Classical Christian Education Defined

Distinctive Words and Phrases

Classical Christian Education (CCE) is education as it was practiced prior to the progressive movement early in the 20th century when the focus switched to job training. Instead, CCE sharpens students’ reasoning, language, and rhetorical skills with a Christian vision for all truth and knowledge. Classical education was created by the Greeks to train citizens to self-govern and live in freedom. Later, it was Christianized to become “Classical Christian.” In the medieval era, “scholastics” refined the form into what inspires classical Christian education today. Rather than emphasizing “subjects,” it emphasizes seven “liberal arts,” which liberate the mind to be less subject to controlling influences. The goal is to cultivate wisdom in light of Christ’s creation and kingdom. To understand how CCE better prepares students for college, visit our measure it page.

Paideia

Great Books

Great Ideas

Socratic Discussion

Liberal Arts

Fine Arts

Integrating Subjects

Trivium

Quadrivium

Ad Fontes

Moral Imagination