Classical Education Is Connections
Classical Education is the interweaving of topics all based on a time point in history. Scholars studying the Renaissance will read novels from the time period in their ELA classes, study the scientific breakthroughs of the period in science and immerse themselves in the art, music and culture of that same time period. Lining up these subjects in a month-by-month, grade-by-grade map is easily achieved in one location where teachers actively communicate keeping the school on pace.
Thematic Units Works - The Research Is Clear
The use of thematic units of study involves immersions in time periods of history and has been found to have achieved a higher level of Critical Thinking Skills and a more positive attitude towards Social Studies in general. [1] The Ethos Logos Curriculum model is built on a year-long exploration of a historical time period which moves beyond fact memorization and on to knowledge utilization and application. According to Freeman and Sokoloff’, the goal is to build a curriculum so that students explore these questions deeper and learn how the intersections of literature, history, and arts of the time period influenced events. It is not possible to answer such questions without using the knowledge, skills, and attitudes represented within the disciplines.[2]
[1] The Effects of Thematic Social Studies Instruction on Eighth Grade Students Historical Reasoning Ability and Attitudes Towards Social Studies Related Tasks. Cloutier, Andrew R (2013). Education Dissertations. http://repository.wcsu.edu/educationdis/21
[2] Freeman, Skoloff, “Toward a Theory of Thematic Curricula: Constructing New Learning Environments for Teachers & Learners” (1995). Education Policy Analysis Archives.
Classical With Standards Alignment
Within the Ethos Logos Curriculum modules, each unit of instruction in each subject has a detailed syllabus from which the teacher builds their lesson. To date, over 2000 syllabi have been built for Math, English, History, Science, Art, Music, Logic, Latin, and Geography. Each syllabus connects back to the time frame the scholars are studying and includes State Standards, a featured writing prompt, the grammar studied during the time frame, the featured artist/composer, and links to dozens of PowerPoint presentations and sample lesson plans for the teacher to use in creating their unique lesson of instruction.
HOW and WHY Medici Classical
Digital Curriculum Was Built
- The entire focus on our digital platform is to put EXACTLY what our teachers needed at the EXACT moment they needed it. No digging, no hunting.
- Our motto was 'Let us help you with the WHAT to teach, you focus on the HOW and WHY you are teaching it.'
- We watched teachers struggle to plan lessons every day for 3 to 7 subject areas. Our goal was to not recreate the wheel from school to school and help our teachers by cutting down the workload.
We saw that each teacher was recreating the same lessons over and over without sharing and helping others in our system. We saw that a teacher may be extremely interested in one topic, say English, but not as familiar with Science. Guess which lessons were more prepared and impactful.
What The Research Says:
