The Torch
A deep dive into classical education
Principle 1: Festina Lente, Make Haste Slowly
As I mentioned in August's Torch, I will be writing this year about the Ten Principles of Classical Education. The first of those principles is the Latin phrase, festinā lentē, which means to "make haste slowly". This may seem at first blush to be like a Zen koan like "What is the sound of one hand clapping?", or "What is reflected in an empty mirror?". However, the origin of the phrase is from the first Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, who was said to have warned his military commanders with festinā lentē, lest they rush into battle without considering existing factors. This military term applies to classical education through time for training, and time for mastery.
One thing you may not know about Brandon Foat, our sixth grade History and eighth grade Logic teacher, is that he owns and operates the Center for Blade Arts, a fencing school in Minneapolis that “focuses on building mental acuity and athletic ability in children, teens, and adults”. Brandon is also our School of Logic Pedagogy Lead, so he and I work closely to approach training in classical education teaching methods from as many lenses as we can.
Last spring, he showed me a video from his sword club where he and an advanced student went through a long training session. The student had to touch a quarter-sized dot on Brandon’s chest with his sword— over and over and over again. Once the student had gotten into the rhythm of hitting his target, Brandon would slightly adjust his stance so that the student needed to adjust his: silently teaching the student that training does not end with mastery of one angle. The slow and deliberate training may seem endless on certain days, but it allows for mastery over time and practice.
Our students are not all swords people (although some of our Nova Classical students do train at the sword club), but I love to watch our teachers use the method of festinā lentē with our students. We train them in one stance for a while until they are ready to move on, and then we shift so that the student knows that they can shift with us in order to get better. This methodology also applies to adult education- we can still learn new ideas from revisiting those which we have heard before. With that encouragement, I would like to formally invite you to a learning opportunity next week.
Nova Classical Academy Parent Education Night: 5:30-7:30 pm on October 5th, 2023
5:30-6:00 pm: Welcome in Exhibition Hall, revisiting Classical Education
Pick 1 session from each time below (I will explain how this works during welcome):
6:05-6:30 pm:
Phonogram Training in room 102 (grades K-2)
Sentence Diagramming in room 127 (grades 2-5)
Latin in room 228 (grades 2-12)
6:35-7:00 pm:
Reading Mastery in room 221 (grades 1-3)
Sentence Diagramming in room 127 (grades 2-5)
Latin in room 228 (grades 2-12)
Singapore Math in room 125 (grade K-2)
7:05-7:30 pm:
Reading Mastery in room 221 (grades 1-3)
Phonogram Training in room 102 (grades K-2)
Singapore Math in room 125 (grades 3-5)
Please RSVP here if you would like to attend. I hope to see you there!
May we continue to hasten with deliberate and measured steps,
Dr. Missy Johnson
Want to catch up or revisit any Torch issues?
2021-2022 The Torch
2022-2023 The Torch
As a teacher and student of Latin and Greek, the classical model was a natural choice for me as an educator. I hold the teaching of grammar, logic, rhetoric, and virtues in high regard for learners of all ages and backgrounds. Nova Classical’s community model is inspiring, and I hope to bring thoughtfulness and openness to the Great Conversation.