Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style

When a Christian decides to homeschool, it can be for many different reasons. Many want to keep their children from the sin or evil influences of the world. Others wish to give their children a superior education. Others still choose to homeschool simply for pragmatic reasons. And then there are those Christians whom wish to disciple their children as laid out in scripture. The Bluedorns have so graciously poured their life into this book to help us organize our thoughts. Why homeschool? How? This book encourages us to use our minds and think. Chapters 1-3 are foundational for understanding what the Bible really has to say to us about education and why the home truly is superior to the classroom. Chapters 4-10 explain and discuss the use of the trivium. Chapters 11-16 are guides on how to practically put the trivium to use in your home. Chapter 11: The Early Knowledge Level: Ten Things to Do Before Age Ten has been extremely foundational in my family's homeschool adventure. That chapter is an article that can be downloaded for free off of the Trivium Pursuit website, and it is great to whet the appetite of any new homeschooler trying to figure out how to maintain a home, care for children, AND homeschool.Chapter One has Four Distinctives of the Biblical Model of Education, which I believe to be paramount in understanding where the Bluedorns are coming from. 1. All true Education must begin with the revelation of God. 2. The family at home is given sole jurisdiction over the education of children. 3. Education is to fully prepare children for adult life. 4. The ultimate goal of education is holiness - separation to God for His serviceThe great thing about this book is that even if you don't agree with all of what they say, you have a great starting off point from which to talk with your spouse and dialogue with others. Harvey and Laurie have gifted my family in many ways, through their years of study and trailblazing. I thank God for using them to bless me and guide me, mentor me and spur me on. They don't give all the answers. They don't tell you what curriculum to use. They nudge you to think Biblically and honestly and to establish a family lifestyle that will encourage discipleship. Once that is accomplished, it is very easy to know which curriculum will work and which will not. This book will help you organize your thoughts and align them with God's truth. It is a fabulous investment. I have lent out two copies, my husband has one, and I have the fourth copy. After reading through the book more than once, my husband decided to pick it up, and God has used it in a mighty way to gently show my husband what a great opportunity he has to lead our family homeschool. How desperately our home needed him to lead. Homeschooling is a lifestyle choice for a Christian family, and this book is a helpful handbook.

You will most likely not like this book if A)You do not believe that Jesus Christ is God, B)You consider yourself a theologically liberal Christian or C) You think that your homeschool should feel like a prep school at home. Fair warning?Previous reviewers have already explained the Bluedorns' approach, so I will not go into the hows and whys of that here. All I will say is, I have 5 children and my older two (who are now "school" age) are blossoming within the Bluedorns' approach, and they are very different from each other in the ways and speed with which they learn. And amazingly, even with 5 children, this approach DOES leave us with a breathable, workable day.I spent the first six years of my oldest's life reading anything and everything about homeschooling and child brain development, since we knew we wanted to homeschool. My husband and I finally settled on the Bluedorns' approach since it made the most sense in terms of child development and for our purposes: aiming to make our children independent scholars with a zest for learning. The other critical factor for us is that the Bluedorns' approach (they give you principles to work with, not rules about what you can and cannot do) begins with the bible as the foundation of all things, it's not tacked on as "Religious Studies".If you are curious about this book, but are hesitant to spend the money on it, I would highly recommend you first listen to their free audio seminars on their website. This will give you a very good idea of what you will find in the book (although in the book they go into greater detail of each stage of learning and subject matter). Type "trivium pursuit" into your search engine and you will find their website.And no, I do not know the Bluedorns, nor is this a solicited commercial for their business. My motivation for reviewing and promoting it is that I know personally so many Christians who want to homeschool classically and with a Christian foundation and are stuggling under the prep-school style weight of another popular book, and I have a feeling there are more of you out there.;-)

I absolutely enjoyed this delightful book , even after homeschooling for 10 years. I have found it has given me new inspiration. What stood out to me throughout the whole book, was the fact that we are to be Christians that stand out in everything we do , and that includes our schooling..thank you ..

I am having a hard time understanding some of the comments from the one-star reviewers. Many of them have mentioned a "self-righteous" or "pious" tone from the authors. Personally, I felt the tone was very humble and encouraging. The Bluedorns are government school graduates like most of us are, and I got the impression that they were saying, "If we can do this, so can you." The Bluedorns acknowledge that it may not be possible to teach everything exactly the way it is outlined in the book, especially if you have multiple children. However, the Bluedorns believe that homeschool burnout is often due to parents trying to "bring the classroom home" and feeling that their children must learn everything they would learn, in the exact same order they would learn it in a classroom atmosphere. They make the point that much of what is being taught in schools is just "trivia" that could be replaced with more important subjects that actually train the mind of the child. The authors encourage parents (many of whom are first-generation homeschoolers) to train their children to the best of their ability, thereby equipping them (as second-generation homeschoolers) to reach a higher standard of excellence with their own children.This is a huge book packed with insight and ideas. Other reviewers have gone into more detail. The main purpose I had in creating this review was to counter the negative comments made about the authors' tone and spirit.Also, this book has the most detailed, helpful table of contents I have ever seen! I am impressed with its order and layout.

Stumbled across this by accident, heard good reviews, purchased after watching a couple of Bluedorns uploaded vids on you tube...really brilliant, in depth study to classical homeschooling, you need to go over it a few times though...it has good helpful resource pages at the back...since purchasing it.. I have decided to apply this method to teaching my own children..thanks to The Bluedorns!!!!!!

The book opens on a kindle app on a phone, as it's in azw format, but not on a kindle device, which tends to use mobi. I've still kept the book as I still would like to read it, regardless of the issue above.

It could be easily condensed to one third of the volume without loosing much. I had to glance over many of the paragraphs as I knew exactly what was his points. He just goes on and on.

as advertised