What Parents Are Saying

Our children have been inspired to learn at Redeemer. They are being taught the Christian faith. They are learning to love hymns. They are learning good disciplines. I give thanks to God for Redeemer Classical School!

My son has loved being a part of Redeemer Classical School for the past three years. We have watched his love of learning grow as he has been encouraged and challenged by his teachers and classmates. He has gained confidence in his own identity and abilities.

The school holds to a high academic and moral standard that encourages students to ask questions, seek truth, and work at their own pace to master skills in various subjects such as grammar, literature, art, science, history, math, and Latin. If you are looking for a school that will engage and expand the world view of your student outside of the typical core subjects, then I encourage you to check out Redeemer Classical School!

We love this school! My 7 year old son is getting a wonderful education. From cursive, to great literature, to self-paced math lessons, he is thriving! And the best part is that he never complains about going to school!

What drew us to Redeemer was the level of ability of our two grandsons in contrast to what they were being offered in public school, even a highly rated one.  The amount of lost time, wasted time, was huge.And, our daughters, sons-in-law, and we were immediately concerned that kindergartners do not need a full-day program.

So, after watching the development of the classical school model that Redeemer is using, and the Christ-centered, amazing, challenging curriculum, we were quick to support an older, better idea.

It took only a few days to see our boys move from boredom, asking if they had to go to school today,to excited to be up and ready each morning, ready to engage, ready to learn.  What they have been given is love of learning, the ability to learn far more than their former school would allow or could imagine, and to grow as students, people, learners.

We were also drawn to the small class size–ideal for our guys, with two little gals still coming, one this year and one in two years.

One of the main things to which we respond is the old/ancient notion that there is a body of Truth and overall knowledge that students must master in order to be truly educated; that body of knowledge begins with the Bible, God’s eternal truth, and then the classics–great ideas from history, philosophy, art, music, science, and language, that serious students need to know, and that they need to know HOW TO engage, so that eventually they will be equipped to think and study on their own. 

That process also includes the discipline of memorization.  As an upper-level, gifted-and-talented English teacher at a very good high school, I watched my best and brightest struggle to memorize; therefore, I am daily grateful at the ease with which the grandsons grasp and “get” information, make connections,and memorize important information that adds to the body of truth and knowledge that will allow them to be high-functioning, serious-thinking contributors to the Body of Christ and our country’s society.

Now I can finally say it. This move to Fort Wayne was absolutely the best decision we could have made. The kids are so happy. The school is exactly what they needed.

Each morning begins with Matins. The parents stay and many of the homeschooled children in the church attend with their parents, too.

The classes are separated by forms rather than grades/ages. Jane is in Form 1 and learning Singapore Math, Latin, World History, Grammar, Spelling, Biology, and Recitation. She has two other girls in her class and they have formed a “fearsome alliance” in Banana Tag at recess and coordinate their uniforms so that they all wear khaki bottoms or blue blouses (or whatever they have in common) each day. Jane’s teacher knows about sailing and fencing and all sorts of other things that appeal to adventuresome children and he easily keeps their attention.

Jane was embarrassed at not being the best in class at math, so went home and read the entire mythology book, Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliff in one night to make up for it. The nice thing is, there are no letter grades. They learn to mastery, though they do get special recognition for outstanding work.

Grace is in Form B and Rosalie is in Form A and these classes meet together. I was very worried about the two of them being in the same class, but it is perfect. They can’t wait to tell me about their day when they get home. This week, their teacher read them “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” and “The Ugly Duckling” and part of their homework was to come home and retell the stories to me. Before they began, they had a quick conference in the living room to figure out who got to tell which part – it was so cute. They tell the disgusting parts (like the princes getting their heads chopped off) with particular relish.

They’re practicing their math facts and their writing and are learning “Fireflies in the Garden” by Robert Frost:

Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,
And here on earth come emulating flies,
That though they never equal stars in size,
(And they were never really stars at heart)
Achieve at times a very star-like start.
Only, of course, they can’t sustain the part.

Speaking of memorization, they’re learning the catechism, a Bible verse, and a hymn which we practice at dinner. This week, all four of them (Joseph refused to be left out) learned and sang for our dinner prayer “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word” every night. Even Grace. Grace who refuses to sing. She sang. It gives me a lump in my throat.

Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word,
Curb those who by deceit or sword
Would wrest the kingdom from your Son
And bring to naught all he has done.

I have not seen all of them this happy in a long time. My sweet (but very sassy) Jane, has taken to Latin. It’s really hard and she complains about how it makes her brain hurt. But, she loves knowing something that I don’t and I can see her brain working and wonder in her eyes as she figures out how to conjugate and makes connections to English words with Latin roots. Grace and Rosalie find their teacher, Mr. Pullmann, absolutely hilarious. He has a very dry sense of humor like Arthur – so the girls “get it” and come home cracking up about things he says in class.