Frequently Asked Questions

Answer: Many classical schools organize curricular content as follows:

(source: CiRCE Institute)

Answer: The practical arts are also frequently called the Common Arts and are sometimes understood to be Trades.

Common Arts are the skills that provide for basic human needs through the creation of artifacts or the provision of services. We need to eat, drink, build shelters, defend ourselves, bargain with others, maintain our health, work raw materials into various forms, and repair artifacts that are broken. The Common Arts run the gamut of the skills necessary to meet those needs.

The Common Arts include such things as agriculture, woodworking, tailoring and weaving, trade, metalworking, cooking, medicine, architecture, and stonemasonry, among others.

(Source: Common Arts Education by Christopher Hall)

Answer: The Fine Arts are typically understood to be the visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture and design) along with music composition and sometimes poetry and literature, while the Performing Arts, which also can be considered a subset of the Fine Arts, are typically understood to be musical performance, theater, dance, etc.

Answer: Because the classical education movement entertains many different definitions of similar-sounding terms, Sundial has chosen to organize its curriculum in answer to three basic questions.

1. What should we know?
2. What should we do?
3. How should we live?

In answering these questions we have grouped all learning into these three categories: Liberal Arts & Sciences, Arts & Trades, and Virtues & Habits.

All academic subjects are placed under the heading of Liberal Arts & Sciences in answer to the question: what should we know? At Sundial students study penmanship, phonics, grammar, spelling, written composition, poetry, literature, Latin, rhetoric, history, geography, civics, math, logic, and science. We fuse these subjects to both build the child’s knowledge base and to develop the scholarly skills of inquiry, independent study, self-assessment, and making connections from prior knowledge. Or, to say it another way, this category is intended to form the child’s intellect.

The Practical, Fine, and Performing Arts are placed under the Arts & Trades category in answer to the question: what should we do? These disciplines include activities that teach the appreciation and practice of the good and the beautiful. Or, to say it another way, this category includes formation of the child’s sense of the aesthetic and the practical.

All practices that promote healthy social, spiritual, scholarly, and physical habits that we hope our students will maintain for a lifetime are included in this category. They answer the question: how should we live? They extend far beyond the limits of academic instruction or practical training. To say it another way, this category includes formation of the child’s moral, spiritual, physical, and social senses.

Answer: Yes, Sundial accepts students from families that practice a religion and those who do not.

Sundial Classical Farmstead (SCF) believes that there are three main sources of influence on a child’s life: home, school, and community, which for some families includes their church. We believe that each of these three sources has a distinct and important purpose and Sundial intends to avoid overstepping the limits of its intended role.

Some Christian schools work hand in hand with a church with the clear intention of instructing children in the tenets of that one specific faith practice. This can be a barrier to some families who wish to avail themselves of what a school provides without feeling pressured to join or convert.

SCF sees the school as a school. Its purpose is not to usurp the family nor to become a church. At the same time that Sundial limits its role to education, it also recognizes that, as a classical school, there are three important areas where religious practice is a part of the daily life of the school.

First, some families wish to partner with us in offering religious catechesis classes for their children. We are happy to offer those additional, optional classes as an important part of our commitment to educate the whole child: body, mind, and soul. Protestant (Anglican or Lutheran), Orthodox, or Catholic catechesis classes will remain available for families that seek a school with this type of offering. See Question #9 below for more about this.

Second, we believe that a classical education is not complete without a deep understanding of the role religions have played in world politics for centuries. Therefore, history classes, especially for older students, will include lessons about the role religions have played in historical events or in the lives of historical figures.

Third, Sundial is committed to forming the classically educated citizens of tomorrow. We believe that instruction in, and the daily practice of, the virtues is integral to forming a whole person. We seek to teach faith, hope, charity, prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice in an ecumenical manner that offends none and benefits all. Toward this end we will begin and end our day with sacred texts, poems, hymns, and lessons that bring these concepts to life for our students. See Question #7 below for more about this.

Answer: To try to inculcate virtue without any religious element is to rob virtue of its capacity to inspire. It is to reduce virtue formation to banal platitudes such as “be nice,” “do your best,” or “you’re special.” True virtue involves seeking after the transcendent—those sublime notions of beauty, goodness, and truth that all the world’s enduring wisdom traditions, or religions, hearken after. The effort to separate the sacred from the secular in education, or to deny the distinction, has gravely impaired the cultivation of virtue in our society. We believe that instruction in, and the daily practice of, the virtues is integral to forming a whole person.

SCF is not a church, but we are founded on the Christian religion in the sense of classical Christianity which is described thusly by Joshua Gibbs in his A Short Introduction to Classical Christian Education:

The sort of Christianity suggested by “Christian radio” and “Christian fiction” is a cheap, commodified version of classical Christianity. Classical Christianity predates the “Christian” genre by many, many centuries. It is the more beautiful, intellectual, stable, rational, mature ancestor of “Christian.” One is a cathedral that has been lovingly tended to for a thousand years, while the other is a billion-dollar football stadium which will look old-fashioned in nineteen years…

In an effort to make plain what this approach to education in virtue means in the day to day life of our community, we want you to know that SCF adheres to the following guidelines for the education of children in virtue and the religious expression inherent in that endeavor.

During gatherings students may experience:

• Readings from the Christian scriptures as well as poetry and literature with Christian themes.
• Christian prayers of a liturgical nature that are drawn from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer or Orthodox/Catholic prayer books.
• Religious Art, Devotional Symbols, and hymns recognized by the Christian classical education movement to be of value for the edification of the soul.
• As part of marking the passage of time, children will learn about notable astronomical phenomena, brief biographies of important figures, special holidays and festivals of various cultures and religions, and the Christian liturgical cycle with emphasis placed on those feasts and liturgical seasons shared by all Christians: Orthodox, Catholic, and liturgical Protestants.

Answer: Sundial does not necessarily require anyone: student, parent, teacher, staff, or volunteer, to confess a faith or profess adherence to a specific religion, but all who join are asked to read our Statement of Faith & Ethics carefully and commit to supporting it. Sundial is founded on the Christian faith and its Directors must be professing Christians who fully affirm Sundial’s Statement of Faith & Ethics.

Answer: For families who want to supplement the instruction and formation their children receive at home or church and beyond what all children receive at SCF, optional Religious Education classes will be offered where students will go deeper into the riches of the Christian Scriptures, Theology, Spirituality, and Tradition. Consideration will be given to offering more than one option attentive to: (a) parental interest, (b) the denominational diversity of our families, and (c) the availability of quality instructors (perhaps clergy).

For example, there might be a class for Anglicans, one for Lutherans, one for Orthodox, and another for Catholics, each consisting of some combination of catechesis and devotional practice appropriate to their tradition. We may also group students into fewer classes where parents of different traditions/denominations are agreeable to or prefer such an arrangement because it is more realistic based on the number or students and more achievable financially given that fewer instructors would be needed.

We want to bring about what C.S. Lewis describes in the excerpt below from the preface to Mere Christianity where Sundial Classical Farmstead provides the hall that brings together Christians of different confessions and those non-religious people who are amenable to such a place, but also the rooms for deepened engagement that acknowledges the critical importance of our differences.

I hope no reader will suppose that 'mere' Christianity is here put forward as an alternative to the creeds of the existing communions--as if a man could adopt it in preference to Congregationalism or Eastern Orthodoxy or anything else. It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms...But it is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in...It is true that some people may find they have to wait in the hall for a considerable time, while others feel certain almost at once which door they must knock at...When you do get into your room you will find that the long wait has done you some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must regard it as waiting, not as camping. You must keep on praying for light: and, of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by its paint and paneling. In plain language, the question should never be: 'Do I like that kind of service?' but 'Are these doctrines true: Is holiness here? Does my conscience move me towards this? Is my reluctance to knock at this door due to my pride, or my mere taste, or my personal dislike of this particular door-keeper?'

When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common to the whole house.

Lewis, Clive Staples. Mere Christianity. Harper, 1952.

For more information see SCF's Position Paper on Forming an Ecumenical Christian Organization .

Answer: Primarily, we do not believe these pledges are capable of doing what the designers intend them to do. We believe they are more about virtue-signaling than true affirmations of faith. For example, two people who both attend church and profess a faith may practice it in very different ways. One person could follow every jot and tiddle of the law while the other feels comfortable cherry-picking out their favorite parts and ignoring any requirements they deem as too difficult. Even worse, a person raised in the church could know all the lingo to use but secretly believe Christians are naive and simple-minded. They could willfully sign a pledge to get a job they want, believing they were deceiving their employer from the beginning. For all of these reasons we believe pledges of faith are neither beneficial nor effective.

That said, families and staff must sign a pledge that they are comfortable supporting and being part of an organization founded upon the Christian faith and having behavioral expectations consistent with historic Christian ethics. Furthermore, Sundial's Directors must be professing Christians who fully affirm Sundial’s Statement of Faith & Ethics. Refer also to FAQ Question #8.

Answer:

• Minding the Gap | Natalie Wexler
• Catherine Project
• In the Trenches with Joshua Gibbs
• Archedelia - Matthew Crawford
• Front Porch Republic
• Proverbial
• The Rest is History
• The New Atlantis Journal
• The Abbey of Misrule - Paul Kingsnorth

Answer: First, Sundial was started by a former public school special education teacher who happily worked within the Dewitt, Bath, and Haslett public schools throughout her career. Her two eldest sons graduated from Haslett Public Schools. Some of Sundial’s other staff have worked in public schools and continue to send their children to their local public school. We do not wish to undermine public education in any way.

However, the truth is that one size does not fit all. Our main critique, from working inside public schools, is that often they are too big and too hampered by bureaucracy to flex to the individual needs of every student.

Not all students can thrive in a big class, under an inflexible schedule, within a rigid set of curricular benchmarks. Sundial’s commitment to maintaining a small enrollment and low student-to-teacher ratio opens up possibilities for true individualization. For example, our multi-age classrooms allow students to be placed in groups according to their ability level, not age level. This built-in flexibility keeps advanced students challenged and slower students with their social peers. Additionally, Sundial’s flexible weekly schedule allows parents to choose a program that meets each family’s needs: 1, 4, or 5 days per week.

We think of Sundial as a boutique schooling option. Our community supports both big stores like Meijer and smaller specialty shops like Monticello’s Market. Just as there is room for both bigger and smaller stores within our community, so there is room for both bigger and smaller schools.

Answer: We plan to add instructional levels each year as our oldest students progress. When these students become high school aged we will work with parents to craft a schooling program that meets their child’s needs. If parents prefer to reach beyond what Sundial staff can offer, then we can help them utilize a range of resources such as online classes, local public high schools, dual college enrollment, and vocational educational sites to create a customized curriculum.

Our upper grades program will be formed around the belief that children need meaningful work. We think one reason teens struggle with mental health issues is because they are under-challenged and therefore under-rewarded. Children leaving childhood are seeking opportunities to be needed so they can experience being an important member of their community. Sundial’s working farm, as well as its connections to artisans and small businesses owners in our neighborhood, will offer meaningful apprenticeships that help our students form a sense of self-worth as well as a healthy work ethic.

Answer: Sundial’s founders believe schools of all types - public, private, and religious - have become too politically active lately. Sundial strongly respects the role of parents in shaping a child’s values and we believe topics such as sex education or political affiliation should be taught at home. Sundial will never host or ask parents to support political or social causes.