Education Under Christ's Crown
Education Under Christ’s Crown
Written by Mrs. Kristi Schache
Teaching must confront our students with Christ’s crown rights over them and His covenant love to redeem them. Indeed, the whole of education ought to proceed from the love of God and neighbor. If not, then according to C.S. Lewis in Abolition of Man, “education without values…seems rather to make a man a more clever devil.” Therefore, education detached from ethics or morality isn’t inherently good; it just equips a person with better tools to achieve wicked goals. By contrast, classical education is a philosophy aimed at forming the whole person – mind, body, soul – toward virtue, wisdom and truth.
In the Lower Grammar School, we recognize habits are formed early and trust the Holy Spirit to help us train students in Godward living. Colossians 3:23 is the theme for the Lower Grammar School so students learn the joy of work is in glorifying God with your best. In addition to Scripture, Catechism is another tool we employ to train our young students. In The Core, Classical Conversations founder Leigh Bortis defines catechism as a “classical method of memorization for any subject, in which a preconstructed set of questions and answers are used to teach precision in responses.” Biblical catechism, then, builds a framework in students’ minds so when we tell them about sin and the Savior who came to die for it, there is a way to understand what we are saying. Kathy Keller (wife of late Tim Keller) uses a beautiful metaphor to describe the benefits of a biblical catechism. She writes, “[Catechism] is laying the kindling and logs in the fireplace so that when the spark of the Holy Spirit ignites your child’s heart, there will be a steady mature blaze.” This steady blaze results because, according classical author Joshua Gibbs in Something They Will Not Forget, “The daily practice of catechesis, recitation and memorization turns information from teachers and textbooks into formation of the students.”
By God’s Spirit, Aletheia students are being formed. For example, when the kindergarteners spelled rescue and were asked what it means, one student quickly raised her hand to say, “God came to rescue us.” How beautiful that her first understanding of rescue is connected to the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which in turn came from the formation of her soul through her class catechism. The first graders are making similar connections. In January, the Aletheia student body discussed patience: waiting with a happy spirit. During Bible class, the first graders connected patience with how the Israelites waited for the Messiah to come and shared how they are learning patience in their own lives. Similarly, the second graders used their curiosity and discernment in literature. The class read Gilgamesh the King and upon reaching the section describing a great flood, the class excitedly and immediately compared the story to the Genesis account they had previously read. In the discussion, one student pointed out that the characters in Gilgamesh worship many gods while we worship The One True God.
Aletheia curriculum presents the opportunity to point students’ hearts toward truth. Through encounters with truth, they are shaped by it. A first grade parent shared that at the end of kindergarten that his child did not always like homework, but he is grateful for it because “she has learned discipline from it.” By God’s grace, Lower Grammar students at Aletheia are developing curiosity and humility and will grow into adults who imitate God more fully. Thank you for your partnership. We are grateful.