Boy, have things been changing quickly this year! Thankfully, our courses carried on throughout the coronavirus lockdowns and provided the comfort of stability, consistency, and community during these changing times. But, for many families, the coronavirus lockdowns have brought with them uncertainty about what the next school year might look like. As a result, according to a recent RealClear Opinion Research poll, 40% of families are "more likely" to homeschool their children after the coronavirus lockdowns end.
To help these families, we are offering new flexible courses, free trial courses, and free homeschool seminars to the offerings we already had planned for this school year. Read all about all the exciting (and, we pray, helpful) new offerings below.
Module Courses for All Levels
This certainly has been an unprecedented year! When the COVID-19 pandemic forced many Tapestry local co-ops to shut down, the LLC opened our doors and welcomed impacted students into our classes. We have fantastic students and teachers who made them feel right at home. We know there is still uncertainty about what homeschooling might look like in the fall, and we also recognize that many families are considering homeschooling for the first time. We want to help! So, we're offering dozens of 2- to 12-week module courses for all learning levels. These mod courses allow your family the greatest flexibility to explore how your next school year will take shape. Check out these new mods HERE.
Traditional Courses for Non-Classical Families
While we are passionate about the classical model of education, we realize that model isn't a good fit for every family. Perhaps you plan to use dual enrollment for your high schooler's last year and don't want to study history all four years. Maybe you are new to homeschooling and need to pick up where your student left off at public school. We also offer stand-alone history, literature, writing, science, and elective courses that allow your students to receive a deep understanding of the material from a biblical worldview without the parallel studies requirements of classical courses.
Money-saving Recommended Book Lists for Classical Classes
We love using living books for our discussion classes, but we know that can get expensive! We want to help you. When you enroll in one of our Tapestry history or literature courses, we will provide you with a recommended book lists that identifies which weeks the books are used, so you will know which books you should purchase and which books you might be able to borrow from your library system. A handful of books are used many times throughout the school year and should probably be purchased. Many other books are used just once or twice and could easily be checked out at the library, if you have access to an interlibrary loan system. If you don't have access to an interlibrary loan system and can't afford to purchase all the recommended book, we encourage students to research online using the curated list of helpful links on the Tapestry of Grace website. Simply go to TapestryofGrace.com, click on your year plan, and click on the class subject on the right under the heading "supporting links." There, you will find links to great websites with helpful information for each week of the school year.
Rhetoric Writing 9
This year-long rhetoric writing course is for students who are not studying Tapestry history. Designed for 9th- and 10th-grade students or upperclassmen who are not strong essay writers, students will study elements of style, rhythm, mechanics, structure, and content in a variety of genres. For each genre covered, students will receive instruction, collaborate with classmates online, submit drafts to their instructor, and receive personalized feedback on ways to improve their writing.
Typical genres covered in the Rhetoric Writing Course: Expository Essay, Analytical Essay, Descriptive Essay, Persuasive Essay, Compare/Contrast Essay, Narrative Essay, Personal Profile, Essay Tests, Research Paper, Playwriting, Multi-Media Presentation.
We recommend all high school students new to the LLC begin with this class or one of our Tapestry year-plan writing classes, regardless of their grade level.
Our plan is to add a Rhetoric Writing 10 course for the 2021-2022 school year.
Dialectic Writing 7
This year-long dialectic writing course is designed for 7th-9th grade students who are not studying Tapestry history. Students will begin the school year reviewing how to write strong sentences and paragraphs with vivid words and appropriate mechanics, followed by a variety of genres that will focus on crafting well-written reports. For each genre covered, students will receive instruction, collaborate with classmates online, submit drafts to their instructor, and receive personalized feedback on ways to improve their writing.
Typical genres covered in the dialectic writing course: Parts of Speech, the Writing Process, Graphic Organizers, Sentences & Paragraphs, Reports, Descriptive Writing, Persuasive Writing, Expository Writing, Informal Outlines, Research Reports, Newspaper Writing, Book Reports, Multi-Media Presentations.
We recommend all middle school students new to the LLC begin with this class or one of our Tapestry year-plan writing classes, regardless of their grade level.
Our plan is to add a Dialectic Writing 8 course for the 2021-2022 school year.
Parallel Study Requirement for Literature Courses Lifted
Literature students are no longer required to be studying Tapestry history on a schedule parallel to the LLC. While we enthusiastically support a classical approach to education, with the history of the world as the core organizational theme and other humanities studies walking in step with that, we also recognize that some families choose not to adopt that approach. Regardless of your educational philosophy, your student is welcome to join one of our literature studies. If you are not studying Tapestry history on a parallel schedule, some additional research into the authors' life and culture may be required.
Hybrid Classical Rhetoric History and Literature Courses
Honors and rhetoric students will study together in our Rhetoric History and Rhetoric Literature courses. Assignments for both honors and rhetoric students will be posted each week. Students simply complete the appropriate assignments and come together to discuss what they have learned.
Have any other suggestions of changes that would help your family?