Trivium Mastery

Posted by AmyStults | 0 comments

Freed of the structure of the twelve-year, three-stage urban legend, you can relax and enjoy your children as you teach three simple skills: language, thought, and speech.

Diane Lockman, Trivium Mastery: the Intersection of Three Roads

Diane Lockman is brilliant. Just brilliant. I just finished reading her new book, Trivium Mastery, and it is amazing. If you are currently a classical homeschooler, or are interested in the classical method, please get this book. It will change your views on what authentic classical homeschooling truly is.

In part one, Diane doesn’t just tell you WHAT you should be doing, she tells you HOW to do it and do it well. She begins with an overview of not only the history of classical education, but also an overview of the history of the public school system in general. Diane’s historical accounts are very well researched. It was fascinating for me to read about the birth of “Christianized Classical Education” under Emperor Charlemagne in the 9^th century. As Diane puts it, “The mainstream pagan education had been redeemed by Christian content.” (page 9).

Diane breaks from the traditional standard of thinking by pointing out that there is no proof, no studies, and no research, “beyond (Dorothy) Sayers’ own experience, that children follow three stages of development that correlate to a three stage trivium.” (page 18).  In reality, all three roads can be traveled simultaneously and Diane shows you how! This book gives you road maps and detailed assessment tools to help you makeover your entire homeschool plan.

Part two of Trivium Mastery details 12 real-life student makeovers preformed by Diane herself. After interviewing each family, getting to know both parents and children, she personally evaluated the effectiveness of the original education plan in terms of the child’s personality, interests, strengths, and weaknesses. With so many examples to choose from, you will no doubt see parts of your child in many of these stories.

My son is almost through the road map for mastery of the language stage and is well into the thought stage. According to the “old method” which bases stages on age, he should not be doing this, as he is only 8 years old. What a relief it was to be told by someone as esteemed as Diane that this is quite normal – an elementary school student CAN have the capability for cognitive thinking skills. We do not have to adhere to the typical “grammar stage” schedule to be considered true classical educators.

There are dozens and dozens of quotes from Diane that I have highlighted in my copy and I wish I could share them, but I wouldn’t want to ruin all the fun of reading the book for yourself!

You can purchase Trivium Mastery through Amazon.com for only $18.76, or if you attend the upcoming Heart of the Matter online conference, you can register to win a free copy!

Amy Stults is a devoted wife to her husband of 12 years, a Classical homeschooling mom to an eight-year-old Superhero and the co-founder of Heart of the Matter. She has a passion for genealogy and is aspiring to be a Proverbs 31 lady. Be sure to visit her blog at Milk and Cookies.