CLRC's American Lit

[yvonne]

I'm looking for a solid, lit-based English course with a strong writing component for my rising 12th grade dd.  We've been happy with CLRC's Great Books course this year, so I was wondering about their American Lit course & instructor, Cara Valle.

Has anyone had a student in the class or in another English class w/ Ms. Valle?  I would so appreciate any feedback you might have. PM, if that's easier!

Thank you!
yvonne

[Melissa B]

Yvonne,

Sorry to jump into your thread, however, could you expand upon your opinion of the CLRC GB class your daughter was in this year. Are you doing GB 4 next year? If not, why? And how did your daughter feel about the weekly discussions? Was there a focus on looking at the GB from a Christian perspective? We are signed up for GB 1 next fall. I have some concerns as we would prefer a more secular or more all-encompassing viewpoint, not a strictly Christian view. We were hoping to do GB1, GB3, GB4 over the next three years. Thanks for any thoughts you have on the CLRC Great Books program!!

[madteaparty]

47 minutes ago, Melissa B said:

Yvonne,

Sorry to jump into your thread, however, could you expand upon your opinion of the CLRC GB class your daughter was in this year. Are you doing GB 4 next year? If not, why? And how did your daughter feel about the weekly discussions? Was there a focus on looking at the GB from a Christian perspective? We are signed up for GB 1 next fall. I have some concerns as we would prefer a more secular or more all-encompassing viewpoint, not a strictly Christian view. We were hoping to do GB1, GB3, GB4 over the next three years. Thanks for any thoughts you have on the CLRC Great Books program!!

Not Yvonne but this has been discussed several times here. I’ve posted all the words 😉 in those threads. I suck at the search but hopefully someone can link you. 

(DS is in GB III, was in I and will be in IV).

yvonne I think @roadrunner has a kid that’s taking classes with that instructor but not American lit. I strongly considered that class, but ultimately decided to do American lit at home along with (maybe! I build this house as I go!) APUSH because there are books I specifically want covered that most American lit classes would not cover. 

[Mom0012]

My dd is taking the second half of CLRC’s GB 1 course this year.  She’d already done a full history cycle of Omnibus in a local class in prior years and had already read many of the books used in CLRC’s course, so we picked this semester since it offered reading selections that she has not previously been exposed to.  Just mentioning that to explain why we didn’t do the first half.

My dd loves the reading, the discussion and the weekly writing assignments.  She has been so busy for the last few years with her interest in languages (and other things) that we haven’t spent as much time focusing on her writing skills and this class has been wonderful for that. The students that are in her class are really engaged with the material and that is something that always draws her in.  She feels the teacher makes the discussion highly interesting even though they are currently reading Herodotus and Thucydides— not usually compelling material for a teen girl.  She was telling me yesterday that she loves the theme of the class — history repeats itself — and that it’s made her see the world differently.  I really wish I had put her in this class years ago instead of the local Omni class.  The discussions are better and there is a big focus on writing every week in the GB class, whereas she only wrote a couple of papers a year in her Omni class.

My dd feels the teacher tries to make everyone feel their views are welcome but doesn’t let things get too heated.  There is discussion of religion as it relates to the reading, but there is no prayer or pressure to believe a certain way. For what it’s worth, my dd is not religious and she feels perfectly comfortable in the class.  

@melissab, you can email Ann VanFossen and tell her you are interested in the class and ask if it’s possible to see a recording.  That might give you a better idea of whether it is a good fit.

Edited March 9, 2019 by Mom0012

[Mom0012]

8 hours ago, madteaparty said:

Not Yvonne but this has been discussed several times here. I’ve posted all the words 😉 in those threads. I suck at the search but hopefully someone can link you. 

(DS is in GB III, was in I and will be in IV).

yvonne I think @roadrunner has a kid that’s taking classes with that instructor but not American lit. I strongly considered that class, but ultimately decided to do American lit at home along with (maybe! I build this house as I go!) APUSH because there are books I specifically want covered that most American lit classes would not cover. 

How is the discussion/engagement level of the GB III class?  DD is going back and forth between doing GB II or IV.  She has already studied  the Aeneid to death in Latin as well as a number of the books in the first half of GB II, but only Paradise Lost and Walden from GB IV.  But, she’s torn because she is enjoying the discussion with the GB I students and figures most of them will move on to GB II.

[Roadrunner]

Cara Velle is a great instructor but her British Lit class is writing light. There are essays they write in the class, but I believe it’s a total of 4. It’s not like GB where kids are writing heavily weekly.

[madteaparty]

6 hours ago, Mom0012 said:

How is the discussion/engagement level of the GB III class?  DD is going back and forth between doing GB II or IV.  She has already studied  the Aeneid to death in Latin as well as a number of the books in the first half of GB II, but only Paradise Lost and Walden from GB IV.  But, she’s torn because she is enjoying the discussion with the GB I students and figures most of them will move on to GB II.

I’ve PMed you. My son is also not religious but the group he ended up with in GB I was much more...ahem, vociferously religious than your DD seems to have. I expect that demographic and DS just needs to learn to tolerate, but he’s having an easier time of it in GB III than I (also, older, etc). There was some book overlap in III too (meaning things he’d done before) but this was a good thing in my DS’s case. 

Edited March 9, 2019 by madteaparty