Educating the heart, mind, and soul in the Catholic tradition with online classes

Faith ~ Excellence ~ Passion

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Modern American History for High School

Update: This live course has concluded and is currently as a recorded course through our Unlimited Access Subscription Service. This is a great way to learn at your own pace when your schedule allows.To subscribe or learn more: Middle and High School Online Classes


While Early American history books and courses are easily available, it is harder to find them for Modern America. Here we will explore America's history after the Civil War ends and through the year 2000, all through a Catholic lens.

(click on course title to register)

Class dates: Wednesdays, September 7 to December 7, 2011. No class Oct. 12 (midterm) or Nov. 23 (Thanksgiving).
Total classes: 12
Starting time: 4:30 pm Eastern (3:30 Central)
Duration: 1 hour
Prerequisite: None. Any background in early American History helpful, but not required. The 2011 Summer Boot camp on the Great Depression is also helpful but not required.
Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th
Fee: $160 if you register on or before August 1, 2011. $185 after Aug. 1 for all 12 classes
Instructor: Phillip Campbell
Course description: Beginning in the ashes of the Civil War, this course will take students through the industrial revolution and into modern America, helping them to understand complex events as the rise of American industrialism, the Great Depression, the Cold War, Vietnam War, cultural revolution of the 1960's, America's involvement in the Middle East and much more, all from a Catholic perspective.
Course outline:
Class 1: Reconstruction
Class 2: The Age of the Robber Barons
Class 3: The Closing of the West
Class 4: American Imperialism
Class 5: The Wilson Years
Class 6: Roaring Twenties
Class 7: The Age of FDR
Class 8: The American Dream
Class 9: The Cultural Revolution
Class 10: The Stagnant 70's
Class 11: Morning in America
Class 12: Transition to the Millennium
Course materials: Students will make use of primary documents to give a first-hand view of some of our country's most important events. These documents are available free online and will be provided by the instructor.
Homework: Graded and commented on by the instructor.

(click on course title to register)

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Online Economics Classes for High School (Micro and Macro)

Update: This live course has concluded and is currently available as a recorded course through our Subscription Service. This is a great way to learn at your own pace when your schedule allows.To subscribe or learn more: Middle and High School Online Classes

ADDENDUM: Click here to view a short video of Mr. Campbell: Homeschool Connections: Economics as if People Matter (YouTube).

This course will introduce students to basic economic principles, important economists, personal financial responsibility, today's economic struggles and what the Church has to say on the subject.

(click on title to register)

Class dates: Thursdays, September 8 to December 1, 2011. No class Nov. 24 (Thanksgiving).
Total classes: 12
Starting time: 10 am Eastern (9 am Central)
Duration: 1 hour
Prerequisite: None
High school credit: 1 semester
Suggested grade level: 11th to 12th
Fee: $160 if you register on or before August 1, 2011. $185 after Aug. 1 for all 12 classes.
Instructor: Phillip Campbell
Course description: This class is geared toward providing young people with a holistic approach towards economic principles based on six objectives: (1) introducing students to basic economic principles such as supply and demand, competition, etc. (2) studying the lives and thoughts of eminent economists (3) introducing principles of personal financial management (budgeting, frugality, etc.) (4) looking at economic problems through a Catholic perspective (5) critically examining current economic problems.
Course materials: The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner (older editions will also work) as well as selected readings and research from free online sources.
Homework: Will consist of moderate reading (30-50 pages per week) and short answer questions, with an option of a research paper/project on a topic of their choosing for a final. All homework graded by instructor.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Writing for High School Online Course


Update: This live course has concluded and is currently available as a recorded course through our Unlimited Access service. This is a great way to learn at your own pace, when your schedule allows.To subscribe or learn more, click here: Middle and High School Online Classes

This is a basic writing course for freshmen and sophomores to help them produce great writing assignments throughout their high school career. We will also offer Writing for College next semester, which is for juniors and seniors.

(click on course title to register)

Session dates: Tuesdays, September 6 to October 25, 2011
Total classes: 8
Starting time: 2:30 pm Eastern (1:30 pm Central)
Duration: 1 hour
Fee: $130 if you register on or before August 1, 2011. $180 after Aug. 1 for all 8 classes.
Instructor: Robert Gotcher, Ph.D.
Prerequisite: none
Suggested grade level: 9th to 10th
High school credit: 2/3 semester. Parent can assign additional writing assignments for full semester credit.
Course description: This course is designed to help the student develop the skills and habits that make for good writing at the high school level. The emphasis will be on creating good paragraphs, introductions and conclusions, organizing the paragraphs, and outlining.
Course outline:
Class 1: The essentials of good writing
Class 2: The paragraph
Class 3: The introduction
Class 4: The conclusion
Class 5: The argument
Class 6: The outline
Class 7: The five-paragraph essay
Class 8: Wrap-up and final assignment
Course materials: Everything provided free online or by Dr. Gotcher.
Homework: Weekly writing assignments. Final 3-5 page paper on topic of student’s choice. Graded and commented on by Dr. Gotcher.


(click on course title to register)

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Latin II; Second Year Latin (Online High School Classes)

Update: This live course has concluded and is available now as a recorded course through our Unlimited Access! Service. This is a great way to learn at your own pace when your schedule allows. To subscribe or learn more: Middle and High School Catholic Online Classes



(click on course title to register)

Note: This is a two-part course. See Spring 2011: High School for Part Two.
Class dates: Fridays, September 9 to December 9, 2011. No class Oct. 14 (midterm) and Nov. 25 (Thanksgiving).
Total classes: 12
Starting time: 10:00 am Eastern (9:00 am Central)
Duration: 1 hour
Prerequisite: 1 full year of Latin
Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th
High school credit: 1 full semester of Latin
Fee: $160 if you register on or before August 1, 2011. $195 after Aug. 1 for all 12 classes
Instructor: Catherine Alvis
Course description: Students who have completed a full year of Latin are welcome to Latin II. Students will become proficient in both English Grammar and in all Latin forms. We will also discuss Roman thinkers and their influence on the Roman Republic. From time to time we will also translate some short stories from "Wheelock's Short Stories".
Course materials: Wheelock's Latin, Chapters 16-30 with ecclesiastical pronunciation.
Homework: An average of one to one half hour 4 days a week and graded by the instructor. Students must memorize all new forms including any new vocabulary. Translation and vocabulary quizzes will be given periodically.

Instructor's biography: Catherine Alvis is a graduate of the University of Dallas with a BA in Politics and is currently obtaining her Masters in Humanities from UD as well. She has been teaching English and Latin for 5 years at a homeschool co-op in Dallas, TX and has tutored various levels of Latin throughout her teaching career. Miss Alvis enjoys reading, tennis, spending time with her family, volunteering at various events at her Thomas Aquinas parish, organizing events with Young Catholic Professionals of Dallas and playing fetch with her boarder collie.

Equipment requirements: Classes are online, live and interactive. Students are required to have high-speed internet and a headset with microphone.

Misc:
Miss Alvis will be available via email in between classes for questions and comments.
Recordings of classes are provided to students within 24 hours and available for 6 months.
Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping services.

(click on course title to register)

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Latin I (Online High School Classes)

Update: This live course has concluded and is available now as a recorded course through our Unlimited Access! Service. This is a great way to learn at your own pace when your schedule allows. To subscribe or learn more: Middle and High School Catholic Online Classes

Our beginning Latin course for high school students:

(click on course title to register)

Note: This is a two-part course. See Spring 2011: High School for Part Two.
Class dates: Fridays, September 9 to December 9, 2011. No class Oct. 14 and Nov. 25 (Thanksgiving).
Total classes: 12
Starting time: 2:00 pm Eastern (1:00 pm Central)
Duration: 1 hour
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th
High school credit: 1 full semester Latin
Fee: $160 if you register on or before August 1, 2011. $195 after August 1 for all 12 classes
Instructor: Catherine Alvis
Course description: Students new to Latin will be introduced to all verb and noun forms and will translate famous Latin anecdotes from Wheelock's 'Sententiae Antiquae'. English Grammar will be emphasized in addition to discussing famous Roman speakers. Students will have a more comprehensive understanding of Latin forms than in Latin 1/2.
Course materials: Wheelock's Latin, Chapters 1-15 (with ecclesiastical pronunciation)
Homework: An average of one hour per day 4 days a week and graded by the instructor. Students will be assigned practice sentences in class, and must memorize vocabulary and new forms with each new lesson. Vocabulary and translation quizzes will be given periodically.

Instructor's biography: Catherine Alvis is a graduate of the University of Dallas with a BA in Politics and is currently obtaining her Masters in Humanities from UD as well. She has been teaching English and Latin for 5 years at a homeschool co-op in Dallas, TX and has tutored various levels of Latin throughout her teaching career. Miss Alvis enjoys reading, tennis, spending time with her family, volunteering at various events at her Thomas Aquinas parish, organizing events with Young Catholic Professionals of Dallas and playing fetch with her boarder collie.

Equipment requirements: Classes are online, live and interactive. Students are required to have high-speed internet and a headset with microphone.

Misc:
Miss Alvis will be available via email in between classes for questions and comments.
Recordings of classes are provided to students within 24 hours and available for 6 months.
Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping services.

(click on course title to register)

Friday, April 8, 2011

High School Literature: G. K. Chesterton; The Man Who Was Thursday

Update: This live course has concluded and is currently as a recorded course through our Subscription Service. This is a great way to learn at your own pace when your schedule allows.To subscribe or learn more: Middle and High School Online Classes


click on course title to register

Class dates: Tuesdays, October 25 - December 13. No class Nov. 1 and Nov. 22.
Total classes: 6
Suggested grade level: 10th to 12th or college
Starting time: 10:00 am Eastern (9:00 am Central)
Duration: One hour
Fee: $80 if you register on or before August 1, 2011. $100 after August 1 for all 6 classes.
Instructor: Henry Russell, PhD
Prerequisite: Ability to enjoy reading and discussing the works.
High school credit: ½ semester credit; for full credit, precede with Dr. Russell’s course on The Screwtape Letters.
Course description: At the turn of the 1900s, anarchy was a political fad as powerful as global warming is today. More locally destructive, anarchists murdered several heads of state (ranging from President Mckinley to the Archduke Ferdinand), numerous public servants and fueled the statist revolutions of the communist era. European nations vastly increased their power by developing their secret police in response to the public panic created by these lunatic figures.
G. K. Chesterton, the great Catholic man of letters, writes one of the most startlingly original novels of the 20th-century in response both to the original source of anarchism (the imitation of Satan’s non serviam) and to the faithless response of modern man to such a threat. In the process Chesterton delineates, beautifully and entertainingly, the way that the very God who created and sustains order is so far beyond order (as puny human minds comprehend it) that He appears wild, chaotic and even threatening to our stubborn desire to reduce the cosmos to our control. Thus even as he defends the need of a conservative and humane order, Chesterton is the poet of a God wildly beyond our most soaring imaginations.
Course outline:
Class One—Chesterton and Chapter 1
Class Two—Letters 2-4
Class Three—Letters 5-7
Class Four—Chapters -8-10
Class Five—Chapters 11-13
Class Six—Chapters 14-15
Course materials: The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton
Homework: Dr. Russell will provide quizzes, essay topics, and a midterm and final exam to be graded by the parent. Answer keys provided.

Equipment requirements:
Classes are online, live and interactive. Students are required to have high-speed internet and a headset with microphone.

Misc:
Dr. Russell will be available via email in between classes for questions and comments.
Recordings of classes are provided to students within 24 hours and available for 6 months.
Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping services.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

High School Literature: The Screwtape Letters

Update: This live course has concluded and is currently as a recorded course through our Subscription Service. This is a great way to learn at your own pace when your schedule allows.To subscribe or learn more: Middle and High School Online Classes



click on course title to register

Class dates: Tuesdays, September 13 to October 18, 2011
Total classes: 6
Suggested grade level: 10th to 12th or college
Starting time: 10:00 am Eastern (9:00 am Central)
Duration: One hour
Fee: $80 if you register on or before August 1, 2011. $100 after August 1 for all 6 classes.
Instructor: Henry Russell, PhD
Prerequisite: Ability to enjoy reading and discussing the works.
High school credit: ½ semester credit; for full credit you may follow with Dr. Russell’s course on The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K.Chesterton.
Course description: Clive Staples Lewis quietly sought to be the Dante of the modern world. His imaginative explications of the conditions of Hell and demonic “thought” are the best of their kind in the last 700 years. In The Screwtape Letters the experienced tempter Uncle Screwtape seeks to educate his nephew Wormwood in the proper way to undermine a human soul.
The muddled semi-thinking promoted by an educational system that ignores not only theology but basic logic proves one of the Infernal world’s greatest allies. It is further aided by a selfish notion of rights with no accompanying duties and modern man’s sentimental view of his virtues based only on kind emotions that require no sacrifice. But in many ways the heights of the book are achieved as Uncle Screwtape rails against the unfairness of the God he has rejected, giving the kind of truly Christian vision of the power, beauty, wisdom, and boundless energy and love of God that the atheists want no one to remember has always been the Catholic concept of the divine.
To know yourself much better, and to know God well indeed, read this book.
Course outline:
Class One—C.S. Lewis and Letters 1-3
Class Two—Letters 4-10
Class Three—Letters 11-17
Class Four—Letters 18-24
Class Five—Letters 25-31
Class Six—“Screwtape Proposes a Toast”
Course materials: The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
Homework: Dr. Russell will provide quizzes, essay topics, and a midterm and final exam to be graded by the parent. Answer keys provided.

Equipment requirements:
Classes are online, live and interactive. Students are required to have high-speed internet and a headset with microphone.

Misc:
Dr. Russell will be available via email in between classes for questions and comments.
Recordings of classes are provided to students within 24 hours and available for 6 months.
Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping services.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Beginning Latin: Middle School (Online Classes)

Update: This live course has concluded and is available now as a recorded course through our Unlimited Access! Service. This is a great way to learn at your own pace when your schedule allows. To subscribe or learn more: Middle and High School Catholic Online Classes

Next school year we will offer two beginning Latin courses. Latin 1/2 for middle school students and Latin I for high school students.

(click on course title to register)

Note: This is a two-part course. Part Two will take place in Spring 2012.
Class dates: Fridays, September 9 to December 9, 2011. No class Oct. 14 and Nov. 25 (Thanksgiving).
Total classes: 12
Starting time: Noon Eastern (11:00 am Central)
Duration: 1 hour
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 7th to 8th grade
Fee: $160 if you register on or before August 1, 2011. $195 after August 1 for all 12 classes
Instructor: Catherine Alvis
Course description: Students new to Latin will be introduced to the fundamental forms of both nouns (1st-3rd declensions) and verbs (all tenses, active and passive of 1st conjugation). Logic level students will begin translating various short stories about Aeneid's journey to the founding of Rome.
Course materials: Jenney's First Year Latin. Make sure to get the latest edition, ISBN# 0133193284, so you can follow along with the instructor. (We suggest purchasing used, as there is a large cost savings and used copies are easily available at this time.)
Homework: Average 45 to 60 minutes per day, four days a week and graded by the instructor. It will consist of memorizing forms, writing vocabulary cards (students should use colored index cards to help them study) and some translation. Vocabulary and translation quizzes will be given periodically.

Instructor's biography: Catherine Alvis is a graduate of the University of Dallas with a BA in Politics and is currently obtaining her Masters in Humanities from UD as well. She has been teaching English and Latin for 5 years at a homeschool co-op in Dallas, TX and has tutored various levels of Latin throughout her teaching career. Miss Alvis enjoys reading, tennis, spending time with her family, volunteering at various events at her Thomas Aquinas parish, organizing events with Young Catholic Professionals of Dallas and playing fetch with her boarder collie.

Equipment requirements:
Classes are online, live and interactive. Students are required to have high-speed internet and a headset with microphone.

Misc:
Miss Alvis will be available via email in between classes for questions and comments.
Recordings of classes are provided to students within 24 hours and available for 6 months.
Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping services.

(click on course title to register)

Monday, April 4, 2011

Rising Costs and Deeper Discounts

Due to our rising costs, we have increased the prices of several of our live courses for the 2011/2012 year. Summer Camps are NOT affected.

Also, the Early Enrollment prices are NOT affected. Therefore, if you enroll before August 1st for the fall semester and before November 1st for the spring semester you will save even more $$.

Please don't hesitate to email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Catholic Homeschooling Conferences 2011

We are very excited to announce that Homeschool Connections will be attending several of the IHM conferences as a vendor. It is good to note here that the IHM conferences offer free attendance.

Here are all the places where you'll be able to find Homeschool Connections this conference season (2011):

Friday/Saturday, April 15-16
St. Louis, MO
Maureen Wittmann, vendor

Friday/Saturday, April 29-30
Celebrate the Faith! Catholic Homeschool Conference
Milwaukee, WI
Robert Gotcher, vendor

Friday/Saturday, April 29-30
Houston, TX
Walter Crawford, vendor

Saturday, April 30
Berlin, NJ
Maureen Wittmann and Phillip Campbell, speakers

Friday/Saturday, May 6-7
Père Marquette Home School and Parent Conference
Chicago, IL
Maureen Wittmann, speaker

Saturday, May 14
Indianapolis, IN
Maureen Wittmann, speaker

Friday/Saturday, May 27-28
IHM North Texas Conference
Dallas, TX
Walter Crawford, vendor

Friday/Saturday, June 10-11
IHM National Conference: VA/DC
Herdon, VA
Maureen Wittmann, vendor

Friday/Saturday, June 17-18
Lansing, MI
Maureen Wittmann and Phillip Campbell, vendors

Friday/Saturday, June 17-18
Kansas City Conference for Catholic Homeschoolers 2011
Kansas City, MO
Maria and Jean Rioux, vendors

Friday/Saturday, June 24-25
IHM Cleveland Conference
Cleveland, OH
Maureen Wittmann, vendor

Saturday, June 25
Chicopee, MA
Kris Corriera, vendor

Friday/Saturday, July 15-16
Denver, CO
Maureen Wittmann, speaker and Walter Crawford, vendor

We hope to see you this spring or summer!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Online Advanced Placement: Literature and Composition


(click on title to register)

Note: This is a two-part course. Part Two will take place in the spring semester. Enrollment is limited.

Class dates: Tuesdays (instruction) and Thursdays (discussion/lab), September 6 to December 20. No class Nov. 1 (All Saints Day), Nov. 21 (Thanksgiving) and Dec. 8 (Feast of the Immaculate Conception).
Total classes: 28
Starting time: 8:00 pm Eastern (7:00 pm Central)
Duration: 1 hour
Prerequisite: Students should be ready for upper division English and 17- to 18-years old. Instructor’s permission is required for students 16 or under. Students are expected to take Part Two of this course plus the AP test (May 10, 2012).
Suggested grade level: 11th to 12th grade
Fee: $300 if you enroll on or before August 1, 2011. $375 after August 1 for all 28 classes.
Instructor: Laurie Navar Gill, M. Ed.

Course description: This course syllabus has been approved by the College Board to bear the designation “AP.” All students in the class will be receiving a preparation that will help them to succeed on the AP Literature and Composition exam, which many students take for Advanced College Credit. You may also be eligible for a weighted grade.

Building on representative texts from the western literary tradition, this course will particularly examine the nature of storytelling and its relationship to life and culture. We will look at different storytelling media, including the epic, drama, the novel, non-fiction prose, and poetry. We will analyze story structure and storytelling techniques and examine the interplay between life and story. As we read stories, we will also talk about them, write about them, and tell some of our own.

The course approaches the goals of AP Literature through a Catholic lens. The primary themes under consideration are God’s universal charity and the consequences of sin. As we travel with the pilgrims of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, imagine the end of the world, examine the tragedies of Othello and King Lear, look at Gothic horror novels through the lens of contemporary bio-ethical dilemmas, and finally, ponder how God’s plan is worked out through very imperfect instruments in The Power and the Glory, students can mature and deepen in their understanding of human weakness and God’s sovereign mercy. He is everything, and without Him, we are nothing. At some level, all that we undertake in this class is aimed at understanding who we are before God, for in the end, nothing else matters.

Course materials: Each student will need 7-11 books; all are available in inexpensive paperback editions. Specific editions will be suggested, but library copies are fine. In the case of literature in translation, particular translations will be required. Some of the texts are available free online. The complete reading list can be found here: http://homeschoolconnectionsonline.blogspot.com/2011/05/reading-list-ap-english.html

Homework: The course requires roughly an hour of reading every day, with additional discussion/posting responsibilities. Every reading unit (approx. every 3 weeks) also includes a major writing assignment that will go through draft, conferencing and revision stages. Conferences are one-on-one meetings with the instructor that can take place via computer or telephone [SKYPE]. Students should plan on spending an average of 60-90 minutes 5-6 days a week outside of class on reading and writing for this course.

Course outline:
Unit I (weeks 1-3): Your Literacy Profile
After being introduced to the course, we will examine what writers say about reading and writing and be presented with different models of the writing process. By traversing your own history with literature and composition, you will analyze and define your own most effective writing process. This self-evaluation will define in part how you will work on writing in this class and will get you started on the college admissions essay.

Unit II (weeks 4-7): That’s Epic
Students may choose to read either Virgil’s Aeneid or Dante’s Inferno. Work in this unit will focus on epic poetry structure and conventions and on the study techniques required to undertake a difficult literary text.

Unit III (weeks 8-10) Here is God’s Plenty
While reading portions of The Canterbury Tales, we will consider storytelling forms, genres, and subject matter. Also included in this unit is an overview of the evolution of the English language.

Students will write and tell a tale for the entertainment and/or edification of classmates. Tales will be written, performed (that is, told orally), critiqued by the class, perfected and published in a collection.

Unit IV (weeks 11-15): A Bang or a Whimper
Each student will read and analyze an apocalyptic literature selection of his or her own choosing (from a list provided by the instructor). We will consider apocalyptic imagery and the techniques writers use to build a mood or develop a theme. The writing assignment will ask students to consider the literary apocalypse they read and compare it to their own ideas and beliefs and the Church’s understanding of the “last things.”

Independent Reading Unit:
Throughout the course, students will be asked to prepare several books for use on the AP exam in the open question (Q3). Students may read books and prepare them, or they may prepare worthy books they have read in the past. Each student is required to prepare four books for Q3 and can share their preparations with other students who have read the same books.

Focus questions:
1) What is the role of story in individual lives? What is its role in culture and society?
2) How has storytelling evolved through the centuries? What has remained constant?
3) How does reading fiction inform us about truth?

Equipment requirements:
Classes are online, live and interactive. Students are required to have high-speed internet and a headset with microphone.

Misc:
Mrs. Gill will be available via email in between classes for questions and comments.
Recordings of classes are provided to students within 24 hours and available for 6 months.
Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping services.


(click on title to register)