Classical Education, Part II

I'm still doing more research into classical education, but here is a typical classical education 1st grade student's day (Grammar Stage), taken from A Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise:

Language: Do Spelling Workout A and Handwriting…Grade 1 for 10 to 15 mins per day, begin English for the Thoughtful Child for 15-20 mins per day when you begin Spelling Workout B, spend 30 mins per day reading and making notebook pages. Spend at least 30 mins per day reading fun books.

Writing: Work on simple letters to relatives & friends twice a week. Copy short sentences 2-3 days per week for 5 mins each day, working up to 20 mins per day.

Math: Work on the math lesson (either learning a concept or doing a drill) 30-40 mins per day.

History: Ask child to tell you what you just read; make notebook pages together for history notebook. Do 3 hrs per week.

Science: Study animals, plants, & human body twice a week for 1 hour each session.

Art: Do Drawing with Children, art projects, or picture study once a week for 1 hour.

Music: Spend 1 hr per week listening to classical music; begin the study of an instrument if possible.

**Now, I give you a glimpse of a 1st grade reading list**

Ancients, 4000 B.C.-400 A.D (1st Grade)

Stores & poems by, about, or from….

The Bible
Homer
Hutton, Warwick. The Trojan Horse
McCaughrean, Geraldine. The Odyssey.
Greek & Roman Myths
Fisher, Leonard Everett. Theseus and the Minotaur.
The Olympians
Cyclops
Geringer, Laura. The Pomegranate Seeds.
Hutton, Warwick. Theseus and the Minotaur.
Perseus
McCaughrean, Geraldine. Greek Myths.
Aesop’s Fables
Plato
Aristotle
Egyptian myths
Indian folktales
Turnbull, E. Luica. Fairy Tales of India
African Folktales
Courlander, Harold. The King’s Drum and Other Stories
Confucius
Chinese and Japanese Folktales
Ancient Chinese & Japanese Poetry
Bishop, Clair. The Five Chinese Brothers.
Cicero
Virgil
English, Irish, & Welsh fairy tales
Bennet, Richard. Little Dermot and the Thirsty Stones, and Other Irish Folk Tales.
Steel, Flora Ann. English Fairy Tales.

Keep in mind, this is only the reading list! The history/geography/life sciences lists are pretty long as well. However, the beauty of this method is that if students find a certain subject interesting, they may concentrate on that subject and spend less time on the next. Since this is the trivium, students will study these subjects at least two more times, so they will be able to get further in-depth in the following years. You just have to remember this is 1st grade, so they don't need to know/understand/comprehend everything to the fullest, but this list gives them an introduction on what is to come. In first grade, they are only introduced to the subject--the grammar stage. Next, they will encounter the subject in the logic stage or the dialectic stage, when children are learning to reason. Finally, they will encounter it in the rhetoric stage, when they learn to communicate effectively. I think of it like this:

Have you ever turned on PBS and said, "Hey, I remember learning about that in school!" Only, now you can actually think about the consequences of the subject matter. In fact, you could probably write an original paper regarding the subject, if given a little more research. Also, I've found that if I had a good experience with a subject as a child, I'm more likely to pay attention to it as an adult just from the fondness of childhood memories.

Oh, and Latin doesn't begin until 3rd grade...