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Books on Classical Education by Douglas Wilson   Reviews by Martha Robinson, February 2001

Summary: Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning discusses a Reformed Protestant view of the theory of Classical Christian education. This book took the lead in advocating a return to Classical Approach education when it was published in 1991. Douglas Wilson, founder of Logos School, a Classical Christian school in Idaho, begins by discussing the failure of public schools to educate children. Religious teaching and general learning go hand-in-hand so Christian parents should consider alternatives to the public school. To fulfill the Biblical requirements of parental responsibility, parents must "know what and how their children are being taught" either by homeschooling or by constant involvement in a private Christian school. Mr. Wilson is clear in specifying what he considers to be the pitfalls of homeschooling and that he feels that homeschooling, while clearly better than public school, should be second choice to a good Christian school. Stages of learning in the Classical Approach are discussed as they relate to a Christian school. The appendices include Dorothy Sayers' "Lost Tools of Learning" essay, Logos school curriculum material, and a history of the decline of public schools.

Recommendation: This is NOT a "how-to" book, but it will give you material for consideration in educating your children. While written by an early leader in the classical Christian teaching revival, it is written from a doctrinal point of view that may not be in agreement with many other Christians, and the author clearly views a classroom environment as preferable to the home school. Still, Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning offers material that may help you in your efforts to implement the Trivium at home.

Summary: This book provides more information to the parent wishing to homeschool using the Classical Method. It gives basic overviews of the component parts of Classical education, Latin, logic, rhetoric, and Christian Worldview thinking. Handy lists of suggested additional reading are provided at the end of many of the chapters.

Recommendation: This book is available to read on-line for free! Check it out at the following link, along with several other free booklets of potential interest to Christians: http://www.canonpress.org/pages/free.html

Visit our Christian Trivium Message Board, where you can discuss your classical Christian homeschooling ideas.

The above reviews are the opinions of the reviewers. Products, rather than companies or authors, have been reviewed. You may want to research companies further before choosing to buy any of the products reviewed. The reviews may or may not reflect the opinions of the management of HomeschoolChristian.com.