Classical Sunday School

There are three major premises of Classical Sunday School: 1. The Bible is a great book. We really mean that. It's filled with heroes, villains, seductresses, world empires, grandeur, grossness, plot twists and an ending that will blow you away. 2. Kids would love to learn what's in the Bible. They would love it so much, that they'd actually put effort into mastering it, if anybody would respect them enough to teach them. 3. The proven Classical Method is the best way to teach kids the amazing content of the Bible. A little about the Classical Method: The Classical Method divides a child's learning adventure into three stages: grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric, referred to collectively as the Trivium. During the grammar (or data) stage, a child's mind is like a thirsty sponge, absorbing information wherever it can. Kids in this stage memorize easily and are insatiably curious. In the dialectic state, a child begins to synthesize the data he's accumulated, connecting the dots and trying to understand how all of his stored information fits together. In the rhetoric stage, a young person begins to use his data-laden framework of the world to try to persuade and influence. The Classical Method of education has been the gold standard for millennia, producing the great minds of the Western intellectual tradition. As modern educators have recoiled from the rigors of the Classical Method, modern students have suffered. Clearly, this style of education is built on a foundation of data. Names, dates, locations, lists, descriptions. The more data a mind stores, the more dots it can connect, the more persuasive it can become. The broader the base, the taller the building. This drill book is designed for use in the grammar stage-typically with kids 4-11 or 12 years old. It contains data, and lots of it. There are maps, timelines, genealogies, memory passages, lists of kings and covenants and more. But please remember: we present all this information not to puff up, or to show off. The vast amount of data is introduced so that when our kids reach the rhetoric stage, their sweet minds will have information to massage and assemble. If a kid reaches the rhetoric stage, where his mind is longing to put pieces together to make sense of the world, and he finds that he's missing lots of pieces, he gets frustrated. And surly. And rude. We don't want that, now do we? Owning a broad base of data equips a child for the daunting task of making sense of the world, and eventually making his mark in it. Such knowledge also prevents a young person from falling prey to harmful fads and destructive ideologies. It's not so easy to dupe a kid who is armed with facts. How to use this drill book This book reinforces the material introduced in Classical Sunday School each week. There are twelve weeks in a cycle, and twelve cycles in all. Daily review will allow your child (and you!) to master all this information. Practicing the memory work is actually quite enjoyable. Kids relish the rhymes and mnemonics, and shine when they begin to write words in Hebrew or draw detailed maps. And you'll appreciate a family project that brings you all together. At Sunday school, your child's teacher will present all of the "data" for the week. Parents are encouraged to be a part of the class whenever they are able. Your job at home is to drill the data so that your child will "own it" by the end of the week. All children in grade K-6 in a church will be on the same lesson, drilling the same material, so practice at home is truly a family affair. We suggest that you set aside ten minutes each day, ideally at the same time each day, to review this work-often, breakfast or bedtime is a pleasant time to drill. The songs and other resources found on the website might prove helpful in mastering the material. For more information on the Classical Method, and for additional teaching resources, go to StrongHappyFamily.org.
About the Author: In Donna Baer's 30-year-long career in education, she has taught every grade (and most every subject within those grades) from preschool through high school. Her particular interest in sharing the captivating story of the Bible with young people led her to write an Amazon #1 Bestseller entitled The Bible's Feasts. Donna's desire to improve biblical literacy in the Church prompted her to create the Classical Sunday School curriculum, which was first adopted by the Moody Church in Chicago, then later by other churches. The curriculum had never been published and available for mass distribution until now. Donna Baer, the mother of ten children, also writes books on parenting. Learn more at stronghappyfamily.org.