The 750th anniversary of the birth of the great poet Dante Alighieri is being fittingly celebrated today in Italy. Oscar-winning actor Roberto Benigni will visit the Italian Senate to read from Dante’s masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, to an audience that will include Italy’s...
This 463rd Carnival of Homeschooling offers a smorgasbord of creative ideas, inspiration, and practical tips for homeschooling. As you read each post, I hope you’ll find kindred spirits among the bloggers, and lots of good things to read as you sit by the fire and sip tea.
Fairy tales, parables, and other true stories I have been thinking about fairy tales this week after coming across a bowdlerized (to modify by abridging, simplifying, or distorting in style or content) version that appears on a third grade Common Core...
Reading and teaching literature in context is a bit like studying a map before you set out for a walk in a strange city. Context helps you find significant intersections, decipher archaic language, and find a path through old-fashioned rhetoric. Here’s how to do it.
Most modern readers have little context for the mindset, manners, and morals, or even many of the conflicts that consumed the characters in the novels of the late 19th and early 20th century. This lack of context can affect understanding and appreciation of the tales.
A look at the literature portion of the the Common Core Standards (CCS), with an excerpt from Hard Times by Charles Dickens.
If you have a local library, support it through regular visits, volunteering, and other ways. As a homeschooler, you can help to shape your library’s collections and programs through strategic requests (nicely conveyed, of course!). And finally, an infographic on “Why Support Your Local Library?”
Today’s guest post is from Celia Blue Johnson, the author of Dancing with Mrs. Dalloway: Stories of the Inspiration Behind Great Works of Literature. It’s a book I thoroughly enjoyed.
There are five stages in learning language arts, and each stage has a different focus. This graphic will help you remember what to do when.
By using classics and models and learning by doing, it’s natural and possible to learn to write well while using Excellence in Literature.
![Adams' Illustrated Panorama of History. By Sebastian C. Adams [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/doingwhatmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/1878_Adams_Monumental_Illustrated_Panorama_of_History_-_Geographicus_-_WorldHistory-adams-1871-sm-pd.jpeg?fit=520%2C220&ssl=1)
How important it is to study history and literature in chronological order? Here’s what we did, and why a timeline makes whatever you do work better.
Cultural literacy can help you decide what to teach and how to teach it. Here’s what cultural literacy is, and how it can help you focus.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed at homeschooling your students through high school, remember that you don’t have to teach them everything they’ll ever need to know.
I grew up in a quiet home with no television or other young people. My grandparents liked to read, and so did I. Books were my trusted friends and companions throughout childhood, and I loved many of them for many...
Why choose worldview over specific content? Here’s why I did so for Excellence in Literature.
Choosing curriculum can be a challenge. Here are three things to think about to make it easier!
My goal in writing Excellence in Literature is to pass along my love for some of the most beautiful, thought-provoking literature in the world, and to help students learn to think critically and analytically while growing mentally and spiritually. Here’s how I chose which books to include.
It took longer than I thought, but World Literature— the English 5 level of the Excellence in Literature: Reading and Writing Through the Classics curriculum is finally here! You can see it, read all about it, and order it on...
Join Excellence in Literature as we celebrate the beauty of great books with a blog tour! If you’d like to participate, write a post on your own blog on the appropriate topic each day, then visit the appropriate post on...
I recently met someone who had been raised without fiction. No Little Golden Books, no Dr. Seuss, no Little House on the Prairie, no Chronicles of Narnia…nothing. I can’t begin to imagine, but the thought makes me feel a bit...
Classic literature sticks in my mind because the questions it raises are about some of the most important issues we face.
I just came across another informative review of Excellence in Literature! Kerry Beck of Curriculum Connection has written a great review, and posted a video that walks you through the entire book. At the convention this past weekend, so many...
I’m always happy to get a good review of one or more of my books, and this morning I came across a very nice review on The Old Schoolhouse website. Kathy Gelzer has done a beautiful job of outlining the...
If you have enjoyed IEW’s materials, or if you have a teen who loves to read or write, I think you’ll find that Excellence in Literature is an ideal next step for your motivated teens. I’ll let Andrew tell you all about it in this brief video!
Stories bring knowledge alive and engage emotional memory in a way that makes abstract principles and arcane facts easy to understand and remember. When learning can be joyous and simple, why make it boring and difficult (and pointless because they are unlikely to remember anything) by using tedious worksheets and canned curriculum? It’s never too late to start teaching well. Resolve now to make literature and stories a major part of your educational adventure!
I opened the door this morning, and there on the front steps was a box from Andrew Pudewa’s IEW. The American and British literature levels of Excellence in Literature have arrived and are ready for you! Yesterday was my grandmother’s...
Beginning with the March 2009 administration of the SAT, the College Board has implemented a new policy that should make a lot of people very happy. According to the website, the new policy “will give students the option to choose...
I received an e-mail this morning from a co-op leader, inquiring about the Excellence in Literature (EIL) curriculum. When I receive detailed questions like these, I know that others are probably wondering some of the same of the same things,...
Age appropriate reading is foundational Several years ago I came across a book review of the Truth Seekers Mystery Series by Christine and Felice Gerwitz that clearly articulated the natural progression of learning. The review was much more than a simple review — it...
I was working with the Chaucer unit in Excellence in Literature: British Literature this morning, and thinking about the ways in which The Canterbury Tales can be made accessible to students. These stories are funny, startling, and sometimes appalling, and...
