Classical Writing Series Finished

Well, after many years-Aesop came out in 1998-the Classical Writing series is finally finished through high school.

We started somewhere around 1996 or 1997 (not sure) and we plugged away at a pace that allowed our children to use our materials. Those kids are now pushing 30, some of them, in careers of their own, all more or less done with college.

We did it initially because we had run across the Greek progymnasmata – beginning writing exercises – and we were fascinated with how systematic they were, how well they trained one skill at a time, how well they taught kids to first imitate ideas, then begin to formulate ideas and then finally how these exercises helped kids come up with new ideas.

It was quite a trip getting through writing the series, especially since our kids were long out of our houses before the final books were out, we were onto other things, and finishing CW became a side show that needed doing, but not one that could always be front burner. Hence 21 + years from start to finish.

Why use the Classical Writing series?

1. You can start as early as preK with the gentle instruction we provide in the Primers. They are easy to use, fun for the kids and you can take them at the pace you want to. There is no rush, the goal is to teach basic writing skills in a fun but systematic way that encourage kids to enjoy words, writing, and stories. Some will start the primers in 1, 2, or 3 grade, it all depends on the readiness of your student. There is no rush in writing instruction. It is most important that for the kid, in so far as it is possible, writing remains an enjoyable exercise.

2. From the Primers we go into Aesop, that is, the students read, retell and rewrite simple fables of 100-200 words. During Aesop we teach spelling of the words from the stories, we begin basic grammar based on the sentences in the stories, and students retell fables in narration and in writing. If they want, they can create their own fables too. Aesop teaches at the word level (spelling), at the sentence level (grammar) and at the paragraph level (whole small fables).

3. From Aesop, we move into Homer. The stories are longer and the grammar learned while studying Homer is more complex. We recommend Homer typically for 5th-6th grade, but student readiness is more important than age or grade level.

4. In the next books, Maxim and Chreia, students learn basic construction of arguments, simple arguments such as are provided in a small maxim like “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” The students analyze the sentence grammatically and also in terms of what the sentence is trying to say. Then the students write an essay arguing for or against the wisdom in the maxim.

5. After Chreia comes Herodotus, Plutarch, and Demosthenes, that is confirmation and refutation of arguments, praise and blame of things, people and concepts, and finally thesis – constructing a research paper.

We invite you to go to our webpage www.classicalwriting.com to check out the 53 different publications we have there, all of them in the service of or in support of the Classical Writing series.

Blessings, Lene Jaqua