“Men’s natures are alike; it is their habits that carry them far apart.” Confucius (551–479 BC) Habits are not set in an instant. Instead they take weeks, months, or years to form. Taking the time to develop excellent habits of the mind blesses the thinker both personally and publically....
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One of the ideas behind Challenge B is introducing students to the relationship between science and faith, represented by the books The Soul of Science and Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds. Unfortunately, Phillip Johnson’s Defeating Darwinism is often misunderstood by both his supporters and his critics. Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to...
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Why take Latin for multiple years of Challenge? The answer is not just that it looks good on a college application. Although that is certainly one very real benefit, the principles of learning Latin are much more important. Why Authentic Latin Matters I few years ago, I heard people...
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Who does not love the wheel of catechesis first simply signified by Leigh Bortins in her diagrams fringed by circling arrows? The diagram, celebrating knowledge, understanding, and wisdom for the goal to know God and to make Him known, may morph to a more sophisticated design, but the doxology...
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“Mom, when am I ever going to get out of the grammar stage?” my eleven-year-old son asked me while reciting memory work. He wanted me to say, “When you turn twelve, you won’t have to do any more memory work,” but that is not entirely true. Although we say...
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As high school students transition to independent learners and earnestly prepare for adulthood, they must learn self-discipline in addition to a greater volume of information. Their interaction with peers is more direct and ongoing than in their previous school experience as they gather together to research for debate and...
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It started with a dirt hill. The large, unassuming pile of fill dirt occupied the back corner of our church property. To us adults it represented the unfinished nature of our construction efforts. To our children, it represented adventure, strategy, and conquest. Every Sunday after our worship service the...
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At the end of each school year, our community holds a geography fair based upon the current cycle’s Foundations memory work. This event has given students and parents an opportunity to showcase the geography memory work in a unique and creative way at our End-of-Year Performance and Awards Ceremony....
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Yes, we really did. Stay with me… In 1995, Denis John Adams was convicted for sexual assault. The odds against him, regarding a DNA match, were one in 2,000,000. This meant that jurors were two million times more likely to observe the evidence if Adams were guilty than if...
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“What could I say that would matter?” That was all I could think about as I stood before a crowd of 100 Haitians—all homeless, all living in tents. Their brown eyes pierced me—waiting, wondering, and desperately looking to me for something. I had been on a mission trip in...
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Last month, I wrote an article called, “How to Raise a Discoverer.” This month, I want to expand on that idea. Toward the end of the first article, I argued that Dorothy Sayers, Leigh Bortins, and Classical Conversations have equipped parents with the necessary tools that will help them...
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As many of you now know, we are expecting our fifth child this summer. Yay! As amazingly lovely as babies are, pregnancy can be just as strongly terrible for me—at least in the beginning and then again a little at the end. Besides being a physical battle for me...
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