Educare and educere come from the Latin word for education. It is interesting to note that, while the two words share an etymological basis, they represent different aspects of the education process.

Educare implies the preservation and passing down of knowledge and shaping youths in the in the ways of God as taught in scripture, as well as the wealth of wisdom of those who have gone before us. Parents have been given the task to raise godly children and this training process (education) must be based upon truth. The end goal is to raise children who know Jesus Christ as Savior and act from a biblical worldview. Educare is much like the grammar stage when students are receiving a strong education in each subject. The tradition or rules of each subject are being taught as well as trained; and memorization is an important part of this stage of learning.

The philosophy of excellence contains the discipline of both duty and living well. Educere, on the other hand, implies more of a leading out, a bringing forth to prepare a new generation for the changes that are to come. This aspect of the education process is more like the dialectic or logic stage when the student takes what was learned in the grammar stage and begins to evaluate it for truth and reliability.

The closing of our mission statement for Legacy Christian Academy states, “We are preparing strong leaders with Biblical convictions for tomorrow.” Inherent in this statement is both the educare as well as the educere aspects of the education process. Both are necessary to provide balanced education. This takes the students to the rhetoric stage in which they can express their convictions and defend the truth of their biblical worldview. We seek to train our students (educare) so they can, in turn, lead out. (educere). The result is that we are bringing forth leaders through our Christian and classical education, in order to cultivate character to prepare them for God's calling upon their lives.