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sunnyviewmom
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| Posted: April 15 2011 at 12:45pm | IP Logged
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It seems to me that British Literature is usually taught before American Literature. Is this correct? I am hoping that someone with more knowledge than I have can advise me. Would you recommend British Lit to be taught first? Perhaps I am totally wrong but most of the Am. Lit. books seem "easier" to read and understand than the British ones. So why not teach them first?
Obviously, I don't have much of a background in literature, but it is something that my son and I are enjoying very much... just need a little direction here.
Thank you!
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: April 15 2011 at 1:21pm | IP Logged
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We combine the two over 4 years. It just works better for us that way. I think combining them keeps both fresh, we are better able to compare and contrast, and if we tire of one, we switch to the other. For transcript purposes, it depends on the student. For my dd, a heavy lit reader, I gave her 4 years of lit. My ds who is currently finishing up his freshman year, may end up with 1 year of American and 1 year of Lit...we'll see!
Thanks for posting!...and keep us posted. I'm always interested in how families approach homeschool the high school years.
Love,
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Angie Mc
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sunnyviewmom
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Thank you for your reply and encouragemant Angie! My son is finishing his 9th grade year. I am planning on 4 years of lit because he loves to read and we are both enjoying discussions. For this first year, we have been doing pretty much what you described. For the first semester, he read British Lit. and the second, American. I do have transcripts in mind. I have tentatively named this year's course Introduction to Literature. Then I was thinking of one year of British Lit., one of American and not sure about the fourth.
The idea of continuing more as you described appeals to me. What would I name the courses for a transcript? Just Lit 1, Lit 2 etc.?
By the way, if it makes any difference, his plan and hope is to study theology at FU at Steubenville.
Blessings,
Dana
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Angie Mc
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sunnyviewmom wrote:
The idea of continuing more as you described appeals to me. What would I name the courses for a transcript? Just Lit 1, Lit 2 etc.?
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I'll ask my dd what we ended up calling her Lit classes. If I don't get back to you before Easter, will you bump this again to remind me? Thanks.
Love,
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Angie Mc
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Mackfam
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Our primary literature tends to follow our history studies - so if we're studying European History, then we're probably reading from European Lit that reflects the period. We jump around a little bit, so there may be some back and forth, but we tend to read through History/Literature chronologically...which means we were heavy on the European Lit this past year for 9th grade (as we finished out the Middle Ages and moved into the period of the English Reformation), we'll have some more European Lit next year as we delve into the French Revolution a bit, and from there we shift into more American Lit. since that's where we'll be historically speaking. Does that make sense? It just works for us to study literature pieces in context with their period of history.
Having said that, my 9th grade daughter just finished reading Evangeline, Lepanto and Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad. That's quite a variety/broad spectrum of history and literature! 
For transcript purposes (which we write/package to look like a standard transcript for our state), my dd's will reflect 4 years of English/Literature.
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hylabrook1
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dd is enrolled in a class taught by a very competent lit. teacher. This teacher alternates American Lit. and British Lit. So which one you take first depends on where you entered the cycle. I don't think there's any prescribed order for the two courses.
Peace,
Nancy
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drmommy
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| Posted: April 15 2011 at 10:34pm | IP Logged
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I love the ideas!
My daughter will be in high school this September, and I am using Greek/Roman history and lit for freshman year, Medieval/Middle ages history and lit for sophmore year, and English history (more intense) and lit for Junior year, and then American History and Lit for Senior year. I am sure I may not stick EXACTLY to it, but I do want to concentrate on those areas.
I hope this can give you some ideas. Bridget
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Dove
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| Posted: April 15 2011 at 10:57pm | IP Logged
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Quote:
| Our primary literature tends to follow our history studies |
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I liked having our history and our literature studies reinforce each other too! After all, to fully understand a piece of literature it helps to understand a bit about the time, place and people that influenced the author, and often the literature from a period helps to make the history more human and easier to understand.
I also liked including history of the Catholic Church in the mix as well as historic developments in science and the arts. Biographies of important people are also wonderful to use sometimes. Including the Saints who were alive at the time was also fun.
For the period between WWI and through WWII the biography of Von Hildebrand (Soul of a Lion) helped my son understand the period better.
Not all at one time, but sometimes, so we changed it out a lot.
I find it all becomes more interesting when you put it all together.
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sunnyviewmom
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| Posted: April 16 2011 at 11:06am | IP Logged
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Thank you everyone for the great ideas! This has been a great help and makes me feel more comfortable designing my son's lit courses in a way that best meet his needs at a particular time.
For instance, he read the "easier" Dickens book A
Christmas Carol this year, but if I feel that he would be better off waiting to read a more challenging Dickens novel, he could do so his junior or senior year rather than trying to fit it into a "British Lit" course next year.
Blessings,
Dana
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: April 16 2011 at 11:38am | IP Logged
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sunnyviewmom wrote:
For instance, he read the "easier" Dickens book A
Christmas Carol this year, but if I feel that he would be better off waiting to read a more challenging Dickens novel, he could do so his junior or senior year rather than trying to fit it into a "British Lit" course next year.
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Absolutely and very smart. And...just think of the benefits of reading Dickens over 4 years...the maturity that the reader can bring to each read. My ds will read A Christmas Carol and possibly A Tale of Two Cities more than once over his four years of high school. I love the depth that this type of reading brings...it makes me happy to hear my ds note that "Dickens has way too many characters in his stories that do nothing important" unlike the limited amount of characters in To Kill a Mockingbird  .
Love,
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Angie Mc
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: British Lit. before Am. Lit?
