Science, Classical Style: Memory Work
One of the main hallmark pieces of the Classical style homeschooling is concept that learning comes in stages and that schooling should be making the most of the natural inclinations in each stage of development. The three stages are typically called grammar, logic and rhetoric. Grammar Stage is about first through fourth grade, the years when your student is learning the basics of phonics, spelling and how to add, subtract, multiply and divide.
In the Logic stage, or the late elementary or middle school years, you are teaching them to make connections between the pieces of knowledge that they deposited during the grammar stage years
In the Rhetoric stage, or high school level, students form their own opinions about the material they have studied as well as learning how to articulate themselves intelligently.
For science, The Well-trained Mind suggests that you do this by following a four year cycle, with each year focusing on a different field of science. This cycle repeats itself, with the studies digging deeper as you progress through the stages.
Memory work is one of the most basic pieces of the Classical Style education. Students memorize things such as kingdoms of living things, laws of thermodynamics, and parts of the circulatory system. Once these basic facts are memorized, additional learning can be layered upon it. Memorization can be accomplished in many was with copywork, flashcards, and lapbooks being a few of them.
Good blogs for the Classical Method:
