Humanities

Please follow links under the “Academics” heading to the left to find more information.

The curriculum of Veritas Christi Hybrid Academy takes a classical approach and uses the Socratic method of discussion. This page covers humanities for all grades: history, literature, composition, religion, art, music and drama. See also the page for math and science and fine arts.

Wherever possible, we focus on people and stories and create a demand for understanding the context, rather than starting with facts and figures and hoping that students happen to get interested. An overarching theme is being an agent of change - looking at how individuals and groups recognize their moment in history and felt compelled to exercise leadership in their times. This is a key part of our approach of asking what it means to be a Christian adult and working backward to inspire and build skills for joining our Father to building His Kingdom, wherever we are.

Humanities Level I (Geared toward Middle School)

Junior Literature and Composition — Focused on grammar, with the goal of making the students better readers and writers. Parts of speech, construction of sentences, and writing a coherent paragraph of at least five sentences. Advanced students proceed to essay writing. Throughout the year, the students read both literature and poetry. They learn how to discern and discuss plot, setting, imagery, character, and other elements of literature. Drama is used to supplement analysis and rhetoric, enabling students to interpret and internalize key ideas and to express them emotively and effectively.
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Geography – Students develop skills in using various kinds of maps. United States and World Geography are studied as well as the culture and the people found in these regions. In the process of learning these regions and their locations, students will also learn cartology as they first trace and eventually draw the maps they are studying.

Alternates with

Ancient History — Students study early civilizations from the rise of the Sumerians around 3500 BC to the sack of Rome in 410 AD. Specifically, students learn about the civilizations of the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley, Egypt, the Near East, Greece, and Rome, and how they interacted. The course involves reading, lectures, note-taking, discussions, video, and various hands-on activities.

Alternates with

Medieval History — This course uses a hands-on approach to discover the history and people during Western Europe from roughly 200 BC to the beginning of the Renaissance. Students will use speeches, team projects and use logic in discussions, to better emerge themselves in the time period. Students will read books and plays to better get a feeling of the people and their lives.

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Old Testament — Study of the main characters and narrative accounts of the Old Testament. In particular, the focus is on God’s creation, his establishment of a covenant with his people, the history of Israel, prophecy, and the messianic hope.

Alternates with

Junior Scripture — Begins with a historical overview of the Old Testament with a focus on covenants. Shows how the Old Testament is fulfilled in Christ, leveraging the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. The focus of the reading is on the new covenant that Jesus establishes with his followers by his life, teaching, death, and resurrection. Students read the Acts of the Apostles to examine how the early Christians tried to live out Jesus’ new covenant. As time permits, students read and discuss excerpts from the Epistles and the Book of Revelation.

Humanities Level II & III

The following clases are in a four-year rotation.

Humane Letters Seminar (American) — Introduces the basic chronology of events in American history from colonial times to the early 20^th century. Students read original texts, with special attention given to the foundational texts of American democracy. What drove the founding fathers, and how did they make the establishment of lasting legacy more important than short-term gains? What leadership innovations were at play, e.g. Lincoln creating a cabinet out of his strongest opponents, who all came to count him as a closest friend? The meanings of events are discovered in their historical contexts so that students can understand that contemporary events are deeply rooted in the past. The literature texts are by American authors. Although they reflect certain historical issues, they stand on their own as literary works. A significant amount of time is spent training students in the fundamental skills necessary to participate effectively in the seminar. Students are taught to write a basic, five-paragraph essay.

Humane Letters Seminar (European), consisting of Reflections on Western Civilization and Literary Perspectives and Rhetoric — Studies the history, literature, and political philosophy of England and Europe from 1500 through the early 20^th century. Students continue to work on writing coherent analytical essays and on developing more sophisticated organizational and stylistic techniques. Reflections on Western Civilization guides students to see themselves as agents of change who can identify characteristics of leaders who recognized a dissonance with the world around them and took steps to be available and active in changing the world around them. Characteristics of leaders — good and bad, impactful and ineffective — are analyzed and discussed. In Literary Perspectives and Rhetoric, literary works are studied on their own merits, with a particular focus on the role of heroism. Comparisons are made of heroes in works of literature to Christ, the ultimate hero. Drama is used to supplement analysis and rhetoric, enabling students to interpret and internalize key ideas and to express them emotively and effectively. For example, students condense each of Hamlet’s five acts into a 3-minute play. Some of the other teaching approaches used include the Socratic Circle, Mimetic Instruction, and role-playing characters of a work. This class engenders an appreciation for views of authors and others in the class and builds effective communication skills that are focused on the audience.

Humane Letters Seminar (Medieval) — Focuses on a close reading and discussion of texts in medieval and modern literature, philosophy, theology, and poetry. Students write approximately six essays per semester and are expected to write with increasing depth, grace, and sophistication. There's a strong focus on characters finding their moment in history, where their core values were at odds with the circumstances around them, how they led and what made people follow, and what their lasting impact was. In addition to a spine that walks through major historical events, we draw heavily on a book of biographies and original writings about influence Christian historical characters.

Humane Letters Seminar (Ancient) — Focuses on the close reading and discussion of texts drawn from the classical Greek and early Christian corpus. Students continue to work on writing analytical essays. They write at least six essays per semester.

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Scripture (New Testament) — Focuses on Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament expectations. The goal is twofold: 1) to learn to read the New Testament by being attentive to Old Testament allusions, the historical context, and different literary styles at work in the New Testament; and 2) to learn about the understanding of reality as presented in Sacred Scripture. The course focuses on Luke’s Gospel and his Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and the Ephesians, John’s Gospel, and the Book of Revelation. Portions of other Gospels and letters are used where appropriate.

Christian leadership in American culture — A careful study of Jesus in the New Testament reveals him as a thoughtful leader who understood the culture and stories of His time, and boldly created a new culture based on a thorough rethinking of fundamental principles and an insightful reflection of human nature and how to create an environment in which they could live out their God-given DNA. America's founding fathers solemnly considered what it means to be human and how to fashion a country that would create opportunities for people to thrive. Many would say that much of current culture has lost its way and has become confused by unsound arguments. As Christians, we have a distinct advantage: the Good News of beautiful truth that makes way more sense than prevailing arguments that fall apart under scrutiny. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth Bailey (available in audio at your local library) offers a view of Jesus that may significantly change your understanding and appreciation of who He is as someone who really understands how to move hearts, who knew the Old Testament and the literature of His time, and who demonstrated dauntless leadership in setting new directions. In studying that work, we gain a personal encounter with our leader and companion in the effort of impacting the culture around us. From Christendom to Apostolic Mission is a current analysis of American culture that offers practice guidance on how to witness to a joyful and redemption articulation of the Good News. We'll also draw on historical primary documents to study how some of our founding fathers arrived at how to set a historical direction for a nascent nation. This class is offered concurrently with high school American History, in the spirit of making classical connections across subjects.

World Issues — Offers an opportunity for students to apply the critical thinking skills they have learned in other courses to current issues encountered by humanity in different regions in the world. Students first research specific problems individually, then methodically propose and evaluate possible solutions in groups. Through the study of human suffering, poverty, and disease, they come to understand the depth and complexity of the issues facing humanity and experience the challenges of bringing about change. A historical study of leadership effectiveness and exercises to development of personal leadership styles prepare for impact on the world at large.

Languages

Latin — A study of three of the groups (declensions) of nouns and adjectives and all verb groups (conjugations), including irregular verbs. Students are expected to master a substantial vocabulary, to understand elementary Latin grammar, and to acquire a basic skill in translating from English to Latin as well as from Latin to English.

Spanish — Conversational and written Spanish is learned using modern techniques which associate vocabulary with actions. The class also includes developing an appreciation of Spanish cultural influences.

French — The French language is intertwined with the history and culture we inherited from England. It's also closely tied with the arts, especially ballet. We'll open the door to this language of (Christ's) love and help build a cultural foundation.

Other modern languages may be added in the future.