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Clapham School: The Heart of Our Model

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Table of Contents

I. Our Vision ............................................................................ 4

II. Our Mission ........................................................................ 5

III. Our Model ......................................................................... 8

A Christian School...................................................................................................8

A Christian and Classical School .........................................................................10

A Christian and Classical School in an Atmosphere of Joyful Discovery .............12

IV. Related Articles ................................................................ 13

Service

Why is “Service” So Important at Clapham? ..................................................13

Appointed to Serve ..............................................................................................15

Charlotte Mason’s Principles

Who Is Charlotte Mason? ...................................................................................18

Why All This Talk About Habits? .....................................................................20

Habits Reinforced at Home ...............................................................................22

Habits: What Exactly Are They? .......................................................................23

Clapham Curriculum: How Is It Different?

What Is Nature Study? ........................................................................................26

What Is Picture Study? ........................................................................................29

What Is Narration? ..............................................................................................32

What Is Recitation? ..............................................................................................34

Why Latin? ............................................................................................................36

Bible Curriculum ...................................................................................39

Hymns at Clapham: Why Do We Sing and Memorize Them? ..............40

Clapham School Proprietary Reading List ............................................41

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I. Our Vision

Clapham School was conceived in 2005 to meet a felt need for an academically rigorous and distinctively Christian school in the Wheaton area. Interested families began discussing plans for the school in late 2005, and began praying together weekly to seek God’s guidance in that effort. Our formal journey began in the fall of 2006.

Our Vision for Clapham School is a school which prepares hearts and minds for lifelong service to God. We encourage our students to passionately pursue learning while understanding that it is God’s truth that leads to life. This life is lived out by serving God and engaging the world by reaching out to others with truth and grace. Thus our mission is two-fold: to prepare the minds of students to engage intelligently with their culture, and to prepare their hearts to follow Christ as they seek to impact their generation for His glory.

We believe that it is God’s truth as revealed in the Bible that leads to life, thus our motto Veritas Pro Vita, literally “truth for life.” The Scriptures provide the basis for the way we live, work and learn at Clapham School.

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

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II. Our Mission

Mission: Clapham School desires to prepare students to engage their world for Christ and to live a life of service for Christ and His glory.

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Jeremiah �7:7

“For we are Christ’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:�0

Christian education serves the significant purpose of preparing children and young adults to become the kind of men and women God wants them to be.

We consider the time students spend at Clapham School as a season of “consecration.” Borrowing from the biblical term (Leviticus 11:44, 20:7; Joshua 3:5, 7:13), we mean by consecration the deliberate method by which, while at Clapham, children are separated from the world and its influences so that they can later be sent out to impact a culture which does not acknowledge Christ and His Lordship.

Even as children, students can impact their world, and Clapham School is committed to preparing them to serve in their local context and to learn how to proclaim Christ in word and deed. In addition, our hope is to educate students who will continue to change their sphere of influence for Christ, whether at home, in business, on the playing field or cross-culturally.

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Clapham: The name of our school, “Clapham,” holds significance related to this mission.

Clapham is today an area of southwest London. It served as the location in the late 18th and early 19th centuries for worship and fellowship by a group of believers who became known as the “Clapham Sect.” Their devotion to Christ helped change countless lives in London and beyond.

Perhaps the most famous member of the Clapham Sect was William Wilberforce. As a young student at Cambridge in the 1770’s, he turned away from his evangelical youth and pursued a worldly lifestyle. Socially gifted and very wealthy, Wilberforce exuded the qualities of a natural leader while still an undergraduate.

He eventually became one of the youngest and most charismatic members of Parliament. His life changed, however, after taking two trips to the Continent with a dear friend and mentor Isaac Milner. It was on these trips that he immersed himself in his own study of the classics and Scripture, was convicted of the depth of his sin, and turned to Christ.

Wilberforce felt compelled to retire from public life and Parliament, but after some counsel was persuaded instead to utilize his position of influence to serve Christ. He dedicated his parliamentary life to the abolition of slavery, and he and his friends in the Clapham Sect labored over twenty years until slave trade was outlawed. He lobbied another 25 years for emancipation. Three days before his death, he was sent word that the House of Commons had outlawed the institution of slavery.

Centered at the Holy Trinity Church in Clapham, London, then pastored by John Venn, the Clapham Sect set up numerous Christian societies and published volumes of Christian material concerning social reform. Hannah More, a well-known writer and social reformer, became an advocate for the

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poor and for the education of women. Undaunted by ridicule or opposition and tireless in their cause for moral reform, they founded the British and Foreign Bible Society and the Church Missionary Society and led the charge for prison reform.

Wilberforce and his friends understood the calling of the Christian to stand for what is right. They understood the Scripture to be good and true and lived under the compulsion of its commands. Together they stood against the powerful tide of their culture.

At Clapham, we desire to engender in our students hearts that yearn for the truth of Jesus Christ and voices that can clearly articulate that truth. We hope to see students who are willing to stand against the tide of a decaying culture while simultaneously serving those around them, thus showing the love of Christ to others.

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III. Our Model

Clapham: A Christian School “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,” (Psalm 27:1). Belief in the Sovereign Creator God is the most logical premise for a Christian education. Because God has made everything, all of our studies lead us to discovering more about Him.

At Clapham, we pursue the integration of faith and learning. We believe that God has called us to love Him with our minds as well as our hearts, souls, and bodies (Matthew 22:37). Education isn’t an exclusively cerebral process.

We want to ignite curiosity and inspire learning across all of the academic disciplines but with an ultimate goal of engendering love for God and for others. This begins with acknowledging a Center, Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:16-20). From this Center radiates a course of study, which leads students to discover more about God and the world He has made. As the Reformed theologian Abraham Kuyper has said, “There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus does not cry out, ‘This is mine!’” In this light, the study of science and literature, history and math, are important theological pursuits. As a Christian school, this integration of faith and learning helps our children construct a Christian worldview. We are engaging the lessons of history and the classic stories of literature to teach more about God and His world. As Francis Schaeffer has described it: “Christianity is not a series of truths in the plural, but rather truth spelled with a capital ‘T.’ Truth about total reality, not just about religious things. Biblical Christianity is Truth concerning total reality – and the intellectual

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holding of that total Truth and then living in the light of that Truth.” It is this belief in the integrated nature of truth that defines who we are as a Christian school: “Veritas Pro Vita” or “Truth for Life.”

At the most fundamental level, however, Clapham School is Christian because of our embrace of the Christian gospel. The Gospel teaches us who we are. Apart from Christ, we are dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1). The Bible explains that this relationship with God, which we were created to enjoy, has been severed by our stubborn rebellion against God, to be reconciled only through Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18, 19).

Our curriculum, at the explicit and implicit levels, leads children to this great news of redemption. Our Bible curriculum is less about mastering the discrete facts of Biblical stories and more about discovering Jesus Christ, even in the earliest pages of Genesis. As we discipline students, we return to the gospel again and again, helping students admit their sin while always leading them to saving grace through Jesus Christ.

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Finally, our mission, to propel students to a life of service, is a heartfelt response to this gospel of grace. As a Christian school, we want to train our students to think biblically and engage the world for Christ. Our name, Clapham, gives credence to this vision. William Wilberforce, the most well known member of the Clapham sect, served Christ as a member of the British Parliament in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Compelled by biblical convictions, he stood for many years against the evils of slavery until it was finally abolished in 1807. By God’s grace, Clapham students, equipped by their learning and inspired by their models, will impact their generation for the kingdom of Christ.

Clapham: A Christian and Classical SchoolChristian families are intuitively embracing classical education across the nation. They value its high academic standards, rich curriculum, systematic approach to disciplines such as language and history, as well as its educational psychology founded on the Trivium. Here we attempt to explain only briefly some of these distinctions of classical education.

TriviumThe Trivium is a three-phase model of learning. Its brilliance lies in its correspondence to the natural stages of a child’s development. The grammar phase is the first stage of the Trivium, which capitalizes on the natural curiosity of the elementary student. Fundamental elements of each field of study are emphasized. For example, formal grammar and phonemic instruction are used to teach reading and spelling. In history, students memorize important people and events.

The logic phase is the second stage, where students begin to systematize and interpret the facts learned during the grammar phase. Students begin to question, challenge, and test what they are learning. Formal and informal logic are taught as the basis for reasoning skills.

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Rhetoric is the third stage, where students are taught to communicate their thoughts and opinions clearly, eloquently, and persuasively because of their broad knowledge base and their well-developed skills of analysis. William Blake concludes that, “Rhetoric completes the tools of learning. Dialectic [logic] zeros in on the logic of things, of particular systems of thought or subjects. Rhetoric takes the next grand step and brings all these subjects together into one whole.”

Classical Content and MethodologyBy classical, we mean the exposure that each of our students will have to classical works of literature, art and music. Students will read age-appropriate versions of the Greek tragedies and Shakespeare. They will memorize the poetry of Keats and Browning. Even in the early years, they will learn from some of the most familiar masters of art such as Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and Monet and will recognize the music of Mozart and Bach. The study of classical art and literature teaches children to love that which is true, good, and beautiful.

By classical, we also me`an that much of our curriculum, specifically in history, focuses on the Western world. Rather than an ethnocentric bias, it provides a means for understanding non-Western cultures. It also illuminates our understanding of our own cultural and religious heritage.

Finally, by classical, we mean to highlight some of the more traditional and classical pedagogical methods used in our classrooms. Examples are recitation, dictation, and art and composition imitation. These tools, abandoned by progressive educators of the twentieth century, are time-honored methods for helping children learn from the “masters” and thereby produce excellent work which is their own.

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Clapham: A Christian and Classical School in an Atmosphereof Joyful DiscoveryOur classical model is distinct from other classical models because we engage many of the educational ideas of Charlotte Mason. Her pedagogy enriches a more traditional classical approach with her emphasis on the formation of good habits, her insistence upon living ideas, her ability to enliven children’s natural curiosities, and her view of children as “whole persons.” Moreover, her methods such as narration, picture study, and nature study emphasize a delight in discovery.

We believe that a classical curriculum infused with this philosophy provides an atmosphere which is joyful. Children feel valued as unique persons created in the image of God. Competition is diffused, collaboration encouraged, and growth is celebrated in each child. The emphasis on good habits clarifies the expectations placed upon students, helping them thrive with clear and fair expectations. The invitation to the discovery of living ideas in the pages of a book or the blossoms on a tree teaches children a rich awareness of beauty.

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IV. Related Articles – A Collection from Our Newsletters

Service

Why is “Service” So Important at Clapham? The Vision of Clapham School, to “propel students for a life of service to Christ,” is at the heart of much of what we do at Clapham. Why is this our vision, and how does it practically play out in the classroom?

First, the call to serve as Christians comes from God’s Word. Clapham’s theme verse is Jeremiah 17:7-8 which says “Blessed in the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water….it does not cease to bear fruit.” Ephesians 2:10 echoes this message as well, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” These vivid images point out that not only are we to bear the fruit of service God has called us to, but He Himself is the source of our service. He nourishes the tree; He prepared in advance the acts of service for us to “walk in” (note the ESV does not say “do”). They are from Him and for His glory.

Second, the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty at a Christian classical school demands that we consider how to interpret our culture, respond to it, and engage it with a Christian worldview. At Clapham, our motto is “Veritas pro Vita” (Truth for Life). As students thoughtfully consider how God’s truth leads to life, one potent way to demonstrate this to an unbelieving world is by service to the broader community.

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Third, service is the essential antidote to “idolizing the mind.” The admissions requirements, tuition levels, and academic standards are very high at Clapham. This can easily translate to pride of achievement or status in the hearts of the students (and us!). But, if we want to be a God honoring school that together with parents helps train students who glorify Christ in their lives – then we need to submit to a live of humble service to Him and others.

The name Clapham comes from the Clapham Sect, a group of late 18th and early 19th century English Christians who prayerfully considered how to use their gifts, wealth and talents to make a difference in Britain and around the world. They led the cause to abolish slavery, reform prisons, educate women, and establish some of the first foreign missionary societies, to name a few. This is our hope and prayer for the students at Clapham School, that they would develop a sincere love for God’s truth and His Word; that they would be articulate in the way in which they engage others with truth; and that they would develop a heart for service that will allow them to represent Christ in a humble and winsome way.

So, how does that translate to the classroom at Clapham?

Emphasis on Habits of Virtue in the Classroom: We seek to encourage habits of respect, kindness and service in our students’ hearts. Teachers at Clapham seek to create a sense of “other centeredness” in order that students might desire to respectfully and courteously and can consider others better than themselves. (Philippians 2:3). All School Service Projects: Clapham School does 3-4 all-school service projects each year. We annually host a luncheon for the refugee families participating in ESL classes at College Church, serve dinner to the homeless in the area, as well as visit the Wheaton Convalescent Center to share recitations of Scripture, hymns and poetry. These all

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school projects are a great way to expose the students to different ways to serve, as well as show them how important service is to their parents. Classroom Service: Each classroom has a Service Mom to help support the teacher in finding creative ways to inject a theme of service into the classroom. This may be small service projects the class does on its own, or it might be leading targeted prayers for specific needs in our community. Parental Involvement: One of the most visible ways for parents to show their children that they value service is for the children to see them serving! We want to create ways for the students to share in their classes how their families serve outside of school – perhaps at their church. Or, parents may even serve during the week at Clapham in some way.

Appointed to ServeA distinct emphasis on service is among the many critical themes and issues that Paul deals with in the Pastoral Epistles. This would be easily missed were it not for the potency of language with which he speaks of service. Paul’s initial thanksgiving is occasioned by the honor of being appointed to Christ’s service (I Timothy 1:12-13). It is an appointment which does not come lightly, but rather demands testing and proof of character and competence (3:10). Furthermore, those who “serve well” will “gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” (3:13). In fact, to be “the Lord’s servant” (II Timothy 2:24) is a position of such extreme privilege that it almost becomes a sacred office in Paul’s thinking. It is in this respect that Paul calls himself a /doulos theou/, “servant of God,” in the Epistle addressed to Titus (1:1). Servants and slaves were familiar to the ancient world, denoting submission of will and obedience, as well as expendability and property. But when Paul uses this phrase, he has something quite different in mind.

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When the Old Testament was translated into Greek (LXX and other versions), the phrase /doulos theou/ was used for a key people: privileged spokesmen of God. It was said of Moses that he was the “servant of the Lord” (Joshua 1:1). Indeed, God called him “my servant” (1:2), and Moses was a man “whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deut. 34:11). Certain prophets, like Samuel, were regarded as God’s servants (I Samuel 3:8-14). But most significantly, Isaiah uses this title to speak of the Messiah, the Suffering Servant, the Servant of the Lord

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(Is. 53:11). It is particularly this last observation which helps us understand why Paul so highly esteems the task, indeed the office, of service. Christian service is Christ-like. The reason Paul so often speaks about service is because Jesus so often spoke of it, and used it as an image of faithfulness and devotion to God and His kingdom.

The disciples struggled time and time again to learn this from their Master, though it was continually on his lips and in his actions. During the final stages of Christ’s ministry, he acutely exposed this need in his followers. They were to become like children (Matt. 18) for to “such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (19:14). Unlike the Gentile lords, they were to be “little ones” because “whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave” (20:27-28). For this was the pattern of Christ’s own life. He came “not to be served, but to serve” (20:28). In keeping with the teaching of Jesus, and the profound burden of Paul’s own apostolic heart, we must regard service, Christian service, supremely valuable. The temptation of personal publicity and self inflation, elevating our knowledge and understanding, is as real for us as for the first disciples. It is a danger in our church, and yes, it is a danger for our school. With all diligence and prayer, we must engage, encourage, teach, model, exhort to and live in radical Christian service. By the grace of God, it is through service that our children will become giants, not monsters. The difference is subtle, but significant. Both have knowledge and power, skill and understanding, but use these for very different purposes. Let us be Christians who are giants of the faith, servants of God.

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Charlotte Mason’s Principles

Who Is Charlotte Mason?We describe our model as “classical education in an atmosphere of joyful discovery.” Clapham School’s pedagogy, or the method of putting this into practice in the classroom, is unique. Much of our pedagogy is based on the educational principles of British educator Charlotte Mason.

It might be helpful to answer a few questions about Charlotte Mason, the educator who coined the phrase “joyful discovery.”

Who was Charlotte Mason? Charlotte Mason lived from 1842 to 1923 in Britain. She was trained as a teacher, taught, wrote curriculum, was a home education supervisor, and, in 1891, founded a teacher training school in Ambleside, England. Her works have been embraced by homeschoolers, which is natural considering that many children of her day, especially the wealthy, were educated at home. Her influence in England led to the formation of the Parent’s National Educational Union (PNEU) which founded many schools there; a few are still in existence today.

She was a Christian woman with a strong commitment to serving God. Her educational philosophy springs from her faith, especially her continued reminders that children are “persons” created in God’s image and are to be seen as such. Remember that in her day, children were often relegated to a governess, to be “seen and not heard,” sent off to work in factories or mistreated at school.

But was she “Classical?”Yes. Charlotte Mason was teaching at a time when the entire educational framework in Britain was classical. In fact, in her volume titled School Education, she lays out a program for 12 year old that includes Euclid’s

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Geometry; English, French and Roman histories; English grammar, dictation and composition; French, German and Italian languages; Geography; Recitation from the Bible and Poetry; Bible Study; Singing, Drawing and Natural History.

The distinctiveness of Charlotte Mason’s approach was that it was not just an accumulation of facts for facts’ sake, but an exposure to “living” books and ideas, rich material to nourish and challenge the mind and encourage a love not as much for knowledge as for learning.

What was the impact of her reformation of British education?She had a significant influence in the lives of countless students in Britain who took part in her reformation of the classical model of education. Not only did students move on to higher education at Oxford, Cambridge, and other universities, but Charlotte Mason ensured that children from all walks of life were able to take advantage of an excellent education. In her day, women were only beginning to be able to take part in the mainstream educational system (thanks in large part to the efforts of the Clapham Sect and the likes of Hannah More less than a half century earlier). Numerous schools were created that embraced her philosophy.

What ideas does Clapham take from Charlotte Mason?We embrace her idea of “children as persons,” created in God’s image and her Platonist view of knowledge as a reflection of God’s truth. More practically, we see her encouragement of habits as important to an atmosphere of joyful and productive learning. We employ her methods of narration and recitation and borrow from her ideas about Picture Study and Nature Study.

Why All This Talk About Habits?

At Clapham, we talk a lot about “habits.” We teach children to hold their pencil correctly, to push in their chairs, to walk in straight lines, and to keep

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an orderly workspace. We encourage gentleness and courtesy in speech and respect for one another and adults who come to visit the classroom. We capitalize on habits of observation, attention, recollection and thinking to learn most effectively.This emphasis on “habits” comes from Charlotte Mason and is a true distinctive of Clapham, setting us apart from other Christian and public schools in the area. Yet what exactly do we mean by “habits?” They are not “for discipline and orderliness,” as some might suggest. As Charlotte Mason says, “The formation of habits is education and education is the formation of habits.”1

In her volume, Home Education, Miss Mason makes two compelling and convicting points about the establishment of habits. First, we are indeed creatures of habit. Whether we like it or not, 99% of the way we live is simply from habit. Children can be left to go according to their human nature, which likely is simply allowing them to establish a life of less desirable habits. This is not what we are after as parents. Here is Charlotte Mason’s challenge: “…it is unchangeably true that the child who is not being constantly raised to a higher and higher platform will sink to a lower and lower one. Wherefore, it is as much the parent’s duty to educate his child into moral strength and purpose and intellectual activity as it is to feed him and clothe him; and that in spite of his nature, if it must be so.”2

Miss Mason’s second point is that the “laying down of the lines of habit” is like building a railway line. As a child goes about his life, his habits keep him on a smooth path, leaving the labor of constant decision-making behind. She clears her plate and finishes homework before play, for example. He treats others with respect and courtesy and knows to obey Mom and Dad. And when the times come when he or she does experience a real temptation, habits can support an act of the will. For example, children who love to learn and see books and the out-of-doors as means to learning may not want to switch on the TV. Another child knows to stop and pray

�Charlotte Mason, Home Education (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, �935; Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, �989), 97. �Ibid, p. �03.

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when there is difficulty, or to use kind words even when someone is not as kind to them. Still another who is used to telling the truth may not see a lie as the easy way out, tempting as it may be.

We cannot predict the future for our children and the challenges they may encounter. Yet here is Charlotte Mason’s second challenge to us: “What we can do for them is secure that they have habits which shall lead them in ways of order, propriety, and virtue, instead of leaving their wheel of life to make ugly ruts in miry places.”3 As parents and as a school we know that the first step in cultivating these kinds of life habits is to point our child’s heart to Christ.

Fortunately, Miss Mason does not leave out the provision of Divine Grace, and we would agree that these habits or virtues are only wrought through the gracious work of the Holy Spirit. Clearly, the strength of will that a habit has against the sinful nature can be only by God’s grace, triumphant. These habits are worthless if cultivated for the sake of virtue alone, thus leading to legalism. Instead, when coupled with and led by the truth of grace found in the gospel, habits can be the “heart stones” that lead our children to a life of service to Christ.

Clapham teachers are set on encouraging good habits, from the little things to the habits of the heart. It is a privilege to partner with parents in this sobering responsibility that can reap such unbounded results for the Lord. Consider the habits of the good servant in I Timothy 4: “Rather, train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

3Ibid, p. ���

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“Habits” Reinforced at HomeHere are some additional questions to consider at home concerning Charlotte Mason’s thoughts about specific habits. First, what practical habits can we cultivate at home? The “habit of attention” is one we work on at Clapham. Reading is a great way to encourage this habit, and narration hones it even more. Projects which require attention to direction and detail can increase an attention span. Keeping a nature journal can be an exercise in observation and attention. And what about learning to delay gratification until a certain task or chore is done? Working at something, whatever it is,“with all our heart, as unto the Lord” (Colossians 3:23), should certainly inspire us to attend to whatever the task at hand. This verse also inspires the “habit of perfect execution,” that is, encouraging our children to do all things well. This doesn’t mean we expect more than they can master at their age, but we teach them to take the time to do their very best, and to keep it up, to master one skill wholly before moving on to the next.

Perhaps the most enjoyable habit you can encourage at home is the “habit of imagination.” “Now imagination does not descend, full-grown, to take possession of an empty house; like every other power of the mind, it is the merest germ of a power to begin with, and grows by what it gets; and childhood, the age of faith, is the time for its nourishing.”4 Choose some adventure stories that your children may want to act out. Ask them to make up a story for you. Read to them about life in another country or another time. Inspire them with missionary biographies. There’s always, “Don’t come inside until dinner” - they’ll have to think of something!

Second, consider that many habits are half taught, half caught. We can train our children in attention, order, neatness, manners, and words of courtesy. But the heart attitudes in our homes will have the greatest effect on these habits really taking root: “…the child’s most fixed and dominant habits are those which the mother takes no pains about, but which the child picks up

�Charlotte Mason, Home Education (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, �935; Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, �989), p. �53.

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for himself through his close observation of all that is said and done, felt and thought, in his home.”5

What is our home atmosphere like? Neat and ordered or not, are the habits of gentleness, truth, courtesy, kindness and love evident? Are we good listeners? Is God’s Word a priority? Do parents share their own dependence on God’s grace for direction in their lives? Do a forgiving and generous spirit, an attitude of hospitality, and a respect for others permeate the air? The question parents might ask is this: “What habits are my children learning from me?”

Take the great missionary patriarch from Scotland to the South Seas in the 1800’s, John Paton. Listen to what he “caught” by observing his father pray. “How much my father’s prayers at this time impressed me I can never explain, nor could any stranger understand. When, on his knees and all of us kneeling around him in family worship, he poured out his whole soul with tears for the conversion of the Heathen World to the service of Jesus. . . As we rose from our knees, I used to look into the light on my father’s face, and wish I were like him in spirit, – hoping that, in answer to his prayers, I might be privileged and prepared to carry the blessed Gospel to some portion of the Heathen world.”

Habits: What Exactly Are They? If an emphasis on habits, or “the little things”, makes sense in concept, the obvious question still remains “that sounds great in principle, but what are the habits we should be reinforcing?” We have compiled a list of those habits, borrowing from some other schools and the writings of Charlotte Mason herself.

Of particular importance is the point that there is not an expectation on students to have mastered these habits all at once. The sequence listed below reflects an increasing level of expectation over a long period of

5Ibid, p. �37.

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time, 6-8 years. And, of course, they do not take the place of a grace filled classroom and environment where the primary emphasis is on shepherding hearts and pointing students to Christ. Christ alone is our source of grace, truth and strength.

Habit of AttentionFixes mind/body steadily on the matter at hand Follows instructions the first time Is motivated by a desire to know rather than emulation or approbation Participates with interest

Habit of ImaginingDelights in tales of imagination (heroic adventures, tales from far away lands, fairy tales) rather than the ludicrous Expresses self freely through diverse and various mediums Exhibits curiosity in learning

Habit of Neatness and OrderMakes neat and effective arrangements of his property Executes work properly and neatly

Habit of Perfect ExecutionSets himself to let everything he does be well done, displaying thoroughness and accuracy Finishes the task at hand

Habit of PunctualityObserves appointed times Finishes work in a reasonable amount of time

Habit of RememberingRecalls information, facts and knowledge Retains knowledge from previous lessons and is able to assimilate the lesson at hand

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Habit of ResponsibilityAttends to personal belongings Seeks help when appropriate Accounts for his behavior in relationships, work, and activities

Habit of TemperManifests good tempers (amiability, patience, humor, cheerfulness, and humility) rather than ill tempers (frustration, discontentment, sullenness, murmuring, and impatience) Displays strengthening of will – bringing himself to do what he ought whether he enjoys it or not

Habit of ThinkingTraces cause to effect Compares things of likeness and difference Works independently and confidently Participates in a dialogue of thought; able to toss the ball of conversation to and fro

Habit of TruthfulnessDisplays carefulness in stating the truth Avoids exaggeration and embellishments

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Clapham Curriculum: How Is It Different?

What Is Nature Study?“It would be well if all we persons in authority, parents and all who act for parents, could make up our minds that there is no sort of knowledge to be got in these early years so valuable to children as that which they get for themselves of the world they live in. Let them once get touch with Nature, and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight through life. We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things.”6

�Charlotte Mason, Home Education (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, �935; Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, �989), ��.

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Nature Study at Clapham is an exciting opportunity to train young naturalists. It is exciting because it includes direct interaction with God’s creation and a child’s own discovery of its wonders. There is never any reason for our children to claim to be bored. There are always wonders to be explored outside. Consider an ant hole. It is amazing to see the relatively large pieces of wood and dirt the ants carry out so carefully, and astounding to see the collaboration of two ants working together to carry a larger wood chip.

Each week, every class at Clapham has one or more “Nature Study” times where the teachers and students go to explore the natural world around them. On the surface, this may seem like a simple means of letting the students “get out and stretch their legs.” After all, they are young and need to be active, right? Well, it is that and much more!

Nature study encourages active participation and a natural curiosity in the students. They are asked to engage the created world and learn something new about their Creator. What is particularly compelling about this exercise is that the students often find it easier to do this than adults! They can observe, ask questions, draw, and get excited about nature in ways that adults have long since abandoned.

This is what Nature Study is about. Like Picture Study, it is developing the habit of observation and in doing so, deepening a love for discovery of the outdoors. In fact, the factual learning that takes place is really an added bonus triggered by the curiosity of observation. Each class has an emphasis, be it trees or wildflowers or birds or insects, and as they go on Nature Walks, they are encouraged to look and see, and to bring back what they’ve discovered. Once back they may sketch their findings or take more time to research the details of their discovery: species, name, parts, etc.

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John Stott suggests, “It was Jesus Christ himself in the Sermon on the Mount who told us to be bird watchers! ‘Behold the fowls of the air’ is how the King James’ Version renders his command (Matthew 6:26). Translated into basic English, however, his instruction becomes ‘watch birds!’ So we have the highest possible authority for this activity. Moreover, he meant more than that we should notice them. For the Greek verb employed here means to fix the eyes on or take a good look at. This will certainly include our study and appreciation of their plumage and behavior. But the Bible tells us that birds have lessons to teach us as well. As a matter of fact, Scripture bids us go beyond birds and include in our interest everything God has made: ‘Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them’

(Psalm 111:2) Since ‘the works of the Lord’ refer to his works of both creation and redemption, it seems to me that nature study and Bible study should go together. Many Christians have a good doctrine of redemption, but need a better doctrine of creation.”7

7John Stott, The Birds are our Teachers, p. �0-��.

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Combined with a Christian worldview, Nature Study is instructive in driving us back towards a greater dependence on the Lord and a deeper understanding of who He is. In closing, consider Martin Luther’s comments from his exposition on the Sermon on the Mount: “You see, he is making the birds our schoolmasters and teachers. It is a great and abiding disgrace to us that in the Gospel a helpless sparrow should become a theologian and a preacher to the wisest of men. We have as many teachers and preachers as there are little birds in the air. Their living example is an embarrassment to us…. Whenever you listen to a nightingale, therefore, you are listening to an excellent preacher…. It is as if he were saying ‘I prefer to be in the Lord’s kitchen. He has made heaven and earth, and He himself is the cook and the host.’ Every day he feeds and nourishes innumerable little birds out of His hand.”8

At Clapham, we are aspiring to encourage students to be lifelong learners. What better place to start than with what God has so graciously given us in His creation?

What Is Picture Study?Another subject at Clapham that is different from other schools is that of Picture Study. What exactly is this? Is it drawing? Is it art appreciation? Why do we do this?

Picture Study is not instruction in art, although it illustrates technical aspects of art such as techniques and mediums. It isn’t exactly art appreciation, either. Most traditional art history courses start with instruction; that is, that they teach us what to appreciate about a certain artist or genre. Many of us have started our interest in art from that perspective, and it has given us the tools to know what to look for in a piece of artwork.

8Martin Luther, The Sermon on the Mount (�5��).

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At Clapham, in these youngest years of education, we start from a slightly different perspective. The students look first for themselves at a painting and pull out the beautiful and unique aspects of the work on their own. We read biographies about the artist and the time he or she was living, so students are given the historical context. But the work of appreciation is done by the children and their own powers of observation.

A teacher may let the children look at the painting for a minute or two and then put it aside while the children recall all their observations: the colors, the characters, the setting, and the story of the painting. These exercises allow the children to “read” the pictures and draw the details and beauty into their minds. Their observations become their “narrations” of the art and through this they take away an appreciation that lasts.

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In addition, because we focus on just 2 to 3 artists per year (studying 6–8 works of each artist), the students will have an opportunity to have a deep and careful appreciation of a particular artist.

What are the benefits of this approach? First, the aesthetic side: “We cannot measure the influence that one or another artist has upon the child’s sense of beauty, upon his power of seeing, as in a picture, the common sights of life; he is enriched more than we know in having really looked at even a single picture.”9

Second, this approach improves the habits of attention, observation and imagination. The students are called to really look, to notice the details, to tell the story of the painting. As with narration, they learn how to “tell back” with precision and confidence what they have seen. This can be done orally or in writing and reinforces the same method of learning that we employ in most other subjects at Clapham.

9Mason, Charlotte. Home Education (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, �89�, �930; Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, �989), 309.

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Third, they gain an appreciation for the artist and his work and put up the pegs on which to hang more technical information such as the type of painting, perspective, the use of light, the broader genre and influences of the artist.

What Is Narration?At Clapham, we set aside specific time for narration. Students narrate across the disciplines. We’ve all been encouraged to narrate with our children at home to help them along in the learning process. So what exactly is it?

Narration is simply a retelling of what is heard, read or seen. The idea is for a student to recall, point by point, information that has been absorbed in one of these ways. For example, in our classes, it may involve retelling a short portion of a story that has been read. As the younger students learn this discipline, their narrations may be a word for word recollection of what has been read. As they progress, narration may be a retelling in their own words, including their own interpretations, feelings, and conclusions.

Portions narrated get longer, as well, with more experience. Narration can also be a description of what they have seen during picture study. It can take written form, as a retelling of a field trip experience, or what they’ve read in their history text.

Charlotte Mason says that children narrate by nature and that this tool capitalizes on their keen abilities: “Narrating is an art, like poetry-making or painting, because it is there, in every child’s mind, waiting to be discovered, and is not the result of any process of disciplinary education. A creative fiat calls it forth. ‘Let him narrate’; and the child narrates, fluently, copiously, in ordered sequence, with fit and graphic details, with a just choice of words, without verbosity or tautology, so soon as he can speak with ease.”10

�0Charlotte Mason, Home Education (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, �89�, �930), �3�.

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That’s a bit of the “what” and “why,” but what more? What are other benefits of narration?

First, it hones the habits of observation and attentiveness. Students know they must be prepared to narrate and will seek to listen and understand. Perhaps you’ve noticed how your child’s attention span has lengthened and how their enthusiasm for a good story has increased. Narration becomes an active process of learning as students must ‘own’ the material themselves in order to tell it back. They notice more detail about what they see, for example, in Picture Study or Nature Study. Their comprehension of literature is enlarged as they put the story in sequential order and notice clues about the story line or character development. Their retention of facts is increased when they narrate back during subjects such as math, history or Bible.

Second, oral narration elicits language, giving students confidence in speaking. The use of good literature and elevated language also means they are enlarging their own vocabulary when narrating back something read to them. They may be repeating new patterns of expression, and will develop an overall expertise in articulation as they narrate more fluently and in more volume. This is wonderful preparation for writing – they have digested the subject matter and can express themselves in confident and creative ways because of the way narration has stretched their attending, thinking and imagining skills.

Third, narration produces active, thoughtful minds. “If the mind is to be active, it must do the work of attending, reflective thinking, and expression through the work of narration.” Narration, then, reflects the classical method of grammar, logic and rhetoric for learning. As a student narrates, he naturally performs the “act of knowing.” It keeps a student’s mind active and engaged. That kind of mind will naturally seek out the challenges of

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learning, the best of literature and art because of the continually refining desire of the mind to digest and to learn.

Clearly, this is one way our school is unique! What at first glance seems to be a simple tool to affect learning can have astounding and much longer lasting results.

What Is Recitation?It is remarkable how much our children are capable of memorizing.According to the trivium, the classical “map” for learning, our children are in the Grammar stage, and this is the time to capitalize on their ability to memorize and retain much. But there is much more to recitation than trying to cram it in while you can!

First, on poetry: An article from the Wall Street Journal last year said this: “There is no surer way to possess a poem or a piece of oratory than to learn it by heart and to be able to recite it with a full consciousness of what the words mean and what their effect has been and might be.”11 At Clapham, our hope is that recitation can be the evidence not only of owning the words of the poem, but of owning the poem itself. How do we do this? One way is to share biographical information about the poet. Where did he or she live? In what time period did he write? What was her life like? What events might have inspired the writing of the poem? These kinds of reflections allow children to better enjoy the poem and perhaps relate it to their own life experiences.

Some of our poems in the Explorers class like “Try, Try Again” and “Results and Roses” include great reminders to persevere and that results come only with effort. The Explorers have many opportunities to apply these principles in class!

��Lehman, David, “How to Own a Poem,” The Wall Street Journal, April 7, �00�, W�7.

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The frequent acquaintance with poetry in and of itself has value. Students gain experience with its vocabulary, cadence and rhythm. Hearing and reading the poems daily as we do take much of the labor out of memorization as the children pick up the words gradually and naturally. They are then able to apply their knowledge of the poet and the material to interpret the poem with expression in recitation, “owning” the poem

themselves, as well as surprise someone else with the gift of that poem by reciting it to them. Charlotte Mason called special attention to recitation as a gift. This is indeed a counter cultural aspect of our model. In a world where the emphasis is on getting “things,” we are instead training our children to give something eternal and intangible - the gift of beautiful words!

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Second, on Scripture: As Christians we treasure God’s words and His poetry above all and are corrected, nourished, and encouraged by them. How wonderful to call them to mind when we don’t have the written pages in front of us, either to remind ourselves or another of what He says. The Psalmist reminds us that it is by hiding God’s Word in our heart that we are able to resist sin. Perhaps we have recalled Hebrews 10:31, or parts of Ephesians 6 or Galatians 5:22 or Philippians 4:8 and 9, at some crucial time?

Knowing Scripture also gives us an opportunity to know and commune with God in an intimate way. Think about the beginnings of Psalm 19 and an extraordinary sunrise, or a meditation on the stars and the way that the knowledge of God shines to the ends of the earth. Or the way we can sing God’s Word back to him in times of praise as in Psalm 100 or remind ourselves of His faithfulness in Lamentations 3. Many of our students can now recount the details from Luke 2 of the birth of a Savior and the awesome message of the angels and the worship of the shepherds and the wonder of a mother. What a gift to be able to recall, meditate on, and share these words of Life with another.

Why Latin?By Dr. Karen Ristuccia, Academic Principal of our sister school, The Wilberforce School in Princeton, NJ

Amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant: When visitors walk the halls of our school they are likely to hear students conjugating verbs, declining nouns, and discussing the number of spectators that Ancient Rome’s Circus Maximus could accommodate. Some very alive students are enjoying and debating Latin, a language too often linked to the quality adjective “dead.” Why study Latin anyway, when the chances of meeting a native speaker are so abysmally low?

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The answers to the “why Latin” question range from the purely pragmatic to culturally powerful. On the pragmatic side, about half of the words in the English language are Latin derivatives, meaning that Latin knowledge, just like phonics study, unlocks our written language. In fact, Latinate words include many of the polysyllabic ones which populate the harder books; so by learning Latin, a student acquires a key to greater reading fluency and improved comprehension. In addition, learning any one Latin word exposes a student to a variety of vocabulary. For example, a student may learn that “frater” means brother, and so she may better understand the English words fraternal, fraternity, fraternize, and even fratricide. No wonder students of the classical languages (Latin and Greek) consistently score highest on college entrance examinations.

Latin study has other benefits as well. For one, understanding Latin grammar aids students in making sense of the English language. Learning to decline nouns and pronouns helps students understand both the various roles a noun plays and the differences between subjective and objective cases. At our school our Latin and grammar curriculums are coordinated.

For example, PPA (possessive personal adjective) means the same in both languages. Latin also helps students to learn additional living languages. Not only do French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Romanian all derive from Latin, but also the principles gleaned from Latin inflection help students in learning even non-Romance inflected languages such as German. Finally, although this benefit is years away, some careers—such as law and medicine—make extensive use of Latin terminology.

Of course, when discussing Latin study (especially with a history teacher), we must acknowledge that the Romans are interesting in and of themselves.They established the first major bureaucratic state based on representative government, and they were a significant Western power for 800 years.

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Roman law also laid the foundation for most Western legal systems; in fact, constitution, citizenship, and commonwealth are all Roman terms.

When one moves to literature (another of my loves), he discovers that Latin authors prove the most influential writers in almost any field of the humanities. While we often look back to Greece to understand the Western intellectual tradition, in truth, Greek was essentially forgotten in the West until the Renaissance and did not regain its popularity until the 18th century. It is not possible to talk about Latin without pointing to its long and continuing tradition of literary use. Augustine’s Latin writings contributed to the theological development of Christianity. Anselm, Aquinas, Ockham, Erasmus, Calvin, and Spinoza all published primarily in Latin. Even in the case of writers who did not write in Latin, their vernacular output often reflected years of training in Latin. For all the writers of the medieval and early modern period (such as Shakespeare, Racine, Moliere, Jonson, Dante, Chaucer, and Milton), the Latin language and its writers were their primary guides. In the late 18th century, Charles Wesley attributed his skill in poetry writing to his training in Latin and Greek. Even today, Caesar’s Gallic War remains the widest read military memoir (and is still required reading at West Point).

With regard to our philosophic tradition, Latin authors Cicero, Seneca, and Boethius popularized and interpreted Aristotle and Plato. Cicero also greatly influenced Edmund Burke and John Adams, two men whose thoughts still echo in our political system. Latin writers also continue to direct us today, because our understanding of logic, argumentation, and rhetoric all derive from Latin expressions of these skills. Knowing the Latin language and reading Latin authors then is not merely an exercise in cultural literacy, but also it is an important step in understanding our own story.

Latin study is a key step in accomplishing the Clapham mission to provide an academically rigorous education. Students exercise and develop the

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habits of thoroughness and attention while speaking, writing, and reading this precise language. At Clapham, vibrant young students experience and accept the challenge, power, and joy of discovering how a (supposedly) dead language yet speaks.

Bible Curriculum

At Clapham, our Bible curriculum IS the Bible, and we use the English Standard Version (ESV). Students in Classes One and above read through the entire Bible over a 4 year period, and then begin the cycle again in Class Five. The school has established a Bible reading schedule that will be used by the students in class, but also provides this to school families so they may read and discuss the Bible together. (Explorers I and II do not follow this schedule).

Significant improvements to our Bible Curriculum occurred during the summer of 2007, with a commissioning of this new Bible reading schedule that maps out a systematic reading of the entire Bible over the course of four years. The Bible curriculum guide provides daily scheduled readings based on this 4 year plan to read through the Bible, along with suggested

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readings from several children’s story bibles and questions to help guide family devotionals and in-class Bible study.

Why did we go to such great lengths to develop a new Bible curriculum (hundreds of volunteer hours went into developing the curriculum)? We evaluated many options on the market and felt that there were none that systematically took students through the Bible AND used the Bible itself as the primary text to do so. One of the hallmarks of the trivium is allowing students to build upon what they have learned in earlier stages of the educational process. If there is a repetitive and spiraling four year sequence for history, then why not for the Bible?

This is a great opportunity to spend family devotional time centered on God’s Word. Because there is not a Bible curriculum like this on the market (one that uses the Bible as core reading and sets it up for discussion in both home and school), several of our sister schools across the country will be using our Bible curriculum as well!

Hymns at Clapham: Why Do We Sing and Memorize Them?

Every day at Clapham, students sing a hymn that has been selected as the “Hymn of the Month.” Through daily practice, the hymn is memorized by the end of the month. Recently, as we reflected on the majesty of Christ in our hymn selections, the students learned “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” and “I Need Thee Every Hour.”

So, why do we require students to memorize hymns at Clapham? Along with the Bible, hymns provide Christians with a clear distillation of biblical doctrine that the students can hide in their hearts for a lifetime of worship to the Lord. We see the magnitude of God’s grace when we sing a tune from one of the giants of the faith like Martin Luther or Charles Wesley, or consider the poetry in a hymn by Fanny Crosby that touches the heart. The rich doctrine and theology of many great hymns allows us to explore what

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the author believed and why, at the same time that singing a hymn draws both our mind and heart into worship.

A survey of young Christians found that only 80% of them could recognize Amazing Grace, 55% Hark the Herald Angels Sing, 50% Great is Thy Faithfulness, and only 9% To God be the Glory. This shouldn’t be the case for Clapham students! At Clapham, we engage the students with rich, God-glorifying hymns each month as part of our daily worship. By memorizing them, they will be able to treasure them for a lifetime.12

Clapham School Proprietary Reading List

The value of the discipline of daily reading to your children cannot be minimized. Our children are becoming lovers of books, of stories, of poems. Those not yet reading are listening to good words, building vocabulary, and perhaps trying out their phonogram sounds to dissect the words. Those already reading are learning, as they read aloud, the art of reading: expression, proper pacing, sounding out new vocabulary words.

The reading list has been carefully designed to include good literature. Here are a few practical reminders about the reading list. As you look under the “category” column, please try to choose those marked “Outside Reading.” “In-Class” literature and “Read Aloud” will most likely be read in class. Don’t limit yourself necessarily to the grade level of your child. There are books listed for other grades which may be appropriate for younger ages. And there are some which may not. For example, if your younger children may love the Thornton Burgess and Beatrix Potter books, in part because they are about animals. As a result, you may decide also to read The Wind in the Willows as it is also about animals even though the difficult vocabulary and dialogue makes it obvious it was listed for the fourth grade for student reading.

��Statistics taken from an article by Tim Wilds in “It’s God’s World.”

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Additionally, it is extremely helpful to go online to search for books through your local library network. There are a lot of older books on this list, but many of them are available through interlibrary loan. You can search online, request them to be sent to your library, and they email you, telling you the books are ready for pickup.

Many non-fiction books are not on the list; if it’s factual, it probably is good material, but as always, choose wisely here. In addition, there are some books listed by an author while others are left off. Why? Some may actually be listed under another grade. Or, some books by the same author may have questionable subject material. Or, some of the later books might indeed be more “twaddle,” just capitalizing on the author’s name. For example, of all the Babar books that have sprung up, there are just 6 original stories written by Jean de Brunkoff. The later books have been written by another generation of de Brunkoffs and are not included on the list. The reading list has been carefully designed to include good literature.

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Here are some suggestions for books from our list that others have enjoyed:

A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde BullaBook of Riddles by Bennett CertNow One Foot, Now the Other by Tomie de PaolaThe Little Trot by Hardie GramatkyOne Morning in Maine and Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskyLeast of All by Carol Purdy (get out your tissues)Bread-and-Butter Indian by Anne ColverThe Bill and Blaze books by C.W.AndersonThe Uncle Wiggly books, by Howard Garis