One of my favorite stories is the story of Bilbo Baggins in Tolkien’s The Hobbit. I always loved how, in the Shire, when it is your birthday, you give gifts to everyone else. Well, that is what we do here at Expanding Wisdom as well! Today we are opening up the entry form for our second giveaway and letting you know about our new live mini-course for moms, ‘How to Teach the Humanities.’
Today’s Giveaway I am especially excited about. Over in the Expanding Wisdom Facebook Group, we have been reading Dante. We just finished up with the Inferno and plan to begin reading Purgatory in July. We would love for you to join us by the way – and what better way for that to happen than to win a free copy of The Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatory, & Paradise) translated by Anthony Esolen. You can enter to win the whole set below.
If you grabbed your free copy of ‘Classical Summer School for Moms: The Ultimate Guide‘ then you heard about our NEW Live Mini-Online Course called ‘How to Teach the Humanities‘. We open up registration for this course today!
In ‘How to Teach the Humanities’ you will learn how to integrate literature, history, & writing using the tools of commonplacing, highlighting, close reading, narration, discussion, picture study, and projects. You will also learn at least three different ways one could structure a humanities course. This course is a live course and will, therefore, have a limited number of seats. Enrollment for this live mini-course closes on Sunday, July 10th at 6:00pm EST.
Here is some more about the mini-course.
Learn how to teach literature, history, and writing in an integrative classical way, to your own kids and in a community setting.
- Learn how to read deeply through the skills of slow purposeful reading, highlighting, and questioning
- Learn how to respond to literature through a variety of writing prompts, questions, and commonplacing practices
- Learn how to Lead Socratic discussions related to history and literature
- Learn different ways to structure an integrative humanities class, how to select resources, and ideas for creative and integrative projects to tie the whole year together.
How to Teach the Humanities Mini-course Facts:
- The mini-course is 4 weeks in length
- Each class meeting is 1 hour in length
- Will meet on Monday at 4:00 pm EST July 11th, 18th, 25th, and August 1st
- All class meetings will be held online through the Zoom online video conferencing software
- All classes will be recorded and made available to course participants
- Class 1 Topic: Reading Literature & History
- Class 2 Topic: Responding to Reading with Writing
- Class 3 Topic: Responding to Reading with Discussions
- Class 4 Topic: Resources, Formats, and Projects
- A Printable Course Packet
- A forum for continuing discussions from class, asking additional questions, and sharing ideas.
Learn more or enroll in this course today.
Again, thank you all for being part of the Expanding Wisdom Community. You have made my life richer with ideas, friendships, and many discussions. Thank you.
Expanding wisdom, extending grace,
Jennifer Dow
I have never read The Divine Comedy but have now put it on my book list!
A book that I would absolutely love to do a book club reading and review of is Les Miserables.
I would most like to read and discuss Homer. I read parts of the Iliad and Odyssey in High School and have revisited them in childrens version more recently. But I have only scratched the surface! I would like to have a deeper knowledge of them.
I really enjoy reading Dante! But I will read anythingI can get my hands on pretty much 🙂
Happy Birthday! I didn’t realize you’re so young. Your blog is chock full of wisdom and has been a blessing to me!
Thank you for doing this giveaway! It sounds like a great class to take. I’m actually going to start a local classics for homeschool moms book club. I don’t have a lot of experience with classics, but I recently started Don Quixote and I think I need to meet with a book club to encourage me to finish it. I would also like to read Pride & Prejudice and Pilgrim’s Progress.
It is hard to pick just one! The Divine Comedy or Don Quixote would be on the top of my list.
I have been enjoying 5 Elements to Classical Homeschooling. The Humanities Mini Course sounds wonderful as well!
I’d most like to read “Mansfield Park” in a book club setting.
Hi Jen! Happy birthday to you and your blog 🙂 I would love to join you for your humanities mini course. I’m also just starting Purgatory this summer so will have to find your discussion on FB 🙂
Do Charlotte Mason’s volumes count as classics? I would really love to discuss those in a community setting. I know there are probably many different online opportunities to do so…
I’d love to read something by Dostoyevsky in a book group. I keep wanting to read some of his works and keep putting it off. I think that would give me the push I needed and also provide some great discussion.
What a fun giveaway! Dante has been on my list for quite awhile. 🙂
I am excited about this giveaway, as well as the mini-course. Which classic would I most like to read? Hmmm, I think I would pick a book that intimidates me. I just started Crime and Punishment with some friends, so maybe Anna Karenina. I read it this winter, but would love to read it with someone.
Esolen is fantastic. I’ve read the Comedy in a different translation but would love to see what he does with it.
Happy birthday! Thank you so much for sharing your journey and knowledge. Awesome giveaway as well.
This mini-course is so timely! I too was inspired by Jenny Rollins’ blog (before it went away) and your blog to teach a literature discussion class in my homeschool community. I will be doing just that this fall for the first time, discussing The Lord of the Rings with a group of middle schoolers. Thank you for putting together this course at exactly the right time! I’m looking forward to it!
I would like to read Plato’s Republic in a book club.
Unfortunately my exposure to the classics is limited, so I’m struggling to come up with a suggestion. Thankfully I am slowly remedying this deficiency. 🙂
How about Augustine’s “Confessions”?
Definitely a classic.
Is the Abolition of Man considered a classic?
I think so.
definitely dante
I’ve been hoping to get around to reading the Aeneid!
Happy birthday! Til We Have Faces is a great book club read!
I love and read Plato’s Meno in college, but I would love to read it again in the light of homeschooling!
That may be my favorite Dialogue.
Fun giveaway! Happy birthday!
I would benefit reading just about any classic in a group–Dante, Socrates, even CS Lewis: Abolition of Man.
I really would love to do Shakespeare in a book club setting. Especially reading it aloud together.
I’m with Jessica. I’d love to read through Plato’s Republic again.