Our Fundamental Convictions
The Discipline
of Habit
At Ambleside, we
consider the process of student work to be as important as the end
product. Rather than developing persons who are able to study well
for the next exam, we are interested in helping students develop a
life of study. We ask the questions: Did she attend? Did he put
forth effort? And was she thorough? We believe school is not just
an institution to get through, but rather a place to develop
habits that will serve children the rest of their lives.
The Importance
of Delight and of Struggle
Children will
naturally delight in the feast of great ideas set before them.
They will savor them and grow in the ability to enjoy and
celebrate their relations with persons, ideas, and creation. But
they will also at times struggle. We consider the struggle to be
as essential to the learning process as the delight. Children must
learn to labor with problems not yet grasped, to remain on task
when uncertain of the outcome, to struggle to completion when mind
and hand are tired, to experience the rewards and negative
consequences of their actions. There will be no growth in
character without the struggle.
Foremost among the
enemies of the delight and the struggle necessary for the
cultivation of a learner are entertainment and indulgence. In the
classroom, entertainment and indulgence both encourage passivity.
To grow, a student must be strenuously engaged in the work of
learning. Thus, Ambleside teachers, while often creative in their
presentations, make no effort to entertain their students.
Ambleside teachers, while being loving, will not be indulgent.
The Priority of
the Relational Life
Children live in
relationship with God, self, others, creation, and the world of
ideas. These relationships are cultivated in the educational
process through a broad, challenging curriculum and a faculty that
seeks to relate to students, parents, and one another in
accordance with the principles of Jesus Christ.
A
Stimulating, Non-Competitive Atmosphere
In an atmosphere of
sincerity and truth, students are free to learn for the pleasure
of learning. Students do not compete with their peers for rank,
grades or prizes. Learning is the focus, not besting a classmate.
Real life is placed before the students to study and discuss.
Students are stimulated to observe, explore, and understand.
Education as
Vital, Dynamic, Living
Real learning
occurs when the learner wonders, asks why and how. And it needs to
happen in an atmosphere that stimulates thought, in an atmosphere
rich with ideas. Our objective is to place the very best books
before our students, books rich in content and ideas, putting them
into relationship with the finest authors. Through the use of
“living books” students interact with scientists, mathematicians,
philosophers, historians, artists, poets, and explorers.
The Infinite
Dignity and Potential of Each Child
Because children
are born in God’s image, they are therefore born with great
potential for a fruitful and full life of interests and
relationships. At Ambleside, children are not identified or
limited by their strengths or weaknesses. All children participate
in a broad, rigorous curriculum—all children calculate, solve,
attend, explore, ponder, recite, paint and sing. The expectation
that prevails within the school is that all students will learn
and grow to their full potential as persons and attain their vast
inheritance.
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