Christian Reading Companion for 50 Classics

The curriculum uses appropriately complex classic texts organized by difficulty level.

Features challenging works like Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Madame Bovary, and Les Miserables, with texts divided into lists where 'the first list could be started by students as young as middle school while the second list should be reserved for high school'

The curriculum strongly emphasizes reading complete works rather than excerpts or passages.

Cathy Duffy notes that 'Stobaugh believes there are many more books students should read to become truly educated' and the program requires students to read entire classic books

Teacher support is limited to answer keys with minimal guidance for deeper instruction.

Includes a 'teacher's answer key with answers for multiple-choice questions, brief definitions for the featured vocabulary words, and suggested answers for the discussion questions,' but reviewer notes parents 'will likely be at a loss if the discussion veers away from the predicted answers'

Writing instruction is minimal, limited primarily to potential essay responses to discussion questions.

The reviewer mentions that 'discussion questions might be used as essay questions' but there is no mention of structured writing instruction or systematic writing skill development

The curriculum builds cultural literacy through classic literature but lacks systematic domain knowledge development.

Features works from the Great Books list including Shakespeare, Les Miserables, The Prince, and other classics that build cultural knowledge, but appears to focus on literary analysis rather than systematic knowledge building

The curriculum facilitates some direct instruction through structured questions and teacher materials.

Includes 'five multiple-choice questions' per book, teacher answer keys, and 'suggested answers for the discussion questions,' providing some instructional structure

Limited retrieval practice is evident through multiple-choice questions but lacks systematic review.

Each literary work includes 'five multiple-choice questions' which provide some retrieval practice, but there's no mention of spaced review or systematic recall exercises

The curriculum includes vocabulary instruction through contextual presentation but lacks systematic development.

Each book includes 'suggested vocabulary words presented in context within quotations from the literature' and students can 'create vocabulary study cards,' though the approach appears somewhat informal

No phonics instruction is included as this is designed for middle and high school students.

The curriculum is intended for 'students in the middle grades through high school' and focuses on classic literature study rather than foundational reading skills