Defining Canadian Classical Homeschooling

What does it mean to be Canadian? The key to being Canadian, as far as I'm concerned, is being a part of a rich, multicultural society. To be Canadian is really to be international - our culture, our country, our language, our heritage is full of the strands of the people of the world. My thesis? That if you understand the world, its cultures, religions and histories, than you will understand Canada.

Classical education is a term that has been revived in the last 90 years by educators who hark back to the medieval system of the trivium. It has been laid over the 20th century model of a twelve-year education system as follows:

Grammar Stage: Years 1 - 4; students are expected to learn the grammar or facts of the various courses of study.
Logic Stage: Years 5 - 8; students learn formal logic, and begin to ask questions about the facts of each subject.
Rhetoric Stage: Years 9 - 12; students focus on expression of ideas, building on the facts and logic study of the previous eight years.

Classical education is often based heavily on the historical cycle, and therefore focuses its energy each year on a given period of history and a related discipline of science.

Ancient History ~ Biology
Medieval History ~ Earth Science
Early Modern History ~ Chemistry
Modern History ~ Physics/Computer Science

This four year cycle is then repeated for each stage of the trivium.

Homeschooling, or home educating as it is called in England, is simply educating a child outside of the normal structure of institutional schooling. Home schooled children may be educated in small groups (a "co-op" approach), or at their kitchen table. They have the potential advantages of a small class size and education tailored to their learning styles, strengths, weaknesses and interests. Their schedules can be flexible enough to fit around other social activities (such as skating or orchestra, Girl Guides or family time), and their social interactions can readily include multi-age and even multi-generational options.