Academics
Academics
Rivendell has engaging courses and schedules for all traditional grade levels. We have a talented and caring staff of tutors instructing our students. Each class has its own list of books. Please carefully examine our Family Handbook policies on class preparation and home assignments.
Classical Curriculum
In all its levels and teaching, Rivendell seeks to apply the language/history-intensive classical curriculum, training the mind to analyze and draw conclusions and fostering the ability to write and speak logically and articulately. We encourage every student to develop a love for learning, and to live up to his academic potential. This desired result is made possible by utilizing the three stages of the trivium: grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric (see definitions below).
One of the boons of the classical method is that the stages build upon each other, and each stage is cognitively and developmentally appropriate for the student. Young children are able to freely absorb facts using more tactile means (i.e., creative, hands-on projects), without trying to make logical connections; adolescents can use their nascent critical thinking skills; and high schoolers, who are cognitively disposed to argumentation, can apply this skill to the facts that they have gathered through the years.
Grammar Stage
Children at this stage have an incredible capacity to absorb and retain information. Therefore, the Grammar stage emphasizes the memorization of fundamental facts and rules of each subject through various and creative means, such as songs, chants, recitations, and hands-on projects. This stage consists of the 1st-6th grade years.
Dialectic or Logic Stage
In this stage, students are taught to analyze facts, rather than just memorize them. During the Dialectic years, they are learning and applying the rules of logic to their coursework, so as to understand the ordered relationship of particulars in each subject. This stage occurs during the 7th and 8th grade years.
Rhetoric Stage
In the Rhetoric years, emphasis is placed on the coherent, articulate expression--through writing and speaking--of truths learned in the grammar and dialectic stages. This stage transpires at the high school level.
Tapestry of Grace
Rivendell Study Center uses Tapestry of Grace curriculum for history and literature classes. For more information regarding TOG, please visit this web site: http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/explore/
Educational Philosophy
- God enjoins parents, not the Church or State, to “bring children up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4.) Therefore, we seek to honor and assist, not usurp, the role of parents in teaching their children.
- We believe that God’s character is revealed in His Word and in every facet of creation. Therefore, we teach that all knowledge is interrelated and instructs us about God Himself.
- God commands us to love Him with our minds as well as with our hearts. (Matthew 22:37.) Therefore, we seek to individually challenge children at all levels and teach them how to learn, through the centuries-old classical method.
- We want to help parents teach their children that all they do should be done “heartily, as unto the Lord.” (Colossians 3:23). Therefore, we seek to encourage quality academic work and maintain high standards of conduct.
- Above all, our highest goal is to provide a rigorous educational environment that challenges our students to live and think from a Christian worldview.