My Top Five Books for Families and Teachers New to Classical Christian Education

The number of people (teachers and parents) migrating to Classical Christian Education (CCE) is astounding—and joyfully so! Talking recently with a colleague, he pointed out how the crowds at homeschooling conferences are drastically different than the families who attended the conferences before COVID.

What he was observing was a new wave of families who have fled or are fleeing public schools; or they are discovering in CCE a scratch for the itch they couldn’t put words to, previously. 

Teachers are the same.

My conservative guess is that I have interviewed more than 300 teachers since we launched Kepler Education in 2020. The number might even be much closer to 400 teachers. A number of these teachers have an understanding of CCE, but an equal number of those interested are looking for a way to jump out of the cesspool that is public education into the refreshing pool that is CCE.

One of the questions I am most frequently asked by these educators is “What books should I read to learn more about Classical Christian Education?

Like many of us who now know our way around the CCE world a little better today than we did a few years ago, these new families and educators are just as hungry as we were to read the books that will guide them into this new old way of educating.

In my own journey, I have collected more than a couple hundred books on education in general, CCE, homeschooling, the history of education, and cultural issues related to education. In the spirit of sharing something of my own journey, I want to offer a short series on the books I believe every family or teacher should read to become well-versed in CCE. 

In this post, I’ll start with my top five picks for new families and teachers who want/need an introduction to the landscape and the philosophy of CCE. From there, I’ll continue to add perhaps another 10 books or so per post until I have shared my top 50 books on Education.

1. Why Christian Kids Need a Christian Education by Douglas Wilson. This is a small book, a worldview primer really, explaining why Christian faith is essential to education and secular education will never do—especially for Christian families.
2. The Classical Reader by Leslie Rayner and Dr. Christopher Perrin. Another small book that is not about pedagogy or philosophy, per se. Rather, this book provides a robust and comprehensive reading list for classically educating K-12 students. This is a wonderfully simple and helpful resource for parents just starting out.
3. The Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. This is one of the classic texts on the subject and provides a comprehensive picture of what CCE is and how families can provide their children with such an education. This is a must-read.
4. Simply Classical by Cheryl Swope. This is a unique and extremely important book in the conversation on CCE because the author demonstrates (from her personal experience) how CCE is not just for “smart kids,” but is an education even for children with disabilities. By virtue of its liberating power, CCE is for everyone, regardless of their special needs or situation.
5. The Art of Humane Education by Donald Philip Verene. Not everyone will agree with me for placing this book this close to the top of the reading list. I chose this book because it is a short but elegant read. It is certain to have a rich impact on one’s thinking about the philosophy of education early in their journey.

Tune in. I still have another 45 or so books to share with you. And, I have still not mentioned a few of the most renowned or respected books on CCE yet. I chose the ones I did because they are thorough and accessible; and, someone unfamiliar with the territory will be able to navigate the CCE landscape fairly successfully by reading just these five books.