CUSTOM COURSES AND SUBJECTS AVAILABLE

Reading Comprehension, Writing & Literature

Grades 5-8 Reading Comprehension, Writing & Literature

Homeschooling parents may choose from the following book lists for novel studies. You can either book a class based on an individual novel, or choose to customize a 6-8 week, or 14 week course around multiple titles.

Objectives: students will improve their reading comprehension, vocabulary, composition, grammar, and rhetoric.

Books to Read Before High School
Reluctant Readers

Process: students will complete weekly lessons according to a course description and syllabus pre-approved by parents and students in writing.

Student responsibilities:

• read independently and take notes on their reading;
• attend weekly online discussion and pre-writing lessons with me;
• complete writing assignments (drafts and final edits) independently.

Teacher responsibilities:

• clear, consistent, written communication with parents and students about expectations, standards, and progress;
• availability via email, with a maximum response time of 24 hours.

Grading: all written work will be graded within 48 hours of submission using rubrics provided by the curriculum materials. Upon completion of the class or course, each student will receive a certificate of completion and parents will receive a written course description they can add to their student’s transcript.

High School English & Writing Custom Courses

Homeschooling parents and students may choose a semester or year-long course of study using Excellence in Literature* OR Seven Sisters High School English*

Each course is equal to .5 credit hours for one semester, or half a course, and 1 credit for a full year, or the entire course.

For Excellence in Literature:

• students will complete weekly lessons as listed in each volume of this college preparatory level curriculum using the books and assignments listed in the curriculum;
• students may follow a standard or honors level syllabus;
• a la carte courses are not available.

Objectives (from the EIL website):

Excellence in Literature is a literature-based high school English program for grades 8-12. It includes literature and composition, including essays, approach papers, author profiles, and several creative writing options.  Each year, there is an optional honors track with additional readings, writing assignments, and a research paper. A single study guide for each year contains everything — instructions for the student and parent, models for each type of paper assigned, and a rubric and instructions for evaluating essays. This self-directed curriculum focuses on full-length classic literature studied in its historic, artistic, and literary context. That means your student will study great literature, see famous art, and hear beautiful music, all in appropriate historical context.

For Seven Sisters, parents have two options:

• choose individual titles and study guides to build an a la carte class;
• choose one of the semester or full-year course bundles pre-packaged by Seven Sisters curriculum writers.

Objectives (from the Seven Sisters website):

Seven Sisters Homeschool’s Literature Guides teach literature-analysis skills, but do not kill the book, and are not full of busywork.

Teens sometimes hate literature study guides because they try to include too many concepts for each book. That is why our study guides only cover: simple background, basic vocabulary, one or two literary themes or devices, and inferential skill-building questions.

Therefore, each 7Sisters Literature Study Guide includes meaningful activities for teens who want to level up their work to Honors.

When your teens are working on a solid ELA credit, they need experience with writing essays, poetry, short stories, research papers and writing for the real world.

Teens build skills in step-by-step, daily lessons that make sometimes intimidating subjects accessible.

Process: students will complete weekly lessons according to a course description and syllabus pre-approved by parents and students in writing.

Student responsibilities for both EIL and Seven Sisters:

• read independently and take notes on their reading;
• attend weekly online discussion and pre-writing lessons with me;
• complete writing assignments (drafts and final edits) independently.

Teacher responsibilities:

• clear, consistent, written communication with parents and students about expectations, standards, and progress;
• availability via email, with a maximum response time of 24 hours.

Grading: all written work will be graded within 48 hours of submission using rubrics provided by the curriculum materials. Upon completion of the course, each student will receive a certificate of completion and parents will receive a written course description they can add to their student’s transcript.

Grades 9-12 Writing ONLY

Homeschooling parents and students may choose a semester or year-long course of study using either of the following curriculum packages.* 

Writing With Skill, Level 3, from the Well Trained Mind
OR
Write Shop I & II

Objectives (from the Writing With Skill, Level 3, Well Trained Mind website):

The Level 3 workbook is written directly to the students to encourage them to take the initiative in developing their writing skills. It combines time-tested classical techniques with innovative contemporary insights to give every student the necessary tools to write with clarity and confidence, and provides essential training in organization, composition structure, and research methods. There is extensive practice in planning and carrying out independent projects, so that students are prepared for higher-level writing. Instructor text required, but all source material for assignments is included; no other books are needed.

Skills taught in Level 3 include four-level outlining; narration by significance; explanation by cause and effect in science and history; analysis and review; literary criticism; classical essay writing; and composing internet comments with both clarity and grace. (The last one isn’t true; some things are beyond our control).

Objectives (from the Write Shop website):

Assignments give them a chance to practice various kinds of writing, such as creative, expository, narrative, and persuasive. With each lesson, they’ll learn new skills, apply them to their current writing project, and edit and revise the composition several times. By the end of the lesson—after brainstorming, writing, editing, and revising—they’ll have a polished paper to be proud of!

Student responsibilities:

• read independently and take notes on their reading;
• attend weekly online discussion and pre-writing lessons with me;
• complete writing assignments (drafts and final edits) independently.

Teacher responsibilities:

• clear, consistent, written communication with parents and students about expectations, standards, and progress;
• availability via email, with a maximum response time of 24 hours.

Grading: all written work will be graded within 48 hours of submission using rubrics provided by the curriculum materials. Upon completion of the course, each student will receive a certificate of completion and parents will receive a written course description they can add to their student’s transcript.

*Parents are responsible for the purchase of all materials (books, study guides, resources)!

Teaching K-12 American History and Civics for Homeschoolers

I keep content aligned with the student’s level of cognitive development. For example, middle school students write and speak as much as they read and listen, and high school students discuss and debate using the Socratic method.

Private Semester Courses
Choose from:
The Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum
or
America the Last Best Hope, by William J. Bennett
plus readings from primary sources.

Private Custom Duration Courses
Choose from offerings at:
1776 Unites Black History Curriculum for K-12

*Parents are responsible for the purchase of all materials (books, study guides, resources)!

Teaching Logic and Reasoning

Human beings have to be taught how to think properly, and there is a correct and incorrect way to do it. Most schools are not teaching logic, and are in fact using logical fallacies in their lessons. As a consequence, students become masterful at using fallacious reasoning rather than recognizing and rebutting it.

Private Course
Ages 12 – 18
Duration: 8 weeks minimum

This course is for students who are motivated to learn how to argue logically and persuasively, and follows this book:

The Fallacy Detective

Students will learn through a series of readings, discussions and quizzes.

*Parents are responsible for the purchase of all materials (books, study guides, resources)!

COLLEGE ESSAY TUTORING

Help your college-bound student put their best foot forward! Even good writers sometimes struggle to write about themselves, and that’s what college essays require. Students today seem to have difficulty being both honest and persuasive; they often need someone to coach them through every step of the process to avoid feeling overwhelmed, or stuck.

When I work with your student, I make sure they are doing the following:

• Understanding the prompt. Many problems can be avoided simply by helping the student understand what the prompt is asking them to explain.
• Pre-writing. Most students skip steps like brainstorming, outlining, and “sloppy-copy,” or drafting. I hold them accountable to complete these vital steps!
• Reading aloud before editing. This is one of the best ways to catch errors, hear run-on, dull, or redundant sentences, and improve style. If they’re bored hearing their own work read aloud, chances are the AO will be bored too!
• NOT relying on grammar, spell-check, or AI (ChatGPT). Very often, students who rely on these tools will rewrite a sentence rather than correct their grammar if they can’t get the AI to cooperate. When this happens, they often resort to vocabulary they know, which produces style that is dry and uninteresting, OR they overuse the thesaurus, and produce narratives that are overwrought and hard to read.
• Keeping it REAL. So many students work harder at imagining what others will be writing about so they can be “different,” and end up writing something that sounds as inauthentic as it is. Worrying to much about impressing the reader is as counterproductive as it is unnecessary. Applying to college is stressful enough without internalized self-doubt.

My process helps students do more than write better college essays, it improves their writing skill overall, so when they get to college, they will be prepared to write well there too!

Average number of sessions to complete  the Common App + 2 other applications = 10