My family has used Oak Meadow curriculum through many of our homeschooling years. In 5th grade, we used Oak Meadow’s US History program. We learned history through their fun filled hands-on, activity-based approach. Later we used much of their English curriculum. This year we used their English program for 10th graders, called Literature and Composition II. It provided both exposure to good literature and help in learning how to do literary analysis. And, most importantly, it supported our efforts to homeschool high school. This curriculum gave my daughter a solid base in essay writing that was to help her later with her SAT essay.
OAK MEADOW – Literature and Composition II- includes the following:
- Three great novels – A Separate Peace, Huck Finn, and Anthem.
- Comprehension questions, for each grouping of four chapers each.
- Critical Thinking Questions (same as above)
- Writing an Interpretive Essay
- Poetry and a few Short Stories
- More writing practice, such as a Compare/Contrast essay, or a Biographical Research Essay…
We chose to study two out of the three novels. That provided plenty of practice for my daughter. The comprehension questions helped her to review the plot and other key points in the story. Things such as point of view, character development, etc. These questions helped to point her in the right direction. All the answers could be found in the Teacher’s Manual, which I also purchased.
I love this curriculum, as the questions really helped my daughter to analyze the story/novel, and later to do her literary analysis essay.
The critical thinking questions were next. These helped my daughter to see the meaning behind the story and to develop her own ideas about it. Plus they were so much fun to discuss! We would sit down with a pot of tea and share a great talk time. I loved to hear her own ideas as the developed. Great mom and daughter or son talks, and good critical thinking practice!
Then, when it was time to write the essay, my daughter had all the pieces of the literary puzzle! Oak Meadow’s Literature and Composition II provided a framebook with which to work. She came up with a viable essay for each of her novels.
This curriculum covers everything you would need for a 10th grade English course, and then some. It uses a gentle and thoughtful approach, with the texts written directly to the student. My daughter was able to handle many lessons herself, with meetings with me, as mentioned above. (and a pot of tea)
The curriculum also includes a some poetry, a few short stories, and some more writing practice, including lots of options to chose from.
If you are looking for a college prep English curriculum that teaches literary analysis, I recommend Oak Meadow’s Literature and Composition II. For more information, please go to www.oakmeadow.com and search for high school curriculum. Oak Meadow offers curriculum in all the basic subjects for K to 12, either new or used. (The used curriculum is called Seconds.) Also, if you would like to connect with other homeschoolers who are using Oak Meadow, go to Oak Meadow Families on Facebook. And please look for more reviews of Oak Meadow curriculum from this author in the future.
Betsy blogs at BJ’s Homeschool about high school, college, and all the fun of homeschooling the early years too. As a veteran homeschooler, and former OT, Betsy also offers help to homeschool families.
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