Lower School

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Kindergarten - Sixth Grade

These are the years that are the most crucial in cultivating habits of the soul and mind. Because of the impressionable nature of the child at this age it is necessary to focus on those studies which cultivate the skills essential for learning. This being the case, the focus is on language and literature (see Early Training for a Classical Mind.) These mediums have traditionally been key in developing the ingrained habits of learning. The focus is on developing language and logical categories through prose. Because the goal is integrated thinking the distinctions between the content of "subjects" are not emphasized, but all knowledge is unified in an effort to cultivate the skills of the Trivium. The Trivium, or "three ways" are the verbal arts of Grammar (linking concepts to symbols), Dialectic (correctly reasoning), and Rhetoric (persuasively expressing and communicating). All the while, the teacher focuses on preparing the child to interact with knowledge. To develop the foundational art of classical instruction, dialectic, the teacher moves the child to the right answers through Socratic instruction and seeks to train the child to ask the right questions rather than always providing the answers. Through this process the imagination is continually trained through good stories and exposure to poetry with the goal of training the mind while encouraging wonder and awe.

Westminster Academy considers all texts as tools to engage students in dialogue and critical thinking. Our educational pedagogy creates an emphasis on a Socratic and Dialectic approach to education which requires students to consistently go beyond texts and enter into significant discovery through their own mastery.