EndOfOrdinary Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Languages in general are not my subject. On the foreign language front, we have found a couple publishers that really work well and I am sort of blindly trusting that they are not total quacks. So far, they appear not to be. However, I still do not have a publisher/company that I'm really sold on for English. As such, every year it is a bit up in the air for what we will do next year. My inner planning freak doesn't like this. I know enough to realize that it works very well to have a general theme to the school year and a specific goal we are trying to accomplish. From there, I can normally make it work pretty well. This year was literary analysis essays and reading of classic short stories. Today I stumbled upon this really gorgeous chart linking up a bunch the YA book retellings of fairy tales, mythology, Shakespeare and Classics. The chart is free by the way! Would it be insane to have this be the focus of our English and Literature next year? We would read the retellings and the originals, then focus on the Compare/Contrast essay. It could build off of the literary analysis stuff we did this year by showing how each author took the same basic idea or plot and turned into their own voice. There are a few classics that we would skip because Ds is not there yet. He has no care about Gatsby, Austen, or the Bronte Sisters. Those we can just save to another time in the future. But the mythology, fairy tales, Shakespeare, and many of the Classics he knows the central plot for already. We have read a few of the originals as read alouds when he was younger, but would do a much more comprehensive study. So is this totally crazy? Feel free to let the criticism fly if I am going to totally melt my son's brain with this level of drivel and it only seems like a fun idea to me, but not in reality. Or if it is Disney-ifying school too much with fluffy fun and not enough academics. ETA: I realize I need to pre-read a lot of the YA so that we are not bombarded with soft core Vampire pOrn. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Sure! Why not? Sounds like fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 :001_tt1: I think this would be SO good for my dd for 7th grade (next year)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 Whew! It seemed like it would be light and fun, but also have a lot of great learning going on. Plus, there are quite a few classic Disney movies I could seek in. I always look for a way to watch The Little Mermaid again. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 EndOfOrdinary, I was wondering if you decided to do this for 2015-16! I think I am going to work out a similar study for my dd12, using this book as a jumping off point in combination with the chart you linked. I can add in movie versions, etc., and I think she would really enjoy it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 EndOfOrdinary, I was wondering if you decided to do this for 2015-16! I think I am going to work out a similar study for my dd12, using this book as a jumping off point in combination with the chart you linked. I can add in movie versions, etc., and I think she would really enjoy it! Yep! We are going for it. I'm currently getting all the Great Courses lined up and figuring out which books our library has on hand. Ds is excited as he feels like the year is going to be a lot of fun and not just reading. I'll come back this evening with more specifics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Yep! We are going for it. I'm currently getting all the Great Courses lined up and figuring out which books our library has on hand. Ds is excited as he feels like the year is going to be a lot of fun and not just reading. I'll come back this evening with more specifics.Please do; it sounds fascinating to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 I would love to hear about the specifics when you get it all worked out. Sounds super fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Creek Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 That sounds like an amazing plan! I will have to keep it in mind for my middle child's 7th grade year...that would be right up her alley. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 How fun! Thank you for sharing. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa H. in GA Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 This is an amazing idea! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Thank you for sharing these lists. I was looking for a way in to Shakespeare with my teens. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Thanks for sharing this-- I think I want to try this with my eldest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Here's the really down and dirty plan for next year. Ds is really excited, so he wants to do Mythology and Fairy Tales over the summer. No biggie there. Summer is perfect for lots of Disney! I do not have all the Fairy Tales worked out, but here is the mythology. Mythology (Summer) Greek Mythology Using Bulfinch for the initial readings. He knows most all of these already since he is a bit of a Greek Mythology freak. Helen of Troy Starcrossed Trilogy by Josephine Angelini (I am prereading to check on this series) Cupid and Psyche Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis Egyptian Mythology Using Plutarch's Osiris and Isis and Herodotus' Book of the Dead as the initial reading. Both were read as part of Ancients this year. The Chaos of the Stars by Kiersten White Possibly the Kane Chronicles though he have not shown much interest yet. Norse Mythology Using The D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths and The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland for initial readings. Stork Trilogy by Wendy DelSol (I am prereading this series too) During the school year, we are going to spend from September till January doing various classics: Classics Robin Hood - Read Howard Pyle Version Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley - Watch Robin Hood Men in Tights and Disney's Robin Hood Frankenstein - AudioBook Original Man Made Boy by Jon Skovron This Dark Endeavor: Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel Great Gatsby - Read Original Jake Reinvented by Gordon Korman Great by Sara Benincasa - Watch the Leonardo DiCaprio movie Epic of Gilgamesh - (Previously Read) Gil Marsh by A.C.E Bauer Old Man and the Sea - (Previously Read) Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick From January through June we are going to do Shakespeare. I plan to have us Audiobook the plays for now, as Ds will more than likely read them all in high school later. Shakespeare Macbeth - AudioBook Original Enter Three Witches by Caroline B. Clooney Watch parody movie: Scotland P.A. & the Patrick Steward WWII version Twelfth Night - AudioBook Original Fool's Girl by Celia Rees MidSummer's Night - AudioBook Original Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston Possibly read A MidSummer Tights Dream as I love everything by Louise Rennison. I do not know if Ds will like it (as middle school and early high school have not completely hit yet, so it might not be as funny to him) but I am definitely going to read it. Hamlet - AudioBook Original Ophelia by Lisa Klein Romeo & Juliet - AudioBook Original Street Love by Walter Dean Meyers (hopefully he will like it. It is written in iambic pentameter with modern language discussing love in Harlem) Star Crossed by Mark Schrieber (if he hates Street Love) Movies for Shakespeare have not been figured out much since there are just so many. That gets to be my next job! I'll come back and update more as I figure it out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 This is awesome and I am so stealing it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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