My argument here is that American classical schools, particularly Protestant ones, should be teaching manual arts to their students. Not only is this allowed by the classical tradition, it is demanded by it in our current context. If Christians are to develop the down-to-earth know-how they’ll need to prosper in the coming years, and to overcome the gravitational pull of screens and disembodiment, they will need to embrace these incarnational arts.

Leaders and educators should keep a weather eye on the horizon. The astonishing spread of classical schools—like all rapid growth—comes with new dangers. I’m not talking here about attacks from outside (those these will undoubtedly continue to increase), but rather the temptation leaders will face to sacrifice what is rigorous and counter-cultural about classical education for the sake of avoiding criticisms of their schools, and benefiting from the movement’s popularity. In short, there will be a temptation to give up precisely those distinctives that make this form of Christian education classical.