The Paradigm of Parent-Directed Education

The added weight, scope, and dimension of parental teaching in the design of the PAideia Classical School curriculum distinguishes it from other classical educational institutions. Parents are the primary and ultimate teachers here; our faculty, staff and materials exist to assist you in being an effective and confident director of your children's’ education.

Many parents, however much they would like to fill this role, feel trepidation at the scope of this responsibility. Not having been exposed to classical literature and philosophy in their own education, parents often sense a degree of inadequacy to discuss philosophical or analytical topics with their children. Sometimes parents are not sure how to correct or teach writing compositions, logic, ancient languages, mathematics, or sciences. Congratulations! Most of us start here.

What parents do have, in much more God-given supply than outside helpers, is interest in and concern for their unique child. We know we can supply support, training and materials, but this intimate connection between parent and child is the true, irreplaceable dynamic in God’s design for ‘family-within-culture’ effectiveness. Therefore, the flipside of Paideia’s  school mission is to supply help and training to parents for every aspect of their commission.

Our efforts to provide training and support for parents fall into three areas:

1. Subject-Specific Content Instruction: scheduled live classes, conference calls or webinar workshops give parents direction in how to discuss/direct/evaluate current or upcoming assignments. These sessions include a summary or overview of the literature or lesson, explanation of the objectives and what to look for in evaluation, and ample time for questions and answers.
2. Teaching Strategies, Evaluation, and Administration Processes: through the same means listed in #1, we explain teaching methods and ways to administer your family’s records including transcripts.
3. Coordination of Roles: workshops on how to be an efficient teaching mother and happy wife. Time and home management, teaching around babies and preschoolers, effective prayer time and Bible study, finances, personal goal setting and priorities, and avoiding burnout begin this series.

There is an overlap in PAideia training with the extended services of Parent and Child Educational Services, the parent organization of PAideia Classical Education. PACES offers student testing, student tutoring and private consulting as well. 

Coordination of Roles

Practically, coordinating our roles is the most difficult task educating moms face.  Every responsibility —whether it is a teething baby, a pile of clothes yearning to be folded, or a stubborn sentence that refuses to be diagrammed— clamors relentlessly for our full attention, demands solution (or threatens to make us feel like a failure), and wears us down.

PAideia is overflowing with experienced mothers all along the spectrum, who have learned over multiple decades how to set priorities, when to be flexible, and how to regroup or redirect for the best end result.  Every month we have a practical workshop on goal setting, time, home, and resource management, record keeping, finances, and other key topics.  Not only do we recognize and address solutions for these problems, we can set up mentoring relationships for ongoing friendship and advice to rise above them. We know first-hand that little irritations and failures precede implosions, and will work with you to get over the minors and succeed in the majors, so that God’s sufficiency is glorified.