Piety and poetic knowledge

Piety and poetic knowledge describe education in the earliest years.

Piety is learning to reverence and love God and our neighbors in our words and actions. It is a habit learned in day-to-day life at school: in the way we pray and sing, show respect for one another, correct and and encourage students, and direct all learning toward loving God and serving our neighbors.

The goal of poetic knowledge is acquiring the disposition of a life-long learner, awakening wonder, directing the passions, and forming the imagination.

You’ll see piety and poetic knowledge embodied in the imitative practices of the school day, in the prayers and songs, the fine and performing arts, the athletics and physical education. This early education, focused on tuning hearts and training bodies, sets the trajectory of learning throughout the curriculum.

Liberal arts of math and language

The liberal arts of mathematics and language are the essential tools for becoming a self-learner. If piety and poetic knowledge describe the start of education, the liberal arts form its heart. 

The study of the language arts begins with the songs and rhymes, stories and poems of early education. Building upon the previous goal of awakening wonder and forming the imagination, students now learn the tools of reading and narration, recitation and conversation. Students become attentive, perceptive, and discerning readers, striving to become articulate and persuasive writers and speakers. 

In early education, the study of mathematics begins with play and puzzle and the rich contexts of the real world. The arts of arithmetic and geometry hone the skill of mathematical discovery, training students to become engaged and intuitive mathematicians who can demonstrate and apply their knowledge.

Nature study and Natural History

History shows that people first developed science, technology, and engineering out of a sense of wonder at the natural world and a desire to serve the common good.

We believe this formula still holds true today. The community garden and uncultivated fields are the primary labs and workshops for developing the foundations for all later study of natural science, technology, and engineering.

Because learning to see the world is the basis of scientific observation, students create a “register.” This self-created book of observations, drawings, and notes becomes the most important class text, allowing students to develop their skills in these disciplines.