CenterForLit instructors use the Socratic method, as it is modeled in our basic seminar Teaching the Classics, to conduct online discussions of classic books. This method involves asking questions that force students to think carefully about their reading, and then to think carefully about their thinking. Using the author’s theme as the goal of the discussion, instructors encourage students to engage with the author’s ideas by discussing the structural and stylistic components that comprise his story. Once students have heard and understood the author, they are encouraged with further questions to critically examine their own assumptions about the author’s theme. As a result, students gain a deeper understanding of the book, and also of themselves as readers and thinkers.
The optional junior high writing class ensures a smooth transition between the elementary and high school levels of our Academy. Students adept in the basics of writing a literary analysis paragraph will find themselves at home in our junior high writing class, where they will learn to expand the basic analytical structure (topic sentence, supports, and clincher) to fit a multi-paragraph essay. Students will learn to make a well-informed argument about their own interpretive understanding of a text and will practice incorporating textual evidence to further craft and defend their persuasive arguments.
Course Details
Instructor: Megan Andrews and Emily Andrews
Schedule: Monthly 2-hour Socratic discussions (see full schedule and titles below) are held at 8:00 AM Pacific Time (11:00 AM Eastern) on Tuesdays and Wednesday, and 10:00 AM Pacific Time (1:00 PM Eastern) Thursdays, with optional bi-weekly writing classes.
Live webinars: Online meeting software (included in tuition) provides screen sharing and live audio with chat. Students raise hands to participate aloud, use the chat function to converse with the instructor, watch the instructor via live video, and view the screen as a white board while the class builds representative plot charts of the books discussed.
Conversation Boards: Each month, students make regular contributions to a chat-style conversation about the last book discussed. Posts, which are graded pass/fail according to timely, good faith completion of the assignment, are monitored by course instructors.
Recordings: High quality video recordings of each class (with discussion notes in PDF format) allow students to participate at their own pace if desired. Students receive an email invitation to join the student database, where they have access to recordings and notes from each discussion.
Grades and Credits (optional): Writing students receive regular report cards with suggestions for improvement. All students receive a certificate of completion/attendance upon request.
Tuition: $475 annually for the discussion-only class; an additional $300 for the optional writing section.
Optional Writing Section
Availability: Open to students enrolled in the discussion course.
Instructor: Adam Andrews
Schedule: Pre-recorded, 45-minute lessons are uploaded to the student database bi-weekly on Tuesdays at 12:00pm Pacific time (3:00pm Eastern time). Each lesson is accompanied by a formal written assignment, which is due the following Tuesday. Assignments are graded by tutors and returned to the student in time for the next class.
Assignments: 13 bi-weekly assignments proceed step-by-step through every aspect of writing from literature (thesis statement formation, source development, outlining, mechanics and style). Students submit assignments via the student database and receive in-text comments and grades on each draft from their assigned writing tutor.
Recordings: Writing lessons are pre-recorded to allow for asynchronous participation; however, assignment due dates are not flexible.
Grading: Assignments are evaluated against a five-fold rubric that pinpoints areas for improvement (see sample rubric below). Periodic report cards summarize progress, and combine grades from the writing and discussion portions of the class.
Teacher Access: The writing instructor and assigned tutors are always available via email to answer specific questions. Emails are generally returned within 24 hours.
Click here to download a sample essay prompt
Click here to download a sample writing lesson
Click here to download a sample graded assignment
Discussion Schedule
Discussion classes for Sections A and B meet once per month at 8:00AM Pacific (11:00 AM Eastern), and Section C meets once per month at 10:00 AM Pacific time (1:00 PM Eastern). Section A meets on Tuesdays, Section B on Wednesdays, and Section C on Thursdays according to the following schedule:
*CenterForLit requires that students come to class having read (or listened to) an unabridged edition of the assigned title. Obtaining the exact ISBN listed is not mandatory.
Writing Class Schedule
The optional writing class is available to students enrolled in the Socratic discussion course. Class dates indicate when pre-recorded lessons are uploaded to the database, and when assignments are distributed.
Tuition, Discounts, and Enrollment
Tuition is $475 annually for the discussion-only class, with an additional $300 for the optional writing section.
Early Bird Registration: Students enrolling before June 1, 2025, receive a 10% discount on all tuition fees for every course.
Pelican Society Discount: Pelican Society members receive 10% off of all tuition fees for every academy course in addition to all other applicable discounts. Enrollment must originate while logged into the Pelican Society. Log in now or click here to join!
Sibling Discount: If you are enrolling more than one student from the same family, our system will automatically apply a sibling discount in addition to any other discounts or coupons. Simply make sure all registrations appear in the same shopping cart. You’ll receive a discount on each registration based on how many students are enrolling. Please note that our sibling discount structure amounts to a 100% tuition waiver for student number four!
Upon enrollment, the student will download a registration packet with complete instructions for joining each online discussion and participating in the discussion board. For more information, please email Megan Andrews at m.andrews@centerforlit.com.
Please consider purchasing your books for this course through one of our affiliate programs. CenterForLit earns a small profit from qualifying purchases with no additional cost to you. We appreciate your support! (See our official disclosure statement.)
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We appreciate the responsibility involved in choosing curriculum materials for your students, and we ask you to make this decision carefully. If your plans change and your student must withdraw from a class, CenterForLit can transfer your registration to a different class or to a future term; however, THERE ARE NO REFUNDS FOR ONLINE CLASS REGISTRATIONS.
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