Rising 9th Grader

[Stephanie S.]

My 8th grader is in his first MPOA year taking Chreia/Maxim & TFL. Do you recommend he take Refutation and Confirmation or High School Composition I next for 9th grade? My understanding is High School Comp. I is a repeat of what he's done at a faster pace. I'm leaning toward Ref./Con. Any pros or cons please?

[Jen_NH]

https://www.memoriaacademy.com/composition-progression/

This link from the course page shows that HS Comp 2 will cover Ref/Con and Common Topic. That would probably be the right things for 9th grade. MP is in the process of changing the pacing of the HS Comp classes.

[momgineer]

The options after Chreia/Maxim are either the stand alone Ref/Con class or takenHigh School Composotion 2. The stand alone Ref/con class you can do on your own or with MA. That would not be worth a full or even half high school credit, but when combined with other things such as some MP lit guides, would make a lm English 9 credit. The HSC 2 class reviews Fable-Chreia/Maxim and teaches Ref/Con and Common Topic and is worth a full high school credit. You would not need to retake HSC 1 as you have covered all three of those books. 9th graders who have finished Chreia/Maxim can go right to HSC 2.

[momgineer]

As far as pros and cons-
Ref/con will move slowly and give you time to spend on other things but isn’t worth a credit. You would follow with Common Topic in 10th and then either Encomium or HSC 3 in 11th. You wont get as far as fast, but it keeps the load light. You would do a lesson every two weeks.
HSC2 is worth a credit and covers two levels- Ref/con and Common Topic. Takes more time as they do a lesson every week. Follow it up with HSC 3 in 10th and HSC IV which is a semester class in 11th and senior thesis, again a semester class, senior year. This gives you more flexibility in upper school with less time devoted specifically to composition.
If he is doing well in Chreia, I suggest HSC 2. If you feel he needs extra time for each lesson and needs a lighter load then the Ref/Con class.

[Abigail Johnson]

Hello there!
Given that your student has taken the first three levels, you actually have two options, not even including repeating with high school composition one.! I would not have your student repeat high school composition 1. That class is really designed for students who are picking up composition late, and we allow them to get one high school credit for Fable and narrative, which aren't normally high school credits, due to the accelerated combination of the class with Chreia/Maxim. That's my understanding from how the office explained it to me.
However, what I would say the best options are consider a refutation/confirmation course for the whole year (1/2 high school credit), or you can take high school composition 2 (1 high school credit). If you have a strong writer who will be able to do a larger paper every 2 weeks I highly recommend the HS II accelerated pace that covers Ref/Con and Common Topic. (Yes, this is NEW this year! As someone mentioned above, we are gradually changing stage allocations in the HS Comp Series, to make the program just a bit more effective. We WILL have more time for Ref/Con and CT than one lesson per week. I am planning on having SOME weeks be 2 weeks, until they get their feet underneath them in a new stage.) HS II for 2023-2024, and then HS III (2024-2025) Finally, there is then one semester of HS Comp IV for the latter part of 2025. That accelerated pace will allow your student to finish the entirety of high school composition by the middle of sophomore year, and then you have more than two full years to play around with rhetoric and advanced literature courses, and maybe even a senior thesis! You are well-paced to make the MOST of the progymnasmata and really see the full benefits while your student is still in high school!
Abigail

[Stephanie S.]

Thank you for the feedback. We've decided HSC II with Abigail Johnson!

[Abigail Johnson]

Wonderful!
See you then!
Abigail