really the best way? How do I make sure I don’t leave gaps in their education? How will I find a like-minded community? What does it mean to be truly human – a test score or a soul? Slowly, reading one chapter a month has definitely allowed for the truths to be contemplated in a more meaningful, deeper way.
Part One of The Core details what is wrong with education today, why we need classical education and how classical education can help you. Over three very informative and inspiring chapters, Leigh discusses a variety of purposes and goals of classical education, one of which is that it helps the student discover how the universe works. Other topics she touches on with convincing detail are the importance of a student seeing the teacher struggle to learn and the discipline, character and stamina it takes when working on a difficult task. The value this incarnate example adds to a child’s person is inestimable. Bortins’ main desire for the education system is to posit that “parent-led, goal-driven, community education must replace government-led, entertainment-driven, centralized education.” Her support for this theory is that the foundational classical skills and common sense of teaching through memorising big things and reading proficiently and abundantly will set the stage in the later years for more complex reasoning, discourse and discussion and will result in the student delighting in the great conversations of humanity. As parents, teachers and members of various communities, it is our responsibility to our younger generations to pave the way, allowing them not to be handicapped by our own lack of education but to give them the expectation and experience of a rich and deep culture, which is their heritage.
Chapter four is titled “Reading” and opens the second part of the book, which focuses on various different core skills to develop in our children, specifically the youngest, but also ourselves. One of the most striking facts was that a common factor shared by proficient readers is that they live in a household which contains over a hundred books. A desire to impart a love and a competency in reading to your child is something most parents have. The Core, being not just a philosophy but a deeply practical book as well, spends time dwelling on how teaching reading is best accomplished “alongside rather than in front of a student…pull them onto your lap or put an arm around them…touch helps to break down fear and self-doubt and any other emotional barriers.” Reading is so beneficial, in fact necessary for life, as we think and communicate in words, that it is no surprise that we all want our children to succeed in this core skill. Knowing that God has wired our brains to learn to read and find patterns, to compare and try to make sense of them, is such a blessing. It takes the pressure from trying to push phonics into a child’s head, and trust that in the right timing, with enough exposure, those connections will be made, and the child will surpass your expectations. It opens the freedom to gently but steadily expose them to all sorts of literature – reading to them as much as possible – while knowing that the learning will happen. It is often hard work, but it is the work our brains were meant to do. And when your eyes are old and failing, it will be your children or grandchildren still reading those beautiful pieces of literature back to you.
Chapter five dwells on writing. Often, within a school system, a supreme emphasis is on creative writing, completely bypassing any foundational knowledge a child needs to put pen to paper and have a chance at success. Where have the simple, basic studies gone - studies like handwriting, the structure of the English language, punctuation, capitalisation, spelling? There is great wisdom in practicing and over-practicing these core, foundational structures. Handwriting and copy-work will naturally develop attention to detail, even help achieve memorisation goals. Think of the vast quantities of scripture a child will read, ponder and live amongst as he slowly and meticulously creates a careful copy in his own book. Studying the structure of the English language, although not something we have necessarily had the privilege to engage in during our own schooling, will allow for greater understanding whenever foreign languages are learned. Who these days knows more than a vague definition of a noun and verb, let alone a conjunction, an interjection or even a gerund! Similarly, knowing and being able to apply the rules of capitalisation and punctuation not only strengthen the brain in the logical beauty of the language we use, but helps refine and purify how we can then write and communicate. In time, originality will blossom and make itself heard, but a maxim comes to mind with every chapter in this book. Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.
The Core is a book aimed towards parents, teachers and others in the educational sphere – in fact all of us. I am learning more each day the way in which mass education has failed all of us, and why there is the need for a classical renewal. While I always knew reading was a crucial skill for an educated person, little did I know how far-reaching the implications of being well read and able to read were. Similarly with writing, as humanity grows and improves, clearly communicable thought is well crafted words on a page. Each chapter I read of this book leaves me disappointed with my own education, but also inspired as I am given practical tools to reclaim that which was lost – both for myself and for my children, and in turn their children and the greater society. The responsibility of education is firmly in our hands. If I know better now, how can I not act? Burying my head in the sand of complacency is not an option. If not now, when? If not you, who?
Cheree Harvey is the Country Co-ordinator of Classical Conversations Australia and New Zealand. To find out more about Classical Conversations and how it can help equip you to educate your children at home, or to purchase a copy of The Core, head to classicalconversations.com.au or email
