Mission and Method
Our mission is to contribute to the Great Commission by “discipling the nations, one student at a time.” Therefore….
“By means of its unique online curriculum and delivery system, Kings Way Classical Academy exists to 1) help homeschool families overcome educational hurdles, 2) help K-8 Christian schools transition to high school and 3) provide a low-cost alternative for Christian children in public schools.”
At King’s Way “You Don’t Have to Choose Between Low Price and High Quality.” We’re striving to replace the inherent inefficiencies of the public school system. Tragically, public education is hobbled because the Source of all knowledge (God) is excluded by law. The high price of this decision is measured in escalating property taxes and plummeting Biblical worldview scores of Christian students.
More important, when God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering, He was making the point that the very life of all covenant children belong to Him. They are to be raised in His faith, His worldview and His service. He forbids Christian parents offering their children to the Molech king to be trained in his faith, worldview and service (Lev. 18:21). The Hebrew word “offer” in that verse means to give over, to cause to sin: “Neither shall you give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech…”
At King’s Way, we arm young people with a Biblical worldview by analyzing the classical curriculum. It’s a 3-step process of grammar, dialectic (or logic), and rhetoric , known as the Trivium. The goal is wisdom like Solomon that applies the Bible to practical issues. No matter their eventual vocation, our students learn to think critically and speak with authority. This is portrayed 1) visually in the King’s Way coat of arms and 2) verbally in the ACCS statement of faith.
It’s a method of learning to last a lifetime. Graduates are uniquely equipped to assume leadership in their chosen profession. Because instruction is saturated in the Bible, young people emerge as “ambassadors for Christ.” They help establish the tone and direction of our culture — the Christian nobility. Together we fulfill the Great Commission and “disciple the nations one student at a time.”
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Method of Instruction
The time-tested Trivium lies at the heart of it: grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric courses. The Trivium guides both the strategy and tactics of the teaching method.
Strategy means adapting the phases of learning to the stages of child development. Children are good at soaking up facts so we focus on grammar courses in grades 1-6.
But grammar means more than just vocabulary. It is also the basic set of concepts and words that define any subject. So the grammar courses emphasizes laying this foundation, apart from abstract concepts. The key question for the teacher is “what?”
In the middle years – grades 7-9 – children begin to connect the dots and adopt a questioning, challenging mindset. This may be expressed in a rebellious attitude. We try to channel these impulses into dialectical thinking, the key question in the classroom, being “why?” The study of formal and informal logic fits perfectly here. Logic provides structure for interpreting the world. In the dialectic courses the collected data is challenged, viewed from multiple perspectives, and integrated into practice: thus leading to comprehension.
In high school – grades 10-12 – the focus shifts to application and the key question on the lips of the teacher is “how?” Young adults are struggling to communicate, so these skills are honed by classes in writing, rhetoric, and debate. They find pleasure defending their critical thinking. The rhetoric courses is the capstone, in which the student learns to confidently express what they’ve learned in writing and speech.
Premier level students meet twice a week with an instructor via the online conferencing system. Each Basic “grammar” course is prerequisite to one or more upper level dialectic or rhetoric courses in each subject sequence.
These three questions – what? why? and how? — also give us tactics for teaching each subject and each individual unit. Questions, in that general sequence, are constantly posed to stimulate dynamic interaction in class. “Teaching is not telling.” Or at least not exclusively telling, but rather leading students to discover truth.
Mastery of every subject follows this pattern. From the student’s standpoint, it is “discovery, understanding and application.” For the instructor, it is a teaching model of “state, illustrate, and apply.” Each course is designed using this teaching method.
As usual, the Bible sums it up much more concisely in Pr 2:6 – “For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” And there you have it — the how, what and why of the learning process.
Courses are available at the Basic ($25) or Premier ($230) levels. Basic level courses are self-taught and include the Basic “grammar”, introductory course, in every subject sequence. These are about 25% of the curriculum. They are self-paced and self-taught with immediate reinforcement via computer exercises. Computer quizzes are graded automatically and become part of the transcript. Thus, every student may obtain the rudiments of a classical education at nominal cost.
Total costs, averaged over the six years of junior high and high school, are less than half that at other online schools, making a classical, Christian education affordable to everyone. Save even more by enrolling in our junior high and high school Diploma Program for only $1000 tuition per year.