Festivals: the Hallmark of Grammar School
This week marks the beginning of festival ‘season’ in the life of the grammar school. The festivals, whether based in the students’ history, literature, or Bible lessons, are a hallmark of grammar education at CDA. Each year, the teachers and students work diligently to prepare for them by creating projects and honing speeches about the knowledge they gained in their own research. The students have an opportunity to present their projects and speeches to a wider audience, their parents and extended family.
In these festivals, all three aspects of the trivium are in action! Our students have read and researched a topic on their own, which is the way of grammar. They have worked with their parents to plan their projects and speeches, to find associations between what they have read and what they want to display - the way of logic. And finally, they present their new knowledge and ideas in a way that others will find interesting and winsome - the way of rhetoric.
This week our 4th graders celebrated early American history, but in the coming months, our other classes will have a time to participate. Consistently, our students express anticipation before their festivals and real pleasure afterwards. We value this event in the lives of our grammar students because it highlights the excitement our children experience in their own education.
