Description:

Using Elizabeth O’Brien’s “Get Smart Grammar” and Susan Wise Bauer’s “Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind,“ which together take students from basic definitions (“A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea”) all the way through detailed analysis of complex sentence structure (including sentence diagramming) and composition, students will build all the skills needed for the study of advanced rhetoric (persuasive speech and sophisticated writing) that they will need for high school and beyond. Instruction will consist of prescriptive learning (grasping the explicit principles that govern the English language and committing them to memory), descriptive learning (studying examples of every rule and principle), and independent practice. Students should expect 2-3 hours of homework per week–about half an hour outside of class per day.