Classical Curriculum

The CGS classical curriculum provides a systematic approach to the development of knowledge aligned with a child’s cognitive development. It is a language based approach with great emphasis on the acquisition of reading, math and writing skills in the early grades. It is an integrated curriculum with themes tying literature, history, science, art and music together. Brain-based research has shown that integrating curriculum is an effective means of enhancing transfer, the effect that past learning has on the processing of new information and the degree to which new learning will be useful to the child in the future. CGS uses a four year cycle of history, the story of human endeavor through the ages, as the organizing agent that generates the themes of the curriculum.

Classical Curriculum - A Systematic Approach

A classical education uses a three stage process to educate the mind:

1. The Grammar Stage corresponds to grades 1-4 and is the period in which the building blocks for all other learning are laid, just as grammar is the foundation of language. The emphasis is on the learning of facts and the development of basic skills and rules, such as, the rules of phonics, spelling and grammar, the vocabulary of native and foreign languages, the stories of history and literature, the descriptions of plants, animals and the human body, and the facts of mathematics.

2. The Logic Stage corresponds to grades 5-8 and is the period when a child’s mind begins to think more analytically. During these years a child learns algebra and logic and applies logic to all academic subjects. The logic of writing includes paragraph construction and support of a thesis, the logic of reading involves criticism and analysis of texts, the logic of history requires the child to research and theorize why certain events occurred rather than simply relating a story, and the logic of science requires the child to go beyond facts by learning and applying the scientific method (hypotheses, testing, evaluating, re-hypothesizing, etc.).

3. The Rhetoric Stage corresponds to grades 9-12 and is the period during which the students sharpen their verbal and written skills to logically and persuasively express themselves across the curriculum.

Language Based Program

A classical curriculum emphasizes language development particularly in the areas of reading and writing as the means for a child to construct knowledge.

CGS expands the classical approach to language by also focusing on the development of symbolic language, in order to strengthen the non-verbal reasoning skills necessary for
abstract and critical thinking. Non-verbal reasoning can be enhanced through movement, drawing, painting, making models, sculpture, drama and music.

Integrated Curriculum

To the classical mind, all knowledge is interrelated. Therefore the teaching of science, math, reading, history, and other subjects is optimally conducted in an integrated manner emphasizing such interrelatedness. Research supports that making connections across the curriculum establishes a framework of associative networks that can be recalled for future problem solving. This approach allows students to see commonalities among diverse topics and reinforces understanding and meaning for future applications.

In a classical curriculum, history provides the framework for curriculum connections based on a four year cycle. At The Chicago Grammar School this means that students in the Grammar Stage will have their reading, writing, science, history, art and music organized over those four years within the context of the following broad historical periods: Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern, and Modern. Upon entering the Logic Stage and over the next four years they will cycle again through Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern, and Modern, as they learn to apply analytical skills to the facts and rules learned. Aiding in the process, the knowledge gained by the students in the Grammar Stage provides them with the means to more effectively process new knowledge in the Logic Stage. For example, the familiarity with the Ancient world gained by the CGS students in first grade enables them in fifth grade to make connections between their past learning and the new learning. The more connections made, the more likely the students will find sense and meaning in the new information thereby greatly increasing the retention of their new learning.