Why Rhetoric?

In the Rhetoric (high school) stage, students have acquired knowledge and the skills necessary to arrange facts into arguments. Now, they develop the skills needed to communicate those arguments to others through writing and speech. Students research important themes and present those concepts in papers and speeches. They discuss world events and explore career options. They are well-prepared to become lifelong learners.

Modern education has generally put the proverbial cart before the horse, expecting students to master a great number of specialized subjects before they have mastered essential learning skills. In contrast, classical education strives first and foremost to impart to its students the “tools of learning”—skill in knowledge, skill in logical analysis, and skill in oral and written communication. These tools are then applied to specific subject matter until they are mastered. This set of intellectual skills that form the basis for classical education is the kind of broadly foundational education that will give students the freedom to pursue any career path they desire, thus living up to its name as the “liberal” (or freeing) arts.

Classical education does not train students to take a particular test or to assume a particular trade after graduation. Instead, it trains students to think and communicate with a mind of wisdom.

• Classical Model
• What is Classical?
• Education Comparison
• Why Logic
• Why Rhetoric
• Why Latin
• Classical Resources

2Cor10:5 - Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.