Classical Christian schools offer that education which is firmly rooted in the very best of the great tradition of the western world. It is worth remembering that what we teach, learn, and exalt at Veritas is thousands of years old mirroring the wisdom of the Jewish, Christian, Greek and Roman world passed down to us through the Medieval and Renaissance eras.
Classical Christian education strongly affirms that K-12 education is not about learning “marketable skills,'' let alone telling a third grader that she must grow up and have a certain job because that is her “career track” determined by an early screening. At Veritas, our hesitation to set a career at a young age is not to be confused with any hesitation of offering a general education in the common arts. Education of the common arts, or manual arts, should be offered to all students, regardless of their innate abilities or any career interests expressed.
For decades, the public schools have been mistakenly tracking children and setting them on career paths as early as elementary school. We do not believe in tracking or career orientation as this is limiting and falsely informed by a practical way of thinking about human nature and labor. There are actually schools that track students beginning as early as Kindergarten. This is simply wrong. At Veritas, we believe that God calls people to various vocations through a God-centered calling. This is done over many years through many conversations with family, teachers, and respected mentors offering guidance.
At Veritas, we are prayerfully considering making sure that all Veritas students not only learn the true, good, and beautiful, but also the useful in that sense of enjoyable and beneficial to the common person. Beginning about the age of twelve and continuing through their senior year, we envision adding specific instruction on the content and skills toward the common arts.
We think and talk about the true, good, and beautiful while we develop the thinking, listening, reading, writing, and speaking abilities. The common arts, also called the servile, mechanical, or manual arts, are those arts that we all benefit from and participate in on some level. Here is a micro-survey on The Common Arts we would like for you to complete as we explore the possibilities at Veritas Christian Academy.
According to Classical Christian education, the most fitting career education for all of our students is an education in learning how to learn. It is our desire that all of our students grow in Godly virtues and become wise and eloquent. We aspire to prepare every student to dwell faithfully in the Kingdom of God, while temporarily inhabiting the earthly kingdom, all the time enjoying a life of leisure and earning a living that is pleasing and beneficial for themselves and their families.
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