Week 12

Thank you all for a great fall semester!  I hope everyone enjoyed our class Christmas party as much as I did.  You all brought some fun (and very funny :) gifts. I enjoy watching your creativity in action.

I just placed an order for our first book of the spring semester.  Please read Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow before our next class on January 8th.  If you have already paid your deposit, you can expect your book to arrive before Christmas.  If your deposit is still in the mail, not to worry.  I'll place a second order Dec 29th. Otherwise, you can purchase this version on your own, and adjust your deposit accordingly.

http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Sleepy-Stories-Penguin-Classics/dp/0143107534/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1419020662&sr=8-7&keywords=the+legend+of+sleepy+hollow

About next fall…

It seems our family will be moving into a different season this coming September.  Carter is going to return to Oak Ridge Christian Academy for his junior and senior years.  Lauren and Koby will continue to home school.  My plan is downshift our Thursday afternoon class to the junior high level and restart LTW from the beginning with a new group of students ages 12-15.  Though I’d love to continue to also teach at the high school level, I must acknowledge my limitations.  So it’s with more than a twinge of sadness that I’m letting you know this will be our final semester together.   

May God richly bless you this Christmas in the joy of Christ’s coming!

Cathy Rape   

Week 11

I'm tentatively scheduling  our last fall class for Thursday, Dec 18th from 1-4p.  I'm still waiting to hear back from a few families in hopes that we can find an earlier time. But unless its unanimous, we'll stick with our regular Thursday block on the 18th.

No writing assignments this week - unless you have something to correct.

The following students have volunteered to bring a prepared narration for a chapter of The Scarlet Letter.

19 - Carter
20 - Walker
21 - James
22 - Caleb
23 - Aaron
24 - Kate

We'll plan to wrap up our book discussion in the first half, and then have some fun with a white elephant gift exchange.  If you'd like to participate, bring something that connects in some way with our reading/discussion this semester (Cicero's on Friendship, Pilgrim's Progress, or The Scarlet Letter).  Each person will have to guess the literary connection in order to  have the option to steal.  Keep it under $10, or better yet, don't spend anything :) The best gifts for this game turn out to be the imaginative ones that use ordinary things from around the house. (Remember Mrs. Simcox's sack of soccer-boppers representing the "bag of winds" from The Odyssey)

I'll have snacks as usual.  You are welcome to bring a treat to share if you'd like to.  Let me know if that's your plan so I can estimate how much more food to provide.

Noel!