Classical Principle 1: Make Haste Slowly (Festina Lente)

Classical Principle 1 is to Make Haste Slowly or in Latin it is called Festina Lente.

When I was a homeschooled student, I finished my Year 10 work in 5 months. Pretty impressive, huh. But, what if I were to tell you I barely received credits for all my work. Would you be so impressed?

The first principle of classical education has to do with getting things done properly. Students need to take care when they do their work.

We want to teach our children to not be lazy, but to work with diligence. We want to work with our students in a way that ensures mastery.

Don't just encourage your children to 'get the work done'. Encourage them to do it with good grace. And encourage them to try to do it as close to perfect as they can within the time allowed (this is one of Charlotte Mason's principles).

Rushing work makes it sloppy and exhibits a student's intemperance. Temperance is one of the classical virtues (see principle #7 ) we want to promote in education.

For example, if you're doing high school grammar and you don't master the vocabulary in the course, problems will surface as you try to move on to other material because you don't have a good foundation.

In a large classroom, it's tempting to go on once you've finished a lesson. However, festina lente which is the Latin for 'make haste slowly', tells us to master it before we move on.

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