{"id":1752,"date":"2008-05-06T14:25:35","date_gmt":"2008-05-06T21:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janice-campbell.com\/?p=77"},"modified":"2020-08-20T14:53:57","modified_gmt":"2020-08-20T14:53:57","slug":"the-core-curriculum-teaches-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/the-core-curriculum-teaches-connections\/","title":{"rendered":"The Core Curriculum Teaches Connections"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Whenever the weather permits, I eat lunch outside on the patio in the edge of the woodland. At this time of year, there are spiderwebs everywhere. It doesn’t matter that I come out every day and sit in the same chair, I still have to brush away an accumulation of delicate webs.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>I hadn’t been sitting there for more than a minute or two today when I noticed that one fine strand of web had already been spun from arm to arm on my chair, like an airy version of the festive ribbon that outlines special seating sections at a wedding. Since I had been reading from Charlotte Mason’s Toward a Philosophy of Education<\/em><\/a>, my thoughts turned to the gossamer threads that link ideas and subjects, and from there to the single greatest benefit of learning through the classical core curriculum.<\/p>\n

Although many students never suspect it while they are in school, knowledge is not naturally divided into separate subjects, each fitting neatly into a 50-minute space in the day. Rather, math walks hand in hand with science, and both affect the course of history. Literature and the arts not only reflect, but also forecast trends in their culture, creating an enduring portrait of what is, and sometimes, what is to come.<\/p>\n

I first discovered the web of great ideas through books I read on my own, rather than through the dessicated textbooks and neatly segregated subjects I encountered in school, and I suspect that it’s the same for many of you. It’s been a joy to introduce these idea-connections to my children\u00a0\u2014\u00a0to present a feast of\u00a0big ideas, and to share the excitement of seeing those ideas spark, connect, and catch fire.<\/p>\n

What is the core curriculum?<\/h1>\n

The classical core curriculum provides the type of education that\u00a0The Great Tradition<\/em> describes as\u00a0“first and foremost as the hard work of rightly ordering the human soul, helping it to love what it ought to love, and helping it to know itself and its maker.” The core curriculum helps students grapple with questions such as<\/p>\n