I think you miss the point of a classical education. I was taught where to find information. It was constantly told to us "You cannot learn everything at school. You have to learn to look for the informaton you need. You will find it in libraries, at universities, at experts in the field." This is where I learnt the basics of research - long before the internet.

I was bored at school as well. I read my text books the first week, and then I read the library. I generally passed - in fact I always passed. I'm not quite sure how.

Without a solid foundation of facts (which nobody in America seems to have), everything else is useless.