Classical Education verses Proverbs 1:7a

In my search to learn how to best educate my children I wanted to pursue Classical education. Classical education is made up of 3 levels: Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric. Each level corresponds to certain grade levels. Grammar is grades 1-4, Logic is grades 5-8 and Rhetoric is grades 9-12. Last year I wanted to attempt classical education with Logan. She has a late birthday and turned 6 in October. Now depending on what state you live in, she is either considered a K'er or a 1st grader. I assumed that because she would be 6 that she would be ready to start the Grammar stage. I was prepared with my copy of Well Trained Mind and many of the authors curriculum. I was so excited to start the 4 year history cycle beginning with the Ancients! I also had My Father's World 1st grade to use for phonics. All of the WTM suggestions flopped and MFW was good only for the first semester. What was I doing wrong?!?!?!? These curriculums are touted as some of the best available!

This year I decided to just relax or what I considered 'relaxing' I was going to use HOD LHFHG. It did not start off using the 4 year history cycle, but I didn't care at this point. MFW doesn't start of using the 4 year history cycle either. Both curriculums disliked the idea of teaching children that young about other cultures that worshiped false god. That didn't bother me. I always just put the world 'fake' in front of the name of the false gods and made sure that the children knew they were not the One True God.

I came across this post about homeschooling:

http://americanvision.org/2624/the-socialization-of-education/

The main idea out of the article that struck me was

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
Proverbs 1:7a

The article has several references from the book Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style. Great! I have that book, so out it came. I bought this book about 10 years ago when I first started homeschooling Taryn. In this book it out lined the 3 stages of Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric, but said that the Biblical version was Knowledge, Understanding and Wisdom. In Teaching the Trivium , the ages for each stage is different. There are two stages of Knowledge early 0-9 and late 10-12, Understanding ages 13-15 and Wisdom ages 16-18. This started to make more sense to what I observed with my oldest daughter. She took off reading at age 10-11. I also remember, in her 9th grade year, most of the literature the school had her read was way over her head, all the kids in her classes head! I would have to interpret the stories to her. The literature was awesome, but she hadn't reached the Wisdom stage of development yet. According to the classical trivium she should have been in the rhetoric stage. Teaching the Trivium called for a more relaxed school environment for students under age 10 and then you really pick up the pace!
So far, I liked what I was reading in Teaching the Trivium, but something still was not sitting well with me: the verse- Proverbs 1:7a.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…...
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…...
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of………... Knowledge.

Wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is another stage!!!!!!!!!!! Teaching the Trivium called it Early Knowledge. HOD and MFW wanted to teach Biblical History for the first several years instead of following the classical 4 history cycle. HOW COULD WE MISS THIS STAGE? I understand that the Bible should be woven in and through all subjects, but this is different.

The first stage in a Classical Biblical Education should be "The Fear of the Lord" stage or the "Biblical Foundation" stage! Teach the Bible first. Teach the Bible stories, memorize scripture, teach your children to pray. Teach them how to obey the Lord………TEACH THEM TO FEAR THE LORD. Then they will have the foundation to begin teaching them knowledge! They don't need to be able to read or write or add or subtract during the Biblical Foundation stage. That doesn't mean that you don't start teaching them these things, but the 'academic' subject can be done at a more leisurely pace or honestly at a pace more lined up with child brain development (but that is a topic for a different post). Study history! Until recently (in the last 75 years)children did not start school till age 7. Hum…..why do we push school to start at 3,4,5 or even 6? These ages should be the Biblical Foundation Stage. We push education younger and younger so we can quit having to paying for daycare! Just let the government take care of us……poohy! If the main focus in the first stage was Biblical Foundation, it would allow each child to learn to read and write at their own pace. By the time they are 9, most children will have mastered these skills. Children learn to read at different paces, anywhere between ages 4-9 or 10.

Here is my suggestion for Biblical Classical Education

Fear of the Lord (Biblical Foundation) ages:3-8 grade:PreK-3rd
Knowledge ages:9-11 grades:4th-6th
Understanding ages: 12-14 grades: 7th-9th
Wisdom ages: 15-18 grades: 10th-12th