mirabillis Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Is this crazy to try both - too much? Planning 10th grade year. 11th grade will be AP Eng Lang (PAH) and likely 12th grade AP Eng Lit (PAH). So we have 1 year to plan an anything-goes English credit. I will satisfy the writing requirement with Write@Home - likely the Essay workshops. So I have Literature... I had planned to do a full year of Center for Lit, discussion only. But then I keep coming across Roy Speed's Shakespeare seminars/workshops - and love what I see. But I don't feel I'd want to do ONLY Roy Speed - as then it's only 1 Shakespeare play for an entire 2 month workshop. We need literature variety. Could I take Romeo & Juliet with Roy Speed (Sept 6-Nov 8, 1x weekly discussion) and combine it with either whole year or half a year of Center for Lit - say World Lit (or British Lit - but our Shakespeare needs will have been met)? Center for Lit's schedule looks like this (meets 1x per month) World Lit The Book of Job (9/19) The Odyssey (10/17) Beowulf (11/14) The Aeneid Dante's Inferno Canterbury Tales selections The 3 Musketeers One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich The Great Divorce I could just do British Lit with Center for Lit w/ Shakespeare full-year - but the Roy Speed Shakespeare workshops sound pretty unique and great... Line by line, in-depth discussion of Shakespeare... British Lit King Lear (9/26) Paradise Lost (10/24) English Poets (11/28) Pride & Prejudice English Poets Wuthering Heights Little Dorrit Til We Have Faces Hamlet Let me know your thoughts. Can you tell I feel there are too many great choices out there and too little time?! I wish we had done one of these Lit choices this year, as we've whittled a whole year of Lit away... Live & learn! British Lit King Lear (9/26) Paradise Lost (10/24) English Poets (11/28) Pride & Prejudice English Poets Wuthering Heights Little Dorrit Til We Have Faces Hamlet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Neither one require written output (or much written output, if you count the discussion board on Center for Lit). I don't think it would be a problem to combine one year of CfL with one Speed seminar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 I agree that they sound like fun classes to combine and I will probably do so in the future with my daughter. My sons have done Center for Lit (without writing) and they could have added another lit class if I was careful not to overload them with writing or other work when they were doing both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 I should say that DD is currently taking CfL's American Lit class. She took Speed's Macbeth class a couple of years ago. The Speed experience is why she asked to take a semester of Shakespeare next year. She wants his comedies, though, and Speed doesn't do any of those. Otherwise, she'd be back to his class in a heartbeat. She didn't think she'd like it - but she learned a LOT and enjoyed it. It was actually one reason I thought she would enjoy the CfL format (high interest/passion by the hosts of the discussion, no/low written output, deep thinking). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirabillis Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 That is so great to hear! I was figuring you guys would say that I was crazy for even thinking it! Whew! Would you combine it with World or British (World so as not to overlap or British so as to do even more Shakespeare)? Your personal opinion? :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Personally? My two eldest would choose Brit Lit over the World selections, but I would see what your kid wants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Personally, I'd have my student look at the books and pick which class sounds more interesting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historymatters Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 (edited) Circe Institute also does in depth Shakespeare studies. They just finished one on "The Taming of the Shrew " Last fall, they covered "Hamlet." Seems to be one per semester, and they cost less. Last summer, C4L had an intensive on "Macbeth." So, perhaps, they'll have one this summer. Just some other options if anyone is interested. I agree that you could add in another. This next year, I am likely adding in a sci-fi book club to my son's C4L discussion-only Am.Lit year. He's taking writing elsewhere. Edited March 24, 2017 by historymatters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirabillis Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 Do Center for Lit or Roy Speed classes fill up? Am I in any rush to sign up for these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historymatters Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Do Center for Lit or Roy Speed classes fill up? Am I in any rush to sign up for these? Although, I can't answer that, I don't know that the early-bird discount with C4L ends June 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 I have never heard of them filling up. I don't know that I mentioned this, but both have a *lot* of students in them, from our experience. Roy Speed's class had 30-40+ kids in the class my dd#1 took. (I can't remember exactly. I just remember being stunned by how many kids were in there.) Center for Lit told me that they shoot for a large number of kids because they think only 10-15% participate actively and they have a certain number of active participants that they want in each class. I can't remember the number they shoot for. Of course, you can call both providers and ask them directly. Perhaps they actually *do* fill up. (I think they just keep accepting kids, though.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirabillis Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 Question for Center for Lit users: I just looked at their schedule and realize their class time (7-9am PST) conflicts with my son's WHA Pre-Calc (8-9:30am PST) class. So he'd either: (a) attend 1st hour of CforL - then watch video recording of 2nd hour each month or (b) attend entire 2 hours of CforL discussions most months - and then skip watch video recording of Pre-Calc course 1x/mo or whenever So can he get as much out of CforLit if he only attends first hour of each discussion? I hate that it conflicts. I won't change the WHA course, for a course that only meets 1x/month! Ack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 (edited) For Center for LIt - whether he needs/wants to attend live depends on how he will interact in the class. If he needs the motivation to finish the book, then a live class might be good. If he like to interact and answer questions, then the live class would be good. If he's like my kids and just wants to listen to the class, then he can listen at any point after the class. The audio recording is usually posted in a day or two. For my kids there is no benefit of doing it live other than feeling like you are part of the class even though they had no intention of participating. My kids would do it live if it did not interfere with anything, but they had permission to bump it for anything (including play) as long as it was done later in the week. Edited March 31, 2017 by Julie of KY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirabillis Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 But still totally worth it for you then? They still learned so much, yes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 My kid needs the live class. Blocking out two hours to just sit & passively watch would be *very* hard for her. So, if you go with CfL, I'd have him attend live the first hour & then go to Pre-Calc, watching the second hour later. I don't know if we would have chosen it if we had a conflict every month. This is the first year they are doing classes during the day. Ours are always at night. (Mine chose to stay at home on Halloween so she could do her CfL class live.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Yes the classes are worth it to me. My kids have tended to do about half the classes live and half delayed. They have my permission to not talk in class so they choose never to talk. For them it makes no difference if it is live or not. For others, I could see it making a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirabillis Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 My kid needs the live class. Blocking out two hours to just sit & passively watch would be *very* hard for her. So, if you go with CfL, I'd have him attend live the first hour & then go to Pre-Calc, watching the second hour later. I don't know if we would have chosen it if we had a conflict every month. This is the first year they are doing classes during the day. Ours are always at night. (Mine chose to stay at home on Halloween so she could do her CfL class live.) I didn't think there was a conflict either - I didn't realize the class times had changed. I wouldn't go with it with a conflict, but the only other great Lit option I see is WaskoLit - and that requires quite a bit of output (papers, quizzes). I like the low output nature of CfL. So perhaps attend 1st hour then watch recorded 2nd hour - unless depending upon math class that day, skip math (as it is his easiest subject)... Not ideal, but what else to do. I wish CfL offered a couple time options. It's a bit limiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 (edited) I didn't think there was a conflict either - I didn't realize the class times had changed. I wouldn't go with it with a conflict, but the only other great Lit option I see is WaskoLit - and that requires quite a bit of output (papers, quizzes). I like the low output nature of CfL. So perhaps attend 1st hour then watch recorded 2nd hour - unless depending upon math class that day, skip math (as it is his easiest subject)... Not ideal, but what else to do. I wish CfL offered a couple time options. It's a bit limiting. Just wanted to chime in about the bolded . . . My son is taking Wasko Lit's ancient lit class this year and I consider it VERY low output. There is a weekly multiple choice quiz of approximately 5-10 questions, just to make sure the kids keep up with the reading, and it takes my son less than 10 minutes per week to take that quiz. Probably more like 5 minutes. DS wrote one 2-page paper last semester and has done a Powerpoint project this semester. That's it. He spends maybe 2, rarely 3, hours per week on the reading assignments. The online class itself is one hour per week at a scheduled time. The class is very much about enjoying and understanding the books through class discussion. It seems Mr. Wasko doesn't believe in working a book to death. There is minimal output required. We're pleased with it. DS wants to take another Wasko class next year. http://www.waskolit.com/ Edited March 31, 2017 by TarynB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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