School may be off during the summer, but that doesn’t mean your child’s brain has to be! Literature groups are a fun way to engage with exciting and thought-provoking stories. They’re designed flexibly, so that students can fully participate even if all they do is read, but there are also options for more in-depth work.

Schedule, pricing, etc., will be determined based on input from those who have expressed interest in advance.

Below, you’ll find a few books that are on my “short list” as possibilities for this summer—but if none of them catch your eye, let me know! There are many other books we could explore.

• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (science fiction, middle/high school)
  Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (Revolutionary War era, upper elementary/middle school)
  The Giver (science fiction, middle school)
  Lyddie by Katherine Paterson (early 1800s, upper elementary/middle school)
  Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (high school, advanced middle school)

Writing itself may be a solitary endeavor, but it’s meant to be shared! Writing workshops give students at any level of skill and experience the opportunity to get input and guidance—from me and from peers—at every stage of the writing process. Topics will be determined collaboratively with the students based on their needs and interests. Here are some examples of what we may cover:

• How to come up with story ideas

• Research techniques

• Effective planning and outlining

• Overcoming writer’s block

• Revising for structure and clarity

• Proofreading techniques

• How to give and receive feedback on writing

The majority of the time, though, will be focused on students presenting their own work and receiving structured, thoughtful feedback from other participants.

Depending on interest, multiple workshops may be offered (e.g., one focused on fiction and one on non-fiction). If you’re interested, please reach out and provide any relevant details about what you want from the workshops!

A journey through the ideas and events that birthed a nation.

What does it take to change the world?

This course explores how a group of colonists, once loyal subjects of the British crown, threw off the throne and created a nation of their own. Through rebellion, debate, and many difficult choices, they worked to build a new type of society—one based not on tradition, but on Enlightenment ideals.

In this course, the first half of a two-year journey through American history, students won’t just learn what happened—they’ll discover why. 

• Why did the colonists come to America, and what was their experience during the century and a half before the American Revolution? 

• What drove them to risk defying the greatest military power of their time? 

• What disagreements did they have about the nature of the new government they earned—and what might it be like today if different proposals had won out? 

• How did they face the many varied challenges of putting their political ideals into practice?

This is a class for students who are hungry for a deeper understanding of history—who want to go beyond names and dates, to experience history as it was lived, and to get an inside view of the minds that formed the foundation of the world we live in today. 

Ages: Middle school through high school (with upper elementary possible for advanced and/or highly motivated students)
Format: Meets twice weekly online via Google Meet (times and dates TBD)
Approach: Story-driven, discussion-based, interactive. Emphasis on conceptual understanding and historical problem-solving.
Cost: $75/week (assuming two class sessions occur per week; prorated otherwise)
Enrollment: Maximum of 10
Materials: Families will need to purchase A Little History of the United States by James West Davidson, which is used periodically; all other readings will be provided.
Work expectations: There will often be readings between sessions, and I plan lessons on the assumption that these are completed. I will also provide work suggestions for students who want to delve deeper.

A journey through the competing visions, bold ambitions, and nation-defining choices that formed our world today.

What kind of country will America become—and who gets to decide?

This second year of a two-part exploration of American history continues the story of the United States as it solidifies its place as a political, economic, and cultural leader in the world. We pick up the narrative in the mid-1800s—after the founding era, but before our modern world has taken shape—and trace the choices, conflicts, and new ideas that led to the America we live in today.

Transformation is central to this course—not only of land and law, but of values and purpose. As Americans spread across a continent, industrialized, entered the world stage, and welcomed unmatched numbers of immigrants from across the world, they argued fiercely about what their country was and what it should become. Again and again, the question arose: what did the ideals of liberty, equality, and opportunity mean?

This course will explore debates about the following topics (among many):

• The legacy of slavery, from the attempted reconstruction of the South to the modern day

• The question of whether America is, fundamentally, a secular or religious society

• The meaning of equality

• The relationship between the individual and society

• America’s responsibility to itself and the world

As with US History Part 1, this is a class for students who are hungry for a deeper understanding of history—who want to go beyond names and dates, to experience history as it was lived, and to get an inside view of the minds that formed the foundation of the world we live in today. 

Ages: Middle school through high school (with upper elementary possible for advanced and/or highly motivated students)
Format: Meets twice weekly online via Google Meet (times and dates TBD)
Approach: Story-driven, discussion-based, interactive. Emphasis on conceptual understanding and historical problem-solving.
Cost: $60-75/week depending on enrollment
Enrollment: Maximum of 10
Materials: Families will need to purchase A Little History of the United States by James West Davidson, which is used periodically; all other readings will be provided.
Work expectations: There will often be readings between sessions, and I plan lessons on the assumption that these are completed. I will also provide work suggestions for students who want to delve deeper.