Reading and writing are the monarchs of learning.
Classical education traditionally aimed at oral and written comprehension and expression. If you do not have command of your own language both to take in what others have expressed and to express yourself, you cannot communicate what you have learned to others.
This is not to say we don’t need to teach math or science or history also, but that an authentic classical education must put a higher premium on language.
Many moms will look at Classical Writing and see 60 minutes per day in language arts in 3rd grade and say, “I can’t spend that much time, I also have curriculum X, curriculum Y, and curriculum Z to cover.”
Well, not every day takes 60 minutes, and not every mom takes 60 minutes to cover the language arts lessons. Nonetheless, it may not be so far off to prioritize lanuguage arts (reading, spelling, grammar, and writing) with an hour on your daily schedule. Can you afford NOT to?
The trick is integrating all the other subjects to be subordinary to your language arts priorities. Take the skills you need to work on in language arts and apply them in all the other subjects.
Lene