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COURSES AVAILABLE: Art, Cartography (Map Skills), Foreign Languages, Geography, History, Language Arts (Grammar, Phonics, Reading, Spelling, Vocabulary, Writing), Literature (The Good and Great Books Program), Math, Music, Philosophy For Children, Science, Socratic Discussion Group (Listening, Speaking, Understanding)
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LITERATURE: The elementary grades (N-8th) "Good Books" literature program is described at Good Books. The 9th-12th grade "Great Books" programs is described at Great Books Seminars. To purchase the Good Books or the Great Books, please click on the appropriate phrase.
MATH OPTIONS: Math is offered from nursery through 12th grade. We
have two excellent options for math (which converge in the 7th and 12th grades). One is Developmental Math which develops independent
thinking and teaches basic math. The other is Saxon, which is basic math with applied math. Both use Saxon Algebra 1/2 in 7th grade,
allowing a switchover to Jacobs Algebra, Geometry, Foerester's Algebra II & Trigonometry, and Anton's Calculus. Mathematics: A
Human Endeavor by Jacobs completes both tracks in 12th grade. To purchase or view our complete Math offerings, please CLICK HERE.
LANGUAGE ARTS: Sing, Spell, Read & Write is a five level, complete
Language Arts program, Preschool through 3rd grade. It includes spelling, reading, singing, phonics and writing. It is an excellent program
for teaching reading and writing, with superb use of memory devices. VocabuLit continues the vocabulary and spelling arts 3rd through 8th
grade based on classic works - a perfect preparation for reading the Great Books. Shurley Grammar is an 8-grade program that teaches
grammar, syntax and writing. The students learn the parts of speech through easy-to-remember jingles, and classifying sentences with questions and answers. Writing with Phonics is extra handwriting
practice (PreK-3rd). Spencerian handwriting and, later Calligraphy are
offered after cursive for students to learn to write beautifully. To see or purchase our complete course offerings please click on the following words: GRAMMAR, HANDWRITING, PHONICS, TYPING, and VOCABULARY.
FOREIGN LANGUAGES: These courses and materials are designed to be largely self-testing. Power-Glide (Spanish, French, German,Russian)
is equivalent to 2-3 years of high school. The Learnables is a good Hebrew program which begins with speaking followed by the grammar. Hey Andrew, is a six-level Greek program, followed by Homeschool
Greek. Latin's-Not-So-Tough is a very good 3-year beginner's course starting with the alphabet, then into reading sentences, followed by: The
Latin Road to English Grammar is ecclesiastical (Medieval) Latin which is a three (year)-level course by the end of which students are reading
the classics. Click on the phrase Foreign Languages above to see our complete course offerings.
ONLINE NATIVE LANGUAGE CLASSES & TUTORING: The Great Books Academy believes that native-language tutors provide a
valuable resource for anyone seeking proper instruction in a foreign language. Even the best texts and tapes are not able to help with
pronunciation or clarify nuances. The Great Books Academy's first online tutor is Madame Sylvie Mateu for Children's French and
Advanced French. Madame Mateu is a native of France having grown up in Narbonne where her parents are winegrowers to this day. She now
resides near Versailles with her American husband and three children (during this academic year she and her husband are on an sabbatical in
the San Francisco area). She has a PhD from Texas A&M as well as a prestigious engineering degree from a French University. Her husband,
Jim, also has a PhD in Oceanography and is an oceanographer in France. Madame Mateu has taught French and English to both French and
American students for fourteen years. She has taught language from the preschool level all the way through intensive courses for executives
and professors. Students can enroll and attend a weekly online French class (subject to minimum class size) with other students (similar to our
online socratic seminars). Students can also sign up for weekly half-hour one-on-one sessions. Pricing and details will be available at
the Great Books Academy Bookstore by late December, 2001.
GEOGRAPHY: is provided in National Geographic Society CDs
containing 110 years (1888-1998) of monthly issues of the National Geographic Society Magazine. References to relevant articles and history are provided in our Geography Lesson Plans. They are used
3rd-8th grades. Click on the word Geography above to purchase or view our complete course offerings.
CARTOGRAPHY: is a new program offered by the National
Geographic Society (1st-6th grades). The workbooks are very-up-to-date. They come with teacher's manual for each grade, which
covers the workbook in detail plus has many suggestions for projects and further research. Copyright 2000 A.D. Click on the word Catography
above to purchase or view our complete course offerings.
PHILOSOPHY for Children: this program (K-6th) comes highly
recommended by Dr. Peter Redpath, who taught the program for years. The program introduces children to ethics and logic in interesting story formats. Critical Thinking I & II (7th & 8th grades) is a basic, traditional
logic course. Click on the phrase Philosophy for Children above to purchase or view our complete course offerings in philosophy.
ART: Art for Nursery-2nd grade is colorful, seasonal and will be fun for
children to learn to cut, paste and be creative. The art books in 3rd-5th grades are books selected to use with the history programs for those years. The art for 6th-8th grades is Art in Focus, which includes a
lavishly illustrated textbook and a student workbook to test comprehension. The book beautifully covers many centuries and styles
of art and helps develop a refined and cultured artistic sense. Click on the word Art above to purchase or view our complete Art offerings.
SCIENCE: Levels 1-6 elementary science textbooks are interesting and
beautifully done in four-color. They teach the various sciences in each book: life, earth, physical, astronomy, etc. The books come with
workbooks, answer keys and an assessment book for tests. The Science for 7th-9th grades are four-color, interesting texts of Life, Earth, Physical Science, repeated in greater depth in 10th-12th grades as Biology, Chemistry, Physics. This is the traditional order. Click on the
word Science above to purchase or view our complete course offerings in science.
MUSIC: The music in Nursery-6th grade consists of listening to
classical music, and music appreciation. These levels come with cassette(s), CDs and/or books. The Enjoyment of Music in the 7th-8th
grades is the premier course, which studies the lives of the great composers and the history and theory of music. Click on the word Music
above to purchase or view our complete music offerings.
SOCRATIC DISCUSSION: These discussion books are used in 3rd-8th
grades and were developed by St. John's College graduates to introduce students into the Socratic method of learning. The readings are mostly
from the classics, organized for 3rd-8th graders, preparing students for the Great Books discussion groups in high school. To enroll in Socratic
Discussion, or view or purchase Socratic Discussion Course Materials click on the following locations: Enroll, Socratic Discussion Courses and Materials for Elementary Level, or High School Socratic Discussion Materials.
HISTORY & RELIGION: It is the responsibility of the parents to instruct their children in the truths of religion. The directors, staff and students of The Great Books Academy come from differing religious
backgrounds. Consequently religious instruction will be left entirely to the parents to provide. In Socratic discussion groups students are free
to express their views, whether based on religious or purely rational grounds, however the rules of Socratic discussion groups restrict
discussions to the text assigned, or read by the group. To purchase or view our history texts for 2nd-5th grades, CLICK HERE.
The Great Books Academy provides history texts for 2nd--5th grades
(Ancient Near Eastern history, ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, through ancient Rome), but no 6th-8th grade history texts. This is because
ancient history is relatively uncontroverted and historians largely agree on its salient facts, at least as is presented in the lower elementary
grades. However, 6th-8th grade history usually covers the periods of the Middle Ages to the Modern, and is so controverted, so inherently
subject to the biases and religious beliefs of the textbook authors, that we believe history texts for this period must be left to the parents to
select lest their religious instruction of their children be indirectly subverted, as happens with public school history texts written for
secular publishers. These two areas - religion and history - are critical to a complete liberal education, but their provision is left to the parents,
who have it by right (and responsibility).
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