By Kelley Stone, Director of Summer Programs

The inaugural session of the Chaminade Great Books Summer Academy is getting great reviews from parents and kids for providing a fun and academically enriching summer program for students in grades 2-8.  Over 150 students from schools all over the San Fernando Valley have come together on the Middle School campus to experience the Great Books curriculum and enjoy enrichment classes from music to math to martial arts.

Developed at the University of Chicago, The Great Books program is a superb framework for teaching reading comprehension, critical thinking, vocabulary, and writing, all in the context of students sharing ideas about great literature. Through the use of Shared Inquiry™, students are exploring themes of lasting significance, centered on the Western tradition but reaching beyond, always with a compelling interest in the roots of democracy and the challenges of the just society.   Shared Inquiry™ is a research-proven combination of rich texts and active, collaborative problem-solving that increases achievement in reading comprehension, critical thinking, and communication skills. The Great Books Academy is transforming “talk” into powerful, focused discussions.

Space is still available for session 2 beginning on July 9th!  To see a complete course catalog and register go to summer.chaminade.org.