What is a Traditional American Education?

A Traditional Education for Modern Times

At Liberty Tree Academy, we have discovered that “Classical” is used in a variety of ways by different schools that do not adequately represent our mission. For this reason, we decided to drop the word “Classical” from our name. What sets LTA apart, is not that it is just another “Classical” school, but rather that LTA is a school committed to a Traditional American Education.

LTA is a school that delights in the rich content discovered in the immersion of Western Civilization study, but uniquely finds its identity in the philosophical tenets of our Nation’s founders, which has produced more freedom, prosperity, opportunity and happiness that the world has ever known. LTA will produce self-governing citizens who continue to carry out the vision of our Nation’s founders to preserve and perpetuate Liberty.

It is the desire of LTA to see all children thrive as educated citizens who make an invaluable contribution today and are compelled to give back to our community tomorrow. This goal has fueled our motivation to bring a great new school choice to our community. Nothing brings us more joy than to see children take pride in personal accomplishment and present themselves with confidence and integrity.

A traditional American education from Liberty Tree Academy will teach that human beings are thinking creatures. We want to know what the things around us are and how they operate. We want to know who we are, where we come from, and what is expected of us. In short, we want to know the truth.

LTA will take advantage of young people’s natural curiosity to provide them an education reaffirming our nation’s founding principles. It will teach the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as guaranteed by and realized through the American frame of government. LTA will ensure that our students enter the world as citizens fully cognizant of their rights and responsibilities.[1]

[1] Dr. Terrance Moore, A Classical Education for Modern Times

A Traditional Education Through the Eyes of the Nation’s Founders

If we aspire to follow the Nation’s Founders, then we must study the classics as they did. We must also study the Nation’s Founders themselves: the actions they took and texts they wrote in the midst of the challenges of their day. Studying the manner in which they won their freedom and built an exceptional nation out of nothing, against the most powerful nation of their time, can help us today as we encounter modern threats to liberty. We inherited this incredible gift of liberty, and we have a great responsibility to educate our students and prepare them to carry on this responsibility.

As we study the Nation’s Founders, we can promote a uniquely American character with a “can-do” attitude. Through studying these character traits and virtues, our students will come to understand the importance of their responsibilities and actions. We as educators can use this knowledge to help solidify how to be good citizens and teach that our actions in liberty, as insignificant as they may seem, do in fact make a real difference!

We have seen a difference in the lives of some of our students already from teaching about our Nation’s Founders and true events in history. Our students are hungry for knowledge, and they are having real conversations with their parents and other adults outside of school. Parents are learning with their children and it is changing families.

Classical education without the Nation’s Founders might lead to a glass-half-full view of the world, but when immersed in the lives of the Nation’s Founders, we develop the necessary courage, perseverance and moral authority to face threats to our liberty! Our Nation’s Founders were exceedingly brave. They promoted ideas that have the power to change the world and doing so added to their own struggles. Our Nation’s Founders were not only interested in a good education for our citizens but they were also interested in ensuring a more perfect union, securing blessings of liberty, establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility and providing for the common defense

Library of Congress c. 1911

What is a Traditional American Education?

A Traditional Education Through the Eyes of the Nation’s Founders

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