As an English professor, sickened by years of RE-search papers, he rewrote the rules for his students to improve the quality and content of their writing. Advice for what works in education is out there, but no one seems to read it. I do believe that memorization is good for early education. I am sympathetic with your need for classical education, but you must realize that you cannot teach by these means alone. If you want the greatest advice for students make them write their hands off.
Writing is one of the most effective means of educating oneself.
If you are interested in the writing aspect, I would suggest the work of educator Carol Kuhlthau. My bookstore doesn't have them. People are not the same, nor do they learn in the same ways. You may be ignoring the needs of over half your pupils. The sort of system that you speak of is the jail that education has been confined in the last hundred years.