1. Read/explore Russian masterpieces with our study guide at home

2. Journal aha moments, thoughts & questions that come to you as you explore each masterpiece

3. Share your thoughts and questions with the class; discuss

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Our top priority is to fuel curiosity and a love of learning; to get the youth (and their parents!) excited about the stories of Russia as well as the ideas and concepts that come with those stories. We want them to FEEL A CONNECTION with these stories and MAKE COGNITIVE 

CONNECTIONS with other things they've read and experienced. This class is NOT about memorizing information. 

• Interdisciplinary learning, not by subject

Great stories and other masterpieces engage the heart, stimulate thinking, and span subject matter. Information is not isolated by subject in real life--everything is interconnected! The masterpieces in this class will span history, geography, culture, language, literature, math, science, psychology, politics, economics, art, music, character, success principles & more!

Everyone will have different take-aways & opinions of the works we study, and we embrace that! We don't have an agenda for what you are *supposed* to learn from this. Freeform journaling sparks questions, facilitates organic learning and is a great way to process your thoughts. We will provide questions and journal prompts, but you are not required to use these. We are hoping to guide the students in creating an album, scrapbook page or timeline together as a memory of what they learned and discussed in class. 

Class members read/explore the masterpiece for the week on their own, and come to class prepared to share one "aha" moment and one question to contribute to the group discussion. Angel & Olya facilitate the discussion, provide context and their own powerful insights. Olya will share stories of her ancestors and her own experiences. But some of the most powerful learning moments will occur as class members teach each other.