A brief explanation of the purpose of the classical trivium, content taught, and possible methods for accomplishing mastery. Click on the player below to listen now. (5:33)
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The urban legend of the "twelve year, three-stage trivium" is a commonly held story used to legitimize the imposition of a public school schedule on a classical education. Authentic classical education never involved three consecutive stages of development. True foundational skills (reading, thinking, and communicating) are developed in concert with each other. A sequential approach fails to satisfy. Over the past two decades, countless home school parents have embraced the urban legend as truth. We must recognize that this three-stage trivium, masquerading as classical, enslaves us to a public school approach taught in the home. We need to stop pretending to be public school teachers with our neat little workbooks and meaningless tasks. A real classical home education is much easier to execute and frees the family to pursue the richness of their Western inheritance in ways that uniquely fit the abilities, interests, and gifts of the child.
In addition to writing for this website, Diane teaches classes to homeschool teens in her community, encourages parents as a popular speaker at state and local homeschool conventions, and coaches a competitive speech and debate club.
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