The progymnasmata in 2 years?!

[Kathie in VA]

There's a co-op within an hour of me that teaches the progymnasmata writing and their own version of Omnibus (history, lit, bible w/progym writing assignments). I'm going to visit their Parents meeting (hopefully) next week. But I still find it a bit strange to expect to get through all the progym in 2 years. I know Classical Writing (which is what I'm using now) starts around 3rd grade and can go thru high school. Classical Composition also goes for many years also. I don't have D'Angelo's book, Composition in the Classical Tradition so I don't know if mastery at each level would have been expected... although it seems like it would.

 

Anyway, just wondering what others think of this. :confused:

 

tia

[Carmen_and_Company]

There's a co-op within an hour of me that teaches the progymnasmata writing and their own version of Omnibus (history, lit, bible w/progym writing assignments). I'm going to visit their Parents meeting (hopefully) next week. But I still find it a bit strange to expect to get through all the progym in 2 years. I know Classical Writing (which is what I'm using now) starts around 3rd grade and can go thru high school. Classical Composition also goes for many years also. I don't have D'Angelo's book, Composition in the Classical Tradition so I don't know if mastery at each level would have been expected... although it seems like it would.

 

Anyway, just wondering what others think of this. :confused:

 

tia

 

When the author of Classical Composition implemented the writing program at his school, the 12th graders did all the Progymnastama exercises in ONE year, 11th graders in two years, and so on. If you go to the CLassical Composition website, you can read how the author whent about doing it.

[Closeacademy]

I believe that the D'Angelo book could be used in the course of two years. It is very straightforward. I don't know that there would be mastery but familiarity of all the steps could be gained.

 

Really, and truly all the steps are similiar to most writing that you see all around you but most people just don't know what they are called. :001_smile:

[Beth in Central TX]

What grade is this for? Are the students going to use Composition in the Classical Tradition by D'Angelo? If so, I would caution against it, even for high schoolers. If that's just the text the teachers teach from and the students don't actually read it, then it's not a problem; D'Angelo's writing examples are poor at best and the topics are inappropriate in my opinion.

[Sorbie]

What I mean is, is there any reason that progymnasmata programs like Classical Writing should take so many years to complete? I use CW and like it, but I look down the road and I don't know if I want to do it every year for the next nine years. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Beth in Central TX]

In the introduction to the CW Aesop Core Book, the author makes the following statement:

 

"The series as a whole is designed to teach writing from beginning skills through high school. The books are sequential, but are meant neither to correspond to grade level nor to be used at the pace of exactly one volume per year. Students of all ages should begin at the beginning and progress at their own pace."

 

Even though you could do more than one book a year, I don't plan to for simplicity's sake. I like the CW workbooks and the IGs that help me to move through the progym in an orderly fashion. I could move my boys through it faster, but what's the point? They'll be at home doing school anyway. I also think that the authors have done a good job coordinating the appropriate age/grade level to their books on their website. Just because you can move a child forward, doesn't mean that you need to. However, if you have plans to send your child to school when they get older, then you may want to work through as much of the program as possible before they leave. Of course, this is just my $0.02...

[Karenciavo]

What I mean is, is there any reason that progymnasmata programs like Classical Writing should take so many years to complete? I use CW and like it, but I look down the road and I don't know if I want to do it every year for the next nine years. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

I agree. That's one reason why I jumped ship to the Lost Tools of Writing which is linked in my signature.

[Sorbie]

I agree. That's one reason why I jumped ship to the Lost Tools of Writing which is linked in my signature.

 

Thanks for the link. I will check it out.

 

-Amber

[Kathie in VA]

The co-op is called Classical Cottage. They teach a progym class to their upper school (jr high). {sorry but including the previous posts isn't working} The description says that their course is based on D'Angelo's book, but it doesn't say whether the kids are expected to read from it or if the projects come straight from the book or not. I'll ask that one.

 

I just found it interesting that they teach the progym so much faster. Then again, this co-op teaches it in two years and then offers their own 6 year Omni type program which includes progym writing projects. So I guess they actually take 8 years with the progym.

 

Hmmm this is beginning to sound more like a mastery verses spiral/incremental type of difference. They teach the basics of all the progym and then go back and hit them again over the next 6 years. CW seems to be more of a mastery type program since they spend a bit of time on each lesson to really build the skills. Then they have you apply what you learned accross your curriculum.

 

I do feel for those who think CW takes too long to cover the progym. I also kinda wish it had a target finnish of around 10th or 11th grade. This would leave the last year(s) to just utilize the skills they learned instead of continuing to learn new ones. However, for me, I still think I like the CW program best. I know I could go at our own pace w/o the workbooks but I prefer to have the answer key ;), have the days planned out :D, etc. So far I still love the connection between the grammar and writing, the bits of spelling and vocab, the copywork and dictation, the incorporation of logic & rhetoric in the upper levels, etc. It's all there. The more I think about it, the more I don't think this co-op is for me. I tend to go for mastery type curriculums; I guess that's my 'teaching style'?? I don't know. But thanks for hearing me out.