American History + The Chronicles of Narnia, The Faerie Queene, & The Quest
American History
The Chronicles of Narnia, The Faerie Queene, & The Quest
Humanities & Good Books Program for 7th – 9th Grades — Literature + Writing + History + Logic + Oratory
The middle-school years (7th-9th; 9th graders can enroll in the middle school or high school program.) are those years of beautiful transition from childhood to young adulthood. The Paideia Academics Middle School liberal arts program offers a foundational and engaging course that supports this transition and prepares students for the great books’ course of study in the 9th-12th grade program. Content, skills, and ideas increase in depth and breadth as they become independent and self-aware truth-seekers.
Middle school literature is a good books-style class that focuses on preparing students for a Great Books course of study in high school. We do this through a two-year literature cycle that centers around the quest motif and shows students how different works of literature “talk to each other.” Students will enjoy a beautiful and perilous quest through the world of Narnia and select Celtic literature. Activities include an introduction to close reading, reading aloud, projects, literature discussions, commonplacing, and an introduction to annotating.
In history, students will study American history’s people, events, and stories. Students will begin to learn to see cause-and-effect relationships in history and study history from different viewpoints. We will explore how decisions, curiosity, and ideas affect the people, communities, and culture around them. History in Middle School includes working through biographies, living history books, selected speeches, primary documents, related poems and art, class discussion/debates, narrations (written and oral), map work, timelines, and other history-related activities.
In logic and writing, students study advanced narrations, the four primary forms of the essay, the progymnasmata, and logic through language study. The content of their writing is primarily whatever they are studying in history and literature. The middle school program shows students the vital connection between writing and reading and builds their skill set for various writing projects. At Paideia Academics, logic is taught through mastering the relationships between words in a sentence. Students will study the parts of speech, advanced grammar topics, and diagram sentences drawn from great literature. This is the foundation for traditional and material logic studies in high school.
In Oratory, students learn how to become intimate with short writing selections, get an empathetic sense of the piece, memorize it, and perform it in a way that embodies the truth of the piece. Students practice this with selections from literature, speeches, plays, and poems and perform their selections at various times throughout the year.
Books
- Literature
- Selections from Celtic Mythology (Provided by Teacher)
- The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
- Prince Caspian, by C.S. Lewis
- Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis
- The Faerie Queene: Book I (translation TBD)
- Selections from Celtic and American Poetry (Provided by Teacher)
- History
- Collection of American Tall Tales (Specific edition TBD)
- George Washington’s World, by Genevieve Foster
- Abraham Lincoln’s World, by Genevieve Foster
- Three Biographies (Specific biographies TBD)
- Selected fine art, music, speeches, poems, essays, and primary documents (Provided by Teacher)
- Oratory
- The Winter’s Tale, by William Shakespeare, Folgers Edition
- Selected Speeches & Essays from American History (Provided by teacher)
- Selected American & Celtic Poetry (Provided by teacher)
- Writing & Logic
- Narration & Progymnasmata based Writing Handouts and Printed Instructions (Provided by Teacher)
- Sentence Sense: A Diagramming and Parsing Handbook, by Cottage Press Publishing (Link to Text)
- Our Mother Tongue: A Guide to English Grammar, by Nancy Wilson (2nd Edition)
Tuition & Logistics
Who: 7th-9th-grade students. (Depending on their skill level, 9th graders can enroll in either the middle school or high school program.)
When: Monday-Thursday, 1:30pm – 2:30pm ET (10:30am-11:30am PT; 6:30pm-7:30pm GT)
Calendar: 33-weeks, August 21, 2023 – May 31, 2024; Parent Orientation: Thursday, August 17th, 2023, 8:00pm EST.
Breaks:
– Labor Day Holiday: Monday, September 4th, 2023
– Fall Break: October 9th – 13th, 2023
– Thanksgiving Break: November 20st – 24th, 2023
– Nativity/New Years Break: December 18th, 2023 – January 5th, 2024
– Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday: January 15th, 2024
– Winter Break: Monday, February 19th – Friday, February, 23th, 2024
– Easter Break: March 25th -29th, 2024
– Pascha Break: April 29th – May 3rd, 2024
Where: Zoom for Live Classes & Canvas for our Virtual Classroom
Teacher: Mrs. Deanna Martin & Ms. Jennifer-Ruth Dow
- 4 hours of Live Classes (Instruction, Discussion, and Community) Weekly (1hr daily, M-Th)
- All classes are recorded and available in the virtual classroom.
- All assignments, materials, and class correspondence are available in the virtual classroom.
- All syllabi, assignments, projects, teaching, and assessment are governed by the teacher.
- End of Year Report and course descriptions made available at the end of the year for each student
Total Middle School Classes
1. English/Literature
2. American History
3. Language Logic
4. Oratory
Tuition: $1647 (Five Classes, One Program, One Price)
Pay all at once, by the semester, or in 10 monthly installments.
Seats Available: 16
Middle School FAQ
What is a Good/Great Books style humanities program?
A Good/Great Books style humanities program means the ideas and the literature lead. Practically, this means more time will be spent on coaching writing and reading skills in the context of reading literature and history. Whenever possible, the class will seek to see the common thread of ideas woven through both history and the literature and respond to these ideas with writing, discussion, and other projects or activities.
Does my Middle School student need their own books?
Yes, especially the literature books and a student planner. Students may be asked to take notes in their books or highlight various passages. They need their own copies of books so they can do these things.
Does my student need to take additional literature, history, and writing courses?
We ask that you not sign your student up for additional core classes in these areas. In our experience, extra courses in these areas tax a student unnecessarily. We provide several quality suggestions if you want to give your student some independent or family work to fill out the experience. Simply reach out to your child’s teacher.
Can you tell me more about PFHC’s approach to writing?
Writing is a skill that takes years to develop. We know that our students are on the path to excellent writing if they move along the milestones that lead to excellent writing. Charlotte Mason thoroughly understood these milestones and laid out practice for leading our children in developing writing skills. This practice is called narration. Narration is the art and science of composing our thoughts, first in our minds, then in our spoken words, and finally in our written words. Narration allows the student to really know something rather than simply know about it. The idea and practice of narration take a student through this process seamlessly. Karen Glass’s book Know & Tell: The Art of Narration gives a structure and path to walk on this journey of learning to write well. Not only does she give a grand understanding of the art of narration, but she also outlines how to teach and assess writing as our students move through the writing milestones.
Students at Paideia Academics Online Academy will receive consistent and developmentally appropriate instruction and assessment in the art, practice, and particulars of writing, grammar, and logic from 7st -12th grades. We use Karen Glass’s book as our primary guide to structuring our writing program in 7th – 9th grades, along with Cottage Press’ Curricula’ Sentence Sense and the fourteen pre-rhetorical progymnasmata exercises.
What books and supplies will my child need for PFHC?
You can find the projected booklist above. However, this is subject to change. Finalized and complete book/supply lists will be provided to all enrolled families by the end of July.
What do parents need to teach at home?
- Mathematics
- Science
- Foreign Language
- Any additional electives that are important to the student and family.
As much as possible, a liberal arts course of study should include living books on related topics, be integrated into the above studies, and offer opportunities for oral narrations in response to readings.