Our Methods
Brazos Christian School is a college preparatory school that utilizes classical methods, evident in the outcomes of our graduates.
The implementation of classical education can vary from school to school, but the fundamental ideas are the same: develop wisdom and virtue by nurturing the mind, body, heart, and will with goodness, truth, and beauty from the liberal arts, sciences, and humanities. However, in a Christian school, like Brazos Christian, it goes one step further – we believe that truth is not only knowable, but that it has been revealed by God, our Divine Creator, and so while we may be classical in methods, we are Christian in our faith, worldview, and standard of morality. So, when we say that we incorporate classical methods in our school, here is what that means:
- On a “macro-level,” we divide our grade levels into grammar (Pk-6), logic (7-8), and rhetoric (9-12) schools, corresponding to stages of child development.
- On a “micro-level” we again apply the metaphor of grammar, logic, and rhetoric to the three stages of learning. In any subject at any grade level, we use the grammar-logic-rhetoric learning process of acquiring, understanding, and communicating information. This can look like our Pre-K students reciting and acting out nursery rhymes on a stage in front of an audience, our ninth grade students researching and presenting projects in a history fair, or our seniors studying doctrine and apologetics, debating issues, and then presenting and defending a senior thesis in front of administrators. In each case, however, regardless of the grade level, students are incorporating the grammar-logic-rhetoric learning process that culminates in demonstrating the ability to articulate what they know.
- We provide specific tools for building skills and knowledge, such as the study of Latin (to build a basis for vocabulary and for effective communication), the study of logic, socratic seminars, research methods, algebra, geometry proofs, physics, opportunities for public speaking and presentation, emphasis on reading and literature, and intentional cross-curriculum connection between language arts, literature, and social studies.
- We actively seek to develop wisdom (knowing what is right) and virtue (doing what is right) in our classrooms and on our campus.
What this all means is that Brazos Christian School is a Christian school - centered in a biblical worldview - that employs classical methods for teaching and learning. As followers of Jesus, it is our goal and desire that we develop wisdom and virtue in our students, so that we can best “train, equip, and educate our students to impact the world for Jesus,” and we believe that we can most effectively do so by using a classical approach. Christian in our values, classical in our methods; that’s who we are.
Philosophy of Education
Brazos Christian School bases its educational philosophy on a Christian world view which comes from the truths of the Christian faith found in the infallible, inerrant, and inspired Word of God. The Bible is authoritative, reliable, and the final source of truth.
We believe God created, sustains, and will consummate all things through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the universe and all life are dynamically related to Him and have the purpose of glorifying Him.
Man is created in God’s image and therefore of infinite worth. He is also a sinner by nature and by choice because of the fall of Adam. As such, he is separated from God and incapable of knowing or glorifying God apart from a work of reconciliation by God through the atoning death of Jesus Christ. Man can be reconciled to God only by being born again through receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord by faith.
Education can most effectively be accomplished in an environment which recognizes that all truth is God’s truth. The fear of the Lord is the foundation of all wisdom and knowledge, and only a redeemed person can fully comprehend truth as the Holy Spirit reveals it to him. In the curricula, an emphasis on the unity of all truth and on the development of an eternal perspective for life naturally follows.
A Brazos Christian education strives to develop the whole child and therefore offers a balance in instruction so that students may grow in knowledge, skills, and wisdom which ground young people the rest of their lives for living as God has designed, free to choose with wisdom and act with love.
Scripture clearly teaches that parents are responsible for their children’s education and discipline. The school is not a substitute for the home, but is an extension of the home and one means through which parents fulfill the responsibility the Lord has given them.