We believe that Christian classical education is a vehicle that ushers humans toward deep healing and transformation. It is the birthright of every living soul to encounter this transformation and flourish. Sure, students who learn this way will have an impressive transcript, be college-ready, and shine in the workforce, but they will, more importantly, become more themselves, notice the humanity of others, seek understanding instead of remaining in ignorance, and rule themselves like the best of kings and queens. At the end of the day, this restructuring of priorities and a focus on the true, good, and beautiful leads to a life of wholeness and fulfillment, a life of “more than we could ask or imagine.”
Core Values
Honor & Dignity
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.
Psalm 8:3-5
Honor over shame, every day of the week. We believe that each person has innate dignity, made in the image of the Triune God. We believe that Christ is the incarnate true, good, and beautiful one, who lit a light in each of us and keeps it perpetually ablaze. We seek to love our neighbors by noticing and respecting the light in them while also allowing others to see the light in us. Because we each have this light, we know truth, goodness, and beauty may be found in any book, culture, or person, whether it be an ancient liturgy, a child, a tribal story, a dead poet, or a modern-day musician. We honor others by respecting their personal agency, seeking to understand and inviting, rather than imposing.
Freedom
Paideia Fellowship values enjoying freedom from the tyranny of false and oppressive narratives, whether they are found in society or within our hearts. The truth sets us free. We want to connect with Christ, who can hold a mirror up to our souls and show us himself and our true selves, dignified and divine, as sons and daughters of God. “I am indeed a king, for I know how to rule (and see) myself.” This is real freedom and the telos of our education. We will face the past, society, and ourselves while learning to become hard-working, honest, and humble students. We believe that no one culture or person has the corner on truth. We give ourselves the freedom to live in the truth that there is no magical place that can give us all the answers, including us here at Paideia. We are one way, one form, that can help the modern homeschool family or classical teacher teach the classical liberal arts.
Form
We celebrate tradition and form. At Paideia, we honor this reality by choosing to align ourselves with forms that have stood the test of time and honor the dignity of every student, teacher, and subject/work we teach. We acknowledge that we are all communal beings that continually seem to come together around the ceremony, the table, and cultural traditions. We honor this by creating festive and nourishing community traditions throughout the year.
Inclusive/Ecumenical
We deeply value an ecumenical atmosphere for our community. Rather than a specific earthly culture, political agenda, or religious tradition, we embrace and learn from the works, art, and customs across the Globe and among many nations, including Africa, the East, as well as the Americas, and the more well known (to us) Western cultures.
We believe the heavenly kingdom is the ultimate common ground and place of dignity for every human soul and no one group or culture owns it. Our participants, teachers, and advisors are from a variety of national backgrounds and religious backgrounds, including Orthodox Christian, Protestant, and Catholic. As a fellowship, we hold to the Christian beliefs outlined in the Nicene Creed, and we aspire to live lives in a community marked by charity, as described in 1 Corinthians 13.
Hospitality
“The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community
Hospitality is the act of loving and giving healing space to our neighbors, all of our neighbors, including ourselves. Hospitality is an embodiment of the belief that each person has innate dignity and is worthy of honor.
Hospitality is what makes a classical education and its telos come to pass. Through hospitality, we make space for each student to learn, heal, not-know, wrestle, experience victory and failure, discuss, and connect. It includes a lot of mess and mystery, beauty, form and freedom, courage, humility, and openness. Hospitality is the foundation for the trust and comfort required if we want to experience real learning, freedom, and healing. It is woven throughout every experience at Paideia, to the best of our ability.
Hospitality provides a free and inclusive space for all who enter. We don’t care so much about being “classical” enough, in the ivory tower sense, come as you are. This doesn’t have to look buttoned-up, whitewashed, or elitist to be a flourishing and incredible classical program. Whether you are a tutor, nanny, classroom teacher, homeschooling domestic diva, or a single working mom warrior you can learn something here that works for your family’s life and/or students’ lives. Whether you have no degree or six degrees, are from the city or the country, like Bach or 2Pac, wear bowties or hippie dresses, have never taught a day in your life, or are a professor.
The Paideia Fellowship Liberal Arts Program Curriculum Overview
Our liberal arts program is a partnership between students, homeschooling parents, and teachers. It is an integrative humanities experience built around the great books and art of our world and the language liberal arts. Our curriculum is a great books curriculum, which means the literature leads. In history, we give particular emphasis to encountering the spirit of a nation and the imagination of a time through living books and stories, rather than memorizing facts and using textbooks. Students will study, read, think, and write about the literature, ideas, history, and culture of that time. Specific and useful writing and language instruction complete the breadth of this class.
Community-Wide History Cycle
Year 1: Ancient World History (Ancient Civilizations)
Year 2: Medieval World History (The Silk Roads + the Renaissance)
Year 3: Early Modern World History (Exploration, Enlightenment, Revolutions)
Year 4: American History
Middle School
- For 7th – 9th graders. (9th graders can enroll in either the middle school or high school program, depending on their skill level.)
- Literature
- Year 1: The Chronicles of Narnia (Select works), The Fairie Queen Book 1, and Selected Fairy Tales
- Year 2: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Beowulf, and Selected Myths
- Composition {Formal Writing Instruction, Advanced narrations, copywork, and formal grammar}
- Logic: Informal Logic
- History {Selected living history books, speeches, written narrations, map work, and projects.}
- Picture/Artist Study & Music/Composer Study integrated with the history and literature we study.
- Oratory (Shakespeare and poetry)
- Life Skills (self-management and study skills)
High School
- For 9th – 12th graders. (9th graders can enroll in either the middle school or high school program, depending on their skill level.)
- Literature: A four-year Great Books literature cycle relating to the four-year history cycle above.
- Ancient Civilizations
- Medieval, Renaissance, & the Silk Roads
- Early Modern
- American + Moderns
- Composition {Composition and rhetoric }
- Logic/Philosophy
- History {Selected living history texts, speeches, essays, primary documents, writing assignments, projects, and field trips/experience.}
- Picture/Artist Study & Music/Composer Study integrated with the time period we study.
- Oratory (Shakespeare, poetry, speeches)
- Life Skills (self-management and study skills)