Why is there so much singing at Christmas? From the beginning of Advent to the end of Christmas, singing dominates our experience of this season more than anything else. The general rule is that Christmas music doesn’t start until after Thanksgiving. But some people cannot even wait for that...
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As Christians recover classical Christian education, they are unearthing old treasures once the possession of every educated man. Some of these treasures are words and descriptions—terms like trivium and quadrivium, paideia and liberal arts. Of all these terms, “liberal arts” lays at the heart of what classical education is all about. So...
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A few weeks ago, Cultivating Classical Parents offered a webinar discussing ideas for tailoring the Challenge Guide. The first portion of that webinar discussed what “tailoring” is and how to apply it as a metaphor to the topic of education. Tailoring a Garment In brief, when a garment is...
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“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” Psalms 37:7 When I read from the book of Psalms in the Bible, I feel like they slow me down. This is the reason why I have been reading them over the holiday season. Perhaps it’s because they are...
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My twenty-one-year-old son is refusing to walk. Before you get the wrong idea, let me back up and start over. It’s December, a time when we enjoy the happy strains of “Deck the Halls,” “O Holy Night,” “Pomp and Circumstance.” Or maybe that’s just me? You see, my son...
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At 3:00 p.m. I still had my PJs on. The door to my room was shut, candles were lit, quiet was instrumental music playing in the background while I enjoyed some time to do a few of my favorite things. I don’t normally indulge in rarities such as this, but...
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This is our last night in the nursery. Next year my daughter enters Challenge. But unlike Wendy, we aren’t distraught or anxious. While we both have a healthy respect for the rigors of the Challenge program, we are excited by our new adventure and we are already chatting over...
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In April of my senior year of college, my high school sweetheart proposed. We decided to get married in August. Four months should be enough time to plan a wedding, but there was one little hitch. Before we decided to get married, I had committed to a six-week backpacking...
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Have you ever driven down an unfamiliar road, obediently following the carefully noted directions, to only have an anxious feeling twist knots into your gut? You are certain you have stayed the course, being diligent to only turn when instructed, but somehow the next turn seems to be further...
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“When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living.” – Tecumseh I love listening to podcasts. One of my favorite podcasts closes every episode by asking their featured guest the...
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“The difficulty of the journey sometimes turns out to be the blessing.” — Marianne Williamson It’s been a rough start to the school year. Even though our school season has similar qualities year after year, I am surprised by how different this year feels. My Challenge student is in...
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As a Challenge III tutor, I have the pleasure of studying poetry with my students. Every week I read aloud a poem connected to their U. S. History reading assignment. As we study Cicero’s speeches in second semester Latin, we encounter many rhetorical devices there also. We become familiar...
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