Study Pods for Older Learners
Our Monday program for older Home Learners focuses on the art of debate and beyond. We’ll use these classes to explore the skills that youth need to be socially conscious citizens in today’s world. Through carefully selected works, we’ll use each term to informally debate, as well as taking decisive action through written work and artwork, to affect change in both our local and global communities. We work with students to promote the value of collaboration and provide a safe forum where even the quietest voices are heard loud and clear.
We are able to bill home learning institutions directly.
Fall Term
Pod #1: Community Activism
Mondays 1:00PM to 3:00PM
Ages: 10 to 13
September 12 to December 5 (12 sessions)
Please note: no class on October 10
Cost: $444 + GST
As a group we’ll spend the start of the school year looking at the importance of activism in both our immediate communities and on a global scale. Beginning in our own locality, we’ll take inspiration from a group who come together and make decisions about how best to beautify their neighbourhood. Creating a proposal to present to them will show students how valuable it is to be able to organize your thoughts, as well as incorporating those expressed by others. We’ll use this process as a vehicle to engage with the community in a discussion around green spaces, before taking action ourselves; canvassing local businesses with beautification proposals. Once we’ve identified the patches most in need, we’ll divide and carefully conquer, making sure we have a blank (and healthy) canvas to work with. Christianne will facilitate as students work together to produce small mosaic tiles that will compliment patches of perfectly planted sedum. These previously uncared for plots, will never go unnoticed again.
Winter Term
Pod #2: Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
Mondays 1:00PM to 3:00PM
Ages: 10 to 13
January 9 to March 6 (8 sessions)
Please note: no class on February 20
Cost: $296 + GST
As we become increasingly more exposed to the extremities of human nature, this study by Rutger Bregman gives us the hope we need to believe that the innate goodness in all of us will ultimately triumph. Each story presented by the author will act as a point of inspiration for us to break into smaller research groups, finding narratives that both corroborate and refute this new (or centuries old) perspective on humankind.
To tie together our findings, each student will produce a complete casting of both hands, leaving space between the fingers for delicate messages of hope, hand-painted onto lengths of ribbon. Using some of Christianne’s favourite adages (such as don’t be furious, be curious, or what’s mentionable is manageable) as inspiration, these art pieces will act as permanent beacons of hope wherever their final resting place may be.
Spring Term
Pod #3: An Anthology of Passion Essays
Mondays 1:00PM to 3:00PM
Ages: 10 to 13
March 27 to June 12 (10 sessions)
Please note: no class on April 10 and May 22
Cost: $370 + GST
Learning the art of language is a skill that will only serve to ripen over time. As a master of the craft, Christianne will lead the group in an exploration of the nuances of creative essay writing. We’ll hold discussions to help each student identify an issue they feel passionate about before tackling structure, substance and that little something extra. We’ll use the Post-It note method to visually map out our ideas as well as thinking about how each individual piece contributes to the whole. Once we have our very first body of work almost across the finish line, the group will get a masterclass in editing before discussing layout and pre-production formatting with Lyceum staff. Each anthology will then be printed and bound before we set aside time to share favourite pieces with our classmates; celebrating and delighting in what the fruits of our creative labour have come to bear.