Our Classical Approach

We use a Classical approach to education based on the model known as the Trivium.  The Classical method was developed during Greco-Roman times, formalized in the medieval period, and nearly universally embraced by educators in the English speaking world until the early 20th  century, when experiments with alternative forms of education began.  During the past 20 years, there has been a recognition of the proven excellence of the Classical approach and a huge resurgence in the Classical movement.   Classical Christian schools are flourishing across America.  Naperville Christian Academy is a member of the Association of Classical and Christian Schools (ACCS), which has hundreds of member schools across 42 states.  There are Classical Christian schools in most major metropolitan areas, and an ever increasing rate of growth in new schools.

The Trivium, upon which the Classical approach is based, organizes learning around the maturing capacity of a child’s mind and comprises three stages: the elementary school Grammar Stage, in which the student acquires the building blocks of information; the middle school Logic Stage, in which the student begins to think more analytically; and the high school Rhetoric Stage, in which the student learns to write and speak with force and originality.  A summary of the Trivium is shown below: