Local Homeschool Classes

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Courses for Fall, 2008--Spring, 2009                  For a listing of 2008 Summer Classes, see below.

The following courses will meet once a week in Cashmere and at the Columbia Christian Co-op (as well as others online) and will require approximately 3-5 hours of homework per week, per class.  The fee for each class in Cashmere is  $205 per semester.  The fee for classes at the Co-op is $105 per quarter.    Payment for Fall Semester Cashmere classes is due the second week of class (September 17th, 2008).  Payment for Spring semester is due the first week of February.  Payment for Co-op classes must be made through the Co-op registration process. The fee for online classes is $235 per semester (since they are longer classes). 

To register for Leavenworth classes or an online class you may use my e-mail address tutor.alexandria@gmail.com and include the following:

Re: "Registration for [name of class]"

Name, Parents' Names, Address, Age, Year in School, phone number,  Background in Writing, and (if your student is new to my classes) an attached sample of a past essay.   Placement will be based on a first-come, first-served basis. 

To register for Columbia Christian Homeschool Co-op classes, one must contact Michele at the Co-op ( michelet@nwi.net).

Sets of books for some of these classes will likely be available at Hastings in Wenatchee.   With the generous discount available to home educators,   it can be a very wise way to purchase your texts.

 Class Schedule in Cashmere on Wednesdays ( schedule subject to change)

12:00 p.m.   Intermediate English II

1:00 p.m.     Latin II

2:00 p.m.     Intermediate English IV

 We will convene classes at a location to be announced in Cashmere.  Thanks, Wards, for hosting us so well this past year!  Many of these classes will also be offered at the Columbia Christian Homeschool Co-op in Wenatchee as well.  Class descriptions are below.

Class Schedule at Columbia Christian Homeschool Co-op on Wednesdays  (schedule subject to change)

8:00 a.m.   Great Books I

9:00 a.m.     Latin II

10:00 a.m.    Intermediate English IV

Online Class Schedule  

Please note: Online classes are open to any local homeschool families who would like to take courses from Mr. Turnbull in this format. Classes are held weekly and the advantage is that class time is one-half hour longer than local classes.  In addition, these classes use the state-of -the-art Webex Conferencing server and incorporate real-time audio, whiteboard and document sharing.  Participation in online classes is quite feasible and downloading the Webex software is quick, simple and free.  To familiarize local families with this format of class, we will have an introductory session sometime in May or June. 

To view a full description of each online class, please click on the class title.  To see the descriptions of local classes, see below. 

Mondays, 8:00 to 9:45 a.m.   Great Books I

Tuesdays 8:00 to 9:30 a.m.  Advanced Essay-Writing

Tuesdays 9:45 to 11:15 a.m.      History of Christianity

Thursdays, 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. and 9:40 to 11:10 a.m.  (two sections)   Writing the Essay

Mr. Turnbull's Handy, Weekly Schedule-at-a-Glance  

 Great Books I

(Age: High School)

PURPOSE

This marks the first year of a  four-year sequence in which the great works of Western Culture are intently examined.  The purpose for such an endeavor rests on the assumption that history has a flow to it, that God is captain of the Story of the World, and that a solid grasp of this flow—or “Great Conversation”—is a vital part of what it means for a young man or woman to gain an education.   Investigating the great works is, in large part, what is meant by the term “Classical education” today.  By studying some of the most pivotal literature produced by the important thinkers and writers of Western Civilization, students will become acquainted with some of the crucial, early chapters in the Great Conversation.  Since this class is a tutorial, the student is the one pursuing the education and performing the majority of the mental labor.  The tutor guides as the student investigates.  The readings will be challenging but class discussions will be designed to aid in understanding essential segments of the texts.  There will also be an emphasis in learning to write essays according the models used by the Greeks and Romans.   

The Iliad of Homer,  Lattimore, trans.

The Odyssey of Homer, Lattimore, trans.

The Rise and Fall of Athens,  Plutarch

Three Theban Plays,  Sophocles

The Last Days of Socrates,  Plato

The Histories,  Herodotus

The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature,  Howatson--(This text is an optional, but desirable resource.)

Click on the link on each title to go to the page for purchasing the version we will use for the course.   Generally, we use Dover Thrift editions whenever possible since they are so economical and easy to mark in. 

ASSIGNMENTS

Shorter writing assignments will be assigned at times in order to allow the student to interact with the readings.  Many of these will be read aloud by the student to the class.  Essays will be assigned subsequent to the completion of several of the books.  Using the format employed by classical writers, these essays will provide the opportunity for the student to think and write critically about important issues raised by the readings. 

Click on the titles of the books to go to the ordering pages or consider purchasing them in Wenatchee at Hastings.  These are the specific versions that will be used in the class.  Please purchase the versions recommended as it allows for ease and saves time in class discussions.  Using the ISBN number when ordering assures that you will get the exact version we will be reading. 

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE IN A GREAT BOOKS “TUTORIAL”

Since this class is a tutorial, the student is the one pursuing the education and performing the majority of the mental labor.  The tutor guides as the student investigates.  In this way, there is a wide difference between a traditional “class” and a tutorial such as this one.  In the traditional classroom, the teacher is often responsible not only for providing the learning environment and the instruction, but also for imparting much of the motivation to learn through the dread of things like grades and tests.  While these can be helpful ingredients to learning and instruction, they are not a part (or at least a big part) of a tutorial.  In a tutorial, whether or not the student  learns is completely his or her decision.  This is one of the primary assumptions behind a tutorial: the student is the scholar; the tutor is the guide.   That means that what a student learns from the Greeks is directly dependent on the student’s approach, persistence and commitment to gain an education.  In a culture such as ours, where people are clamoring for their needs to be met, I challenge you, as a student, to decide, with God’s help, to make your mind grow.  It will require work and labor and perseverance.  But, as is the case with any noble endeavor, all of the sweat and suffering along the way only deepens your satisfaction in the end.    

 IMPORTANT NOTE to PARENTS AND STUDENTS on THEMES IN GREEK LITERATURE

Greek Literature is the one of the very primary sources from which the river of Western Culture flows.  To study the classics produced by the Greeks is to see first-hand the laying of the stones upon which so much of our thinking and understanding rests. However, as Greece was pagan, so was the worldview of its writers.  That means that we will encounter, at certain points, "mature themes" in some of the writings.  For example, in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles, Oedipus, through a strange twist of fate ends up marrying his mother.

 Why should young men and women study literature that contains such elements?  First, a perusal of the Old Testament will yield many examples of immorality.  Yet we study the Old Testament precisely because God states in Romans 15:4 that "whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."  Thus, we have examples presented to us in the Old Testament; some are to be imitated, and some are there to illustrate the deleterious consequences of disobedience.  We read of righteous and wicked men alike, and by reading and studying the life of Ahab as contrasted with Josiah, we gain instruction and ultimately learn to hope in God and live accordingly. 

 Second, a play like "Oedipus Rex"—just like Shakespeare's "Hamlet"—though it contains some mature content is such an example of Art in writing that it warrants study.  The point of the play is not the immorality itself, but the timeless ideas and central conflicts that form some of the big questions that human beings have pondered and wrestled with for centuries.  Moreover, the form of Sophocles' play, itself, is the paragon of tragedy.  Aristotle considered it to be the perfect model of tragic plot. 

 Third, as with all of the books we will read for this class, "Oedipus Rex" is a classic. That is, countless writers and thinkers over the past two millennia refer to the ideas in that play, and assume that those they speak to are familiar with it.  In other words, that play is part of the body of writings considered essential to a liberal (in the classical sense) education.  As we do with other pieces of literature that contain similar material, our class discussions and student writing assignments will be conducted with a view to gaining instruction and, of course, we will relentlessly seek to consider that which is "true and honorable and just."

Intermediate English II

(Ages 9 and above)

The purpose of this course is to provide younger students with an introduction to two key facets of English: reading and understanding great literature; and writing interesting sentences and paragraphs.  Students will have opportunity to enjoy, appreciate and discuss classic examples of literature and will be given ample practice in writing.

COURSE TEXTS

Ten Tales from Shakespeare, Charles and Mary Lamb    (ISBN:0486428435)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll        (ISBN:0486275434)

The Jungle Books, Rudyard Kipling    (ISBN: 0451529758)

The Silver Chair, C.S. Lewis    (ISBN: 0064471098)

The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett    (ISBN: 0486407845)

Little Britches, Ralph Moody    (ISBN: 0803281781)

100 Best-Loved Poems,  Smith, ed. (ISBN:0486285537)

Click on the titles of the books to go to the page for purchasing them or consider purchasing them at a discount at Hastings in Wenatchee.  These are the specific versions that will be used in the class.  Please purchase the versions recommended as it allows for ease and saves time in class discussions.  Using the ISBN number when ordering assures that you will get the exact version we will be reading. 

Intermediate English IV

(Ages 10 and above)

The purpose of this course is to provide young students with an introduction to two key facets of English: reading and understanding literature; and construction of an essay.  Students will have opportunity to enjoy, appreciate and discuss classic examples of fiction, poetry, plays and essays. This year our writing curriculum will consist of exercises from the progymnasmata, an approach to the process of written and spoken persuasion that breaks down that process into its discrete skills.  These exercises are a favorite of my online students. 

COURSE TEXTS

Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens

Rime of the Ancient Mariner,  Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson

Macbeth, William Shakespeare

Pride and Prejudice,  Jane Austen

The Phantom Tollbooth,  Norton Juster

English Victorian Poetry, ed. Paul Negri

Click on the titles of the books to go to the page for purchasing them or consider purchasing them at a discount at Hastings in Wenatchee.  These are the specific versions that will be used in the class.  Please purchase the versions recommended as it allows for ease and saves time in class discussions. 

Latin II

(Prerequisite: Latin I--Ages 9 through high school)

As an English teacher, I am often asked which grammar curriculum I would recommend.  My answer is Latin.  As anyone who has studied a foreign language knows, the way to learn English and its structure is to study another language.  Because Latin is so logical, orderly, and rule-abiding in its construction, it not only fosters thorough grammatical understanding, but also trains the mind to reason according to principles, much like math.  Aside from these functional benefits, Latin is a majestic doorway into the medieval and classical worlds. 

COURSE TEXTS

Latin for Children, Primer B    Larsen and Perrin

(NOTE: You only need to purchase the Primer B student book.  It is not necessary to purchase the teacher's manual unless you would like to use it to help your child with homework during the week. In addition, there are DVD's that accompany this text that are available.) 

2008 Summer Enrichment Classes

Five Weeks With Plutarch
 

As the foremost biographer of the great men of Antiquity, Plutarch (46-120 A.D.) wrote his Parallel Lives for the purpose of instructing others.  In the process of writing--as it often happens--he  came to delight in it for his own sake, and, as he says, began using "history as a mirror and endeavoring in a manner to fashion and adorn [his] life in conformity with the virtues therein depicted."  With such an express moral purpose, Plutarch's writings make directly profitable (and fascinating) reading.  Each student in this class will meet and scrutinize the lives of ten influential Greeks and Romans, including among others: Romulus, Corialanus, Aristides and Marcus Cato.   For details and registration, click here.

Mere Apologetics

In our culture, we are accustomed to associating the word "apology" with requests for forgiveness.  But in the context of this course the word means something quite different.  An apology, in the classical sense, is a defense offered in support of a position. And so, when we study apologetics as Christians, we are striving to provide a reasoned defense for belief in God, His Son and a whole host of ideas associated with living and thinking as a Christian.  This is not to say (as many atheists assume we should) that Christians are obligated to shoulder the burden of proof in such matters.  In fact, some philosophers have effectively argued that belief in God is the kind of belief that a person is justified in simply assuming and that the burden rests more properly on those who would deny God's existence or His truth.  However, given that we have been called to love God with all our minds, it is profitable and fitting that we engage in thinking carefully about faith.  It is also a privilege to communicate our faith to others in a reasonable and compelling fashion.  For details and registration, click here.

Summer Drawing Camp

This class is designed to introduce and practice (and practice!) important fundamentals of drawing such as line, form, shading, and perspective.  One of the deeply beneficial virtues of learning to draw is that the artist must learn also to more accurately see and observe the world.  There are no prerequisites for this class.  Required materials include a set of drawing pencils and a sketchbook.  This class will run during weekday mornings for one week in Leavenworth.  More details will be forthcoming.  Please feel free to ask questions in the meantime at  tutor.alexandria@gmail.com. 

Student, Parent, Tutor Agreement Form

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