I'm in my fourth year of directing a Challenge program for Classical Conversations. I started off in Challenge A with my oldest, then moved up to Challenge B, and Challenge I with him. This year, I went back down to Challenge A again to tutor my daughter's class. My husband directed Challenge A last year,…

The Challenge I program in Classical Conversations generally matches up with a student's freshman year of highschool, but it is so much more!

**DIGITAL FILE** You will be sent downloadable PDF files to either print at home or send to a printer. Keep your place in your logic workbook with this handy reference guide. Perfect for Classical Conversations Challenge A students or anyone else who pursues the study of logic through the book Fallacy Detective, this reference guide lists the types of fallacies with a brief definition. Complete your homework without having to search back through the book for the correct fallacy name. 4"x8" Print actual size, centered, and double sided Cut and laminate for durability OR Print 2 pages per page, fold, and laminate File includes a full color option AND black and white option for affordable printing. ** You will be sent a digital file to print. No physical product will be mailed to you. **

I'm in my fourth year of directing a Challenge program for Classical Conversations. I started off in Challenge A with my oldest, then moved up to Challenge B, and Challenge I with him. This year, I went back down to Challenge A again to tutor my daughter's class. My husband directed Challenge A last year,…

This easy Classical Conversations review Fishing game, was a hit with my Abecedarian kids! Bonus is this game is quick and easy to make! Branches, hot glue gun,

I am a first time tutor this year with Classical Conversations and I will be tutoring the Foundations program. I am super nervous because I really want to make sure that I do a good job with these …

We have kept super busy this year with 2 Challenge programs, a college student coming and going a job, or two, Directing Challenge A and a few other things- too much painting of offices, for sure. But, now that we winding up Challenge, I wanted to record some of the games, resources and schedule we used before I forget them all and so that I have a handy reference for training this summer. Here Goes: We started each Community Day with a short devotional and scripture reading. We sing the Doxology, say it in Latin or pray. Then we write 5 and 5 (5 Common Topics/ 5 Cannons of Rhetoric) Then we'd dive in to the 6 Seminars. Latin- the kids loved Latin Scrabble. I had two sets of tiles divided between 5 groups of two each. They could add in 2 vowels and 3 consonants as needed. They could use the Latin dictionary or other Latin words as long as they were used correctly and declined/ conjugated correctly. Often, the teams competed against each other, seeing how many sentences they could create in a limited time- they had to have their sentences checked by an adult. To change it up: They would have to create a question using Ubi, Ibi, Cur, Quis or Quid. They would get a point for every questions created. If we had time they would then have the group next to them form an answer to their question in Latin with their tiles - this created some hilarious results! Latin stations- several times I would put info we've studied on file cards- for instance: Latin declensions, conjugations, Grammar rules, translation from English to Latin or vice-versa - and tape them around the room. I relied heavily on the homework that we'd completed as well as Memoria Press Guides to Henle. I would intersperse the information with difficult and simple problems. The kids would go around the room in whatever order they wanted and try to solve/answer as many cards as possible in a given time. We also played Latin bingo with Personal Pronouns. We copied charts in class. Every Community Day we spent 10 minutes chanting Latin charts, which I purchased from Memoria Press. I highly recommend having them professionally laminated. We would race to see who could translate and diagram Latin sentences the fastest. Mold, Act, Draw. I just found this game but will be playing it this coming week- the kids LOVE clay! Make a simple spinner and put Mold on it twice, Act on it twice and Draw on it twice. Student picks a vocab word from a deck and spins the spinner. They have to either mold with clay, act it out like charades or draw it out like pictionary. Set timer for 60 seconds. Math We did student directed Math Discussion for every seminar and then I would introduce the Saxon lessons. I created a Math Discussion sheet based on the 5 Common Topics; starting with "Definitions." The kids had to thoroughly exhaust each section before they could. Board Slam was our best diversion - the kids continue to love it. One of our moms donated a huge bag of dice for the year and it included many different sided dice. To change it up, I'd allow the kids to pick different sided dice. We'd also set the timer for a minute and at the end of the timer the kids would have to trade their board with someone else and pick up where they'd left off. LTW I copied off the terms we'd learned in Lost Tools of Writing and cut them in to slips. Divide the kids into groups and they have to take the slips of paper, put them in order for a Persuasive Essay. Then, I would give the kids a topic- like the Burning Bush, or The Three Little Pigs and they would have 15 minutes to write a collaborative essay on the topic (usually only with 2 proofs for the sake of time). Dictionary Game- the kids loved this. I would take vocab words from the reading and say/spell the words to teams- between 10-25 words, depending on how much time we had. The teams would look up and define the terms. The team with the most correctly defined terms withing a specific time limit won. Extra points for making Latin connections. Rhetoric The biggest hit this year was Socratic Circles. At the beginning of the year, I would choose the topic but as the kids got more familiar with it, they would choose the topic. Great discussion! I would also assign the kids roles to play-act: God, Moses, Charles Darwin, etc and the "audience" would ask them questions. GREAT interaction about issues related to It Couldn't Just Happen. To review Fallacies the kids would randomly pick 3-5 fallacies/catechisms and have 10 minutes to come up with a skit that included them all. The rest of the class would try to guess what they had portrayed. This made for much hilarity. Have the kids search for fallacies in real life- they are everywhere! Whoever brings in the most, wins points! And, of course, we played Jeopardy. Science For Science, I printed off a list of things to include in their presentations as well as how to create a good presentation. The kids earned points for things like making eye-contact, introducing themselves and their topic, etc. For body systems- once we had a few under our belt, I printed off sheets for the systems and numbered them, but not in the same order. The kids had to draw and label them in the ordered number and had to complete the lesser numbers in order to earn the higher number points. They could strategize and have multiple people drawing at the same time, but I usually gave them between 10-15 minutes to draw up to all 9 systems. Debate We played "Around the World" often-the kids enjoyed this. We also played "Family Feud." I person from 2 teams would be at the front. I would give clues about a country, capital or feature and the first person to guess within 1 minute would get a point. We often played pictionary for geography terms. The kids loved it! My goal to end each Community Day was to go through "Collect, Connect, Compose" but I wasn't very consistent on it. Collect what they've learned that day, connect it to something they've already known and compose a poem, song, ditty, drawing, etc. about it. Great integration. Points- I had a simple point system based on Fabas (Latin for "bean.") Kids got points for completing all homework in each strand, for winning games, for integration of subject material, etc. We had a quart sized jar that the beans went into. Once the jar was full, I had an ice-cream party for the kids at lunch. The faba jar was super important to the kids until they earned an ice cream party and then it was important, but not something they thought about all of the time. In my mind, I think it was because they were internalizing how to manage the material, making connections automatically and understanding how to work the program. That's it. We didn't have a huge array of games to choose from, but the ones we had we used often and had a great time with. Perhaps this will spark some good games for you to do with your class or kids. If so, I'd love to hear about it! @Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!

I have seen so many great ideas for review games out there. I thought I would compile a list of my favorites to have as a resource. I figure if I could come up with 6 great games that work, I only have to use the same game 4 times in a year! 1. Zap! - This is my favorite game so far simply because the smartest group doesn't always win. It's kind of like Jeopardy, but with a curve ball - if you get the "Zapped" card, you lose all your points! Thanks for sharing, Mathtastrophe! Game instructions and printable here. Another take on this game is Bazinga by Simplifying Radicals. 2. Nerf Gun - Love this idea! Draw a bullseye on the board. Divide the kids into teams. Ask a team a review question. If they get the answer correct, they get to shoot at the board to see how many points they earn. So fun! 3. Jenga - I really like how Living Out His Love blog does this one. She writes with a sharpie marker directly onto the Jenga piece. And, she write a subject and week on both sides of each piece. Though, if done this way, it seems like you could only do this at the end of the semester (because if you have Sciene, week 7 written in sharpie and you're only at week 3, that wouldn't work!). Another idea is to tape the subject and week with clear packing tape and then re-do it as your progress along in the year. 4. Power Tower - Similar to Jenga, but with paper cups. Write the question on the cup. If the class answers correctly, they get to stack the cups. If the tower falls, they have to start over. via Mrs. Lewis' Learning Library 5. Mr Potato Head - For every question the class gets correct, they get to add a body part to Mr. Potato. I also like the idea on 2nd Grade Rocks! blog. She uses it as a behavior incentive. Every time the class has good behavior, they get to add a body part. When Mr. Potato is completely put together, they get to have an ice cream party! 6. Snowball Fight - Love this idea for Texas as this may be the only snow the children ever see. Write the review questions on a piece of paper. Divide the kids into 2 teams. If the kids get it correct, they get to crumble it up into a ball. After all the questions have been answered, they get to have a snowball fight using the paper balls! 7. Chair Tic-Tac-Toe - Put nine chairs in 3 rows of 3 to make a square. Divide the class into 2 teams. Ask a team a question. If they get it correctly, one of their players gets to sit in one of the chairs. The first team to have 3 players sitting in a row wins. 8. Memory Mogul - Awesome (and free!) printable game from Sola Gratia Mom blog. This one seems like it could take some time printing out the cards and possibly creating a game board. But, the game board and cards could last all year. Click here for instructions and printables. 9. Stinky Feet - My 7 year old son would love this one. Very simple with little prep time. Idea and instructions can be found here at Teaching in the Fast Lane blog. 10. Classroom Board Game - This game may require a little adapting, but it looks like fun. Turn the classroom into a life size game board. Great ideas for how to do this game here at Blessings for Bible School Teachers.

Week 12 History Sentence: Tell Me About the Muslim Empire HISTORY SENTENCE 1. Print memory work slide (see file). 2. Practice song with hand motions (see file). 3. Parent reviews “history highlights” (see file) for background. 4. Glance through “Muslim Empire Activities (see file) for activities your children would find interesting; note especially the activity with food coloring-in-water and the ability to connect it with the geography map, below. Hand Motions W12: Tell me about the Muslim Empire Muslim use two hands to make a dome over your head (like a mosque) Muhammad sign language “M” worshipped bow down Ottoman sign language “O” expanded hands together, palms touching. Spread out as in expanding weakness make your whole body wither as if growing weak westernization make sign language “w” with both hands. “Do the twist” with hands holding out “w”s in time to the music Week 12 Geography: Muslim Empire GEOGRAPHY 1. Print geography slide (see file). 2. Use graphic in following link (http://jfortunato.weebly.com/whi8-study-resources.html) with above-mentioned activity in history. (Coloring in water, spread of Islam.) Week 12 Math: Teaspoons and Tablespoons MATH 1. Post visual teaspoon/tablespoon chart (see file). 2. Consider this song: “Totally 3rd grade” liquid conversion song, http://www.totally3rdgrade.com/lemonade_stand.html 3. Have fun playing with actual conversions (tablespoons, teaspoons, etc.) Name _____________________________ Date ___________________ Prepositions:Weeks 7-12 W A A T D U N D E R S U D S I A 
R M E W Q I G R K C I I L E T E 
J E I I H J N O N T O N I B K S 
O S N T J X L E U E O A K S B E 
N L I F S K F O N C G W E R R H 
N W P N E A H O D O F F A I M N 
T U A K S G O P E Q P E M R R Q 
G O S R U I O N R H N T T P D T 
I N T O P T D V N S G D S D F G 
Y I R U O H Q E E A H W I S O A 
P H R T N R E G A R D I N G T L 
T O E S Z O Z I T L E T C E I T 
A Y E I P U F T H L T H E T M G 
E R I D U G E A L Z V O N B A W 
D J B E O H H P E T E U S N I T 
S Y Y E L E I R T A L T T R A U 
 Find the following hidden PREPOSITIONS: Week 7: in, inside, into, like, near, Week 8: of, off, on, onto, out, Week 9: outside, over, past, regarding, since, Week 10:through, throughout, to, toward, Week 11: under, underneath, until, up, upon, Week 12: with, within, without, SCIENCE/PROJECT 1. Post science memory work (see file) as well as plant diagram/photosynthesis slide (see file). 2. Consider adding hand motions (see file). 3. Parent reviews “science snippets” info (see file). 4. Read chapter containing info about photosynthesis (see file) by http://eequalsmcq.com/ClassicScienceLife.htm, mostly to be able to do fun activity related to photosynthesis (see file). 5. Read “classifying animals/plants” files—two for the student, two for the parent (see file). Week 12 – What are the plant systems? Hand motions: Photosynthesis – hands reaching toward sun and pulling it in Respiration – hands by your lungs squeezing/kneading motion Transpiration – hands pushing down and out toward feet

Our top tips for thriving in Classical Conversations Challenge A. Learn from our experience and make your year a bit easier!

Make learning how to diagram sentences easier with this diagramming sentences cheat sheet! Learn how to use the different parts of speech and sentences.

Y’all, please welcome my great friend (and pastor’s wife!) Julie back to the blog. Today she’s sharing what she would’ve done differently as a first time Challenge mom…

Keeping up with the Classical Conversations Challenge program can be difficult without an assignment tracker. Here's a solution to communicating.

We have kept super busy this year with 2 Challenge programs, a college student coming and going a job, or two, Directing Challenge A and a few other things- too much painting of offices, for sure. But, now that we winding up Challenge, I wanted to record some of the games, resources and schedule we used before I forget them all and so that I have a handy reference for training this summer. Here Goes: We started each Community Day with a short devotional and scripture reading. We sing the Doxology, say it in Latin or pray. Then we write 5 and 5 (5 Common Topics/ 5 Cannons of Rhetoric) Then we'd dive in to the 6 Seminars. Latin- the kids loved Latin Scrabble. I had two sets of tiles divided between 5 groups of two each. They could add in 2 vowels and 3 consonants as needed. They could use the Latin dictionary or other Latin words as long as they were used correctly and declined/ conjugated correctly. Often, the teams competed against each other, seeing how many sentences they could create in a limited time- they had to have their sentences checked by an adult. To change it up: They would have to create a question using Ubi, Ibi, Cur, Quis or Quid. They would get a point for every questions created. If we had time they would then have the group next to them form an answer to their question in Latin with their tiles - this created some hilarious results! Latin stations- several times I would put info we've studied on file cards- for instance: Latin declensions, conjugations, Grammar rules, translation from English to Latin or vice-versa - and tape them around the room. I relied heavily on the homework that we'd completed as well as Memoria Press Guides to Henle. I would intersperse the information with difficult and simple problems. The kids would go around the room in whatever order they wanted and try to solve/answer as many cards as possible in a given time. We also played Latin bingo with Personal Pronouns. We copied charts in class. Every Community Day we spent 10 minutes chanting Latin charts, which I purchased from Memoria Press. I highly recommend having them professionally laminated. We would race to see who could translate and diagram Latin sentences the fastest. Mold, Act, Draw. I just found this game but will be playing it this coming week- the kids LOVE clay! Make a simple spinner and put Mold on it twice, Act on it twice and Draw on it twice. Student picks a vocab word from a deck and spins the spinner. They have to either mold with clay, act it out like charades or draw it out like pictionary. Set timer for 60 seconds. Math We did student directed Math Discussion for every seminar and then I would introduce the Saxon lessons. I created a Math Discussion sheet based on the 5 Common Topics; starting with "Definitions." The kids had to thoroughly exhaust each section before they could. Board Slam was our best diversion - the kids continue to love it. One of our moms donated a huge bag of dice for the year and it included many different sided dice. To change it up, I'd allow the kids to pick different sided dice. We'd also set the timer for a minute and at the end of the timer the kids would have to trade their board with someone else and pick up where they'd left off. LTW I copied off the terms we'd learned in Lost Tools of Writing and cut them in to slips. Divide the kids into groups and they have to take the slips of paper, put them in order for a Persuasive Essay. Then, I would give the kids a topic- like the Burning Bush, or The Three Little Pigs and they would have 15 minutes to write a collaborative essay on the topic (usually only with 2 proofs for the sake of time). Dictionary Game- the kids loved this. I would take vocab words from the reading and say/spell the words to teams- between 10-25 words, depending on how much time we had. The teams would look up and define the terms. The team with the most correctly defined terms withing a specific time limit won. Extra points for making Latin connections. Rhetoric The biggest hit this year was Socratic Circles. At the beginning of the year, I would choose the topic but as the kids got more familiar with it, they would choose the topic. Great discussion! I would also assign the kids roles to play-act: God, Moses, Charles Darwin, etc and the "audience" would ask them questions. GREAT interaction about issues related to It Couldn't Just Happen. To review Fallacies the kids would randomly pick 3-5 fallacies/catechisms and have 10 minutes to come up with a skit that included them all. The rest of the class would try to guess what they had portrayed. This made for much hilarity. Have the kids search for fallacies in real life- they are everywhere! Whoever brings in the most, wins points! And, of course, we played Jeopardy. Science For Science, I printed off a list of things to include in their presentations as well as how to create a good presentation. The kids earned points for things like making eye-contact, introducing themselves and their topic, etc. For body systems- once we had a few under our belt, I printed off sheets for the systems and numbered them, but not in the same order. The kids had to draw and label them in the ordered number and had to complete the lesser numbers in order to earn the higher number points. They could strategize and have multiple people drawing at the same time, but I usually gave them between 10-15 minutes to draw up to all 9 systems. Debate We played "Around the World" often-the kids enjoyed this. We also played "Family Feud." I person from 2 teams would be at the front. I would give clues about a country, capital or feature and the first person to guess within 1 minute would get a point. We often played pictionary for geography terms. The kids loved it! My goal to end each Community Day was to go through "Collect, Connect, Compose" but I wasn't very consistent on it. Collect what they've learned that day, connect it to something they've already known and compose a poem, song, ditty, drawing, etc. about it. Great integration. Points- I had a simple point system based on Fabas (Latin for "bean.") Kids got points for completing all homework in each strand, for winning games, for integration of subject material, etc. We had a quart sized jar that the beans went into. Once the jar was full, I had an ice-cream party for the kids at lunch. The faba jar was super important to the kids until they earned an ice cream party and then it was important, but not something they thought about all of the time. In my mind, I think it was because they were internalizing how to manage the material, making connections automatically and understanding how to work the program. That's it. We didn't have a huge array of games to choose from, but the ones we had we used often and had a great time with. Perhaps this will spark some good games for you to do with your class or kids. If so, I'd love to hear about it! @Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!

My daughter and I have worked together on and off during her Challenge A year on LTW. Like many parents (and students), I have found LTW to ...

In the world of Classical Conversations homeschool, organizing the student notebook for Challenge A is a hot topic. It's the first year that students are learning how to become independent and responsible for their own work -- in fact, 'ownership' is the keyword for the year. So their notebook becomes a chance for them to learn how to organize in the way that will suit them the best. I am pleased to have a guest writer on my blog today to discuss this very thing -- my own daughter! She's 12, and she LOVES to organize, so it seemed a

Here are some free helpful printables, tips, and best practices for how we use CC's community-based curriculum in our family

Art & Music History Study In Challenge 2 (at Classical Conversations) the students begin a journey of learning history through …

In Class... EEL Board Work--True/False questions and Undiagram an interrogative sentence New Part of Speech--Conjunctions Chart H 5 types of conjunctions--will learn them throughout year correlative (co-relative=2 words always go together) relative pronouns--also on pronoun chart (F) these begin who/which clauses subordinating conjunctions www.asia.wub for main ones coordinating conjunctions FANBOYS Did a cheer to help remember Also sang these, along with the definition of conjunction to "Father Abraham" Foundations, Cycle 2, weeks 21-22 compound subjects and verbs are diagramed with a "rocket ship" Looked at Chart A and how much we have covered so far this year. It is a lot in just six weeks! New Sentence Structure--Compound 2 independent clauses (house diagram) combined using a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) Must have a comma before the FANBOYS Diagrammed with the FANBOYS on a "chair" in between the clauses New Sentence Pattern--S-Vt-Do Direct Objects are nouns/pronouns and must follow verb; answer who/what Transitive verbs transfer action from subject of sentence to the direct object Diagrammed like the pattern is shown on chart A When studying chart A, it is a good idea to have your child mark the diagram lines as well as the abbreviations. (Thanks Jennifer B.!) Conjunction Junction! Math Played Battleship with partners www.nationalnumberknockout.com IEW Read our papers within our table groups Silly Sentences at tables Dressed-up boring sentences with at least 3 given dress-ups or decorations New Structure--Summarizing a Reference (Unit 4) "Some-a-rize" Key words for outline come from interesting, important, or relevant facts NOT from each sentence! 5 to 7 facts (lines) in Key Word Outline Still only 3 words per line Topic Sentence is Roman Numeral "I" in KWO Clincher Sentence just write clincher on KWO (no need for key words) when writing sentence in paragraph, remember rule: "The clincher sentence MUST repeat or reflect 2-3 key words from the topic sentence." At Home... EEL page 108-109 (110-111) in EEL page 109/111 is a test/proof for the first six weeks This is great to do sometime over break to see where your student is and see where there might be areas you need to work on. Remember, mastery is not expected for 1st or 2nd year students! Study Chart H (conjunctions) Also study chart G (compound sentence structure)--we ran out of time for this, but it is important! Continue practicing all charts learned so far (A through F) Work on the vocabulary words and definitions at the beginning of each lesson covered so far. Analytical Task Sheet Try to complete 1 practice sentence each day Sentences 1 and 2 are the only true basic ones this week You can change the words in the sentence to create new ones (if you feel confident), or you can use the history practice sentences I sent out by email a couple of weeks ago or ones on CC Connected. Remember the section in Lesson 3 that gives all of the details for the ATS, and remember the steps are laid out for you on each sentence's page. Optional--Editing exercises and Spelling List in EEL Don't feel that you always have to simply write the charts to practice. Get creative! Math Practice Number Knockout at home Practice and work on speed and accuracy of math facts IEW Lesson 9 from the US History Based Writing book Follow this lesson as closely as you can/would like to. I don't teach from this book (other than reading the source text) on purpose. I leave all of the great teaching helps and ideas in the USHBW lessons for you to use at home! There are some great ideas in there! The text on "The First Thanksgiving" is to help you teach the topic-clincher rule. It is a great resource! You are only doing one paragraph. The idea is to take the 2 paragraphs and summarize them into one. Don't forget about vocabulary words! There are flashcards for these in the back of the student US history book Optional--Bring a completed paper to turn in and share on Tuesday This should be a marked copy with a signed checklist if you want feedback. Should also have a clean (and even illustrated) copy for the published student book Optional--If you are continuing to do school throughout break and would like more writing to do, don't forget about the blackline masters download in the front of the USHBW book. There is another source text that goes along with the one in lesson 9 that would work great for additional practice. Reminders... Be sure to read your lessons for the week after break--Week 7 in EEL Guide and Lesson 10 in USHBW book. Our next Pudewa night is not until the end of October, but make plans to join us on October 26! My Prayer for you this week... "By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might, for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory." Proverbs 24:3-6 May you remember not only the premise and philosophy behind Classical Education, but may you also be encouraged by each other ("wise guidance" and "abundance of counselors"). I love how we are all in this together, encouraging each other, learning from each other, and supporting each other! Have a great break!

Pros and Cons of Classical Conversations Challenge A homeschool curriculum for seventh grade. Is a classical education program right for your child?

In the Collaborative Model, struggling students are never left out or left behind.

EEL Week 18: Complex Structure; Imperative Purpose; S-Vt-DO-OCN and S-Vt-DO-OCA Pattern, Charts A, M, N; Tasks 1-6 Take som...

Let's explore some Latin resources to help you put your best foot forward in your pursuit of this exciting language.

Share Wildflower Ramblings!Here is a week by week list of The Good and the Beautiful History to pair with your Classical Conversations Cycle 3 history learning. I have also made posts for CC Cycle 1 and CC Cycle 2. We love the Classical Conversations History Memory Work, but have found that we have needed some...

In Challenge A students draw for both Cartography and Biology. This can be a strange new challenge for some- here are some ways to make it fun and easy to draw in Challenge!