Pietas Classical Christian Curriculum for Grades K - 12

Reading great books and discussing great ideas to the glory of our great God.

“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom in learning from books as well as from nature.”
– Mortimer J. Adler and Charles van Doren (How to Read a Book)

“Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.”
- Proverbs 23:12

Pietas Classical Christian Mission: To help students rightly order their loves by educating them in Truth, Goodness, and Beauty through the seven liberal arts and the great books, with Christ as the cosmological center.

Three-Year History Cycle

The structure of our 7-12 curriculum is based on a three-year history cycle: Ancient/Classical, Medieval/Middle, and Modern.  This cycle by grade is as follows:

7th: Ancient/Classical

8th: Medieval/Middle

9th: Modern

10th: Ancient/Classical

11th: Medieval/Middle

12th: Modern

The three-year history cycle allows the students to revisit historical periods, refreshing their memories and going more in-depth with more challenging resources.

Two Key Emphases

There are two key emphases throughout this curriculum.  First, there is an emphasis on primary sources.  While we make use of textbooks, these are often coupled with readings in primary sources.  This allows for a richer and more enjoyable education.  Second, there is an emphasis on great books and the great ideas (e.g. truth, goodness, beauty, wisdom, the one and many, law, rhetoric).  By emphasizing primary sources and great books/great ideas, the students will be caught up in the great conversations that have been going on for centuries.  They will learn from the masters themselves, with the teachers serving as trustworthy guides and dialogue partners.

Pedagogy (Method of Teaching)

In short, in-class narration (telling back what has just been read) and dialogue will be the heart-and-soul of Pietas’s method of teaching.  Regular instruction will also be implemented, but narration and dialogue is part-and-parcel of an active, self-education, whereby the students become fully engaged in what is being learned, as opposed to simply receiving information to be memorized.  Charlotte Mason even referred to narration as “the act of knowing,” for knowledge is assimilated in the reproduction of what has been read.  She goes on to say, “All the acts of generalization, analysis, comparison, judgment, and so on, the mind performs for itself in the act of knowing” (A Philosophy of Education, 304).

Readings and Assignments

As you look through our curriculum, one thing that may come to mind is, “They don’t seem to have as much reading as other classical curriculums.”  There are four things to keep in mind here.  First, the Notgrass history books include a book that consists of primary source readings related to the main texts.  For instance, Our Creative Worldaccompanies the From Adam to Us history books.  Our Creative World contains primary source readings and is about 150 pages.  The primary source readings of In Their Words accompanies Exploring World History and contains about 400 pages.  Second, we don’t want students to rush through books.  This can be a problem with some classical curriculums that pack in a bunch of reading.  Instead, we want our students to contemplate what they are reading. One way we help them do this is by requiring that they keep a commonplace book (see below).  Books will also be discussed during in-class days.  For example, they may discuss the significance of Tolkien writing that Smeagol became obsessed with the origins and roots of things, digging in the ground, and ceased to look up in becoming Gollum (from The Fellowship of the Ring).  What is it about looking up that orients our minds on the Good?  How is this directionality used in other literature?  These are things that can easily be overlooked if students are just concerned with finishing a book so they can get on to the next one.  Third, another way we help the students come away with a deeper knowledge and appreciation of these books is by having them do narration (oral and written) and write short essays.  All of this helps the students to better understand how these books contribute to the great conversation on the great ideas.  Fourth, and final, we will provide parents with a recommended reading list based on grade.  If it seems like your child is completing all of his assignments on time and needs more to do, this recommended reading list may be used to give your child additional reading.  While Pietas will not have assignments associated with the recommended readings, parents are of course free to come up with their own assignments if they wish.

Commonplace Book

Each student will be required to keep a commonplace book (click here for an example of the kind of journal notebook to be used).  A commonplace book, in short, is a notebook that is used to write important thoughts, quotations, maxims, poems, proverbs, etc.  They are not diaries.