The Latin-Centered Curriculum

I tend to take a live-and-let-live approach to homeschooling philosophies. I assume that families are different, kids are different, and no one method will work all the time with all kids. Not even LCC. ;)

But I do expect people to do their homework. If they're going to argue against a particular philosophy, they should be knowledgeable enough about it to go beyond stereotypes and generalizations. When a homeschooler - or worse, a homeschool author or publisher - says they don't support Latin-centered education because "you have to teach more than Latin," I know they haven't done their homework. They are simply misinformed.

If the critics are arguing from a Christian perspective, I expect them to be mature enough in their faith not to base their philosophy on fear of "the other." If they fret that just reading this or that classical author will seduce their children away from God, it's clear that they are attributing far too much power to one individual - and that individual isn't Christ.

Unfortunately, sometimes the most outspoken opposition to classical education comes from such uninformed and fear-ridden sources. In this thoughtful article, John Mark Reynolds wades into the "Hebrew vs. Greek" education debate. Reynolds has done his homework. He points out the many logical fallacies and historical oversights that riddle the pro-"Hebrew," anti-classical position - leading to some very strange curriculum choices. To his analysis I would only add these three points:

(1) The meaning and cultural context of "philosophy" has changed quite dramatically in the last 2000 years. Early Christianity was seen as a "philosophy" by the Greeks and Romans of the time, not because they didn't apprehend its religious foundations, but because it implied a radical change in thinking and lifestyle. I highly recommend the writings of Pierre Hadot to parents who want to understand philosophy as the ancients did.

(2) In my reading of "Hebrew" homeschooling books and forums, I've been struck by a certain romanticizing of Jewish education. Just as classical education didn't begin and end with Plato, Jewish education didn't begin and end with Moses, or even with Jesus. A book like The World of the Yeshiva can fill in those gaps nicely for interested readers. Traditional Jewish education is as rigorous and mentally stimulating as classical education; in fact, some of its methods - Talmudic debate, for example - are quite similar to classical ones (Socratic dialogue). Family-based discipling is a noble educational model, but it is certainly not absent from Christian classical education, nor is it perfectly embodied in Jewish education.

(3) Like other religiously based educational philosophies, the "Hebrew" homeschooling movement grows out of a particular theological perspective. The tragic divisions among Christians mean that not every curriculum labeled "Christian" will be appropriate for every family. We must all use discernment, so I recommend that parents do some background reading before signing onto any particular philosophy. How important is it to you that the authors' presuppositions on key issues like scripture, tradition, salvation, authority, church governance, creeds, etc. match yours? Can you recognize when the authors' theological presuppositions influence how they present the material (i.e., "bias")? Will you need to "edit" the program to deal with ideas you disagree with, and if so, how much and how often? What other positions - political, social, cultural - have developed out of or become attached to this theological perspective? Differences of theological perspective are not necessarily deal-breakers when it comes to choosing curriculum, but neither should they be ignored entirely.

I have no problem with someone who says, "You know, I just want my kids to have two years of a foreign language in high school," or "I believe that the goal of education is gainful employment, and I don't see my child becoming a Latin teacher." I might argue with some of those folks about their definitions, but I'm satisfied if I can see that they've really understood what LCC is about - even if they reject it in the end. But I'm thankful for writers like Reynolds who are willing to ask hard questions of other homeschooling methodologies. I think we can all agree that our children deserve better than philosophies built on the shifting sands of misinformation and fear.

Drew Campbell is the author of The Latin-Centered Curriculum.