#1 Uniquely Lutheran Distinctives: These courses are unabashedly and intentionally Lutheran and are being offered solely to Lutheran high school students for the formation of a distinctly Lutheran classical education. Academic classes will flesh out how fundamental tenets of Lutheranism can be perceived and supported in all academic studies.

#2: Liturgical Model of Learning: Pedagogy that is, with intentional form and structure, designed to enculturate students not just in worldly academics but in the undergirding of faith. In addition, classical catechetical instruction (not in the sense of catechesis in the faith – which is the realm of pastoral authority – but in the sense of the original Greek root meaning, κατήχησις, “instruction by word of mouth”) will be emphasized in favor of instruction through use of means such as PowerPoints, videos, etc.

#3: Logocentric and Integrated Instruction: These courses will be looking for and identifying the λόγος (logos) – the Word, Christ – in all subjects. No topic will be taught in a fragmented way; they will all be integrated with the logos, with each other, and with Lutheran doctrine.

#4 Teaching from Rest and Contemplation vs. Survey of Content: The following classical principles are paramount in the pedagogy of these preceptorials:

• Optimus Magister Bonus Liber and Ad Fontes – “The best teacher is a good book” and “back to the source” encapsulate the highly classical understanding that the text being read (the book) is the prime teacher. Studying the book is engaging in a conversation with its author.
• Repetitio Mater Memoriae – “Repetition is the Mother of Memory” means not simply drilling facts and information in one area of study (such as multiplication tables or a history timeline) but integrating from one area of study to another; bringing the memory of what is studied in history into what is studied in literature into what is studied in theology into what is studied in mathematics, etc. These courses foster the retention of material in memory and put that memoriae into context, understanding how it is relatable, pulling it into and through all other areas.
• Festina Lente and Multum Non Multa – “Make haste slowly” and “Much, not many” indicate having a contemplative approach to the material; it is not about rushing through and checking it off a list as being “completed,” but rather is concerned with dwelling with the content.
• Docendo Discimus – “By teaching, we learn” is a fundamental aspect of these preceptorials. They are Socratic; these courses will give high priority to having students take responsibility for their own learning – with the firm guidance of the instructor – and take responsibility for contributing to the learning of others.
• Ekstasis and Studium – These courses actively seek to cultivate wonder and curiosity; their focus is not on the utilitarian value of the content – that value will proceed naturally once the higher goals are reached. Wonder leads to wisdom, which in turn leads us to order our loves in proper Worship.
• Scholé – “Leisure” – the root for our word, “school.” Restful Rigor Preceptorials teach from rest and inculcate a leisure which is conducive to life-long love of learning and harmony.

#5 Classical Assessment: Instructor feedback to each student will be classical in nature through assessment of student recitation, narration, dialogue, and rhetoric (such as speech or composition). It will be detailed and individualized.

#6 Relational Teaching:  These courses will mirror a discipleship model, with small class sizes (preferably about 4-8; max 10).

#7 Classical Experience, and Deep Commitment to the Lutheran Faith on the part of all instructors.

Plato regarded knowledge neither as a possession of something outside the mind nor as a measurable state of mind, but as a logical process attending the activity of learning. His definition of knowledge as an activity of learning rather than as a condition of having learned is important to the idea of classical education…According to Aristotle, the perfect end of education will be an activity that is engaged in for its own sake, complete and sufficient unto itself. Aristotle calls the activity for which education prepares man – happiness.

– David Hicks, “Norms and Nobility”