ENROLLMENT UPDATE: This class has met the minimum enrollment and is a go! Please contact us regarding late applications if interested in joining the class.
Coming this fall: School-year classes for homeschoolers grades 4 through 10!
This post describes the class, Writing with the Masters, for grades 4 through 6. (Information about the 7th-10th grade class is available here.)
Who: Students entering grades 4–6 in fall ’19
When: 1:00–2:00 p.m., Tuesdays, August 27, 2019 to May 13, 2020, with holidays (See Academic Calendar.)
Where: Sugar Land, Texas
Along with Louis, the young trumpeter swan in E. B. White’s book, Trumpet of the Swan, students will journey to find their voice as they study and enjoy the writing of master author, E. B. White, co-author of the classic writer’s handbook, The Elements of Style. With White and other master authors as models, students will gain a higher level of stylistic mastery through imitation. Students will also develop narrating and outlining skills as they summarize and tell back passages from the novel and other sources. Throughout the school year, students will learn how to incorporate style and literary devices into their writing while also increasing their awareness of sentence structure and grammar. When imitation, narration, and syntax are combined with the IEW structure and style syllabus in this high-flying course, students will find their own writing voice resonant with new-found stylistic prowess.
To receive the full benefit of the writing class, students will need sufficient time and a handful of supplies. In addition to weekly class sessions, students should plan to spend another half an hour to 1.5 hours each week completing assignments at home. Families will need to secure the following supplies before the start of class: (Linked brands are suggestions.)
- Pens, black ink, 2 or more
- Pencils, 3 or more, pre-sharpened and ready to use
- Colored pencils, erasable, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and brown
- Dictionary & Thesaurus—for home use. Consider apps such as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and the English Thesaurus.
- Recommended/Optional: Reinforcing stickers for strengthening/repairing holes in notebook paper and handouts
Students will also need to be able to type, print, and email assignments using a sharable word processing program such as Microsoft Word.
The teacher will supply the following course materials:
- The Trumpet of the Swan, by E. B. White
- 3-ring notebook binder with tab dividers, course handouts, and reinforced lined notebook paper
- Composition book
- Dictionary & Thesaurus—classroom copies to share
- Classroom colored pencil sets
Supplies fee: $45/student—or $100 w/late fee if registering after August 16
Tuition is on a sliding scale and will be collected quarterly. Pay what you can within the following range: $500 to $800/student/year ($125-$200/quarter)
This class will be offered if a minimum of six students is enrolled by August 15. Full refunds will be made if the class is cancelled due to low enrollment.