About Spirit of English
Spirit of English (SoE) presents a unique approach to teaching English. Like the Spirit of Math program, SoE develops an understanding of the English language through its four streams: drills, structure and comprehension, expression, and novel studies. This is taught using a combination of classroom teaching and collaborative student work. The drills include vocabulary and spelling, identifying parts of speech, sentence and phrase structure and cursive writing (for the younger grades). The structure stream provides an opportunity for students to deeply explore grammar, the roots of words and the foundations of good writing. When students have developed these skills, they then exercise them in the expression stream to write stories and poems. They then have an opportunity to practice and develop oral communication skills with reciting poetry, famous quotes, and speeches, as well as creating and presenting their own speeches and debates. Novel studies not only focus on comprehension but also on understanding different types of writing and genre. Our future leaders must properly understand the English language so that they know how to use it, to communicate well. This is an intensive, yet fun program for students!
Why Spirit of English:
The Spirit of English (SoE) program is a fast-paced curriculum designed to instill students with a true appreciation of English grammar, literature, and aesthetics. We have developed a unique curriculum suited to the thinkers and communicators of the future. Unlike other programs, which often shy away from teaching elementary students’ complex grammatical concepts, our program holds the philosophy that good writing can only be achieved with a deep understanding of grammatical concepts. We first utilize a rigorous schedule of drills and problem solving to develop such an understanding in our students. They are taught how to analyze parts of speech, parts of a sentence, and even parts of an individual word. Then, once their grammatical sensibility is solid, students are taught to apply their knowledge to paragraphs, essays, speeches, poetry, and stories. They are also taught how to properly write practical day-to-day communication like thank you notes and emails. Finally, the SoE program considers exposure to classic literature to be an essential part of developing student’s literary sensibilities and capabilities. No matter the level, students in SoE are exposed to rich classical texts, and engage in analysis and discussion of these texts with their peers.
