THIS IS A TWO-SEMESTER COURSE.

Join author Michael Clay Thompson on the Island Level of the MCT language arts curriculum as he introduces students to grammar, vocabulary, writing, poetics, and literature. In Sentence Island, the writing book for this level, children will be taken to a new world where they will meet the beloved Mud the Fish and a host of other creative characters. They will learn grammar in Grammar Island, as well as the building blocks of our vocabulary in Building Language and the fundamentals of poetics in The Music of the Hemispheres. During the second semester, Michael will add the Mud Trilogy of novels to the curriculum.

Children in this course will get a strong, solid foundation in the language arts that is thorough and sophisticated and yet simple and comprehensible. Michael will provide plenty of practice, weekly online classes, and perhaps even a surprise or two! It is an experience that children will remember for years to come.

Live Classes: Mondays at 3:00 p.m. OR Tuesdays at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (students can choose which time works best for them each week). Fall semester runs from the week of August 14th to the week of December 11th, 2023; spring semester runs from the week of January 8th to the week of May 6th, 2024.

There will not be a live class every week. The core of the course is the assignments and the extensive feedback given by Michael, with the live class being a voluntary enrichment for students who are able to attend. Students’ attendance of the live classes has no effect on their grades. Students unable to attend a live class will be able to access a recording of the class.

Student Expectations: Students must be able to do assignments using a keyboard (no handwritten assignments).

Student Support: Michael is available via email.

Feedback/Assessment: Michael may reply to students’ answers with comments or questions, and he will want them to answer those emails.

Materials/Supplies: Students will need the Level 1 texts: Grammar Island, Practice Island, Building Language, Sentence Island, and The Music of the Hemispheres, as well as the Mud Trilogy novels: The Rescue at Fragment Crag, The Red Tide, and The Green-Face Virus.

PURCHASE THESE BOOKS AS A PACKAGE HERE.

There is an alternative to taking the live-class version of this course. The child can audit the course and have assignments graded by an instructor of Michael’s choosing. This option allows children the chance to experience Michael’s teaching but at a discounted rate.