Pt. 3. Education Wisdom from Ben Franklin's Father
My parenting journey in educating my children circles back to how Ben Franklin was educated
In the acrostic poem he wrote for his son Ben, Josiah Franklin wanted Ben to receive an education, grow in wisdom, and embrace virtues. That desire remains the same and transcends time. Educating their children is something today's parents have in common with Ben Franklin's father. Society at large has a vested interest in making sure each generation of children receives a truthful, rigorous education that results in strong critical thinking skills, strong character traits, and prepares them for life and the workforce.
“In virtue, learning, wisdom progress make,” Josiah Franklin
When Ben was eight years old, his father sent him to the Boston Latin School, which was founded in 1635 and still exists today. The initial purpose of the Boston Latin School was to provide all boys, regardless of their social class, with a classical education in the humanities and develop critical thinking skills.
After Benjamin did well at the Boston Latin School, he transferred to George Brownell’s English School. Ben excelled in writing but struggled with math. When he began assisting his father in his soap-making business, Ben's education changed to reading books at home. At age 12, he began an apprenticeship with his brother to learn the trade of printing.
To our modern way of thinking, it is extraordinary that Benjamin Franklin was as accomplished as he was without spending more time in a formal classroom. But his classical studies at school by reading classical books at home prepared him to become a premier scientist, publisher, diplomat, and founder of the United States of America. At home, Ben learned because he wanted to learn.
Like Ben Franklin's father, I want my three children to receive an education that teaches them academics, ethics, and virtues. Ironically, my parenting journey has circled back to the type of education Ben received.
When Ben Franklin attended the Boston Latin School, he was taught the classical model. The classical model is an excellent approach to education because it uses the trivium, which emphasizes three learning stages: grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
For example, a young student will focus primarily on grammar, which is the memorization of vocabulary words and facts for each subject. These subjects include English, math, science, Latin, geography, history, art and music. Middle schoolers start thinking independently and develop a knack for argument. In the logic stage, these students learn to think and analyze critically. They start to argue well by organizing facts into statements. A high school student continues gaining factual information for all subjects but also focuses on persuading others through logic and rhetoric so they can communicate well.
My husband and I were able to send our oldest two sons to a Christian school. One of them will graduate this year. But our youngest child, whom I will call CJ for this article, has special needs that can best be described as Asperger's, which is now grouped with autism. The autism spectrum is very broad, which leads to a lot of confusion about his capabilities. CJ can talk and walk and seems like every other child. However, his problems manifest as behavioral challenges that private schools don’t have the resources to support.
Starting at the age of three, CJ was eligible to attend a special education program in public school, and we reluctantly enrolled him in Fairfax County Public Schools. From the beginning, his experience with public schools was a disaster. Despite professing that they had trained specialists, they couldn't handle his autism. They often did the opposite of what was best for him, such as pushing him into a classroom with 30 children when his sensory needs required a smaller environment. The public school system’s bureaucracy made it impossible to get him what he needed. Intellectually he is age appropriate if not advanced but his social skills and behavior are two to three years younger than his actual age. This creates an unusual mental health pattern.
By the time he was in first grade, CJ was pulling pictures off of walls and throwing chairs at school. We now understand that he was acting out his feelings instead of using his words to express negative emotions.
When the pandemic struck during his first grade year, Fairfax County Public Schools completely failed our child. They expected him to attend live online school and expected me to sit next to him to get him on and off his live classes multiple times throughout the day. If I was going to have to do this much work for his school and not be able to do my own work, I decided to take complete control. We homeschooled him and brought in a behavior therapist to work with his challenges.
Because his behavior has improved since then, this year we put him into a program called Classical Conversations, which meets once a week with other children. He memorizes a specific set of facts for each subject at home and then reviews them at school. His class then completes lessons in art or music, conducts a science experiment, and reviews all of their memorization to date. They also make a presentation each week at school to become comfortable speaking in front of their peers.
Classical Conversations is one of the best educational decisions I have made for my son. I have come to love the classical model and cannot recommend it highly enough. CJ is working through a similar classical model that Benjamin Franklin experienced at the Boston Latin School.
Likewise my son is taking an online history and literature course for fourth grade through Veritas Press, an online classical education program. The Association of Classical Christian Schools has a list of 400 schools that use this model. Many Catholics schools follow a classical model.
Classical education has now impacted my work as an author. I have been writing a new novel about friendship and vigilance in the American Revolution called The Submarine and the Spies. The main characters were Yale College classmates who received a classical Christian education, which I wove into the book as part of the story.
The classical model is a good solution for many of the education problems facing our nation. It is not the only solution, but it is a good foundational model for education. Pete Hegseth of Fox News advocates for classical education in his Miseducation series on Fox Nation.
Our society is struggling with education for a variety of reasons. School lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic cost children 20 years of academic progress. The 2022 “Nation’s Report Card” revealed that “9-year-old students were performing nearly as well as the 9-year-olds did in math in 1999, and at a reading level similar to those in 2004” (theeopchtimes.com). In two years, lengthy school closures, online learning, and social disconnectedness erased 20 years of academic progress.
Many parents have also been horrified to discover that political indoctrination has been woven into classrooms across the nation. Some have gone to school boards to complain, only to be disregarded or chastised for their beliefs and concerns.
As Benjamin Franklin's father has shown us, parents want their children to receive a great education and grow in wisdom and knowledge. We owe it to this generation of children to do just that. Classical education needs to be part of the solution.
An acrostic poem to Benjamin Franklin in New England, July 15, 1710, from his father Josiah Franklin. Notice that the first letters of the first three lines spell out “BEN” and the first letters of the last eight lines spell out “FRANKLIN.”
Be to thy parents an Obedient son;
Each Day let Duty constantly be Done;
Never give Way to sloth or lust or pride
If free you’d be from Thousand Ills beside.
Above all Ills be sure Avoide the shelfe:
Mans Danger lyes in Satan, sin and selfe.
In vertue, Learning, Wisdome progress make.
Nere shrink at suffering for thy saviours sake;
Fraud and all Falshood in thy Dealings Flee;
Religious Always in thy station be;
Adore the Maker of thy Inward part:
Now’s the Accepted time, Give him thy Heart.
Keep a Good Conscience, ’tis a constant Frind;
Like Judge and Witness This Thy Acts Attend.
In Heart with bended knee Alone Adore
None but the Three in One Forevermore.
Crossposting!