Free Summer Reading Tracker for CC Students

As we’re wrapping up the school year, I generally start looking at what’s coming next and looking at how to keep the learning going. We’ve participated in many summer reading programs over the years with our local library, and that got me thinking about new fun ways to track our reading. Combining my love of…

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5 Alternatives to the LTW Assignment

The Lost Tools of Writing is a big part of the Challenge curriculum of Classical Conversations programs. We work with the tools presented (5 Common Topics) in just about every discussion on community day. I love the way that they cultivate deeper thinking and reasoning. As the teacher of my homeschool, I love that I…

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Planning Through the Years – Tips From a High School Senior

by Andy Strauss After a convicting missions conference, I, now a high school senior in my final semester of high school, stood praying, attempting to listen to God, and begging him to spontaneously reveal word for word His plan for my life. While I have had an idea of the vocation God wants me to…

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The Power of Words and Taming of the Shrew

My Challenge I class just started reading through Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew this semester. While I’ve read this play before, I finally picked up Peter Leithart’s Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide to Six Shakespeare Plays and I feel like my understanding of the characters and happenings has been blown wide open. Leithart is changing how I look at Shakespeare, the world, and the power…

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3 Simple IEW Skills that Enhance Your LTW Writing

I am so grateful for Andrew Pudewa, author of the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), and Andrew Kern, author of the Lost Tools of Writing (LTW). Both programs teach writing and complement one another so well. I’ve often heard people find wonderful success with IEW in elementary school, and then feel like their student’s writing is…

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