The Latin-Centered Curriculum

I, also, have not read any Maritain.

Jeff, did you read Climbing Parnassus? Would you be willing to offer up a compare/contrast on them, assuming that you have?

. . . that doesn't mean I'm not willing to offer some basic comparisons based on what I know of it via Drew's book.

As I understand it, CP emphasizes a return to classical education by making Latin, Greek, and mathematics the "core" of the curriculum.

Maritain would not agree with the language part; in fact, he says that the time and energy spent on learning classical languages should be spent rather on reading the classics in translation. Hence, his emphasis is on a LIBERAL education, i.e., an education in the liberal arts via the Great Books.

However a couple of things about Maritain should be noted: (1) his primary audience was post-war Europe and America; (2) he had no notion of homeschooling; (3) he sees great promise in the American educational system; (4) he wasn't writing a curriculum text as much as he was writing a philosophy of eduction; (5) he was addressing education as a whole, from kindergarten through graduate school.

What's important about Maritain, as I see it, is that his book helped me see homeschooling in terms of a broader, educational philosophy. So now I don't worry about explaining to non homeschoolers (and even non-classical homeshoolers) why I'm teaching my kids Latin or ancient history. Rather, I emphasize that I want my kids to become an independent thinker, a man or a woman who is free from the myopic and anti-intellectual trends of contemporary society, a man or a woman who finds delight in the actions of the intellectual, in moral goodness, and in genuine Christian love for other people. That's the goal of education as Maritain sees it, and through his words I've found the words to express the deepest motivations I have for homeschooling my kids.