Early Bird Has Started: Ends 30th April

It's that time again - time to grab one of the limited spots on our live, online courses for homeschooling teens worldwide.

The excitement is catching for students and parents! 

Early Bird is a great time to register because you can save a spot for just the reservation fee of $40, and pay in installments for the remainder until 1st September 2019.

 What's more, the price you're quoted is LAST year's price.

 I've already mentioned how this is our biggest selection of subjects and courses yet, with new addition this year of geography, math, and art history, plus new courses from most of our instructors. In fact, I think I'm the only tutor who isn't adding a course this year!

This is how I feel about that! 

Remember that we're happy to discuss anything about our courses that you're unsure of! Sign up today so you don't miss the chance for your teen to learn in a way that's unlike almost anything else out there!

Early Bird Registration is NOW OPEN for 2018-2019

The REGISTRATION FORM for the academic year 2018-2019 is now live for the Early Bird registration period for our unique, online courses taught live for homeschooled teens worldwide.

Oh, the excitement!!

The EARLY BIRD PERIOD runs 1st April to 31st May, 2018.

Paying the registration fee for your chosen courses during the Early Bird Period will secure your place and entitle you to course fees at last year's rates, to be paid by 1st of September, 2018.

For full information, please refer to the Fees page of the website. This especially applies if you have used Early Bird registration in the past since the fee structure changed last year.

Unexpected Gifts -- Courses Almost Full Already

I know sometimes people will claim their courses are filling up to just get people to sign up earlier, but in this case, I'm telling the plain truth.

This is my "being honest" face

Dreaming Spires has added new subjects this year, and all of them are filling up in May when they're not due to start till the second week of September.

I can't believe it! Incredibly humbled and very excited, but also, stunned.

This is my "I'm stunned" face

So let me just make one plea: if you're considering joining us for any of our courses -- the four options for English and composition, Ancient Rome or Ancient Greece, Spanish and Advanced Spanish, or our new living books Biology course -- then please register today!

The only commitment is a £20 registration fee.

If you're still on the fence, let me just say three things: 

• first, we're the only Charlotte-Mason-style, living-books curriculum delivered live and online by home-educating parents who are subject specialists (that's a mouthful: we really are a unique tutorial staff here at Dreaming Spires!);
• second, we retain 80% of our families year-on-year, and for the first time in this registration period, we've had more than one family RETURN to us after trying a year of something else;
• third, our "graduates" are contacting me to say that not only have we prepared them for their further academic studies, but that they MISS the way that we taught our subjects in such a living and memorable way.

So, with my most sincere face ...

Ummm ... no ... that's not the one ...

Okay, we'll go with this one

I sincerely encourage you to sign up today using the Blogger contact form on the right-hand sidebar, or drop me a line at
https://www.facebook.com/dreamingspireshomelearning/.

I'm very approachable, and I and my hand-picked subject tutors are committed to providing courses for your teens as though they were our own children.

The New Timetable for 2017 is Out Now

Early Bird registration for Dreaming Spires courses will open on 1st April, but in the meantime, you may want to see what we have in store in terms of our timetabling.

There are some alterations based on the necessity of our family commitments, especially when it comes to juggling our own children's home education with our desire to supply the highest quality of online learning experiences for yours.

Pop over to our "2017 ?" tab to see details of additional subjects we hope to be offering from September.

NOTE: This is our latest timetable, but where you see "*", the times aren't 100% fixed.

English Literature and Composition
Course	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
Middle Ages Lit	8 am CST/2 pm UK
British Novel		1 pm CST/7 pm UK
Renaissance				9:30 am CST/3:30 pm UK*
American Lit	1 pm CST/7 pm UK
Add-On Composition	Usually meet 1/2 hour after class
Classical Civilisation/Ancient History
Course		Tuesday	Wednesday
Roman History		1 pm CST/7 pm UK
Greek History			8 am CST/2 pm UK
Add-On Writing Extensions	Usually meet 1/2 hour after class
Biology
Course			Wednesday
Biology with lab			SAME COURSE AT DIFFERENT TIMES:  Biology A will be 1 pm CST/7 pm UK*, and Biology B will be 7 pm CST/1 am UK to accommodate US, Asia, and Australia
Spanish
Course		Tuesday	Wednesday
Spanish 2		9:30 am CST/3:30 pm UK
Spanish 1			10 am CST/ 4 pm UK

Revision Crammer is giving away a FREE REVISION GUIDE

Hey, everybody -- if you have a student who is doing the CIE iGCSE 0500 English Language exam in the near future (that's the higher tier option), then you'll want to get on board the raffle for a free copy of my revision guide.

If you're not doing it, could you please share this giveaway on your social media? 

The link below will take you to the giveaway site and tell you what you need to do, or go to our Facebook page to enter it from there: 

https://www.facebook.com/dreamingspiresrevision/app/228910107186452/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Gotta Love Those Good Reviews!

I know it's hard to leap into the unknown sometimes, especially when it's both your child's education and your hard-earned money.

So, how can I give you the confidence that my courses are going to look after you on both accounts? By letting the happy parents of former students give you their honest opinion of Dreaming Spires.

Here's a review that's just been posted on the HE Exam Wiki by a mum who's tried and tested so many distance-learning options. She's often the font of wisdom on the HE Exams Yahoo group and Facebook page -- such a thorough researcher!

Thanks again to Sue for publishing her views and passing on her experience. I hope it will encourage you to take the leap and try us out this year.

And take heart: if for any reason the course isn't working out for you after the first few sessions, you can always withdraw for a full refund, less the £15 registration fee.

Sue's Review of Dreaming Spires Home Learning online English courses, and Dreaming Spires Revision online crammer classes for the CIE English iGCSE exam:(published July 2016)

I'd like to recommend Kat's Crammer course for CIE 0500 English to those about to START the IGCSE course as well as those who need to work on exam technique before the next exam session.

After looking at the CIE 0500 syllabus and recommended text books before DD started IGCSE English a couple of years back, I was still mystified as to what we were actually supposed to DO in the course and what sort of skills she was supposed to gain when she'd finished the IGCSE in English. It all sounded a bit vague.

I signed DD up for Kat's course at the last minute, and throughout the course it was made very clear just what was required in order to get a top mark in the exam. For example, 'summary writing' is something any student can do but there is a particular formula that the examiner wants to see in order to give top grade. This and tips for the other types of exam question are all covered in the course.

DD has since participated in three of Kat's other Dreaming Spires Home Learning courses in Literature - Middle Ages Literature, Renaissance Literature, British Novels and this year has enrolled for both American Literature and Classical Civilisation.  My daughter just LOVES these courses.  Kat presents the courses in a very professional manner and the courses are interesting and engaging.  The Add-on Writing extension classes are very useful for those doing any IGCSE/GCSE Literature course - with the work marked as though it is an assessment and also with a great deal of individual feedback.  Mistakes common to several students are gone over in the following class. There is the option after the class (and during the week) to chat online with other students in a secure setting.

Our experience with Kat's courses has been positive.  The skills mastered are being found very useful in DD's current AS level courses in History of Art, Religion, Classical Civilisation & History - all of which have a huge writing component.

Hope this helps someone who has no idea just where to start with English or English Literature.