children’s classes fall 2025
wednesdays at the phoenix: revolutions! + mythologies
Revolutions!
Revolutions! will begin with colonialism and its effects on the non-European world with an emphasis on Africa and the Americas, the cataclysmic wars of the 17th and 18th centuries, and the defining cultural revolutions of the 20th century.
The idea of absolutism, the overthrow of monarchies, and slave rebellions around the world (ending with the Haitian Revolution) will be discussed. We will look at this age of globalism from many different perspectives: the rulers, their subjects, women, the enslaved, pirates and privateers, children, Native Americans, and revolutionaries. Stories of resistance and resilience abound, and students will unearth hidden histories while using critical thinking skills, analyzing objects and the written word, and creating art.
Our year-long exploration of history, civics, art and geography will include a lot of hands-on learning, loads of field trips, a history fair, and an outrageous amount of fun.
Mythologies
A year-long course investigating myth, history, the psychology of myth, archetypes, mythology in pop culture, and art. This class is in-depth and hands-on, and the perfect fit for all types of learners. Students will:
Make projects (cave paintings, cuneiform, cylinder seals, ancient recipes, mask making, and more!)
Research assignments (sources available on a variety of reading levels, so there is no general reading requirement...research tailored to each student's individual reading ability)
Learn the basics of hieroglyphs, as well as Latin and Greek, and indigenous and patois languages, for good measure
Go on field trips to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Bell Museum, Minnesota History Center, and more!
Have an opportunity to act out stories (to be presented to friends and families) such as Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, and the Ojibwe/Anishinaabe creation story
Wednesdays at the Phoenix meets the following Wednesdays from 10:00-1:45* September 10/17/24 October 1/18/22/29 November 5/12/19 December 3+10
ages 8-15
*looking to make it a full day? scroll for Percy Jackson Book Club, which meets from 1:45-2:20!
percy jackson book club
This is the first stop on our full-year journey into the worlds of Rick Riordan! We will make our way through the Percy Jackson series! Students read/listen to books at home, discuss and participate in activities in class (Games! Acting activities! Film analysis!), take part in docent-led field trips to the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Walker Museum that pertain to the mythology and history featured in the series, and(!) make Camp Half-Blood a reality with some help from Adventures in Cardboard!
Please contact me via email for the class book list!
Percy Jackson Book Club meets the following Wednesdays from 1:45-3:20
September 10/17/24 October 1/18/22/29 November 5/12/19 December 3+10
ages 8-15
revolutions of the african diaspora
In Revolutions of the African Diaspora, students engage in inquiry and learn to use critical thinking to interpret art, oral histories, and primary sources...all while making history relevant to their lives. During this course, students learn about Spanish, French, and Portuguese colonization of Africa and the Americas, the fate of the indigenous peoples, and the arrival of the enslaved people to the Americas from Africa. These conversations set the stage for discussions about the growing frustration from the Black, Creole, and Mestizo populations with French, Spanish, and Portuguese rule, the the promise of abolition, the Haitian Revolution, all while laying to rest the notion that the enslaved and colonized people did not fight for their freedom.
course offered through Woke Homeschooling
registration closed