Children's Literature for Summer 2025
Teacher: Mackenzie Di Cello
Email: mackd370@gmail.com
Who Should Apply: 9th-12th grade students who love to read. Students who want to pass on a love of children’s literature to future generations and raise them up in what is good and true.
Class Description:
This four-week course will be structured into three main sections. The first week will be an introduction to the course and a distribution and completion of the first reading assignments. During the second week we will journey to the Hundred Acre Woods as we delve into some of A. A. Milne’s works on Winnie-the-Pooh. The third week will follow the story of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. The last week will have a focus on fairy tales as we explore the French work, Beauty and the Beast, by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and the Danish work, The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Anderson.
The goal for this course is to help the students develop a love for classic children’s literature by gaining an understanding of and an appreciation for the literary tools used in the works discussed; students will learn how these tools are used to help convey overarching messages of man’s need for friendship, moral growth, and redemption, along with man’s desire to understand his purpose. Students will learn to build skills in analyzing themes within these works (accomplished through weekly discussion and discussion questions). Students will learn how to compare and contrast text themes and literary tools in order to gain a deeper understanding of the texts and how the authors employ different methods to convey their messages. They will develop writing skills to apply this literary and theme analysis in an end-of-course writing assignment.
Students will be assessed through class discussion, reading quizzes, discussion question posts, and an end-of-course writing assignment. There will also be a fun extra credit opportunity that allows students to develop their story-telling skills and/or delve into a study of illustrations. We will meet every week for a lecture/class discussion. We will use Canvas as our course platform and Zoom for weekly meetings.
Live Lecture: There is a weekly class for 60 minutes (sometimes a bit longer). Classes will be held on Mondays (9:00 am EST). These classes are live and will only be recorded if there are students given prior approval to be absent from the live class.
Workload Expectations and Assignments
This is a summer intensive so the students will need to stay on top of work assigned. However, as the focus of the class is delving into good children’s literature (both reading and discussing in multiple formats), the workload assigned will allow the students to take their time to enjoy and engage with the materials.
Each week will include the reading of assigned texts, completion of content quizzes, class attendance and participation, answering of discussion question posts, and commenting on classmate discussion question posts.
The course will conclude with a writing assignment - either an analysis paper or the creation of a short story using some of the themes and literary tools learned from one or more of the works discussed during the course. This assignment will be due near the end of the fourth week.
Homework will be posted to the course website. Each week’s readings should be completed before our Monday Zoom meetings. Weekly assignments for the readings will be due by the end of each week (Saturday by 11:59 pm EST). Students are in charge of pacing and managing their schedule throughout the week. The Zoom meetings will consist of both lecture material and student participation in discussion. (Watching the class lectures as recordings will only be allowed if arranged with the instructor in advance and only in extenuating circumstances).
Class Fees: $200
This course can be counted as a ½ credit English class.
How to Register:
To register, submit payment via the AP Homeschoolers website store. There is no application for this course. I'll contact all registered participants via email at least one week before the course begins.
Tech Needs:
Internet access
Microsoft Word or Google Docs
PowerPoint or Google Slides (for extra credit purposes only)
Course Materials:
The House at Pooh Corner - A. A. Milne
https://www.amazon.com/House-Pooh-Corner-Winnie-Pooh/dp/0140361227
Publisher : Puffin Books; Reissue edition (August 1, 1992)
ISBN-10 : 0140361227
ISBN-13 : 978-0140361223
Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
https://www.amazon.com/Wind-Willows-Puffin-Classics/dp/014132113X
Publisher: Puffin Books; Unabridged edition (March 27, 2008)
ISBN-10: 9780141321134
ISBN-13: 978-0141321134
Beauty and the Beast - Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (in Favorite Fairy Tales collection)
https://www.amazon.com/Favorite-Fairy-Tales-Brothers-Andersen/dp/0486498786
Publisher : Dover Publications; 1st edition (October 17, 2012)
ISBN-10 : 9780486498782
ISBN-13 : 978-0486498782
The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Anderson (in Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales collection)
https://www.amazon.com/Christian-Andersens-Fairy-Puffin-Classics/dp/0141329017
Publisher : Puffin Books; 3rd edition (June 24, 2010)
ISBN-10 : 0141329017
ISBN-13 : 978-0141329017
Supplemental Materials:
Online videos from Hillsdale College as assigned
When We Were Very Young - A. A. Milne
Now We Are Six - A. A. Milne
(Selected stories from these two works will be provided by the instructor - no need to purchase your own copies unless you would like to :))
Class Dates:
The course will be 4 weeks (July 14, 2025 – August 9, 2025).
Instructor Qualifications:
I am a rising senior in college, having completed a minor in Classical Christian Education and on track to graduate with a BA in History. I was homeschooled from preschool through high school and earned my diploma through PA Homeschoolers. I took numerous AP classes with Pennsylvania Homeschoolers AP Online while in high school. Additionally, I served as a TA for a PA Homeschoolers AP U.S. Government course during my senior year in high school. During the fall 2024 semester, I shadowed and taught in a fourth-grade classroom in a Classical Christian school. This was a great opportunity to work hands-on in a classroom, teaching occasional lessons, administering tests, and grading assignments. This is my first time teaching for PA Homeschoolers, and I am very excited to be a part of this program. I have a passion for teaching the next generation and helping them develop an understanding of and a love for the truth through the study of history and literature.