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"The
tradition of the West is embodied in the Great
Conversation that began in the dawn of history
and that continues to the present day. Whatever
the merits of other civilizations in other respects,
no civilization is like that of the West in
this respect. No other civilization can claim
that its defining characteristic is a dialogue
of this sort. No dialogue in any other civilization
can compare with that of the West in the number
of great works of the mind that have contributed
to this dialogue."
-
Robert M. Hutchins
The Great Books Academy (GBA) is a homeschool
and charter school organization dedicated to liberal
education based on the classic great books of
Western Civilization. Liberal education, based
on the Liberal Arts, takes its name from the Latin
word liber, meaning free. This dedication
to liberal education is borne of the understanding
that it is liberal education, traditionally understood,
that leads men to freedom and happiness. Hand
in hand with this understanding of liberal education
is the acknowledgement that freedom and happiness
do not mean license and pleasure. Rather, freedom
and happiness are found in the life of virtue.
The GBA has been inspired by the educational initiatives
of Dr. Mortimer J. Adler, who sees in classical
liberal
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Meet the Chairman of the GBA:
Max
Weismann (left), life-long friend
and colleague of Mortimer J. Adler
(right), with whom he co-founded
the Center for the Study of the
Great Ideas in Chicago of which
he is Director and President, has
dedicated his time and talents to
promoting the philosophical and
pedagogical ideas of Dr. Adler.
Besides recently editing Dr. Adler's
most recent book: How To Think
About the Great Ideas, Max serves
as Chairman of the Great Books Academy.
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education
not only the means necessary to imbue students
with the skills to become excellent life-long
learners, but also the means to be fully engaged
citizens, exercising civic duties from a principled
understanding of the issues which confront them
daily. These too are all qualities shared by free
and happy men.
We owe a great debt to Dr. Adler for devoting
most of his life to developing, editing, promoting,
sustaining and perfecting the Great Books educational
reform movement. He has done this from 1921 to
the present day. Several of our directors were
present at a Socratic Discussion seminar presided
over by Dr. Adler as recently as May, 2000. Besides
editing the 60 volume Britannica Great Books
set (last revised by Dr. Adler in 1990), he has
published over 50 books on philosophy and education,
including the Great Ideas, which are those
ideas contained within the Great Books
that make them worth reading and rereading (for
example: beauty, truth, goodness). Our Chairman,
Max Weismann, co-founded (with Dr. Adler) the
Center for the Study of the Great Ideas, in Chicago,
which is still promoting this study.
 Meet
the President of the GBA:
Patrick
S.J. Carmack, B.B.A., J.D.;
after earning his Juris Doctorate,
Pat completed numerous additional
courses in psychology and philosophy.
A former administrative law
Judge at the Oklahoma Corporation
Commission, member of the U.S.
Supreme Court Bar, former Chairman
of the International Caspian
Society, and President of a
non-profit educational foundation,
Pat lives with his wife Elisabeth
and their five children in SW
Florida. Pat moderated the first
live-audio Socratic groups online
(2000) and numerous online groups
since, as well as at Great Books
evening programs in Seattle,
WA. He has been a speaker on
educational topics at various
international conferences. |
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In
addition to the great debt owed to Dr. Adler,
the GBA unabashedly credits St. John's College
(Annapolis, MD and Sante Fe, NM) and the Pearson
Integrated Humanities Program (no longer extant)
at Kansas University as the models upon which
its curricula are based. Working from these models,
the GBA maintains that a genuine liberal education
requires a study of the greatest books in the
Western tradition, ordered not only in its method,
but also toward realizing human happiness and
wisdom. These books are the discussion throughout
the history of Western Civilization regarding
all the aspects of men's souls, science, and experiences.
This discussion has taken place within the written
works of writers such as Plato and Aristotle,
Augustine and Aquinas, Galileo and Newton. Based
on statements and responses, proposals and contradictions,
these works are an ordered discussion which spans
three millennia. They examine man's relation to
himself, his community, his world, and his Creator.
To take the time to listen to this discussion
by reading these great works, one cannot help
but be led to greater appreciation, greater wonder,
and greater understanding of what it means to
be human.
The great books which have formed men, communities,
and even nations, have done so in different forms.
Whether that form is the philosophy of Aristotle,
the poetry of Shakespeare, or the politics of
Rousseau, readers are continually challenged to
grasp, evaluate, and judge works of great depth
and complexity. Yes, these works are often hard
to read. Yet, just as a blade is sharpened on
a hard stone, so too are intellects sharpened
on hard books. The result is the ability to cut
through the noise and confusion found in the world,
and see in its place order and understanding.
However, if one only reads these works, one is
participating in a one-sided conversation.
Calling the body of work known as the great books
a "conversation" is obviously not entirely
metaphorical. There is indeed a written conversation
within these books. Yet, it is the very real verbal
conversation regarding these works, that takes
place between students today, that advances the
knowledge and understanding of our students, our
community, and our culture. As with most lofty
and profound matters, the Great Ideas are understood
best in discussions and disputations. It was Professor
John Erskine who initiated the Socratic (questioning)
discussion group manner of delving into the contents
of the great books discussing a given text, usually
read beforehand, among 15 to 25 students in round-table
seminar format with a moderator, rather than listening
to lectures. The participants profited enormously
from this approach (made famous by Socrates and
Plato), and thus in this country was reborn the
Socratic method of learning. Likewise, St. John's
College conducts discussion groups as the primary
means for learning. The GBA follows these leads
with its own optional discussion groups, being
the first homeschool organization to do so, using
the Internet and other means.
The
GBA has a fully developed homeschool elementary
curriculum for grades nursery through 8th, selected
eclectically for the very finest materials available
from numerous publishers. This conventional
curriculum is organized for easy viewing at
The
Great Books Store
by grade level or by subject (eg. math,
history).
HOMESCHOOLING
& INDEPENDENT HOME STUDY. After the
millennial tradition of homeschooling prior
to the mid-1800's it remained the favored educational
method for families of diplomats, military and
mariners, often on the move or in remote locales,
through the 1970s. The widespread publicity
given to academic and disciplinary problems
in public schools beginning in the 1980's prompted
a groundswell of parental demand for homeschooling
curricula. Skyrocketing school violence and
drug use in the 1990's greatly increased the
number of homeschooled students. Estimates place
the number of homeschooled students in the U.S.
at over 2 million, and growing by a phenomenal
15% per year. Study after study has concluded
that homeschooled students outperform publicly-schooled
students by wide margins, in every academic
category, and even in "socialization"
skills. In the early 1990's homeschooling was
often selected by parents reacting negatively
to problems in the public schools and in society
at large. Beyond the absence of the problems
associated with public schooling, little was
expected of homeschool curricula except the
elementary basics - the 3 R' s. But as the movement
has grown and become mainstream, more parents
are searching for better curricula for their
children. Increasingly, parents are asking what
the goals of education are, and what are the
best means of attaining those goals. In our
view, this is an inevitable and entirely positive
shift in the homeschooling movement. It is the
growing movement towards the approach that addressed
and answered those questions in the past - classical
education. It is noteworthy that classical,
Athenian education ("paideia") began
with seven years of homeschooling.
CHARTER
SCHOOLS. A growing number of charter and
cyber-charter schools in various states now
carry or can order our
curriculum for independent study students at
home. Many will add it upon request. This allows
you to obtain state reimbursement for
our materials, lesson plans, and the optional,
online Great Books Discussion class fee. Call
local charter schools or us for details.
THE
GREAT BOOKS ACADEMY DIFFERENCE. Fifteen
important elements were brought together to
complete our curriculum: (1.) Classical education
- elements of items 2,3,4, 6 and 7, described
below, make our program distinctly classical
in approach; (2.) the "Good Books"
- the great children's classics, selected by
the famed classicist, the late Dr. John Senior,
which are read in our nursery-8th grade literature
program prepare our students for the greatest
works of our culture; (3.) the Great Books -
the greatest classics of Western civilization,
beginning with the ancient Greeks and Romans,
which are studied in our 9th-12th grade literature
program; (4.) Great Books Discussion class online
- these optional, online groups develop thinking,
speaking, listening and reading skills while
acquainting our students with the great ideas
contained in the classics; (5.) the finest materials
available - since we did not write the classics
we are able to select from the finest illustrated
editions and most up-to-date texts available
in other subjects from many sources, without
having to restrict our selections to our own
materials; (6.) our "poetic" and integrated
approach to education of the senses, imagination
and intuition via the use of the natural wonder
and love of the beauty of nature in young students,
which was developed for older students into
the Integrated Humanities Program by Drs. Quinn,
Senior and Nelick (see articles on this in Classical
Homeschooling Magazine issue #2); (7.) our liberal
arts and generalist educational approach (from
"libertas" meaning liberty or freedom
from ignorance - not "liberalism"
as a political view) is preparatory not merely
for college, but also for life; it is not the
narrow specialization or vocationalism that
prepares young people for only one job, skill
or specialty so often obsolete in ten years,
or even less in our day; (8.) designed for homeschooling
and independent home study programs (offered
through many charter schools with state reimbursement
for some or all costs), with all the attendant
advantages which numerous studies have demonstrated
homeschooling has over public schooling; (9.)
our program is complete - nursery through 12th
grade, 12 subjects, placement tests, daily lesson
plans, quarterly tests and grading; (10.) flexibility
- students may progress at their own pace, in
each course selected, on different grade levels
- no one-size-fits all obstacles are imposed
in our program. Parents are free to choose and
mix from among any, or all, courses and grade
levels offered; (11.) all enrolled students
are given our unique coded access to 5 online
resources: Britannica Encyclopaedia Online,
edited by the late Dr. Mortimer J. Adler; (12.)
Britannica’s Annals (documents) of American
History Online; (13.) The Oxford English Dictionary
Online; (14.) Oxford Research Online; and (15.)
Classical Homeschooling Magazine.
COMPLETE
SERVICES OFFERED. We offer a complete curriculum
for grades nursery through 12th, including books,
lesson plans, and related materials in twelve
(12) subject areas: Art, Cartography, Foreign
Languages, Geography, History, Language Arts,
Literature, Math, Music, Philosophy, Science,
and optional, online Great Books Discussion.
Additional services for enrolled students include
placement tests, quarterly tests and grading,
report cards, diplomas and transcripts, email
consultations, and the 5 online services detailed
above. Much greater detail is provided at our
website: greatbooksacademy.org.
OPTIONAL
GREAT BOOKS DISCUSSION GROUPS ONLINE. Experienced
Great Books Discussion (“GBD”) faculty
moderate optional, online discussions for grades
3-12. They range from ½ hour bi-weekly
(in 3rd grade), to 2 hours weekly (9th-12th
grades), for 5 to 25 students per group. These
online classic books discussions are sometimes
called Socratic Discussion Groups after Socrates'
manner of using mutual inquiry and serious but
friendly conversation to stimulate thought and
learning. They help students develop critical
reading skills, logical thinking, listening
and speaking skills, mutual respect, decision-making,
self teaching habits and a love of learning,
truth and, indirectly, virtue.
CLASSICAL
HOMESCHOOLING MAGAZINE. Our Directors and
faculty contribute numerous articles to Classical
Homeschooling Magazine. These are now available
online, for a small subscription fee, or free
to our enrolled students, at classicalhomeschooling.com
This is an invaluable resource designed to help
parents and students understand the proper means
and ends of homeschooling and education in general.
Some important articles may be found at our
website - click to Articles.
Great
Books Newsletter
Summer 2007 (PDF)
This
newsletter announces the commencement of our
eighth academic year
offering our homeschooling curriculum, books,
enrollment services,
online classes and recent developments.
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