The Governess Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 My dd11 will be in 7th next year. This year she is using VP for literature. I love the selections they chose (Dickens, Stevenson, London, Alcott, Tolkien, etc.) but most of the work she is doing with the books is comprehension-based. This is fine for this year, but next year I'd like her to start some more formal lit analysis. I'm looking for online classes so she can have some peer interaction. I see that Online G3 offers classes that use lightning lit... These look pretty good and she's already familiar with a few of the books. Anyone have experience with these classes? Is completing levels 7 and 8 doable in one year? She is a pretty quick reader and seems to have good comprehension at the reading level of the books they will be covering. Any other options I should look into? If we do end up doing the G3 classes for 7th, what would you follow them up with? Thanks. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 My kids have like the literature classes by Center for Literature. I've been impressed with the skills they take away and apply to any other literature. We've only done the literature and not the writing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 Thank you! I have looked into Center for Lit classes before. I think she would enjoy the discussions, and I love that they use the Socratic method. I do worry that she won't have much retention of the literary elements etc. that they are discussing if she doesn't have a formal program/curriculum to systematically work through (based on experience, this is how she learns best). I guess I could add something in myself, but she is much more motivated to complete her work if it is assigned by someone else. ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 I also found this lit class: http://engaginged.com/course-listing/literature/introduction-to-literature/#registration They use Windows to the World and then practice lit analysis and accompanying essays with several books. It looks great but I didn't have any luck finding provider reviews on the forums. Maybe this class would work as an eighth grade follow up to the Lightning lit class in seventh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I also found this lit class: http://engaginged.com/course-listing/literature/introduction-to-literature/#registration They use Windows to the World and then practice lit analysis and accompanying essays with several books. It looks great but I didn't have any luck finding provider reviews on the forums. Maybe this class would work as an eighth grade follow up to the Lightning lit class in seventh? Yes - Lightning Lit is a lot gentler and more simplistic than Windows to the World, so if doing both, LL would be your first stepping stone and WttW would follow. WttW is for high school grades, or 8th grade with a strong reader/writer, as it covers annotation, how to write a literary analysis essay using your annotations as the supporting examples, and then covers how about 8-10 major literary elements work. If you find after doing LL7 in 7th grade that your student needs a more gentle stepping stone before WttW, and if your student ends up liking/clicking with LL7, then consider doing LL8 next, and WttW in 9th grade. LL8 has a third more units (12 instead of the 8 units in LL7), and the second half of LL8 starts moving into beginning analysis of passages excerpted from classic works of literature. Just a thought, but if you find the VP guides to be mostly comprehension, you may find the LL programs to be too "lite" as well, at least in the discussion question aspect. The learning of literary elements and how they work comes NOT from discussion questions (which are in the TG, and are pretty meagre), but in the 6-8 page teaching info in the Student Guide for each unit, which is then practiced in some way with the 8-10 work pages in the Student Workbook part of the program. You may want more "meat" than LL provides -- check the samples to see what you think -- and if so, you might look into things like: - Teaching the Classics (for teaching the parent/teacher Socratic questions/discussion methods -- consider doing it together with your student) - Figuratively Speaking (for learning about literary elements) - individual literature guides for selected works -- Garlic Press Discovering Literature Challenger series, and Glencoe Literature Library (free guides) are both useful, with more than just comprehension questions -- no personal experience with them, but the middle school guides from Blackbird & Co. have received favorable comments on these boards Another thought, is the Movies as Literature program, which starts the student off by analyzing movies, as it is often easier to see and understand film elements and then translate that to the harder-to-find literary elements for analysis. While designed for high school, I think an 8th grader would be fine with this one. BEST of luck 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 G3 does LL7 and 8 in one year, if you choose to do it that way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted October 14, 2016 Author Share Posted October 14, 2016 I wanted to update this topic. We decided to go with CLRC's Intro to Lit and Comp this year, as well as WTMA's Socratic Discussion class. In CLRC's class, they are reading several novels. Assignments each week include summarizing the assigned reading, answering a question that involves some analysis of the text, and reading excerpts from Essential Literary Terms on a few different elements that relate to their reading, followed by a class discussion. They also work on essay writing, following clear directions in order to build essays discussing the texts they have read. This semester, they are learning how to write a descriptive essay and a persuasive essay, with emphasis on finding good supporting examples from their texts and explaining how these examples support their thesis statements. I am very happy with this class so far. The Socratic Discussion class has been great as well. Dd is learning how to closely read a text (short stories and poems so far), annotate them, and come up with good questions both about the text and human nature in general. She's learning how to be a good contributor to a discussion. Together, I feel like these classes are preparing her well for high school level literature analysis. Just wanted to give an update in case anyone else is looking for something similar! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 I wanted to update this topic. We decided to go with CLRC's Intro to Lit and Comp this year, as well as WTMA's Socratic Discussion class. In CLRC's class, they are reading several novels. Assignments each week include summarizing the assigned reading, answering a question that involves some analysis of the text, and reading excerpts from Essential Literary Terms on a few different elements that relate to their reading, followed by a class discussion. They also work on essay writing, following clear directions in order to build essays discussing the texts they have read. This semester, they are learning how to write a descriptive essay and a persuasive essay, with emphasis on finding good supporting examples from their texts and explaining how these examples support their thesis statements. I am very happy with this class so far. The Socratic Discussion class has been great as well. Dd is learning how to closely read a text (short stories and poems so far), annotate them, and come up with good questions both about the text and human nature in general. She's learning how to be a good contributor to a discussion. Together, I feel like these classes are preparing her well for high school level literature analysis. Just wanted to give an update in case anyone else is looking for something similar! I wanted to comment that your DD and my DS are in a loooot of same classes - physics, Intro to Lit, WWS 2, and Socratic. Maybe not in same sections, but still. Pretty cool. 😂 Are you finding Intro to Lit + WWS2 too much for writing? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted October 15, 2016 Author Share Posted October 15, 2016 I wanted to comment that your DD and my DS are in a loooot of same classes - physics, Intro to Lit, WWS 2, and Socratic. Maybe not in same sections, but still. Pretty cool. 😂 Are you finding Intro to Lit + WWS2 too much for writing? Ha! That is pretty cool. It's a small homeschooling world. ;) It's been ok so far. Intro to Lit has been assigning the writing in small enough chunks that it hasn't been too overwhelming. How has your son been liking the classes? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Ha! That is pretty cool. It's a small homeschooling world. ;) It's been ok so far. Intro to Lit has been assigning the writing in small enough chunks that it hasn't been too overwhelming. How has your son been liking the classes? He is finding physics challenging, but it's his favorite class by a long shot. He has a tendency to rush and do everything in his head, so it's a good learning experience for him to slow down and think. We also love the lit class and will continue with that provider. WWS is his least favorite class and frankly a combo of Lit, Socratic, and WWS is way too much when coupled with AoPS geometry and physics. We aren't getting to history or MCT vocab at all, which is a shame. I see your DD also has a Lukion class, so my hat off to her! How many hours is she putting in a day? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted October 15, 2016 Author Share Posted October 15, 2016 It's definitely a lot of work... I think it ends up being about 6-7 hours a day on average. She has done quite a bit of Latin already, so luckily that class isn't requiring a lot of her time yet. I think second semester will be harder for her, so once Socratic Discussion is over I won't replace it with another class. Physics is probably her most time consuming subject, followed by math. It is a lot, but she is handling it so far and enjoying the work. Hopefully we all make it out of this semester alive! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Same here. We won't be replacing either Socratic or Comp Science with a new class next semester. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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