Overview of our Awesome Classes!

Scholar Skills Workshops 

This class is generally held the third week of the month from 11:40 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

We will learn how to: (not necessarily in this order either)

•  read a book in a scholarly way
•  write essays and compositions
•  keep a timeline
•  keep a Scholar Journal
• create notebook pages
• organize and manage time for scholar study
• take notes from readings and lectures
• discuss classics with a group
• research a topic

***The purpose of the workshop is to give new scholars a foundation in study skills that will help them be successful as scholars and to feel confident in their studies. 

We will be using the process of study described in The Well Trained Mind in the Rhetoric Stage, Great Books:History and Reading section, p. 486-496. 

This study process is also wonderfully explained in The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer in Part One. Each student will need this book for study and reference. 

Students will learn skills in the workshops that will be used in the Classic Intensives- Project Scholar.

Classic Intensive - Project Scholar

This class is generally held the last week of month 10:40 a.m. -12:30 p.m..  Each month we will read a classic from the Medeival/ early Renaissance time period. We will  practice using the new skills we are learning in the Scholar Skills Workshops as we read, study, write about, and discuss the classics.

I recommend students commiting to 1-2 hours 4-5 days a week to reading and writing about the classics. 

Students will do the following at home in personal study in relation to the classic throughout the month before we meet:

1.  Study the time period of history that we're focusing on this year - Medieval and Early Renaissance - by reading 12 chapters a month from The History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise Bauer. This gives us breadth in our knowledge. Also, research the historical time period that the classic is based on if not covered in The History of the Medieval World.
2. Write a 1-2 page summary or notebook page of the most significant/ interesting historical events of that time period. This page will go right into your timeline notebook. (or into your Scholar Journal if you prefer). Make connections, notice patterns, and find themes and write about them.
3. choose 5-10  significant dates from world history during that time period and put them on your  timeline (you'll get a timeline in our first Scholar Skills Workshop)
4. read from The Well Educated Mind about the history of the genre that the month’s classic is in, such as drama, novel, autobiography, poetry. Read the excerpt from The Well Educated Mind on this month's classic if it is included in her book under the genre.
5. read the classic, taking notes by chapter, marking up your book, writing your Ah-ha's in your Scholar Journal just as she describes in The Well Educated Mind Part One . Have a great time with this! It can be a lot of fun!

Now, don't panic - it looks like a lot, but we're practicing becoming scholars. This is the ideal study plan. You are going to do your best to practice each of these skills each month as you learn them in Scholar Skills Class. You don't have to be perfect at all this right away - - - just by the end of the year :) 

At the end of the month we will meet for a colloquium/book discussion, activity, project, simulation, or guest speaker on the classic.

After the colloquium each student will then spend the next week writing a composition of choice based on the classic and the new knowledge/insight/understanding gained from reading and discussing that clasic. Students will bring their composition to the next Scholar Workshop with copies to share with all their friends in the class. We can inspire each other and learn a lot from each other.

***See Classics Outline for classics we'll read eachmonth and an updated schedule***