Classics are the part of cultures that record the high levels of human wisdom, and the spiritual connotations contained in them brilliance of human nature. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, one should calm down to recite the scriptures and practice the teachings of the saints and sages, so that our hearts are bright and supported, and our lives are stable.
Classical education has been a common educational tradition between the East and the West for more than two thousand years. Classical learning not only gives children the best temperament and spiritual education, and helps them to set the path of life, but it also lays the foundation for cultivating talents so that can integrate the past and the present and understand the Chinese and the West.
Education must give children the most essential spiritual and cultural nourishment. Eastern and Western cultural classics are the highest wisdom of mankind and are undoubtedly the best. Jiqian School and Beichen Chinese, affiliated with the Canadian Classical Culture Education Foundation, are committed to the promotion of classic education by running weekend reading classes and holiday intensive reading operations (winter camps and summer camps). The teachers in the school carefully selected the most important classics in Chinese and Western cultural traditions as the core textbooks. They hope that by reading these classics that have passed through thousands of years and are time-honoured, the children will learn from the sages and make friends with the classics, and they will be clever. Rooting the extensive and lofty wisdom of mankind in their lives while learning literacy and receiving the influence of excellent traditional Chinese culture is an efficient Chinese education method that serves multiple purposes.
It is also very important for adults to learn classics, practice what the sages say, and enrich and perfect themselves. With the purpose of promoting classics, making good friends, and inducing kindness and self-cultivation, the Canadian Classical Culture and Education Foundation established an adult reading club (Yuedu Classic Reading Club and Sunflower Parent-Child Paradise-Parents Reading Club). On the platform of the Reading Club, everyone learns to recite, study and discuss the classics of traditional Chinese culture such as “The Analects of Confucius”, as well as many books on positive education, to help solve the problems of parent-child interaction and communication that we encounter, to increase wisdom, and to make more families benefit.
Weekend Classes
In order to promote classic recitation and Chinese teaching, Jiqian School and Beichen Chinese have opened weekend reading classes. Through recitation and learning of Chinese and Western classics, the extensive and lofty wisdom of mankind becomes rooted in the lives of children, and a correct worldview and view of one’s life and values are established. At the same time, they can expand their Chinese literacy, improve their Chinese level, and deepen their understanding of Chinese traditional culture and virtues. The classics of Chinese studied in the school include “Di Zi Gui”, “The Three Character Classic”, “Motto”, “Jiao Zi Shu”, “Sound Rhyme Enlightenment” excerpts, “The Analects”, “The Great Learning”, “The Doctrine of the Mean”, “Mencius” excerpts, Excerpts from “The Book of Filial Piety”, “Laozi”, “The Book of Songs”, etc. The English classics include “Selected Classics”, “Selected English Classics” and so on.
Intensive Recitation Camps
Since the summer of 2015, Jiqian School has successfully held ten intensive study camps (winter camp and summer camp). Through the intensive reading during these ten camps, the children have familiarized themselves with “The Great Learning”, “The Doctrine of the Mean”, half of “The Analects”, “Laozi”, “The Book of Filial Piety”, “Three Character Classics”, “Thousand Characters”, “Surname”, “Book of Songs” selections, etc. They also learned many Chinese characters. Practice and persistence has proved that the intensive courses of the study camp can provide overseas Chinese students with the opportunity to concentrate on learning classics, and even to recite some important Chinese classics. In this process, students can learn the effective learning method of recitation of classics, which can effectively expand their Chinese literacy, improve their Chinese proficiency level, and create a feasible way for overseas Chinese learning.
Adult Reading Club
The Canadian Classical Culture Education Foundation established the Rejoice in Classics Reading Association in June 2019. Members read and discussed “The Analects” together to learn Confucian culture and the wisdom of ancient sages.
In order to help more parents grow up with their children, the Foundation established the Sunflower Parent-Child Paradise Parents’ Book Club in August 2020. On this platform, everyone learns and discusses many positive parenting books to increase our wisdom, solve the problems of parent-child interaction and communication that we encounter in real life, and gain family benefits.
