UPDATE: I’ve posted Holly’s answers at this link. Thanks for participating!
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A reader emailed me a request for a Classical Conversations Challenge Program Q&A/Interview/Guest Post series here at Mt. Hope. It seems Foundations and Essentials inspiration and support is much easier to find on blogs than Challenge level information. Obviously, as my oldest son will be entering Challenge A this coming year, I have no experience to share. I promise to keep you updated about how that unfolds for us, but until then I have to beg, borrow, or steal experience from others.
This is where my sister comes in. I had to use some coercion tactics as she’s shy and humble. And she’s not going to be thrilled about the picture and the fact that I’m going to talk her up a bit to y’all. But that’s the price one pays for being my sister. [grin] I hope to have more guests (particularly tutors) share tips and experience and inspiration if this goes well. (Hint: If you want to see more about Challenge here on this blog, be sure to participate! Ask questions! Leave comments!)
Let me introduce my sister Holly.
She’s beautiful (obviously). And talented (her house and garden are so lovely). She’s diligent and hard working (that gene skipped past me). She’s generous with her time and talents. She doesn’t like attention (but we’re going to give her some anyway).
Holly and her husband, Casey, have been married for almost 22 years. They have three kids, whom you have watched grow up here at Mt. Hope Chronicles over the past 7+ years. Ilex is 18 (her name is pronounced like Alex, but with a long “I”—it is the botanical name for holly); Drake is 16; Ivy is 9.
Ilex and Drake attended a private Christian school until 5th and 3rd grades (respectively), when Holly pulled them out to homeschool. They spent four years following The Well-Trained Mind model (while Holly was also doing childcare and had a toddler/pre-schooler, no less).
Ilex was entering 9th grade (and Drake, 7th) when Classical Conversations became available locally. It was a perfect transition point for their family. The CC Community was brand new so only Challenge A was available. Holly enrolled both Ilex and Drake in Challenge A together.
Since then, Ilex has completed Challenge A-I and a year of community college through a dual-enrollment program. (I’d like to take this moment to mention that she has a 4.0.) Drake has completed Challenge A-II. Holly has also tutored Foundations for 4 years with Ivy. [There is currently no director for Challenge III in our area, and Drake will be moving on to a different school experience this coming year.]
Drake and Ilex, in addition to the gender and age difference, have very different strengths and passions. Ilex loves being a student and has strong verbal skills (her writing skills are excellent). Drake is extraordinarily gifted in mechanics and physical strength. He plays football, works on machines (he is currently restoring an old motorcycle), and does hard labor for jobs such as farming.
This is your chance to ask Holly questions about her experience as a Challenge parent.
Keep in mind that changes have been made to the Challenge programs in the past few years (The Lost Tools of Writing and Henle Latin in Challenge A, for example) and that experiences vary depending on the tutor and the community.
I’ll give y’all a week-ish to get your questions asked. Please give me another week or so to interview Holly and cover as many answers as we can!