INTRODUCTION
“Do not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2
Legacy Classical has taken three bold moves away from the appearance of the world’s government schools. While our school started with the intent of mimicking what we thought were “best practices”, after 13 years of studying the bible, studying classical education, and learning the history of our current American school system, the leaders concluded that the world’s “best practices” fall short in comparison to God’s design for education.
God’s design for education begins and ends with the home. He wants us to teach and admonish our children throughout the day as we complete family chores, play with siblings, or serve our neighborhood.
We truly believe that the last 170 years of education has done more harm than good for the Kingdom of God. Children raised in Christian homes are leaving the faith at an alarming rate and we have to ask why. We believe there is a direct correlation between government-funded public schools and the decline in how Americans “religiously identify.”
Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
We want God to transform our children, so we should not copy the behavior of the world - even in how we educate our children. We want school days to closely reflect how we learn and grow naturally. For this reason, we have decided to use the following three bold moves: multi-age classes, narrative grading, and family-centric content.
WHAT WE ARE DOING
What are multi-age classes? Multi-age classrooms are classrooms where students learn and grow together across more than one grade level. Currently, the grade level system adopted by the government is a k-12 system adopted from Prussia in the early 19th century. Before this, America had smaller schools where multi-age classrooms were common. During this multi-age classroom era, America had excellent literacy rates, some as high as 98%! That is outstanding when compared to today which says 54% of Americans have a literacy rate below the age of 11.
What are the benefits of multi-age classes? The following benefits are summarized from various research studies and have been documented in the journal “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Multiage Classrooms in the Era of NCLB Accountability” 2008.
Student disobedience is lower
Higher language development
Significant gains in reading and language skills
Higher cognitive developmental level
Creates a caring environment
Sense of continuity and connection
Students learn at an individual pace to reach their full potential
Improved student attitudes
Decreased discipline referrals
Increased attendance
Improve peer relations among students.
What are the disadvantages of multi-age classes? According to the article above, the following disadvantages are also summarized.
Rejection by parents (fear of quality instruction) (however the article states “Often the parents involved more in school life are the ones who promote and prefer to have their children in multiage classrooms.” As a University-model school parent, we are plenty involved!
Solution: Provide quality instruction!
Teacher buy-in (fear of preparedness and differentiation, concern for greater workload)
Solution: Let’s get prepared! Provide instructors with professional development focused on differentiated learning and narrative grading!
Not compatible with grade-level content state testing
Solution: Not a problem. We don’t take state tests anyway!
How are Legacy Classical’s multi-age classes structured? We have always enrolled students into grade levels based on their ability more than their age. Having six to seven “forms” supports a philosophy we have held since 2010. Notice there is an overlap in the ages.
Form 1 (age 4 - 6) typically Prek and Kindergarten
Form 2 (ages 6 - 8) typically first and second grade
Form 3 (ages 8 - 10) typically third and fourth grade
Form 4 (ages 10 - 12) typically fifth and sixth grade
Form 5 (ages 12 - 14) typically seventh and eighth grade
Form 6 (ages 14 - 16) typically ninth and tenth grade
Form 7 (ages 16 - 18) typically eleventh and twelfth grade
How can a teacher teach both first and second-grade curriculum? Simply put, they don’t. Multi-age classrooms are not a “curriculum-centered approach”. Curriculum-centered instruction only came about in the mid-nineteenth century because of immigration and compulsory attendance laws. (Song et al.) Curriculum-centered instruction is only needed if you are teaching to a test. We don’t want our students studying to get a good grade. We want them curious and wondering and seeking out information because it is exciting and enjoyable.
Multi-age classrooms are mastery-based learning. A set of learning targets are determined and the instructor verifies the student is making progress. A first-year Form 2 student would learn what the second-year Form 2 student learns, but the teacher (and parent) would not expect mastery from the first-year Form 2 student.
What are “learning targets”? Depending on who you ask, these can be called “standards”, “objectives”, or “benchmarks”. We chose the term “learning targets” because they feel very friendly and easy to understand: Here is the target I am going after! Learning targets and assessing with narrative grading (a 1 - 4 scale instead of A-F scale) has anecdotal evidence of reducing teacher workload and grading. By using specific targeted expectations, a teacher can decide on assignments and assessments that literally target it. With the A-F grading scale, if the child received a C nobody would have known what the child needed to improve on. However, with narrative grading, the feedback would be anecdotal such as a rubric or checklist that indicates strengths and weaknesses.
So narrative grading is our second bold move. While ours will not look exactly like the attached article, it is a great synopsis of what this classical school has been doing for years. “In Defense of Mastery Pt 2”
How about all those levels of curriculum books like Shurley English 3 and 4 or All About Reading 1 and 2 Well, a curriculum-centered approach to education makes a strong, financial case for curriculum companies. Once you pull out the learning targets from Shurley English 3 and 4, there are very few deviations. It’s almost like level 3 is to introduce the skills and level 4 is a review with an expectation of mastery while introducing a shockingly small additional skillset. Honestly, by focusing on the higher “curriculum” book, we are allowing the younger students an opportunity to go further than they would have had otherwise. And if the student does not understand it the first year, they have an additional year to master it.
How about math? Math will always be the outlier. We will still have math as the first period of the day to allow for students who far excel and would need to be in a higher form than the one they spend the rest of the day in. However, it is still possible to provide vertical alignment and curriculum mapping for students to learn math in a multi-age classroom.
What is vertical alignment and curriculum mapping? This is when an educator breaks down a textbook and lines up all the learning targets (as closely as possible) like a ladder. Let’s say chapter 1 in first grade is calendar and time but calendar and time for 2nd grade is in chapter 3. The educator determines where the learning targets are taught in the book and then creates a chart for the teacher to refer to when teaching. Your child’s assignments may seem “out of order” at times, but they will be scheduled this way deliberately.
How would a teacher teach first and second-grade math at the same time using vertical alignment? Here is an example: The Learning Target is “I can develop place values of thousands (ages 7 or 8); hundreds, tens, and ones (age 6)”. The teacher begins by teaching all the students about place values for hundreds, tens, and ones. This is new information for the 6-year-old but a review for the 7 or 8-year-old. Once the teacher determines that the 6-year-old has a solid grasp, the first years can move to a math center while the teacher keeps the older students with her for the second part of the lesson: developing place value to the thousands.
What if my child is a first year student in the Form and can do the higher learning target of place value to the thousands? Hopefully, the teacher is aware of this and includes that first year student with the second-year students. This is where differentiation is so great!
Our final bold move is called Family-Centric Learning. What is that? This is such a “no-brainer” that we want to apologize for not doing it sooner. As we discussed before, America’s government schools are curriculum-centered for students to score well on mandated tests. When we modeled Legacy Classical after government schools, we did not ask ‘why’ every grade had to learn a completely different science, history, math, and grammar topic. We were sheeple and just followed the template. Now we know better. We know that the BEST learning at home (and at school) happens when we are all on the same page. If we can cycle through content and focus on SKILLS (learning targets), then we can develop great conversations and dig deeper into discussions. We can learn from one another, mentor each other, and grow together!
