Course Length: Six weeks
2026 Schedule: Tuesdays with Dr. Patrick at 10am CST/4 pm UK
About Summer Courses at Dreaming Spires
Our summer classes are great for homeschoolers who are preparing for high school in the US or exams in the UK, a chance to sample a subject before doing a deep dive for the coming year.
All courses will meet an hour weekly for six weeks. There will be the usual reliance on living books and some homework to ensure good participation, and at the end a certificate will be awarded.
About Spotlight on English: Poetry you can Understand
This is a course that I'm absolutely delighted to be able to offer: a short taster course about poetry that's meant, not just gathering us together to read some poetry, but for finding ways into any poem, learning tools for tackling them, and discovering the joy and fun you can have with this genre of writing that so many people just find too hard to even try. We'll hit some of the highlights of styles like sonnets, lyrical poems, dramatic monologues, and visit some really famous ones like Frost's The Road Not Taken and Blake's Chimney Sweeper.
It's my sincere hope that parents, too, will eavesdrop on our sessions so you can work through a few of the texts along with your teen, or at least collaborate on a recitation or two and bring these great works to life in the heart of your home.
Who Teaches Spotlight on English: Poetry you can Understand?
Dr. Kat Patrick now resides in her home state of Texas with her four children, all of whom were Dreaming Spires students before graduating and going off to competitive universities in New York, Massachusetts, and Colorado. Before that, she lived for 25 years in England. Her background includes an MA from Durham (UK), a PhD from Delaware (US), and a UK PGCE teaching certificate, all in the subject of English. She's been examining for many of the UK examinations boards for both IGCSE and A-level. Her revision guide for the Cambridge English Language IGCSE exam is available to purchase via Amazon.