Classical education concentrates on teaching children classical languages, a curriculum based upon classic literatures, and incorporates critical thinking skills.
The word trivium comes from the Latin prefix tri meaning three, and the Latin root via meaning way, or road. The word literally means the three-fold way or road. The trivium refers to the three stages, or ways, of learning that coincide with a child's cognitive development as he matures.
- The grammar stage: emphasizing memorization of concrete facts
- The dialectic stage: emphasizing understanding and analytical thinking
- The rhetoric stage: emphasizing expression and abstract thinking
