Classical P.E.

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In the homeschool world there's a whole philosophy of education called "Classical." Some private schools have even picked up on this idea. Many use an essay by Dorothy Sayers on what she thought such an education would look like. It's assumed that many of our founding fathers had this sort of education, but it seems few study what exactly they studied.

Instead over the years a shorthand version of a "classical" education has evolved. Generally history is study in a four year cycle. Children learn Latin at a young age and possibly another classical language later on (although this is much rarer). They also often study logic as they come to middle and high school. Most of the other subjects of a standard American education remain in place. Sometimes children are taught chants to aid them in their acquisition of various bits of knowledge (parts of speech, continents, historical facts and dates).

As many people are drawn to this overall idea there have been disputes about what exactly a classical education is. Some don't like Sayer's essay. Others think we should return to the Greeks and study what they meant.

I admit that I've found some of this amusing and I occasionally like to stir the waters with irreverent thoughts about what a classical education would include. One thing that I've yet to see in any theory of classical education is a classical style of physical education. In Greece that would have involved a variety of sports and competitions. Often half the day or more was spent on such activities. Many of these would have been useful to the man who goes to war (and I suspect that modern practitioners of a classical education ignore another related area of study).

Later in history these games changed as the technology of war changed. Some like wrestling continued, but later hunting on horseback and fencing were added to the mix. Thomas Jefferson's father was a vigorous man and is said to have required his children to spend four hours everyday in the saddle.

I often wonder why this portion of a classical education is so overlooked by most sources or classical teaching. How would schools and homeschools change if this was incorporated?