Anyone done the Narnia class at Potters School?.... [Archive] - The Well-Trained Mind Forums (aka Hive Mind)

Beth in SW WA

03-17-2008, 01:59 PM

If so, I would love to hear about it. Was it rigorous? What was the workload like? Were the papers challenging? Any info at all would be very appreciated!
Thanks!

My former high school teacher co-founded TPS and wrote the Narnia materials. Her name is Dr. Sharon Bridwell and is currently retired from TPS (still on the board) and an excellent teacher has taken over. It will be extremely rigorous, knowing Dr. B.

Email the current teacher and ask how the class is set up.

Crissy

03-17-2008, 04:04 PM

My son is currently taking the class. The instructor is Kathryn Richardson, and she has high expectations of her students, while also understanding their abilities, and working with them to improve from that point.

There is an assignment each week that consists of vocabulary, 10-20 short answer questions, a short creative writing piece and an essay question requiring 2-3 paragraphs. The weekly assignment wraps up with the requirement that the student give examples of specific themes, biblical allusions and literary allusions. These answers, along with the creative writing piece, are always shared during class time
Mrs. Richardson requires her students to work for one to one and a half hours per day to complete the work for her class.

In addition to the regular assignments there is a Big Paper due each time the class finishes a book. Early on, the students were given a great deal of guidance for these papers, but as the year went on her specific instructions became less. Students are, by now, expected to have a decent grasp of those things she expects for a paper of this scope.

By the end of each semester students are also required to complete a Macro Project. These are creative projects that the students are expected to work on for the entire semester which are related to the Narnia books.
Last semester my son created a detailed map of Narnia and marked paths each of the characters walked in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. He also wrote a paper explaining the map and the techniques he used to create it.

We have been extremely pleased with the class, and especially with Mrs. Richardson. My son's writing has improved by leaps and bounds this year.

If you have any specific questions, I would be happy to answer them, Michelle.