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The CenterForLit Online Academy

Grades 5-12

Discussion-Based Learning

Optional Writing Course Add-on

CenterForLit offers year-long online literature courses for students in grades 5-12. Our instructors lead discussions of classic books using the Teaching the Classics method, introducing the structural elements of a story in order to facilitate meaningful conversation about an author’s themes. Students read the entirety of a work of literature and meet with their teachers for a full Socratic discussion approximately once a month. In class, they participate by speaking aloud, chatting with teachers and fellow students, and watching teachers on video.

A writing option is available at all grade levels, in which students apply the Teaching the Classics method to compose simple paragraphs that answer questions pertaining to basic story elements at the elementary level, moving toward thematic essays at the junior high level, and approaching soundly-argued interpretive essays at high school levels. Our upper-level classes offer high school credit and ample preparation for the college classroom.

Register today and help your students join the Great Conversation!

Course Catalogue

Grades 5-6

Elementary Literature

Grades 7-9

Junior High Literature

American History and Historical Fiction (Junior High Section)

Grades 10-12

American Literature

British Literature

World Literature

Understanding Poetry (no writing course available)

American History and Historical Fiction (High School Section)

High School Book Club

Summer Sessions

Grades 5-6

Grades 7-9

Grades 10-12

FAQs

Questions about Tuition
Does CenterForLit grant refunds for online classes?

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.

Can I pay online class tuition in installments?

For special cases, CenterForLit does have an option for an installment plan. In order to organize a plan, please email our registrar at m.andrews@centerforlit.com

If I have multiple students in the online academy, do we receive a sibling discount?

We do offer a 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!

How much is the Pelican Society discount? Does my Pelican Society Discount apply to online classes?

Pelican Society members receive 10% off all tuition fees for every course in addition to all other applicable discounts. Enrollment must originate while logged in to the website as a member.

Questions about Registration
Can my student join CenterForLit classes mid-year?

We welcome mid-year registrants, offering them a discount for their truncated classes. Students will have access to the entire year’s class through the high-quality audio/video recorded lectures located in the classroom. Additionally, we make special provision for mid-year students in our writing classes, working with their tutors to accommodate their entry into the course.

How many booklists are there for each grade level? Can my student stay in one class for consecutive years?

Our elementary class has 2 rotating booklists, which allows students to take the class for two years in a row without repeating a title. Our junior high class has 3 booklists. Our high school classes are organized into 4 distinct years, meant to be taken once for each class. Each high school booklist remains essentially the same every year.

Questions about Class Content
Can my student earn high school credits for CenterForLit classes?

Each CenterForLit high school course is equivalent to one high school credit. If your student is registered for the discussion and writing classes for a section, he/she earns two credits – one for literature and one for writing.

Do CenterForLit teachers take recommendations for Summer Session topics?

We offer summer classes each year at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels. These summer sessions are subject specific rather than survey-driven. There are regularly scheduled live classes with recordings available after each discussion. We are open to topic suggestions!

What is the structure of a live CenterForLit discussion class?

Discussion classes are live 2-hour conversations about the structure and themes of a classic book. These sessions are recorded to afford students the choice to participate asynchronously or rewatch the lecture at their convenience. After the class, there are two discussion board posts which students complete (in two consecutive weeks following the class) to continue processing the live session.

Does CenterForLit grant report cards?

CenterForLit is pleased to generate report cards for students upon request. Send an email to the Principal, Miss Megan Andrews, at m.andrews@centerforlit.com at the close of the semester for a progress report for your student.

Questions about Participation
What is the average class size for a discussion class?

Each CenterForLit class section is limited to 44 students. How do we arrive at this number? After more than ten years of closely monitoring the performance of all our classes, we have found that an optimal Socratic discussion features up to 10 students actively raising their hands and participating aloud. We have also found that while approximately 90% of registrants attend an average live session, only 25% participate by raising their hands and asking or answering questions. The rest are content to learn by listening quietly.

In order to ensure an optimal number of active participants, therefore, we cap our enrollment for each class so that 25% of 90% of the enrollment equals 10.

On occasion, a class session ends with some students still waiting to speak. In such cases, our teachers always remain online after class, taking all questions and comments that remain.

By these policies we hope to maximize each student’s opportunity to participate while ensuring that a healthy Socratic discussion takes place in each class.

How should my student prepare to attend an online discussion class?

Students should:

a) read the book to be discussed in its entirety before coming to class.

b) keep an eye out for the basic questions they will be asked in class (questions like “Who is the main character? What is their primary goal? What stands in their way?)

We encourage students to read with pencil in hand, making annotations as they think of it. These annotations are not graded but they will help the students root their in-class responses to the text directly. The structure of the discussions themselves will help students learn what sorts of scenes to watch for and mark!

What do I do if I am not receiving reminder emails for my Zoom webinars course?

If you are not receiving reminder emails for your live Zoom webinar, there is a chance you have yet to follow the second registration step as detailed in the registration packet. Go to the “Classwork” section of your Google Classroom and click “Register Here for Live Discussions!” In the following form, be sure to input your student’s name (as this is what the teachers will see in order to call on her/him in class) and the email address at which you would like to receive all reminder emails. This is a one-time registration step! However, this link can also be used to log into the webinar at any time.

What do I do if I am having trouble logging into my Google Classroom?

If you are having trouble logging into your Google Classroom using the 6-digit code located in your registration packet, try a number “0” instead of a lowercase “o” or a number “1” instead of a lowercase “L.” If these fixes don’t solve the problem, reach out to our registrar, Miss Megan Andrews, at m.andrews@centerforlit.com

Is there a protocol for assignment extensions in the Online Academy?

CenterForLit’s late paper policy is firm: Late papers will not be graded without advance parental notification. If advance parental notice is given, however, we are happy to work with you to set up an extension track should the occasion arise. For extension requests, please email the principal, Miss Megan Andrews, at m.andrews@centerforlit.com

What is the format/structure of the discussion board posts?

Our structure of weekly accountability differs depending on the grade level. For junior high and high school students, we require weekly participation in a discussion board which promotes conversation and continued discussion outside of the live class sessions. These discussion board posts are 200 words weekly and they help students get the most from their reading between classes. For elementary kiddos, we require less written work in the discussion class, allowing them to simply enjoy the literature at their own pace until the monthly live session. 

How will my student’s participation be tracked?

We mark the student’s engagement and understanding through discussion board posts and writing assignments (for the optional writing course add-on), all of which build off of the books we discuss in the lit class. For those students who are not enrolled in the additional writing class, the class is like a book club. In this case, parent guidance is sometimes the best way to positively ensure engagement. Many a reluctant student has been drawn in by the lively conversations and animated student contributions!

Is participation mandatory in live discussions?

While participation is encouraged in the live class, it is not mandatory. CenterForLit teachers do not track participation grades in live sessions. They do not require students to comment out loud since there is no way to gauge the technical efficiency or noise quotients of each student’s physical scenario. While they do expect students to contribute in the chat box, even there they do not take attendance from a record of each student’s contributions at the end of the class.

Questions about the Writing Courses
How can my student and I reach the writing tutor?

Writing tutors maintain a 24-hour email return policy. In addition, they have one hour a week designated for Office Hours as posted within the Classroom Stream. In this hour, students can count on rapid replies for more intensive help with their essays and projects. Should need arise for a phone call, email Principal Andrews at m.andrews@centerforlit.com to schedule an appointment.

If my student is participating asynchronously in the discussion classes, can they follow an individualized schedule for their written work?

Due to the constraints of our tutoring staff, we are unable to accommodate individualized due date schedules. While your student may participate in the classes asynchronously, the writing schedule laid out is inflexible.

How is feedback delivered to my student in the writing course?

Your student will be assigned a personal tutor for the school year. This tutor will provide them with line-by-line feedback on each assignment, as well as a grade according to the CenterForLit Grading Rubric in their Google Classroom. This tutor will be available to your student by email in a 24-hour policy/capacity, as well as within an Office Hours meeting once a week, as needed.

What is the format of the Elementary Writing course?

The Elementary writing classes meet live weekly and thus their recordings contain both video and audio components. Assignments never exceed a paragraph in length. Though asynchronous participation is allowed, due dates are inflexible.

What is the format of the Junior High Writing course?

The Junior High writing classes are pre-recorded audio lessons which are posted weekly and graded by private tutors. The students will write three papers over the course of the year, each one longer than the last as they build up to a full five-paragraph literary analysis essay.

What is the format of the High School Writing course?

High school writing classes are bi-weekly pre-recorded lectures which the students can watch on their own time. Assignments will drop on a Tuesday morning and the student will have one full week to complete the work. Their tutor then has a full week to return their work to them before the next assignment drops. All three essays which the high schoolers complete over the course of the year are five paragraphs in length.

What is the difference between CenterForLit’s junior high and high school writing programs?

Our junior high class is meant to be a bridge between elementary-level single-paragraph assignments and high school full-length essays. The assignments will begin at three paragraphs and work up to a full essay length. The focus of all assignments is literary analysis and practice in integrating supporting quotes into the body of the essay.

Our high school class is designed to challenge those writers who are already familiar with the basics of the literary analysis essay. All essays will be five paragraphs in length and will require in-text citations of the book in question as support for the student’s original argument.

Regardless of the level of the student, all writing assignments are keyed directly to the material which we will discuss in our live literature classes.


A Few Words About Our Online Academy:

We primarily use in-house teachers.
CenterForLit has paid employees who handle all on-screen teaching responsibilities. Founders and directors Adam and Missy Andrews personally teach seven of the ten courses that we offer.

We guarantee delivery. 
Upon enrollment, CenterForLit students have permanent access to downloadable, high quality audio recordings of all classes for which they are registered.

We take it one year at a time.
CenterForLit registers students for the current or upcoming academic year only. Payments toward future academic years are neither required nor accepted.

We’re growing slowly on purpose. 
CenterForLit began offering online courses in 2010. Since then our student body has grown by an average of 38 students per year.

* Are you a California charter school parent? Click here for registration details.

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