Ahuge;benefit;of;the;Classical approach is an emphasis on subject mastery. This alone makes it counter-cultural.
Skills like old-fashioned memorization
have fallen out of vogue while subject
tools have become more popular. Main-
stream educators argue that students
simply need to know how and where
to access the information they need to
complete their work. Why memorize
the periodic table and Latin verb forms
when you can find that data ready when
you are? It isn’t difficult to argue against
this approach. You wouldn’t give a baby a
dictionary rather than teach him to form
new words for himself. You wouldn’t ask
a child to swim laps before he’s learned
to kick and paddle. You also can’t ask a
student to go to the next level until he is
well versed in the previous one.
Do you really need a storehouse of
memorized data to make progress in sci-
ence,;language;and;math?;Consider;the
huge difference between a memorized
speech and one read from a telepromp-
ter. An actor reading lines from cue cards
can’t compare with one who memorized
his lines. Your heart surgeon shouldn’t
be searching subject tools while you are
under;her;knife,;just;like;a;concert;pia-
nist never performs with sheet music.
Memorization is essential, normal,
and not all that difficult once you get the
hang of it. There are dozens of techniques
that will help anyone do it well at any age.
Here are just five tried-and-true meth-
ods that will work for anyone mastering
anything.
1. Write it Out
Qui scribit bis legit,;“He;who;writes;learns
twice.”
The act of writing helps us remember
things better. You can master a lot of
www.TheOldSchoolhouse.com
The
Classical
Homeschooler
Amy Barr
The
Fine Art
of Study
Here are just five tried-and-true methods that will work
for anyone mastering anything.
