The grammar stage recognizes that children in kindergarten through fourth grade have minds that are almost "spongelike" in that they are capable of absorbing a large number of facts through a rote or repetitive method. Classical educators use this natural stage to build a foundation of universal truths and focus on the solid basic language skills such as reading and the mechanics of writing including the study of French and Latin. This emphasis on reading and writing is vital to the next two stages of development for the student. It is the foundation upon which the rest of the classical approach to education is built.

The logic stage appreciates the developmental change that students are experiencing between the fifth and eighth grades. It is during this time period that students are beginning to question the facts, concepts and ideas they have been taught as well as the authority of those around them. These students truly enjoy a debate or an argument. A good classical environment relies on the strength of its grammar stage in order to encourage students to critically examine the arguments of others as well as their own. However, students are also taught the importance of doing this virtuously, in an environment of respect and care for others.

The rhetoric stage is the last of the three stages and it is in this stage that the toil and labor of the grammar and logic stages bears fruit. From the ninth grade to the twelfth grade students are taught and guided to take that which they have learned is fact, as well as those things which they believe to be true, and to express them in such a way as to convince others that their positions are well-founded. Aristotle himself is quoted as saying, "Rhetoric is the counterpart of dialectic (logic)" because students learn to utilize "all the available means of persuasion".