My name is Ashley Harner, and I am the curriculum director of Latin studies and humanities here at Trinity Classical. I grew up in Michigan, and attended Hillsdale College, graduating in 2013, with a major in Psychology and a minor in Spanish. My Husband Thomas and I have four children, Audrey aged ten, Henry aged nine, Harold aged eight, and Adeline aged five. As our children began primary school, we began to realize it was more difficult than we thought to find a school that properly educated them. We undertook the task of informing ourselves of the different styles and philosophies of education. It became apparent to me that I wanted to be involved in the institutions and with the people which I was entrusting my children to for 7 hours a day. In 2020, I began a teaching a preschool class at Gateway Christian Academy, eventually I accepted a job at Hampton Roads Classical as a middle school teacher. What I realized, much to my surprise, from these two very different teaching experiences is that I love teaching, but more specifically I love teaching in a classical setting because the classical classroom includes these important elements:
-Teacher Centered- The teacher chooses the topics, guides the
discussion, and the students face the front of the classroom. Class sizes are small allowing the teacher to give focused instruction to each student.
-Driven by Narration- The teacher exposes the student to content and students then tell back or narrate the content back to class or one another—this gives students the ability to actively engage with whatever content they are learning)
-Recitation & Catechesis- this includes repeating aloud from memory content that is taught, it begins with prompts from the teacher and is interactive.
Students are excited to learn what is good, true, and beautiful naturally because we are all created by an intentional and orderly God, our souls and minds desire that order in our everyday lives. I love the excitement and beauty that is being taught to my own children at a classical school. I love that at the dinner table they want to talk to me about
Greek Mythology, Latin, the life cycle of a chicken. I can see that classical education is inspiring them to LOVE learning; to love great books, words, nature and this beautiful, orderly world God has placed us in.
Joyfully,
Mrs. Harner
Comments