heartofdakota.com

Ladies,

The more sneak peeks that we get a chance to share the more excited I am getting about the new World Geography guide! For today's sneak peek, we'll return to the area of "English" (which is comprised of composition, literature, grammar, and vocabulary in high school). Since we've already shared our choices in a previous sneak peek for the composition and grammar portion of the English credit, in this peek we'll focus on the literature/vocabulary portion of the English credit. This is an area that is near and dear to my heart since Drawn into the Heart of Reading was the first program that I wrote!

I dearly love real books and the opportunity that they provide us to "live" with a character as we turn the pages and watch the characters grow and change. I've also grown to realize that reading requires certain skills that help us better understand the characters and think more deeply beneath the surface of what we read. As our kiddos mature, the goal of learning to read with moral discernment seems to trump other goals, as we strive to equip our kiddos to face the world without being easily swayed in their beliefs by whatever book they happen to be reading at the time!

With these thoughts in mind, as we finished using DITHR with my oldest son (and are now on the verge of this same moment with my next oldest son), we've spent quite a bit of time pondering the logical next step for literature study. We've tried quite a variety of options with our oldest son in this area with mixed success. Luckily, he is blessed with the ability to read almost anything and seems to have a strong moral compass accompanied with much more discernment than I exhibited at his age (so I don't think we've managed to harm him too much yet)!

This present school year, we have been using a combination of BJU Literature and real books for his 11th grade American literature year. I must admit we are enjoying our year and have found a good balance between reading and enjoying literature, learning new skills, thinking deeply beneath the surface of what is read, and having discussions that are hopefully leading to even greater moral discernment on his part.

So, with our present year in the forefront of my mind, we have decided to use BJU Fundamentals of Literature: Grade 9 for literature, alternating with full-length classic novels at the end of each BJU unit. Shortly after making this decision several months ago, I also discovered that Cathy Duffy had included BJU's high school literature guides in her Top 101 Curriculum Picks. Since she also selected our Drawn into the Heart of Reading program for inclusion in her Top 101 Curriculum Picks (for literature for grades 2-8), I figured I must be on the right path!

We are actually very excited about this plan, as BJU Fundamentals of Literature includes a wonderful array of short stories, poems, and excerpts from real books that students would otherwise never get a chance to read. It also takes the pressure off of the novels to be "all things" needed in the area of literature and allows me to be able to instead just choose truly good books.

The BJU Teacher's Guide has extensive answers to questions to help the teacher and also has excellent Scripture Applications for the stories. The Teacher's Guides color-codes passages to point out the skills within the story that are emphasized within each chapter (i.e. characterization, conflict, foreshadowing, personification, etc.) which makes teaching these skills very easy.

I have loved the discussion time with my 11th grader this year as we discuss what he is reading, and the key is so extensive that there is much I can add even if I haven't read the story. Then same is true for the grade 9 text. Another wonderful thing is that the high school BJU texts move away from workbook busywork (that was contained in the younger BJU reading text series) and instead include questions to discuss (or answer in writing) right within the text at the end of each story. Vocabulary words are also defined right within the text (right beneath the paragraph where the word is used).

The BJU text is meant to be a one-semester text, with the other semester taken up with composition and grammar. So, for our purposes, adding full-length classic novels to the literature text is not going to make the year too literature heavy. The use of the BJU text as a spine will also give us the freedom to read the novels that we schedule in a more CM fashion (with oral and written narrations and Common Place Book entries as follow-ups) rather than needing to use novel guides. It is my hope that in the next week or tow I will be able to share our novel choices, as I am getting close to being done with our selections in this area too!

Here is Cathy Duffy's description from her website about BJU Fundamentals of Literature:
Fundamentals of Literature (second edition)
Suggested for grade nine, this textbook is the foundation for the study of literature. It studies conflict, character, theme, structure, point of view, and moral tone through both traditional and contemporary selections. The full-length drama Cyrano De Bergerac is included for study in the text.

Interpretation and evaluation from a Christian point of view are major emphases. Reading selections are not necessarily Christian, since interpretation and evaluation can be truly taught only by studying examples written from more than one perspective.

The 2010 edition (second edition) includes a CD-ROM with teacher support materials such as worksheets, graphic organizers for students, quizzes, writing rubrics, and standardized test practice in reading and vocabulary.(To read the rest of the review, you need to purchase her Top 101 Curriculum Picks).

The teacher's editions contain reproductions of the student text pages as well as questions and helps for discussion and analysis. Answers appear in the bottom border section along with teaching notes. In addition, teacher's editions offer valuable background information. I highly recommend that you purchase the teacher's editions for these courses. While it might be possible to work strictly from the teacher's edition, covering answers when necessary, it is probably more practical for both teacher and student to have a text during discussions.

See inside the Student Text: http://www.bjupress.com/product/259960
See inside the Teacher's Guide: http://www.bjupress.com/product/259986? ... 303&spot=1

Blessings,
Carrie

Thanks for the update! Iam excited to see your novel list. I do have a question though - are you planning on using BJU Lit for the rest of high school grades as well? We are doing MTMM now as 9th grade and doing an Intro to Lit course now. Is the BJU you chose also Intro to Lit or how can I make things fit and stay as close to the guide as possible?

At this point, we're honestly not sure if we will use BJU for a portion of the literature credit all throughout our high school guides. It is a possible option. However we do know that we will include full-length classic novels/dramas throughout our high school guides.

The Fundamentals of Literature text and classic books combination we are planning for our World Geography guide can easily be used with 9th and 10th graders (and also with 8th graders who have come up through the HOD guides on the youngest age range of our guides). The BJU Fundamentals of Literature doesn't have a grade level anywhere on the student book, and the level of the stories in the book varies widely (so your student would not feel the stories were too young in any way).

Credits for literature can be listed as English 1, English 2, English 3, English 4 on a transcript or can be listed with titles (i.e. such as Introduction to Literature, World Literature, American Literature, and British Literature, or any title you choose). If you're doing a course now titled Introduction to Literature, you could simply list this course as Fundamentals of Literature. For transcript purposes, it is just important to show that credit in literature/composition was earned each year (and also important to show that American and British Lit. were taken as part of these courses). Some states also require World Lit. but that is more rare.

Literature is one of those subjects that is more versatile, as the way to arrive at credit in this area varies widely.

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie,
If I have a 10th and 11th grader that will use the Geography guide next school year, will I need to beef up the Literature for credit or can I do it as written and make it count?? I am already beefing up science to give them a full Chemistry credit next year as well. Thanks for all you do, this looks great!!

I was so excited to see this particular sneak peek! I have been "not so patiently" waiting for it! Thank you, Carrie, for all your hard work on this guide. Everything looks so wonderful!
I had a quick question about what you might do for a literature sequence throughout the highshcool guides (generally speaking). My ds will use the World Geography guide next year as a 10th grader. He is doing Ancient Lit and Comp now. I know that he will need Brit Lit and Am lit at some point, so I was just curious if you knew when you might schedule those so that I can plan accordingly. My goal is to stick to your plans as much as possible, but it's going to be a bit tricky with taking this year to do Ancient History and Lit.
Thank you,
Katie

Ladies,

These are great questions! The geography guide's target age range will be early high school as that is typically when most students take geography and the IPC science course that we will be scheduling in this guide. However, geography can also be taken any time during high school for credit, so there is no reason why it cannot be used for upper high school students who still need that credit as well. For 11th and 12th graders, there will just be more tweaking needed in the guide (especially in the area of the 3R's and science). Be encouraged though that this is the way our guides have always been written, so it shouldn't be a big departure from the pattern we've established up to this point.

With the combination of the BJU lit./real books, Essentials in Writing: Grade 10, and Rod and Staff English 7 (the first half) that will be scheduled in the Geography guide, credit can easily be earned in English for 9th and 10th graders with no modifications or additions (and 8th graders who have come up through the HOD guides on the youngest age range of our guides could also count credit assuming they are beginning their high school transcript early).

For 11th and 12th graders, it will be important to make sure to earn needed credits in specific types of literature (i.e. American and British) as required by your state (or by the entrance requirements of the college your child will be attending). Our plan at this point in time is to do Fundamentals of Literature (as a literature foundation for future years) in the Geography guide, World Literature in the World History Guide, American Literature in the American history guide, and British Literature in the final high school guide.

For those families who might not get to our final guide in the cycle, where British literature will be covered specifically, it is possible that there will be enough British novels and British short stories/poetry etc. in our first two guides that a child going through our first two high school level literature programs could count a semester of British lit. credit if needed (simply from doing what is in those two guides in combination with the composition and grammar in the guides). This would only work in those states where only a semester of British literature is required because typically 4 novels constitute a semester of credit (when combined with a variety of other short stories/poetry/drama and composition/vocabulary/grammar). Students will likely meet that requirement in our first two guides for a semester of British Literature if needed for transcript purposes. For 11th and 12th graders using the Geography guide (and the World history guide which follows it), American literature credit will have to be earned separately. Our own 11th grade son is currently doing BJU American Lit. with additional full-length novels to meet the American literature requirement. You could choose to cover this requirement any way that suits your family best.

As far as the other parts of the English credit go, the Essentials in Writing course (Grade 10) scheduled in the Geography guide will be fine for 11th graders as it covers the needed areas of writing various essays and also includes writing a research paper. Our own 11th grade son is using the EIW: Grade 10 this year (since the 11th grade EIW was delayed in its release date). He is a naturally strong writer and has done a huge variety of writing programs, yet we had not tackled a longer research paper. He told me last week that writing is his favorite course this year (and he's doing the research paper now).

The Rod and Staff English that will be scheduled in the Geography guide would also be fine for older students (as long as that is the level of Rod and Staff that your child is currently needing). We will schedule the first half of English 7 in the Geography guide. If your child happens to be at a different level of Rod and Staff that is not a difficult switch, as Rod and Staff is divided into daily lessons at all levels.

Blessings,
Carrie

Thanks for the additional information Carrie! I was concerned how to fit things in since we will be missing the last guide so your explanation on covering the British Lit is a great comfort. I will fit those elements in throughout the rest of his remaining high school years. Thankfully he is an avid reader, so this plan fits well for our family. I very much appreciate you giving out the sneak peeks as it helps those of us who are planners make some long-term plans and not wasting time or money trying to fit things in (like the logic component)when they will be in future guides.

Thank you, Carrie! I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. Your plans sound great!

Carrie,
Thanks so much for answering all of our questions. I have American and British Lit already covered. Since my older two did Rev to Rev and are now in MtMM, we added American Lit. last year and British Lit this year and it has worked out really well for us. It was a great fit for the time periods covered in each guide. I am trying to use as much of the guides as written for my oldest two and just tweek what is needed. That is the real beauty of HOD for me. It is still so much easier to tweek a guide than to even consider another curriculum! And my oldest son would revolt, so we don't mess with the HOD around here . This helps me to know what I need to beef up, I really appreciate it and you!! My 14 yo dd and 16 yo ds will be 10th and 11th grade NEXT school year. That was a little misleading in my earlier post, sorry.

What an exciting sneak peek! I've been wondering what we'll have to look forward to after DITHOR. It's still a long way off for us as we'll just be starting Bigger next week but still exciting to read about! I love what you've chosen!

I can't tell you how excited I am. I have a 9th grader this year and picked up Fundamentals in Literature for her freshman year. The only thing I don't like about it is I am not good at scheduling it. I wanted to use it over a year with literature books in between. Next year with my next student going into 9th grade I can just follow your schedule. THANK YOU!!!!! You have no idea how much this blesses me.

Ladies,

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I really appreciate it! The interesting thing in our choice is that I am such a CM-fan that at first glance the choice of BJU as part of our choice for literature seems to be in complete opposition to that philosophy. However, for my family at least, the choice of BJU for literature has actually finally freed me enough to follow a more CM approach to literature in some ways.

What I mean is that we've tried several different "real books" based approaches to literature such as SMARR, Learning Language Art Through Literature Gold, and some Covenant Home guides. I've spent endless hours pouring over Lightning Literature, Excellence in Literature, Progeny Press, Read with the Best, and Stobaugh's approach to literature too (even his brand new revised literature guides) all of which I own and have on my shelf right now! The conclusion I arrive at with all of these various programs is that while all of them use real books, none of them are truly taking a CM-approach to literature. As I've pondered why this is so, it became readily apparent that it is because of the need to teach skills that are such a part of learning to think more deeply beneath the surface of what is read. Add to that the desire to teach kiddos to read with moral discernment, and the burden to make the novels suit these purposes gives rise to literature guides every time.

Literature guides are often very good at setting forth too many "one right answer" questions, or too many questions in general (thus dissecting the text too far), or too many assignments that send students off reading endlessly on the internet (with little guidance for the parent as to what the child is doing), or are filled with questions or commentary that show a certain agenda defined by the author of the guide. They are also good at guiding kiddos to think about the novel in a "certain" way, again interpreted by the author of the literature guide. Yet, CM wanted her students to sift and sort and make their own connections when reading real books. She wanted students to develop their own worldview (and this worldview she hoped would have a Biblical lens). I wanted that too for my boys, yet I just couldn't let go of the skills and the discernment aspect enough to let the novels speak for themselves. I also knew my boys would still need some modeling and input from me in this area in high school, and I wasn't sure how to keep up with the reading of a stack of classic novels each year!

With the use of BJU, I have finally realized that it covers the skills and moral discernment part that I worried about including and on top of that the stories are interesting and often classics! Yet, it only includes a semester's worth of reading all done through short stories, poetry, excerpts and shorter works that I could stay on top of more easily. The questions were deep and probing, and the selections were varied. The beauty of the program was that it allowed me to expose my kiddos to a wide variety of authors and new skills, while still keeping me in the loop. It also allowed me the freedom to use the remaining semester to let my kiddos just read and narrate from the novels (and truly enjoy them and make their own connections) without the need to "do" something to the novel to make it a "literature study". It also allowed me to pick the books I really wanted my boys to read, without having to first make sure there was a literature guide that I could use with it!

So, we really like the balance of short stories/poetry/drama in the BJU guide alternating with fewer full-length novels interspersed and done in true CM fashion. It allows BJU to do the work of teaching the skills, and the novels to do the more CM-styled "work" of living with a novel and making connections.

It's interesting to note that CM only chose one full-length novel for literature each term (with a term being 12 weeks) for students to read slowly and savor in a year. Her year consisted of 3 terms. So, a stack of novels was definitely not what she had in mind for her students either!

Anyway, just a few thoughts as you ponder our latest selection.

Blessings,
Carrie

I am so thankful that you wrote this most recent post, Carrie. It addressed exactly my thoughts and questions right now about the course to take next year. I have been looking at the same programs you just mentioned, specifically Read with the Best and Stobaugh's program, which both look really good. But I just didn't like the feeling that there wouldn't be any time for just reading novels CM style and enjoying them without the analysis being so heavy. This year with my 9th grader, I have used CLE Literature I interspersed with reading novels in a CM fashion - and I LOVE that combination for the EXACT reasons that you just wrote about. I really want to continue that for her future years. And so I think I will use BJU American Lit for her 10th grade year with novels interspersed. Would you mind sharing your list of novels that your 11th grade son is using for American Lit this year? I would appreciate that so much!

I was just telling my husband a few days ago how much I am looking forward to using the guides as written with my twins coming up for high school. It takes ALL of the work out of it for me and I am SO SO SO excited to use them just as they are! It seems that each of your choices line up so much with what I desire for their education. I truly can't thank you enough for making it so easy for me and many others to keep on homeschooling in high school. May God continue to guide and direct you!

Oh, and I was also wondering you are using the complete BJU American Lit course or just parts of it in order to leave time for the novels you want to include?

I actually love BJU literature. My oldest used it in high school. I am thrilled to see this pairing of BJU lit with real books.

Do you have any ideas yet what real books will be scheduled and will there be any sorts of directions for activities to go with those, or will the kiddos just read/discuss/enjoy those?

Thanks for all your hard work! It looks like we will have a fantastic 9th grade year! I can't wait!