Middle School Skill Development

Strong reading and writing skills are essential in almost every aspect of life, including high school, ACT/SAT, college, and beyond.

The Reading/Writing portion of the class focuses on:

Developing a student’s reading skills through challenging literary works, including by such literary giants as Mark Twain, Jack London, J. R. R. Tolkien, and H.G. Wells.
Bettering their critical reading skills using materiams from the SSAT, ISEE, SAT, and ACT.
Improving their writing skills with creative and persuasive writing prompts.
Building functional and precise vocabulary through challenging word lists.
Expanding their grammar knowledge with a thorough overview of English grammar, syntax, and phrasing conventions.

Sample Course Structure (Gr. 7-8)

Grammar proficiency is an essential skill for both school and standardized tests, such as the SAT and ACT. During the course, we go over the most important grammar rules and incorporate interactive games to help students become proficient in following standard grammar conventions.

During the course, we use critical reading exercises as part of our curriculum to improve critical reading comprehension skills. Students are generally assigned a passage and a set of questions to complete for homework that we review in class.

Lastly, we assign students readings in the form of novels or short stories to complete at home. Ultimately, reading, like most other skills, are highly correlated with practice and the more students read, the stronger readers they'll become. The goal of these reading assignments is to challenge but not overwhelm students, and to foster a lifelong love for reading. In class, we discuss selected passages to make sure the students are understanding the readings.