In my first post in this series, I shared five books I believe are thorough and accessible enough to help anyone unfamiliar with Classical Christian Education navigate the landscape fairly successfully. Building on the first five, here are the next 10 books I would recommend reading if you are interested in expanding your understanding of Classical Christian Education.
Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning by Douglas Wilson. Love him or hate him, Douglas Wilson is one of the premier voices in the renewal of Classical Christian Education and the school he helped found, Logos School in Moscow, ID, is one of the flagship Classical Christian Schools. In some sense, this is the book that launched the modern revival of CCE. It too is a must-read.
The Case for Classical Christian Education by Douglas Wilson is a companion to the first book in this list. In some sense it is an expansion of the primer I shared in the first post in this series, but it’s worth adding to your reading list.
Classical Education: The Movement Sweeping America by Gene Edward Veith Jr. and Andrew Kern is like having a topographical map complete with a compass. This little work is a “who’s who” and a “what’s what” for helping families and teachers navigate the full landscape of CCE.
The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education by Ravi Jain and Kevin Clark is one my all-time favorites for providing a simple, cogent philosophy of Christian Classical Education. Be sure to get the 3rd edition. It is much more comprehensive, with practical helps included. This is also one of the first times I started seeing educators making a distinction between Christian Classical Education and Classical Christian Education. The main difference in the expression—as I understand it—is an attempt to distinguish between classical eduction that is informed by a Christian worldview and an expression of liberal arts education specifically tied to the classical Christian period in history. tomato, tomâto!
Wisdom and Eloquence: A Christian Paradigm for Classical Learning by Robert Littlejohn and Charles T. Evans is up next. This book’s subtitle reveals its nuanced approach to CCE. Drawing from St. Augustine’s assertion that Christians should be every bit as, if not more, wise and eloquent than the pagans since we own the truth, this book advocates for the kind of wisdom and virtue we should be striving to instill in our children. All truth is God’s truth and a proper education is what prepares our children for this subversive world.
Towards A Philosophy Of Education by Charlotte Mason is a classic text in the philosophy of education. Although there will be many who balk at the idea that Charlotte Mason falls under the umbrella of CCE, there are many similarities in her philosophy which makes this book a must-read for families and teachers interested in CCE. Mason’s approach was that of respecting the child learner as a unique individual, and teaching by arousing wonder and curiosity, and by cultivating the life of the mind with living literature and real interaction with nature. There is an element of schole’ in her philosophy that resonates with a lot of CCE families.
Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know by E. D. Hirsch is not exactly a philosophy of CCE. Rather it is a manifesto regarding the very basic competencies every child needs to know to be culturally literate in the English language. I chose this book because it demonstrates just how far our educational system has fallen, and how much we need to recover for our children to just be literate, let alone truly educated.
From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics by Louis Markos. Anyone who has heard Louis Markos speak knows how entertaining he can be while unpacking those serendipitous insights about CCE. This book is that resource that will help you answer the nagging question your extended family will continue to hound you with when you try to classically educate your Christian children: Why are you letting your children read those pagan authors?
A Lively Kind of Learning: Mastering the Seminar Method written by Jeannette DeCelles-Zwerneman and published by Cana Academy is a practical philosophy. Socratic discussions are the heartbeat of a Classical Christian Education and this little book is a delightful, clear, and substantive guide for successfully leading convivial classroom discussions. It really should have a home in the library of every CCE educator.
Mortimer Adler: The Paideia Way of Classical Education by Robert M. Woods, PhD and published by Classical Academic Press in their Giants in the History of Education series. Mortimer J. Adler was a modern pioneer in the recovery of the Great Books and liberal arts traditions, and one of the most influential leaders in education reform in the twentieth century. I will mention some of his more important books later in my series, but this little book, written by one of my mentors in CCE, is a helpful introduction to his life, writings, and teaching philosophy.
These books represent the majority of the best primers on the subjects which they treat, and reading everything in the first two posts will reform the way you see education and teach others. The next set of books is going to move us into the larger nuanced conversations about the approach to education as an enterprise as well as the philosophy of the liberal arts and the humanities.
[…] for the uninitiated to navigate the landscape fairly successfully. Building on the first five, the next post was a recommendation of 10 books that will help expand and better establish one’s understanding […]