LANGUAGE ARTS 2025 – 26

AGE:  High School grades 8-12

 COST: $375.00 per semester (discount for direct payment)

 COURSE DESCRIPTION: We all love a good story.  Add in some monsters, some extraordinary adventures, and some larger-than-life characters and you have the makings of a great myth, or at least a really good movie!  In this course, we will explore mythologies from around the world and look at ways in which the myths that are created are reflections of the humans themselves. We will have opportunities to create, analyze, express and learn from a variety of sources, including looking at modern-day interpretations of myths (Rick Riordan and Marvel movies for example). In response, we will be writing, creating and acting out some of the stories that we read, learning together and having fun!

Textbook: No textbook required, but I will suggest some resources that you may find helpful.

About the Teacher:

Ms. Flora is an educator who loves looking at the world in new ways and with multiple kinds of students.  She received her Bachelor’s in English (with minors in History and Spanish) from Westmont College, She has taught in both formal and informal settings, and her favorite students are her four children (three high school boys and a daughter in middle school.).  She earned her MA in English from Claremont Graduate University.

CONTACT:  

• Flora Krook
• Phone number: (916)216-6469
• Email: krookf@aol.com

CLASS BEGINS:  September 4, 2025

COURSE DURATION:  1 school year, from September 4 through May 22.

This course is designed to introduce students two literary giants, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. These two have written so much that we will, by necessity, need to limit the number of their books we read. Also, this class won’t be a sprint; it will be a walk.

Students will read the some of the best literature on bookshelves, while they will learn, through research, the background of the author as well as the cultural context. Did you know that Dickens is responsible for much of the way we celebrate Christmas? Students will learn about that in this class.  They will be given the opportunity to discuss books and relate them to the cultural context in which they were written. In a sense this not only an English class, but also a history class. If a given book was made into a movie, we might watch the movie and compare it to the book. Writing assignments will include biographies about the profiles, historical approach papers, and more. Additionally, students will be provided with tools to strengthen their writing skills. The class will be meeting in person at EIE. We will have a couple of amazing parties that students will remember, with a smile, well into adulthood.

 Books Required:

• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• Jane Austen: The Complete Juvenilia Text and Critical Introduction by Ray Moore
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
•  
• This above book list is a goal which is subject to change.

 Fees:

• $250.00 per semester ($275 if a charter student) plus books.
• Miss Lilli is a vendor for: Sky Mountain, ILEAD, Excel Academy, Sage Oaks, Golden Valley, Gorman, Inspire, and more.

 CONTACT: Lilli Witczak (626)232-7932 text only -or- email at: lilli.witczak@gmail.com

CLASS BEGINS:  September 4, 2025

 COURSE DURATION:  1 school year, from September 4 through May 22

In this Institute for Excellence Writing Wonders of Science Writing Lessons themed book, students will enjoy topics such as insects, inventions, and famous scientists as they learn the IEW Structure and Style writing method.

During the course, students will take construct outlines, notes, summarize narrative stories, write from pictures, compose creative essays, and more. As a part of the writing process, students will learn about grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Additionally, they will enjoy watching brief videos of some the topics covered. For example, they will watch a bombardier beetle spray formic acid on a predator.

COST: $250.00 per semester ($275 if a charter student) plus books.

Miss Lilli is a vendor for: Sky Mountain, ILEAD, Excel Academy, Sage Oaks, Golden Valley, Gorman, Inspire, and more.

REQUIRED MATERIALS: Students are expected to bring the following to class on the first day.

•  -Writing paper
• -Writing tool such as a pen or pencil
• -The textbook:
  • Wonders of Science Writing Lessons (Student Book)
  • ISBN: 978-1-62341-399-6
  • Edition: First Edition, March 2023
  • Copyright Date: 2023

Online classroom is always open. 
Open enrollment during semester.

COST: 

• $350 per semester for Charter students.
• $300 for non charter school students.
  
  This class is offered online as well as in a classroom setting. 

This course covers advanced English communications for students of any age who can handle college preparatory material and is designed to prepare students for university studies and for SAT, ACT and TOEFL exams. Emphasis is placed upon innate language acquisition through immersion and emulation as well as an understanding of grammatical principles.

Writing and speaking skills and techniques are covered and works of the masters of spoken and written English arestudied. The list is flexible depending upon class enthusiasm but has in the past included Shakespeare, Swift, Dickens, Austen, J.S. Mill, Wilde, Shaw, Grahame, Wodehouse, Franklin, Jefferson, Paine, Lincoln, Twain, Fitzgerald, Churchill, King, Buckley, Baldwin and many other surpassingly brilliant but less well known writers and orators. (It is worth noting that one finds among these greats a disproportionately large percentage of homeschoolers.) All works are provided or linked to in the online classroom. College prep skills practiced will include note-taking, research and report writing, advanced vocabulary, language usage, comprehension and grammar. Students will write college admission essays, persuasive essays, SAT essays and reports and will prepare and deliver lectures and persuasive speeches. The class uses the one-room schoolhouse paradigm (See Advantages of the one-room schoolhouse approach to teaching). Please see our Writing Skills Playsheets for a taste of class content and style. Course includes personal instructor attention, traditional classroom/online video sessions, online text, extensive resources, graded compositions, moderated discussion forums and chatrooms.

Online text: SAT, ACT, TOEFL, College Prep English Practice by K. Titchenell.
Many text, audio, and video recording resources will be used and provided free of charge.

CONTACT: K. Titchenell (323) 432-7128
or email: eieclass@abacus-es.com