Preparing For Classical School
In my work at Golden View, I meet many prospective families who are excited about sending their children to a classical school. They have heard wonderful things from their friends and neighbors, found a school they love, and applied.
The next questions I get are along the lines of, “What can we do in the meantime?” or “How can we make this transition as smooth as possible?” They are fair and important questions to ask. Families who have really seen something in classical education know that it offers things that they want in their children’s lives right now. Moreover, they know that classical education deliberately challenges students, so they want to get their children prepared for success.
In an effort to answer these questions, I offer you a list of the things that we find most beneficial for incoming students. To make perusing easy (as this is a longer post than usual), I’ve broken the list into a few different categories and, at the end, I’ve provided a to-do list for parents.
-For Kindergarten
-For 1st-12th Grade
Refresh math essentials
Read and Write
Start Talking about Virtue
Work on Organization, Handwriting, and Typing
-For Parents
Read list of recommended items
Look through the school’s website
Continue to practice your own virtue
For Kindergarten:
The summer before starting kindergarten is a great time to work on the roots of your child’s success in the fall. What does that mean? Work on the simple things, like the ABC’s and numbers 1 through 20. Talk to your children about what it means to be kind and fair. And, more than anything else, read together and relish in play. Enjoy the last days of not having a tight schedule. At my school, this is the only summer regimen we recommend. We love and respect these last days of the pre-kinder years, we want our kindergartners to be fun-loving and creative, and we want parents to play right along with them. For children this young, the rigors of school can wait.
For suggestions about working on the basics and fostering creativity, download our Kindergarten readiness packet.
For 1st-12th Grade
#1 Keep students refreshed on essential math concepts:
The best thing you can do is to find out which math curriculum your school uses and try to imitate it. Here are some other suggestions too:
Not all classical schools use Singapore Math, but many do! Singapore is unmatched for teaching math, but it has its quirks. Check out the resources on the Singapore Math website.
Consider this resource for math drills and games.
Summer Bridge Workbooks come with engaging activities for math and other subjects too.
Khan Academy has free instructional videos and practice questions sorted by topic and math level.
Beginning as early as the 8th grade students can begin taking practice tests for the SAT. You can download them here. Sort out the math sections and take a few stabs at them. This will give you an idea of the areas in math where students are strong and where they can use some work.
This site has drills and math facts, but also tabs on specific levels like Algebra and Geometry.
#2 Read and Write
This list starts with recommendations for younger students and works its way to older grade levels. If you give students tons of practice and an enthusiasm for stories, you’ll have given them one of the biggest advantages a child can have for school in the fall.
Download CSC’s Sight Word Lists. If students can recognize these words from the get-go, it will be easier for them to pull sounds apart in harder words during the fall.
Here is a great video, produced by Hillsdale College, all about learning the 72 phonograms. Golden View also has a printable list here.
Download Common Sense Classical’s Reading Punch card, which is great for the summertime or during the school year.
Encourage their love and ability in reading by immersing them in great books like Mother Goose and the Beatrix Potter treasury.
Consider the variety of books from Usborne. They have science lift-the-flap books like this one, activity books like this one, and a variety of other topics your child might find interesting.
The Eye Witness series is great for reference books.
Take a look at Common Sense Classical’s Recommended Reading List. Then, consult your prospective school’s own summer reading lists.
Let your students read simply to experience the joy of reading, and, if you’d like, pepper them with the following questions at the dinner table:
Does anything happen that surprises you?
Do you like, or really dislike, any of the characters? Tell me about them.
Who’s the hero? Is there a villain?
Tell me about something important that happens in the book. What must it have been like to see that, or be a part of it?
Where does the story take place? What’s it like there? Tell me about it.
For older students: read through some past posts from Mr. Ian Atherton - my husband, and a literature teacher at Golden View. Check out:
Encourage your students to dabble in some poetry or write an opinion piece or creative story to get their writing and editing muscles working. You might even try these books on imitative writing. We use them in the 8th and 11th grades. We love them because they are useful, and - frankly - a lot of fun:
#3 Start talking about virtue:
Many classical schools will have a list of core virtues that they wish to instill in their students. Just check out Golden View’s to get an idea of what I mean. There are a lot of ways that families can incorporate the language of virtue in their homes. Here are two examples:
Intentionally discuss the virtue of moderation in moments when children could have a little more patience for meals and snacks, are playing with others and are tempted to break the rules of a game, or when they need to work on not interrupting conversations.
Children can be encouraged to demonstrate courage when they are trying new foods or when they have the opportunity to apologize without being asked.
#4 Work on organization, handwriting, and typing:
This is one that I think is severely underestimated. Organization is a key element to success in a classical school. If a student’s backpack, locker, and planner are not organized - it makes everything more difficult.
Encourage them to start small! Begin with a chest of drawers in their room, the shelves in the garage, or the bookshelves packed with old toys, gadgets, and books. If you need more inspiration, add “Tidying Up with Marie Kando” to your Netflix queue. Purchase or make a summer planner for social commitments, sports practices, and family events.
Handwriting, likewise, is a lost art. Many students transferring into a classical school find that they have a difficult time reading or reviewing their notes because they are illegible. It’s an easily correctable and altogether simple skill to work on before starting school.
Many students come to middle or high school without many typing skills, and classical schools tend to spare students the tedium of a semester-long typing class. But knowing the basics of typing can shave off many hours of homework come fall.There are plenty of free, simple typing classes online that can be completed at students’ leisure. I know this one to be particularly easy and enjoyable.
For Parents:
#1 Read these things:
First, start with these posts
Then, make your way through our Recommended Reading List right alongside your student.
Finally, to help supplement your own understanding of education, I recommend that you take a look through both The Well Trained Mind and Cultural Literacy
#2 Look through the school’s website:
You can tell a lot about a school from their website! Wherever you’re applying, take a look at their website to see if they have any resources of their own. Many schools will offer information about curriculum, extracurricular activities, and course descriptions.
#3 Continue to practice your own virtue:
This is a big one, and often the most difficult. Nothing will make a bigger impact in preparing your child for the kind of study a classical education entails than seeing their own parents live out its lessons. And, of all the lessons we teach, we teach nothing so important as virtue. Think about it, study it, and practice it. And give just as much attention to the small virtues as to the big ones. Do think about courage, and justice, and reverence - but don’t neglect humble old punctuality, and discretion, and patience. We too need those - and we forget about them - in the humdrum of traffic or the checkout line.
My final encouragement would be to think of a few virtues, learn about them, and think of how they can become more habitual in your own life as a parent and adult.
