Schole Academic Rhetoric 1

[Nam2001]

Has anyone had a student take the Rhetoric 1 class at Schole Academy?
If so, any feedback?  

[ByGrace3]

I would love some feedback as well. I am fairly certain my ds will take Everyday Debate and persuasive writing along with American Lit next year, and Rhetoric 1 the following. 

[Nam2001]

4 hours ago, ByGrace3 said:

I would love some feedback as well. I am fairly certain my ds will take Everyday Debate and persuasive writing along with American Lit next year, and Rhetoric 1 the following. 

My daughter is in Everyday Debate and American Lit right now and both classes are great! I am especially pleased with the Debate class. Love the teacher! 

[Avonlea]

@Nam2001 Thanks for the input! Would you mind sharing more about American Lit? I'd like to know how many essays your daughter is writing for this class.  Also, how is the reading load? How many hours does she spend on the American Lit? I'm looking at Every Debate and American Lit for my daughter next year. Thank you so much!

[ByGrace3]

18 hours ago, Avonlea said:

@Nam2001 Thanks for the input! Would you mind sharing more about American Lit? I'd like to know how many essays your daughter is writing for this class.  Also, how is the reading load? How many hours does she spend on the American Lit? I'm looking at Every Debate and American Lit for my daughter next year. Thank you so much!

My older dd took American Lit last year and I thought it was a very reasonable workload. I feel like Schole classes are really good at making it deep but not overwhelming. They really fit our philosophy of education. I had switched to some Excelsior Classes this year (because of NCAA accreditation) and while they were good, I didn't get the same deep pursuit of truth, beauty, and virtue that we have gotten from Schole Classes. So next year, ds will take more Schole classes, including American Lit...That said, my dd did not love her American Lit class as much as her logic classes there, but in the end, I would say it was a good experience. There were a couple of papers but not too much. In fact, I remember adding in some Lantern Writing classes because I didn't feel like she had enough composition. 

[Nam2001]

21 hours ago, Avonlea said:

@Nam2001 Thanks for the input! Would you mind sharing more about American Lit? I'd like to know how many essays your daughter is writing for this class.  Also, how is the reading load? How many hours does she spend on the American Lit? I'm looking at Every Debate and American Lit for my daughter next year. Thank you so much!

I talked to my daughter. She said that in terms of her American Lit class, she does about 2-3 hours of reading per week, she is on her 6th paper so far this year and she said they do 2-3 projects per semester. This might include art, a song or some other creative expression. Some students created a wiki page after doing some research. She’s enjoyed the class but as ByGrace said, it hasn’t been as enjoyable as their logic classes. 

She has really enjoyed Everyday Debate. I highly recommend Casey McCall - that’s who she has. She said the homework load is a little less than the lit class. Once they move towards the end of the semester and the big debate they prep for, the homework increases of course. They have an informal debate about every other week in class. No outside prep. He gives a topic, sends kids out into breakout rooms and they get about 15 min to prep. Then they return to the classroom and have the practice debate. The semester ends with a really fun formal debate. They do a lot of research to get ready for that. 

I hope this answered some of your questions. 

[Nam2001]

2 hours ago, ByGrace3 said:

My older dd took American Lit last year and I thought it was a very reasonable workload. I feel like Schole classes are really good at making it deep but not overwhelming. They really fit our philosophy of education. I had switched to some Excelsior Classes this year (because of NCAA accreditation) and while they were good, I didn't get the same deep pursuit of truth, beauty, and virtue that we have gotten from Schole Classes. So next year, ds will take more Schole classes, including American Lit...That said, my dd did not love her American Lit class as much as her logic classes there, but in the end, I would say it was a good experience. There were a couple of papers but not too much. In fact, I remember adding in some Lantern Writing classes because I didn't feel like she had enough composition. 

I will add that I believe the teacher my daughter has for the lit class is new this year. There has definitely been enough writing for her this year. 

[Avonlea]

On 2/4/2022 at 8:26 AM, ByGrace3 said:

My older dd took American Lit last year and I thought it was a very reasonable workload. I feel like Schole classes are really good at making it deep but not overwhelming. They really fit our philosophy of education. I had switched to some Excelsior Classes this year (because of NCAA accreditation) and while they were good, I didn't get the same deep pursuit of truth, beauty, and virtue that we have gotten from Schole Classes. So next year, ds will take more Schole classes, including American Lit...That said, my dd did not love her American Lit class as much as her logic classes there, but in the end, I would say it was a good experience. There were a couple of papers but not too much. In fact, I remember adding in some Lantern Writing classes because I didn't feel like she had enough composition. 

@By GraceThank you! I wondered about the difference between Excelsior and Schole. We have taken a couple of Excelsior classes but no highschool. Did you dd take the Persuasive Writing at Schole course or did you use Lantern to cover that topic? Thank you so much!

 

[Avonlea]

On 2/4/2022 at 10:51 AM, Nam2001 said:

I talked to my daughter. She said that in terms of her American Lit class, she does about 2-3 hours of reading per week, she is on her 6th paper so far this year and she said they do 2-3 projects per semester. This might include art, a song or some other creative expression. Some students created a wiki page after doing some research. She’s enjoyed the class but as ByGrace said, it hasn’t been as enjoyable as their logic classes. 

She has really enjoyed Everyday Debate. I highly recommend Casey McCall - that’s who she has. She said the homework load is a little less than the lit class. Once they move towards the end of the semester and the big debate they prep for, the homework increases of course. They have an informal debate about every other week in class. No outside prep. He gives a topic, sends kids out into breakout rooms and they get about 15 min to prep. Then they return to the classroom and have the practice debate. The semester ends with a really fun formal debate. They do a lot of research to get ready for that. 

I hope this answered some of your questions. 

Thank you!! @Nam2001

[ByGrace3]

12 hours ago, Avonlea said:

@By GraceThank you! I wondered about the difference between Excelsior and Schole. We have taken a couple of Excelsior classes but no highschool. Did you dd take the Persuasive Writing at Schole course or did you use Lantern to cover that topic? Thank you so much!

 

My dd did not take persuasive writing, she used Lantern last year and is doing DE at the local college this year. Ds will do PW at Schole next year. I think that and Everyday Debate with American Lit will be a great all around approach for LA for him. I may add some grammar because he needs it still, and then I will probably award an English credit for the Lit and a speech and debate credit for the 2 Schole classes-- knowing there will be a significant amount of composition in all of those as well as his history course which will be at home. 

[Avonlea]

8 hours ago, ByGrace3 said:

My dd did not take persuasive writing, she used Lantern last year and is doing DE at the local college this year. Ds will do PW at Schole next year. I think that and Everyday Debate with American Lit will be a great all around approach for LA for him. I may add some grammar because he needs it still, and then I will probably award an English credit for the Lit and a speech and debate credit for the 2 Schole classes-- knowing there will be a significant amount of composition in all of those as well as his history course which will be at home. 

Thank you so much @By Grace! Just a couple more questions - I really appreciate your input.   I'm thinking about Omni II SP and Lantern next yr for my ds.  Thoughts on Lantern? Were there some classes that you'd recommend? Was your dd prepared for her DE class?  Also, thoughts on Discovery of Deduction at Schole. I was thinking of that for my ds. Thank you!

[ByGrace3]

1 hour ago, Avonlea said:

Thank you so much @By Grace! Just a couple more questions - I really appreciate your input.   I'm thinking about Omni II SP and Lantern next yr for my ds.  Thoughts on Lantern? Were there some classes that you'd recommend? Was your dd prepared for her DE class?  Also, thoughts on Discovery of Deduction at Schole. I was thinking of that for my ds. Thank you!

I have had 2 kids go through the logic classes at Schole. They are excellent. My youngest will go through them starting in 8th grade. 

Lantern: we have been mostly happy. The set up is easy-- get an email, do the work, submit, get feedback. The feedback is not phenomenal, but it is adequate and is helping my kids improve their writing. It gets the job done without them feeling like I am "attacking them" which is how they feel when I give feedback on their writing. 🙄 dd's comp class has not been difficult at all and she is very prepared.