"I don't know. I work with bright children."

So I asked the question, are the seven liberal arts the way God has designed children to learn? Or at least, is this the way they learn best?

The first three of the seven liberal arts are word-oriented arts. Not all children are word-oriented. I believe in the theory of multiple intelligences. I believe it because I've seen it in children.

Again, not all children are word-oriented. My son has always thought in pictures and colors. Does that mean I neglect developing his linguistic abilities. Oh, my, no. It does mean, however, that I must provide an education that includes things outside word-centered education.

The title of my post comes from a teacher I heard speaking at a conference not long ago. He works at a Classical school, and during the Q&A after his talk he was asked what to do about children who have reading difficulties. The above title was his response.

I was outraged, but it didn't appear that anyone else even noticed.

This is a problem, folks. The arrogance and ignorance must be addressed.

I don't like being lied to, and I think there has been some stretching of the truth going on in regards to the seven liberal arts. More has been made of these arts than should be. I'm so tired of them being treated as a panacea for our times. Our educational problems are much bigger than this, and they won't be solved by convincing parents (through sophistry?) that the solution is in having our children study through the seven liberal arts.  

I'm also not going to go so far as to say that those seven liberal arts aren't wonderful. They are. I think it was a huge mistake to scrap them altogether. As education began to be provided for "all" in our societies, however, word-oriented folks had to move over and make room for those otherwise oriented.

This is one reason why I love Charlotte Mason. She did not teach her student teachers to teach their students through the Trivium. :-)

She, on the other hand, believed in a liberal education for all.