If I had to sum up the How to Teach Classical Writing: Homer tutorial in one word, it would be fantastic!

What are the “How to Teach Classical Writing” tutorials?

From the website...

These teacher-training webinars give an overview of the material to be covered in a particular level of Classical Writing, including content explanation and teaching strategies and tips.  These webinars were recorded in the summer of 2010, and can be watched by using a recorder downloaded from WebEx.

Cost for a one-month subscription to these webinars is $25. In addition to the recorded webinar, you get one month access to a webpage with helpful links, information specific to this level of Classical Writing, and a pdf handout of the slide show used during the webinar.

They currently have tutorials for Aesop, Homer, Diogenes and Herodotus.

My Experience…

I had a technical issue in the beginning, but Kathy, the speaker in the tutorials and author of the Classical Writing workbooks, was extremely helpful!  In the tutorial she took time to explain what the various skill levels entailed, while highlighting the crucial skills and sharing tips on how to teach them.  She also gives additional examples of the hard to understand steps that were not in the corebook.  The corebook does share an example for each step, but I appreciate having the another model to draw on.  I learned quite a lot in only 3 short hours.  My only complaint is that the audio quality was not the best, kinda of like talking with someone over the phone back in the day.  However, it didn’t interfere with the information shared, so it’s very easy to overlook.

What I’m taking away from the tutorial…

1. Knowing what my goal is: My goal in teaching writing is to teach my daughter to use “the best words in the best order and to have those words be put together in the best manor“.  Kathy shared that goal within the first ten minutes of the tutorial and I think that it really sums up the point of Classical Writing.
2. Knowing what to make sure that princess has grasped and what will be covered again later:  It’s so helpful to know how critical certain elements are.  I also found Kathy’s suggestions about how she tailored the program for younger students (5th-6th graders) were very helpful, as we’ll be starting Classical Writing Homer in 5th grade.
3. Confidence that I can teach Classical Writing Homer: This is perhaps the biggest benefit of the tutorial.  Honestly, before listening to it, Homer still had me shaking in my boots.  Kathy helped me to build a framework in my mind.  Now when I go back and read the corebook, I have somewhere to place the information I’m learning.

I am so glad that I took the time to listen to the How to Teach Classical Writing: Homer tutorial.  The tutorials are most definitely worth every penny!  If you are going to teach Classical Writing: Homer, I would highly recommend that you invest the time to listen to the tutorial.  Now I’m just hoping that Kathy will do one on Classical Writing: Poetry for Beginners before this fall .

Have you listened to the tutorials?  What was your experience like?  Or, are you considering the tutorials?  Either way, leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

Disclosure: I received access to the How to Teach Classical Writing: Homer tutorial for free.  The above review contains my own honest opinions.  They are only based on my experience with the tutorial, your experience may vary.  I received no compensation for this review.

Next in the Series: More of my experience with the corebook