Curriculum Changes Part 2: Digger and Literature

Another big curriculum change we've made this month is in the area of literature. Digger and I started with Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings. This is a gigantic study guide for the Lord of the Rings that is intended to last all year. It is *very* thorough. The problem is that neither Digger nor I could reliably answer the comprehension questions. I knew things were needing adjustment when our literature sessions were reduced to him not being able to answer the questions whereupon I would read the answer out of the answer key and tell him to write it down.

That's just no way to run a homeschool.

So we dropped everything from LLLOTR that wasn't enriching our educational experience. What this means is that we are still reading LOTR and we are reading the "Additional Notes" section of the study guide. But the worksheet days are over!

Much better.

But I still wanted Digger to have to produce some output related to literature. Enter K12. I signed Digger up for their seventh grade literature and composition course. It's working wonderfully so far. They have some good selections and the assignments aren't too long. The bonus is that Digger is doing *very* well with the composition portion of the course. He wrote a fabulous essay about his robotics mentor. I was really pleased, and more importantly, he was proud of his work.