the trivium

In the grammar phase (K–6), students are naturally adept at memorizing through songs, chants, and rhymes. If you can get children in this phase to sing something, they will remember it for a lifetime.

In the logic phase (grades 7–9), teenaged students are naturally more argumentative and begin to question authority and facts. They want to know the “why” of something—the logic behind it. During this phase, students learn reasoning, informal and formal logic, and how to conduct civil discourse with wisdom and eloquence.

The rhetoric phase (grades 10–12) is naturally when students become independent thinkers and communicators. They study and practice rhetoric, which is the art of persuasive speaking and effective writing that pleases and delights the audience.