Middle Ages
The middle-school years (7th-9th; 9th graders can enroll in either the middle school or high school program, depending on their skill level.) are those years of beautiful transition from childhood to young adulthood. The Paideia Fellowship Middle School liberal arts program is a unique two-year course of study which supports this transition and prepares students for the great books curriculum in 9th-12th grades. Content, skills, and ideas increase in depth and breadth as they move through the course of study and their journey of becoming independent truth-seekers.
Middle school literature is a good books style class, which focuses on preparing students for a Great Books course of study in high school. We do this through a two-year literature cycle. Year one centers around the quest motif and shows students how different works of literature “talk to each other.” Year two continues the quest motif, but with more advanced works of literature. Activities include an introduction to close reading, reading aloud, projects, literature discussions, commonplacing, and an introduction to highlighting/annotating.
In history, your student will study the people, events, and founding stories and myths from ancient history. History in Middle School includes working through a biographical style history spine, selected speeches, primary documents, related poems and art, class discussion/debates, narrations (written and oral), the use of a timeline/century notebook, and other history-related activities.
In logic and writing, students study advanced narrations, the four primary forms of the essay, the progymnasmata, and informal logic. The content of their writing is whatever they are studying in history and literature. The focus in middle school is to show the students the vital connection between writing and reading as well as build their skill repository for a multitude of writing projects.
In Oratory, students learn how to become intimate with shorts selections of writing, how to get an empathetic sense of the piece, how to memorize it, and how to perform it in a way that embodies the truth of the piece. Students practice this with selections from literature, speeches, plays, and poems and perform their selections at various times throughout the year.
Books
- Various Fairy Tales
- The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
- Prince Caspian, by C.S. Lewis
- The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis
- Sir Orfeo
- The Faerie Queene Book 1, by Edmund Spenser
- Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation; H.A. Guerber History Series, Edited and Expanded by Christine Miller, published by Nothing New Press
- Selected Biographies: TBD
- Selected fine art, music, speeches, poems, essays, and primary documents
- Macbeth, by William Shakespeare
- Everyday Debate, by Classical Academic Press
- Grammar reference. We recommend a subscription to Grammar Planet and Harvey’s Grammar or Our Mother Tongue by Nancy Wilson.
- Writing Lessons are taken from Know & Tell by Karen Glass & Various Progymnasmata Resources. Students will be placed in the appropriate writing level breakout group based on the assessment of the teacher and course availability.
- Level 1: Narration-based. Training and practice in different types of narrations, revising, and an introduction to the progymnasmata.
- Level: Building on prior narration training. Playing with form, studying, and writing introductory forms of essays. Advanced progymnasmata exercises.
Tuition & Logistics
Who: 7th-9th-grade students. (9th graders can enroll in either the middle school or high school program, depending on their skill level.)
When: Monday-Thursday, 2:00pm – 3:00pm ET (11:00am-12:00am PT; 7:00pm-8:00pm GT)
Calendar: 34-weeks, August 23, 2021 – June 3rd, 2022; Parent Orientation: Tuesday, August 17th, 2021.
Breaks:
– Labor Day Holiday: Monday, September 6th, 2021
– Fall Break: October 11th – 15th, 2021
– Thanksgiving Break: November 22nd – 26th, 2021
– Nativity/New Years Break: December 20th, 2021 – January 7th, 2022
– Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday: January 17th, 2022
– Winter Break: Monday, February 21st – Friday, February, 25th, 2022
– Easter/Pascha Break: April 11th – April 22nd, 2022
– Memorial Day Holiday: Monday, May 30th, 2022
Where: Zoom for Live Classes & Canvas for our Virtual Classroom
Teacher: Mrs. Jessica Jensen & April Branch
- 4 hours of Live Classes (Instruction, Discussion, and Community) Weekly (1hr daily, M-Th)
- All Classes Recorded and available in our virtual classroom.
- All assignments, materials, and the class correspondence available in our virtual classroom.
- All syllabi, assignments, projects, teaching, and assessment completed by the teacher.
- End of Year Report and course description made available at the end of the year for each student
- Total Middle School Classes
1. English/Literature
2. World History, Medieval & Renaissance Times
3. Logic
4. Oratory
Tuition: $1547 (One price, 5 Classes, One Program)
Pay all at once, by the semester, or in 10 monthly installments.
Seats Available: 16
Middle School FAQ
What is a Good/Great Books style humanities program?
A Good/Great Books style humanities program means the ideas and the literature lead. Practically this means that more time will be spent on the literature and in coaching writing and reading skills. History will be present for sure, but there may be shorter discussions or class time devoted to the specific historical topics. Whenever possible the class will seek to see the common thread of ideas woven through both the history and the literature and respond to these ideas with writing, discussion, and other projects or activities.
Does my Middle School student need their own books?
Yes, especially the literature books, and a student planner. Students may be asked to take notes in their books or highlight a variety of passages. They need their own copies of books so they can do these things.
Does my student need to take additional literature, history, and writing courses?
We ask that you not sign your student up for additional core classes in these areas. In our experience, extra courses in these areas tax a student unnecessarily. If you would like to give your student some independent or family work to fill out the experience a bit more we do provide several quality suggestions in the PFHC Learning Guide.
Can you tell me more about PFHC’s approach to writing?
Writing is a skill that takes years to develop. We can know that our students are on the path to excellent writing if they are moving along the milestones that lead to excellent writing. Charlotte Mason had a thorough understanding of these milestones and laid out a practice for leading our children in the development of writing skills. This practice is called narration. Narration is the art and science of composing our thoughts, first in our minds, then in our spoken words, and finally in our written words. Narration allows the student to really know something, rather than simply know about it. The idea and practice of narration takes a student through this process seamlessly. Karen Glass’s book Know & Tell: The Art of Narration gives a structure and path to walk on this journey of learning to write well. Not only does she give a grand understanding of the art of narration, she outlines how to teach and assess writing as our students move through the writing milestones.
Students at Paideia Fellowship Homeschool Community will receive consistent and developmentally appropriate instruction and assessment in the art, practice, and particulars of writing, grammar, and logic from 1st -12th grades. We use Karen Glass’s book as our primary guide to structuring our writing program from 1st – 8th grade. In addition, 1st-8th grade students will receive grammar instruction as is appropriate for each grade level. In high school, students will work through formal rhetoric and logic using The Lost Tools of Writing & Memoria Press’ Traditional & Material Logic programs. A complete outline of language skills taught in each class is provided in the PFHC learning guide.
What books and supplies will my child need for PFHC?
You can find the projected book above. However, this is subject to change. Finalized and complete book/supply lists will be provided by August, 1st to all enroll.
What do parents need to teach at home?
- Spelling, if still needed
- Handwriting & typing, if still needed
- Mathematics
- Natural Science
- Foreign Language
As much as possible, a liberal arts course of study should include, living books on a variety of topics, related and integrated into the above studies and oral narrations in response to readings. The Paideia Fellowship Learning Guide provides tips and suggested resources that follow the Classical and Charlotte Mason traditions.