Question for current TRISMS users

[posybuddy]

I'm hoping that someone can chime in here and answer a question for me; I just received the copy of TRISMS Expansion of Civilization that I ordered, and it looks very usable for my rising 9th and 11th graders for the coming year. Lots of research, pretty thorough history, as well as history of science, etc.

 

But... (there had to be a but!)

 

While there's a reasonably wide variety of literature selections, there doesn't seem to be a significant level of depth. I just looked at the Beowulf excerpt; in addition to the excerpt itself, there is one short explanatory paragraph (most of which is spent summarizing the story rather than explaining the history and importance of the piece :001_huh: ), no explanation of kennings, alliterative meter, etc., eight somewhat "softball" comprehension questions, and an assignment to design a movie poster based on the story. This just doesn't seem like an appropriate high school level handling of the subject. And this feels typical of the literature selections.

 

So, is there something significant that I'm missing? Is there something in IEW TWSS (which looks like what TRISMS is using for writing) that teaches literary analysis, that the student/teacher are just supposed to *know* that they do when looking at a piece?

 

Do you use the literature assignments in TRISMS as written? Beef them up on your own? Scrap the literature component and use something else entirely?

 

 

TIA...

[posybuddy]

bump.... anybody?

[DebbS]

We used DAW last year and will be using EOC this year, so I'm speaking from my experience with DAW. Trisms does include some literary analysis. I use them but sometimes beef them up or otherwise change them. Also, a few times last year when Trisms used an excerpt of an important work, I used the whole work instead for the every other unit book choice. I'm not sure if EOC follows the same pattern as DAW.

 

The IEW part of the curriculum is more about writing. I often modified that because my daughter already had some background with IEW. Often the assignments over-use a technique which results in a really ugly essay. At first she would write as assigned and then write again how she wanted to. The essay she wanted to write was always so much better. So I allowed her to apply the writing techniques in a more balanced way.

[Rhea]

I have not seen EOC yet; I'm planning to get it for my 10th. So keeping in mind I haven't seen it, have no experience ...

 

When I read that it was literature excerpts I viewed the literature portion as one more thing helping the student to get a feel for the culture and time, and not as a literature credit. I'm getting EOC for History and will be awarding a credit in History for it. (Which is not to say a person couldn't do a lot more with it, this is just how I'm choosing to use it.)

[LaurieM]

Not much help, I'm new to TRISMS - just received EOC in the mail last week. We had already planned on using Sonlight's British Literature course for ds literature credit, and only picked up TRISMS to use as a guideline for his history and culture studies.

[LaurieM]

I'm hoping that someone can chime in here and answer a question for me; I just received the copy of TRISMS Expansion of Civilization that I ordered, and it looks very usable for my rising 9th and 11th graders for the coming year. Lots of research, pretty thorough history, as well as history of science, etc.

 

But... (there had to be a but!)

 

While there's a reasonably wide variety of literature selections, there doesn't seem to be a significant level of depth. I just looked at the Beowulf excerpt; in addition to the excerpt itself, there is one short explanatory paragraph (most of which is spent summarizing the story rather than explaining the history and importance of the piece :001_huh: ), no explanation of kennings, alliterative meter, etc., eight somewhat "softball" comprehension questions, and an assignment to design a movie poster based on the story. This just doesn't seem like an appropriate high school level handling of the subject. And this feels typical of the literature selections.

 

So, is there something significant that I'm missing? Is there something in IEW TWSS (which looks like what TRISMS is using for writing) that teaches literary analysis, that the student/teacher are just supposed to *know* that they do when looking at a piece?

 

Do you use the literature assignments in TRISMS as written? Beef them up on your own? Scrap the literature component and use something else entirely?

 

 

TIA...

 

I totally missed the IEW question, sorry! IEW TWSS focuses on writing structure and style, not literary analysis. I can't speak to what TRISMS is expecting of students, or what the depth is since it's new for my family also. However, if you wanted to add in Literature Analysis, IEW does sell Windows to the World which my family has used and enjoyed. HTH!

[posybuddy]

Ahh, thanks for the input! I think I'm starting to feel better about this.

 

 

We used DAW last year and will be using EOC this year, so I'm speaking from my experience with DAW. Trisms does include some literary analysis. I use them but sometimes beef them up or otherwise change them. Also, a few times last year when Trisms used an excerpt of an important work, I used the whole work instead for the every other unit book choice. I'm not sure if EOC follows the same pattern as DAW.

 

 

It sounds like EOC follows that same pattern. There do seem to be some analysis questions, I agree - but the literature part of the curriculum feels light compared to the history. I've got no problem awarding a hs credit for the amount of history that they would be doing, but the reading feels more like a supplement - valuable, but not complete.

 

 

 

I have not seen EOC yet; I'm planning to get it for my 10th. So keeping in mind I haven't seen it, have no experience ...

 

When I read that it was literature excerpts I viewed the literature portion as one more thing helping the student to get a feel for the culture and time, and not as a literature credit. I'm getting EOC for History and will be awarding a credit in History for it. (Which is not to say a person couldn't do a lot more with it, this is just how I'm choosing to use it.)

 

Yes! That was my sense, too, that the literature component functioned best as something that was enriching the history study as opposed to a stand-alone credit.

 

Not much help, I'm new to TRISMS - just received EOC in the mail last week. We had already planned on using Sonlight's British Literature course for ds literature credit, and only picked up TRISMS to use as a guideline for his history and culture studies.

 

I've got SL British Lit, as well - and LLLOTR (curriculum junkie, anyone? :blush:). I was thinking either of those might dovetail nicely with EOC, and make me feel better about knowing that literature was well-covered.

[LaurieM]

I've got SL British Lit, as well - and LLLOTR (curriculum junkie, anyone? :blush:). I was thinking either of those might dovetail nicely with EOC, and make me feel better about knowing that literature was well-covered.

 

A fellow curriculum junkie here! We are just finishing up LLLOTR alongside SL Core 300 this year, and as I stated, will do EOC and SL British Literature next year.

[DebbS]

It sounds like EOC follows that same pattern. There do seem to be some analysis questions, I agree - but the literature part of the curriculum feels light compared to the history. I've got no problem awarding a hs credit for the amount of history that they would be doing, but the reading feels more like a supplement - valuable, but not complete.

 

 

I did fail to mention that my daughter is only 12, so probably what was enough for her, wouldn't be enough for an older high school student. Fortunately, this year, along side of EOC, we are planning to enroll her in a co-op course in Medieval Literature. We will probably change some of the Trisms lit assignments accordingly.

 

I don't know how much credit is suggested by Trisms for literature. When I was considering having my high school aged son do it for more that just history this year, I felt like the literature and composition through IEW together would be enough for 1 English credit. Do you think 1 credit would be way too much for those components?

[LaurieM]

I did fail to mention that my daughter is only 12, so probably what was enough for her, wouldn't be enough for an older high school student. Fortunately, this year, along side of EOC, we are planning to enroll her in a co-op course in Medieval Literature. We will probably change some of the Trisms lit assignments accordingly.

 

I don't know how much credit is suggested by Trisms for literature. When I was considering having my high school aged son do it for more that just history this year, I felt like the literature and composition through IEW together would be enough for 1 English credit. Do you think 1 credit would be way too much for those components?

 

I feel that TRISMS has plenty for an English credit. Not only are there more than enough literature excerpts and many varied writing assignments/opportunities, there are also many historical fiction and/or biography assignments throughout the year.

 

To throw in more literature or literature analysis would be more a family's personal preference, not a necessity. Just my thoughts...

[posybuddy]

I feel that TRISMS has plenty for an English credit. Not only are there more than enough literature excerpts and many varied writing assignments/opportunities, there are also many historical fiction and/or biography assignments throughout the year.

 

To throw in more literature or literature analysis would be more a family's personal preference, not a necessity. Just my thoughts...

 

I agree that there are plenty of reading/writing opportunities, and a lot of variety. But to me, at the high school level, there does need to be more analysis, especially for the college-bound student. I also think there needs to be more explanation of the readings - their history, significance, etc. than what EOC seems to provide (in my initial skimming, anyway; there may be some pieces that they provide sufficient background information on.)

 

For Beowulf, to use that example again - my college-bound student is going to be sitting in an English 101 classroom with plenty of other students who have studied Beowulf in high school. If they've had a decent English teacher, they will have talked about the Viking warrior ideal, about the tension the writer seems to have between Christianity and paganism, about the structure of the poem - alliterative meter and caesura and kennings, heck, about the fact that it's about a bunch of Danes and Geats, but it's written in (Old) English. They will probably have written about (or discussed in class) some themes, such as good vs. evil, mortality, identity. I would want to make sure that my student was on a level playing field with their peers; if they're going to study Beowulf, I want them to study it well. If they're going to be in a college classroom, I want them to have enough exposure to literary analysis that even if they don't love it, they can do it well enough to hold their own.

 

I do like EOC, as far as it goes; I think it's got a wide variety of readings across times and cultures, and I really like how it's integrated with the history studies. I think if I wanted to rest easy in that English credit I was giving, I'd want to beef up at least some of the major pieces. I don't think this is hard to do - pulling in some sparknotes or going to shmoop.com would do it.

 

Just my .02...

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

TRISMS lists 1 credit for English or Literature/Composition, which has been approved by NARS. I combine literature, composition, grammar and spelling into 1 English credit. I have one child who is not fond of fiction that I'm doing the minimum literature required and another that LOVES to read (both boys) for whom I'll be expanding the reading and analysis. I will be using "Teaching the Classics" for increased literature analysis because it's meant to be used with any books you wish. Like TRISMS, it can easily be used secularly because the base program is secular and Christianity is in the "World View Supplement (not sure if that's an issue for you but thought I'd mention it in case it is). I have both but haven't used the World View Supplement yet so I can't really comment on it other than to say it's not secular, LOL.

 

ETA that we've used (and LOVED) DAW and are currently in the 2nd Unit of EOC. I looked at Omnibus and Cornerstone before deciding on TRISMS because IMHO they are weaker in history and history is TRISMS strength. They (and I'm sure other curricula) have similarities (history/literature studies) but have different focuses/strengths. If I wanted a more serious literature analysis program I'd have likely chosen Cornerstone (I REALLY wanted to find a way to combine them for the Cornerstone's worldview but didn't want to kill my children ;)) but I wanted a more thorough history program so I chose TRISMS.

Edited August 5, 2010 by Cheryl in SoCal