An Extended Student's View

As is our tradition at Dreaming Spires Home Learning, when one our students finishes studying with us for four or more years, we leave time on the last day for them to say a few words about their experience.

We make a fuss over our graduates.

The following is a speech given today that captures so much of the interaction, connection, motivation, and maturation that we see in our students.


"When my Mum signed me up for RenLit, my first Dreaming Spires course, 4 years ago, I was not impressed. I thought the workload would be far too heavy and complex for a mere 14-year-old like me. I also thought that doing an online class would be too structured and ‘school-like’ to be compatible with my beloved home-schooling life. Well… 4 years, 12 presentations, 40 books, 172 narrations and a large handful of sonnets, short stories and poems later – I have officially changed my mind. In fact, the Dreaming Spires English courses have been one of the best things that has ever happened to me in my 13 years of education. 

"It’s weird though… Going into my first Dreaming Spires class one September evening, I never would’ve dreamed that I would be here, graduating 4 years later! I was sceptical and a little bit scared. But as the year unfolded, I was happily surprised. Instead of being confronted by complex, boring, stiff education, I was thrown into a whole new world of fascinating 16^th century books, conversing with classmates, and even a little bit of friendly competition. Anyways, RenLit was a huge success, and it was followed by AmLit, then MAL, then Brit Nov – pretty much the most random order you can think of. Because when have I ever been known to do things the simple way? But I was in it for the long haul… Something about Dreaming Spires just made me want more. I loved it all – the classes, the books, the people, even the homework! 

"Now, I’m a social person by nature… So, I was quite delighted by the discovery of the All Users forum. Imagine, I could actually interact with people of my own species (aka home schoolers) from all over the world. It was grand fun. I was there the year that we nearly broke the All User forum because we posted over 24,000 posts. I was there the years that major religious discussions broke out all over the forums. I watched entire governments rise and fall in the micronations forum. I have discovered old friends from the past on these forums and forged new friendships with people all over the world, as well as with some people a little closer to home. And that’s just in the All User forum! Every year I have joined a new group of people with each class I’ve done. I’ve loved being a part of each diverse group, forming friendships and working together to help each other understand issues discussed in class, arguing over controversial characters, and ultimately helping each other form relationships with the books we’ve read. Shout out to Bethany, Nadia, Anne, Ruqs, Charli, and Marielle as some of the amazing people I’ve had the joy of hanging out within various settings in and out of class, as a result of Dreaming Spires! 

"I’ve had many favourite memories come from being part of various classes… Like the time Dr P majorly creeped out the entire class by sitting and watching us silently for 15 minutes at the beginning of class. Or the time I managed to put a bunch of Hamilton references into a presentation on the York Mystery Plays and then nearly died trying to present it while watching the Hamilton fans freak out in the comments.  Or just recently when a couple of us got together and had a hilarious time reading the first act of The Importance of Being Earnest all together (the recording is available if you care to see it *ahem*). Having fun while learning is one reason why I love Dreaming Spires so much. Somehow, things just stick better in your brain when you’re enjoying yourself. 

"It’s not all been sunshine and roses though… I have been pushed and challenged in every single one of these English courses. I’ve spent literal days agonizing over my bibliography for a certain research paper (cough cough AmLit). I’ve spent many a late evening writing and rewriting essays because somehow you just have to fit both HOW-Hand and PEER into every paragraph. And I have spent hours slogging through books with complicated language (Looking at you Faerie Queene), boring politics (Gulliver’s Travels), and rather disgusting romps (ahem Canterbury Tales). I’ve even thrown a book or two clear across the room (Uncle Tom’s Cabin – I’m sorry. I still love you.)  But you know what – it’s all been totally worth it. I’ve learnt so much and have grown to appreciate even the most challenging books we read. (mostly… I’m still having reconciliation talks with Utopia.) I’m really grateful that I have been pushed by Dr P in each class I’ve taken. If you’re willing to put the effort in, you will reap the benefits!  I now know how to write a tolerably good literary a analysis essay, how to format a bibliography, and how to interact with challenging, complex and just plain not-very-fun books, thanks to Dr P. 

"No kidding though, I have learned an awful lot. Each English course is so widely spread that by doing all of them you really do get a very wide grasp on literature throughout the ages. I’ve learned literary terms I never knew existed and are now forever burned into my brain. Juxtaposition and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales for instance… And of course, the infamous sublime of Wuthering Heights. I’ve also learned tons about the history surrounding the literature we’ve read… McCarthyism is now forever entwined with Fahrenheit 451 for me, as is Dr P’s widespread education in 17^th century prisons and The Pilgrim’s Progress. I’ve also wrestled with lots of different important issues through these courses… What makes a human a human? – Frankenstein. The dangers of communistic ideas as promoted in Utopia. The importance of books in society and history – Fahrenheit 451. The place of ancient literature in a modern society – Beowulf. I’ve been forced to think, to dig deep into major issues, and solidify my personal beliefs. And all this before I turned 18… 

"However, as I sat down to look back at these past 4 years and to try and come up with a suitable graduation speech, one thing kept coming back to mind – one thing that is probably the most important of all. Yes, the fun, the memories, the learning, the growth – it all has been absolutely wonderful. But what really has been highlighted for me is the passion that these 4 years of Dreaming Spires has ignited in me – a passion for English, for writing, and for stories. Now, I’ve always been a reader, a devourer of books. But Dreaming Spires has given me a direction for that literary hunger. Each course that I have taken has further opened my eyes to the sheer breadth and beauty that can be found in literature. I have been taught how to personally interact with books of all different genres, eras and styles. I have been shown the power that literature can have on the world. This growing passion for literature has blossomed over the years and is now bearing fruit in that I am planning to go study English at uni this Autumn. (wow that was quite the tree imagery I just came out with. Anyone want to do a HOW-Hand on that?) Dreaming Spires has had a direct influence on this decision, by constantly feeding my passion for literature and pushing me towards bigger and better things.

"So, to conclude this speech, I just want to say thank you. Thank you to Dreaming Spires for 4 years of wonderful memories and friends, new and old. Thank you to you guys – this past year has been a blast doing Brit Nov with you all! And most of all, thank you Dr P. Thank you for personally investing into my education through teaching classes, marking homework, and answering innumerable emails with questions. Thank you for introducing me to some of my now-favourite books. Thank you for pushing me hard and always expecting my best. Thank you for opening the world of literature to me in a way I never knew was possible. And most of all, thank you for being one of the people that has sparked my own passion for English. Dreaming Spires has been an invaluable tool throughout my high school education and I’m sure I will continue to reap the benefits for years to come.

"I’ll finish by saying what Dr P says every year at the end of the last class just before she signs off. Thank you, and may God bless you all."

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.

Video about Registration Dates and More about Dreaming Spires

The Summer 2017 Mountain Series Episode 1: Finding Yourself in the Heat

This summer series about homeschooling was inspired by my recent family trip to the mountains, and will be added to weekly. Be sure to subscribe by leaving your email in the right-hand menu bar, or “like” our Facebook page to get updates posted directly to your timeline.

In this first episode, I want to share about how homeschooling teens can feel like the hottest journey you’ve ever undertaken.

A blog post about a hot road trip ...

No matter where you live now, you have probably taken a trip somewhere that taught you all about assumptions. In my case, I thought I knew all about packing for a self-catering trip to the mountains, having done so almost twice a year in England for the past five years.

So my brothers and I loaded up our three cars and caravanned west to New Mexico. Once we got west of Post, Texas, the temperatures soared over 111º F (44º C). 

It ultimately reached 113!

We stopped for gas, drinks, etc, and my brother who was driving the pick-up truck announced that all the food that had been stashed in the back of his truck had melted. We threw out butter, yoghurt, milk, cheese, and all the chocolate, and though the boys liked to blame me for it, I did point out that they were the ones that loaded it back there in the first place!

Anyway, in hindsight I should have realized that perishables in a pick-up bed in Texas in June weren’t going to survive a 15-hour road trip anyway, but having only experience of Lake District trips in April and September, I recognize the biases I brought to the planning stage. 

So here’s where I think our journey in homeschooling teens is like this trip into the unknown. We know what it has been like to teach our children when the stakes are low - whether we follow set curriculum, something more flexible like the Charlotte Mason method, or even unschool, we haven’t had the pressures to prepare for national exams, worry about credits and transcripts, or hone down to our child’s interests and vocational pathways.

The stakes - like the temperatures in West Texas - suddenly become higher when our kids hit those teen years. Here are a few suggestions for navigating our way through an environment out of our comfort zone.

Navigating the path ahead ...

First, give yourself some grace if you make some mistakes. Yes, we’re in charge of the planning and the execution, but if we get some of it a bit wrong, then it’s not the end of the world. Our children’s education should, hopefully, be a life-long experience, and not something that finishes at 18 or 22, so there’s wiggle room even in these crucial years of high school.

Second, don’t be afraid to ask for help from someone who has been there before. If, for example, someone else is planning a road trip to New Mexico in the summer, I can now warn them about looking after the food on the journey. I can also tell them that there are plenty of big supermarkets in Taos so packing all those perishables was unnecessary in the first place. 

In homeschooling, there are now so many great forums and FB groups with people who’ve been there and done that, you really need only to ask.

Getting directions can be a good thing!

That being said, my third point is this: don’t just take someone’s word for it, but confirm what people say online by doing your own research, too. In the case of my road trip, I was only tagging along on my brother’s trip at the last minute, and I didn’t check out the shopping facilities in Taos for myself. As my brother is a bit more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kind of person, there ended up being a lot of gaps in his knowledge where I’d have been more inclined to fill them in (this theme will come up again and again in this series - believe me!).

In the case of homeschooling, I have already seen people’s advice running counter to someone else’s state or country regulations. In the UK, there are HUGE changes afoot in the national exam system as it switches from the A-E grade system to a 9-1 system, plus many of its public exams are ditching the controlled assessment for exam only, a change that favours homeschoolers - except for one important fact! These new exams don’t start being offered till 2019! So for many of you who are now entering the phase of UK exams for your teens, few people will have the experience of the new system to guide you more than saying what they did in the old system.

You have been warned!

In the US, there are still people who talk about the old SAT system rather than the new one, about dual-enrollment arrangements that are often dependent on the processes at the local college, about CLEP or AP or other advanced options that vary from university to university as to their acceptance.

It can still be a minefield for you, even with helpful guidance from those who’ve done it.

Our road trip through the West Texas oven was on Saturday. On Tuesday, I picked an apple out of the fridge for our hike up Kuchina Peak. It was covered in some strange kind of wax. I started washing it and the wax wouldn’t budge. Then I realised it was butter - the butter that had melted into the box in the back of the pick-up truck. Clearly, this apple had been in that same box, and though it had survived the heat, it still had some residue of the debacle on its skin.

Sometimes in homeschooling, there may be long-lasting effects from our past mistakes, and they can arise at the strangest times, even years later. 

It may be hot, but the sun WILL go down!

Just do what I did when I cleaned off the apple: I turned up the heat of the water to melt off the butter. You, too, can just “turn up the heat” - ie, put in extra effort, focus intently, make phone calls or write letters: in short, do what you have to do to rescue the situation.

That apple is worth saving!

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.

Foremost Frankenstein Expert Dies

So many famous people died in 2016 - Prince, David Bowie, Carrie Fisher - but one of the deaths that impacted me the most was that of an academic.

This man was Professor Charles Robinson. He was my graduate advisor at the University of Delaware back in the 80s, and one of the foremost authorities on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Professor Robinson died peacefully at home in November last year, but in June, he was taking my children and me on a tour of the Delaware campus where I'd spent two years as a student. As eager as always to talk up the English department there, he gave the recruitment spiel to my teenage daughter. Heck, he did such a good job, I was ready to sign up for it all over again!

He then took us up to East Main Street and bought us pizza. As we sat on the patio, practically sweltering in the summer sunshine, he started telling us all about his continued research in Mary Shelley's original manuscripts. 

The Pizza may be a legend, but so was the company!

Robinson's book called The Original Frankenstein is published by Vintage Classics, and provides actually two different versions of the novel: that with Mary's words only, and another with Percy's amendments.

"She uses a lot more simple vocabulary and is more straightforward, then Percy comes along and adds all these Latinate words. But even though he added about 4,000 words to the original story, the novel is all Mary's."

His research and scholarship has earned him the position as the go-to consultant on most documentaries on Shelley's bookname turns up on almost every documentary about Shelley as a consultant, but it's not just his excellent scholarship; it's his enthusiasm for studies.

So friendly and accessible, and a lover of great scholarship!
Here are my kids with him at the pizza place.

The man loved his Romantics - his Byron, his Shelley, his Mary Shelley. He didn't know just the texts, but their letters, their manuscripts, their scribblings - the kind of behind-the-scenes expressions that reveal more about the author than simply reading between the lines.

Perhaps in the context of 2016, his death was just a small pebble in a very large pond, but the ripples he made in terms of Frankenstein scholarship were considerable, and will be noted for many years to come.

BOOK CLUB OFFER!

For 2016-2017, I'm offering spaces for a limited number of non-registered students to join the monthly book club groups.

This is a great opportunity for anyone doing A-level English who wants to widen their exposure to great literature, or for students who want something to motivate them to read more, or for any teen who wants to see what live online learning is all about.

For only £38, your teen can log onto the book club each month in one of the following eras:

1. Middle Ages literature, reading Rolf and the Viking Bow, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Hobbit, The Black Arrow, The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Princess Bride, and The White Company (this book may possibly change).  This book club is now full.
2. Renaissance literature, reading The Prince and Pauper, A Man for All Seasons, Dr Faustus, Kenilworth, The Three Musketeers, Lorna Doone, The King’s General -- Probably meeting Fridays at 4:45 pm UK time.
3. British Novels literature, reading The Way of the World, Songs of Innocence and Experience, Joseph Andrews, The Rivals, Silas Marner, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Moonstone, and The Portrait of Dorian Gray. This book club is now full.
4. American literature, reading Last of the Mohicans, My Antonia, Moby Dick, Of Mice and Men, Death of a Salesman, The Chosen, and Jonathan Livingston Seagull.  Meeting time still to be determined.

Each group has only about one or two spaces available for this offer, so if you're wanting to take advantage of it, please contact me as soon as possible via the blogger form or at dreamingspireshomelearning<at>gmail<dot> com. 

Early Bird Sign-Up for September Starts Today!

From the 18th of April until the 30th, Dreaming Spires is offering incentives to sign up early for next September's courses.

Dreaming Spires is an online provider of challenging courses in English and Classical Civilisation. Run by homeschooling moms who are specialists in their fields, we give you the personal touch because we are exactly where you are in terms of our own children's ages and college aspirations.

 Here's what you get if you sign up before April 30th:

1. the chance to reserve your place for only the £15 registration fee -- deadline for full payment is 1st September;
2. the chance to pay via monthly instalments, to help spread the costs of the course;
3. a 10% discount off the main course, even if you're already receiving the 50% sibling discount!

Current students have already been able to reserve their places for the previous weeks, so some of the courses are filling up fast -- don't delay in contacting us and getting your name down while space is still available!

Registration form is here.

Come visit us on 

• Facebook page = https://www.facebook.com/dreamingspireshomelearning
• Twitter = @dreaminspiresHL
• Instagram = dreaming_spires_home_learning

"Widening Your Radar" -- Part 5 of Transitioning Your Teen to Secondary (Home)School

This is the fifth post in a series about transitioning your teens to secondary (home)school. In the other four parts, I have covered topics like routine, vision, a whole new approach, and routes to your destination, but there is one more preliminary point that deserves consideration, and that's about university.

I need to tell you a hard truth: a university education is actually very important.

Is uni in your home-ed future?

Yes, I know plenty of you will disagree. You will say your child is not that kind of person, that there are extenuating circumstances with disabilities or personality issues or what-not, that you don’t have a degree and you’ve done all right for yourself, that we need to have plumbers and car mechanics and hair dressers in this world.

In order, I say: maybe not, there might be, that’s probably true, and that’s definitely true.

But notice I didn’t say that YOUR child needed to go to university. I simply said that a university education is very important. The reason is that all studies show that the earning power of a university graduate is vastly superior to that of a non-graduate, job opportunities are wider, and career paths are longer and more diverse.

For example, statistics say that an average young person of 22 will earn about £15,000 per year. At 34, the non-graduate’s earnings will peak at £19,400, but the graduate’s earnings won’t peak until 51, at which time, annual salary averages £34,500. Even if you calculate the difference in salary (less current tax rates) between the graduates’ peak at 51 and the retirement age (set to be 68 over the next 4 decades), the graduate will earn £175,000 more than the non-graduate in that 17-year period alone.*

That's roughly an extra £900 a month!

A degree can make a big difference in salary

These are the CURRENT statistics, but the future could be quite different still. That’s because the numbers going to university are soaring. Between 1995 and 2015, for example, the number of young people attending university has gone from 20% to 49% of school leavers. As more and more students opt for university, the job market will most likely start to demand some level of higher education as the norm — a trend experienced in the US where 65% of high schoolers enrol in post-school education.

It’s not a cut-and-dry decision, this university plan I mean. There are issues about funding it, about the future of online modular routes, not to mention that maybe your child just really, really isn’t cut out for higher education.

However, I just wanted to urge you to think about the long-term destination of your home-education journey before we discuss the short- to medium-term stops along the way. 

You don't need to know the answer:
just be aware of the questions for now.

I don’t mean to say that you have to force your child into making a decision about degree courses when he or she is only 13 or 14; I only mean that getting university on your radar now will undoubtedly influence your intervening steps.

Next time, it will be these steps that I’ll explore.

* Salary estimates are for men (annoyingly). Women with degrees earn 20% less of their male counterparts’ salaries in England. Studies suggest the disparity is partly due to career breaks taken by mothers, and partly the industries that women tend to enter (education and health care, as opposed to finance and business). The disparity is worse for non-graduate women, where earnings are 23% less than their male counterparts.