Important Classical Education Principles

I like to talk about education philosophy and principles much more than methods, though I do have a soft spot for practical tips. However, unless we are grounded in our principles, we will be tossed to and fro by all the practical tips out there.

Every practical tip is born from underlying principles, and if the philosophy behind the practical tip you’re trying doesn’t match your own philosophy (because you have one, whether you’ve thought it through and acknowledged it or not – we all have foundational assumptions and we function from them), then the practical tip won’t be so practical for you. Maybe it won’t work for you or maybe it will work and will throw you off course.

Before applying practical tips, you need to know your foundational assumptions, your underlying principles. In Consider This, Karen Glass comments that education is simply applied philosophy, and it’s true. That’s why most philosophers also had educational theories and plans: education is where philosophy puts on flesh and makes waves in the real world.

Charlotte Mason had twenty principles she wrote as statements about the nature of children, about the nature of the world, and about the nature of learning. They are worth studying.

Christopher Perrin has some great videos with Latin mottos for 8 classical principles. They are worth watching.

Over the last year, I’ve written about classical education principles and how they affect not only our curriculum and our teaching, but also how we as mothers live out our lives in our homes with our families. Because principles don’t just shape how we school. They shape how we live.

Classical Education Principles

• You Need Education Principles
• Five Educational Principles: Education is for life
• Guiding Principles for Upcoming School Year
• Classical Principles in Our Homeschool
• Virtue is the goal of education
• Repetitio Mater Memoriae, or Repetition
• Cum dignitate otium, or Rest
• Esse quam videri, or Virtue
• Multum Non Multa, or Simplicity
• Fortiter fideliter forsan feliciter, or Repentance
• Festina Lente

No time is wasted which is spent solidifying your foundations, your principles from which you choose and act.

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