Academic Program

Parnassus' academic focus is on developing thoughtful, literate, and expressive high school graduates through classical education. Classical education is a time-tested model that is systematic and comprehensive. The framework Parnassus intends to utilize for the delivery of the classical model is the classical Trivium, or three parts.  

The Trivim divides learning into three parts:
1. Grammar Stage where students will master facts; 
2. Logic Stage where, in addition to continuing to learn facts, students will begin to make logical distinctions; 
3. Rhetoric Stage where, while neglecting neither facts nor logic, students will be able to express themselves with evidence and sound logic.

Great emphasis will be placed on reading, writing, grammar, and math in the Grammar Stage and through out the curriculum. The founders believe that a child that has difficulty reading and writing early on will struggle in every subject later. 

In high school, the Socratic Method will be in full force in the study of history through original sources, literature through complete classic works, the sciences through intensive experimentation, understanding of the concepts, and applied science. The mathematics program will emphasize complete understanding of the concepts behind numerical relations.

A classical education is more than just a pattern of learning. First, it is language-focused where learning is accomplished through written and spoken words versus images such as videos and television. In language-focused learning, the mind needs to work harder and ‘decode’ a symbol (words) into concepts. Images, on the other hand, allow the mind to be passive and enjoy the translation from words into concepts already completed.

Second, a classical education follows a three part pattern following the natural maturation of a child’s mind. First, the mind is provided with facts, and then given the logical tools for organization of those facts, and finally expression of opinion emerges with the logical analysis of the facts provided in earlier stages.

Third, all knowledge is interrelated for the classical learner. Subjects are not studied in isolation and are interrelated. For example, the reading of the Odyssey allows the student to consider Greek history, the nature of heroism, and the development of epic. However, making the interdisciplinary links is no small task given the thousands of years of accumulated information, knowledge, and fields of study. A classical education at Parnassus meets this challenge by taking history in chronological order as the back-bone structure for learning beginning with ancients and progressing forward to the moderns in history, science, literature, art, and music.

History as Chronological Back-Bone
Parnassus will structure its academic program based on four time periods or segments in history. The child will study these four segments in three cycles, going deeper each time the history period is covered. The study of science, music, literature, and art also follow the same historical time frame.
 

Name of the Period

Years Covered

Scientific Subjects

Grades

Ancients

5000 B.C – 400 A.D

Biology

 Human Body

1, 5, 9

Medieval – Early Renaissance

400 – 1600

Earth Science 

2, 6, 10

Late Renaissance – Early Modern

1600 – 1850

Chemistry

3, 7, 11

Modern

1850 – present

Physics

4, 8, 12

 

Singapore Math

Parnassus  will offer a challenging science and math program. Singapore Math will be used up to 6th grade. Algebra I and II, Geometry, and Calculus will follow once the foundation is established and students are ready for more abstract concepts. 

Why Singapore Math?
Singapore Math has become more popular since the release of scores from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study  (TIMSS). Conducted on a four-year cycle, the first round of TIMSS was in 1995, the second in 1999 and the third in 2003.  Singapore has scored at the top of the world in 4th and 8th grade mathematics in 1995, 1999, and 2003. 

How Does Singapore Math Work?
Here is a math problem you can solve easily:

A man sold 230 balloons at a fun fair in the morning. He sold another 86 balloons in the evening. How many balloons did he sell in all?

And here is one you can't:

Lauren spent 20 percent of her money on a dress. She spent 2/5 of the remainder on a book. She had $72 left. How much money did she have at first?

In Singapore, where 4th and 8th grade students consistently come in first on international math exams, students learn how to solve both problems using the same bar model technique. Students first encounter the technique in 3rd grade, where they apply it to very simple problems like the first one. In grades 4 and 5, they apply the same versatile technique to more difficult, multistep problems. By grade 6, they are ready to solve really hard problems like the second one. With that solid foundation, students easily step into algebra. The bar modeling tool has taught them not only to solve math problems but also to represent them symbolically—the mainstay of algebraic reasoning.

Bar modeling is a specific variant of the common Draw a Picture mathematics problem-solving strategy. Because Singapore Math uses this one variant consistently, students know what kind of picture to draw. That's an advantage if the bar model is versatile enough to apply to many complex problems—and it is. It is especially useful for problems that involve comparisons, part-whole calculations, ratios, proportions, and rates of change. It communicates graphically and instantly the information that the learner already knows, and it shows the student how to use that information to solve the problem.

Singapore's textbooks are used in more than 600 schools in the United States and also by many homeschoolers. The books were discovered and drew high praise when mathematicians and teachers investigated why Singapore scored so high on international math exams. Homeschoolers and teachers like them for their simple and effective approach. Mathematicians like them for their logical structure, coherent curriculum, and focus on the skills necessary for success in algebra.