Common Arts Education: Renewing the Classical Tradition of Training the Hands, Head, and Heart

by Chris Hall, Classical Academic Press;Classical Academic Press;Classical Academic Press;Classical Academic Press (Editor)

The academic foundations of classical education do not alone guarantee human flourishing. The liberal arts the trivium and quadrivium represent the core frameworks for cultivating virtue and practicing skills vital to our life in the world. And yet, they alone are insufficient, for we must eat, heal, defend ourselves, trade, build, find our way around, and more. It may seem evident that the common arts should be an integral part of education, and yet we see that every generation is losing skill in the common arts as we increasingly rely upon others to provide them for us. In Common Arts Education , author Chris Hall provides not only an argument for an integrated liberal, fine, and common arts pedagogy, but also some practical advice for crafting a robust, hands-on curriculum. Beginning with the story of the classroom experiences that led him to explore the common arts as a vector for the liberal and fine arts, the author outlines a vision for the resonance between the arts, supplies concrete steps that teachers can take to implement a common arts curriculum, and provides a series of experiences to try in any classroom, at any grade level. As you read, you will find the liberal arts applied, the fine arts situated, and the common arts revealed as a critical element of a classical education. The practical application chapters of Common Arts Education offer background information; considerations such as the space and supplies needed for teaching each common art; plug-and-play lists of the basic skills that students should practice for each art; and resources for further reading. The author discusses 13 common arts, - Agriculture - Architecture - Navigation - Medicine - Cooking - Woodworking - And much more! Discover how the common arts provide the practical, artisanal elements of a holistic education and allow students to become not only fully functional in his or her knowledge, but fully charitable in the world!

Genres: Education

280 pages, Paperback

Published February 7, 2021

About the author

Chris Hall's creativity and energy were evident in her earliest childhood. Her grade school teachers often commented, "She has tremendous energy, if we could just get it channeled." Her parents instilled in her a belief that good can come from almost every experience, and that belief, along with an ability to see humor in much of everyday life, proved invaluable as she and her husband raised their eight children.

Chris has been a presenter for many years for FranklinCovey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, Becoming a Love and Logic Parent, and Becoming A Love and Logic Teacher. The gift of a moonflower plant that she received from one of her grandmother's Amish neighbors resulted in Conversations with a Moonflower, her first published work.

Now empty nesters, she and her husband, Duane, find great joy in spending time with their children and grandchildren. They are still amazed upon returning home from work each night to find the kitchen has remained clean all day.

Reviews

[Andrea Renfrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I feel like this books sums up everything I already knew, it's a great resources to keep on the shelf or recommend to people who aren't sure where to start when it comes to including what many refer to "handicrafts" in their classical education. It is from the perspective and geared towards those running a school, rather than a homeschool, but most the ideas are easily implemented at home and/or in co-ops.

[Lisa Beth Hutchins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an insightful look at how the common arts (useful skills, knowledge, and experience) relate to the liberal arts. The last half of the book is a guide for implementing many of the common arts in a classroom or homeschool setting. I learned so much from this book!

[Jay Reimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Needed implementation!

Hall describes a valuable aspect of classical education. “Liberal arts” usually is code for intellectual knowledge, but because many classical schools are small this means resources restraint implementation to knowledge. Hall envisions - and practices - “common arts,” meaning that children are engaged in fabricating artifacts. “Art” meant “making artifacts” not merely “producing original representations of the imagination” which is the way we think of “art” today. “Making” is a powerful learning tool. In making objects children learn a variety of integrated skills. This is much superior to “learning” dis-integrated information without context, which characterizes most educational efforts.

[Rehab Dynasty Amy Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book twice. This time I grabbed it as I entered chapter 7 in Norms & Nobility: A Treatise on Education by David Hicks. There's a strong connection between a classical education style & a well rounded person who has been cultivated to his fullest intellectual capacity. However, many of our students today are missing the ability to tap into their full capacity, forcing many into IEP/504 and being lost due to a heavy emphasis on only written forms of education. While the trivium holds a solid foundation for what a person should remotely know, it lacks the arts that these trivium classes build up to. The sistine chapel required more than some cement, plaster & a painter. It was an expression of math, logic, history, & language. Chris Hall offers an insight to adding to the trivium with hands on skills that help cultivate the art, as well as a classical approach to an industrial society who democratic republic requires thinkers & discernment of its citizens. Firming a link between why do I have to learn this & to what purpose or means. Not a perfect solution, but a great bridge over the gap, ... an apprentice style of classical education.