Studio's programmes run from early childhood to the mid-teens. Children begin in Early Years, move through Primary English into Kids Canon and Teens Canon, and the strongest readers continue into Non-Fiction. Comparative Mythology Through Drama runs in Winter School and Summer School. Studio Ready brings students' English up to the level the core courses require.
For students aged 3–6
Studio's Early Years courses are created to expose children to great literature from an early age. Young learners will engage with a variety of material in a number of exciting ways, from group reading of fiction, to dramatic poetry recitals, to emotional song performances, all designed to increase students' language skills and confidence.
The Drama course throughout the Early Years programme follows the Trinity Drama Exams teaching content and standards, and children can choose whether to take the exam to obtain the Trinity certificate.
After completing the Early Years course, children progress to Studio Primary English.
Courses
Junior English Level One
Junior English Level Two
Junior English Level Three
Junior English students interact with age-appropriate classic and modern texts, poetry, drama, and song. The three courses help children read more fluently, build their vocabularies, express themselves better, think more clearly, and grow into confident language users. Students also work with non-fiction texts and practise real-world language use — signs, maps, menus, and role play. Writing using correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar is taught explicitly.
Primary English is an academically rigorous, mixed-discipline course in language, literature, and performance for students at the beginning of primary school. Students study a wide variety of literature from numerous genres and authors, exposing them to books that they would otherwise not study in their schools or read in their free time.
Students are taken through a high-impact writing programme where they will learn to compose both conventional five-paragraph essays and personal narratives that reflect on the concepts and themes presented in the novels. One novel (chapter book) is studied in depth over a period of five lessons. Speaking, oral presentation, and listening are taught through group drama performances.
Kids Canon and Teens Canon are part of Studio Education's innovative and ambitious literature-based offering, delivering excellence in reading, writing, public speaking, and thinking. The courses introduce children to the canon of the most celebrated English literature, both classic and contemporary, through engagement with which they excel intellectually and creatively.
In a revolutionary departure from the excerpt- and anthology-based curriculums that typify primary and secondary schools worldwide, Kids Canon and Teens Canon exemplify Studio's values of discipline and rigour in intellectual and creative pursuits — the hallmark of excellence in education. Through the in-depth study of three carefully selected books per semester, the innate curiosity of students is nurtured in a process of Socratic learning, where thoughtful engagement with a range of topics and differences of opinion are encouraged. Students read one-fifth of a novel each lesson and compile essays and stories in their portfolio (their 'red folder'), which they take with them at the end of each semester or week of Holiday School.
Kids Canon
IntermediateG2–G5 · ages 7–11
Advanced 'A'G3–G5 · ages 8–11
Advanced 'B'G4–G5 · ages 9–11
Reading list — Kids Canon: Intermediate (G2–G5 · ages 7–11)
Semester One
Odd and the Frost Giants — Neil Gaiman, 2009 · Fantasy/Mythology
Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures — Kate DiCamillo, 2013 · Fantasy/Adventure
The Sign of the Beaver — Elizabeth George Speare, 1983 · Historical Fiction
Winter School
A Cricket in Times Square — George Selden, 1960 · Fantasy
Clementine — Sara Pennypacker, 2006 · Comedy/Humour
26 Fairmount Avenue — Tomie de Paola, 1999 · Autobiography/Biography
Dominic — William Steig, 1972 · Fantasy/Adventure
Semester Two
The Little Prince — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 2000 · Classic Literature
Mr. Popper's Penguins — Richard and Florence Atwater, 1938 · Classic/Comedy/Humour
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — C. S. Lewis, 1950 · Classic/Fantasy
Summer School
The One and Only Ivan — K. A. Applegate, 2012 · Fantasy
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler — E. L. Konigsburg, 1967 · Adventure/Mystery
Where the Red Fern Grows — Wilson Rawls, 1961 · Classic/Adventure
The Cay — Theodore Taylor, 1969 · Classic/Adventure
In harmony with Studio Education's mission of excellence through reading, writing, and thinking, the Non-Fiction course offers students an alternative approach to the literary arts — understanding the world through factual, scientific, analytical, and primary experiences.
Adhering to the essential foundations of the Kids Canon programme, the Non-Fiction course develops students in the areas of analytical reasoning, reflection, and synthesis. Reading Non-Fiction allows students to expand their vocabulary, comprehend universal topics and themes, and develop a confidence to speak on influential events that have shaped the world past to present.
At the end of each book, students deliver a research speech and write an academic essay. Non-Fiction courses are advanced: students must test in. Contact your Learning Consultant for more information.
Research speeches
Reading lists — Non-Fiction
Kids Canon Non-Fiction Advanced 'B' (ages 9–11)
Semester 1: Inside of a Dog — Alexandra Horowitz · The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind — William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer · I Am Malala — Malala Yousafzai
Semester 2: Isaac the Alchemist — Mary Losure · Hidden Figures (Young Readers' Edition) — Margot Lee Shetterly · Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem — Rosalyn Schanzer
Kids Canon Non-Fiction Advanced 'C' (ages 10–12)
Semester 1: Obsessed — Allison Britz · The Soul of an Octopus — Sy Montgomery · I Will Always Write Back — Caitlin Alifirenka & Martin Ganda with Liz Welch
Semester 2: Irena's Children (Young Readers Edition) · The Dragon Behind the Glass — Emily Voigt · Roughing It — Mark Twain
Teens Canon Non-Fiction Advanced 'A' (ages 11–13)
Semester 1: Think Again — Adam Grant · D-Day Girls — Sarah Rose · How We Got to Now — Steven Johnson
Semester 2: The Travels — Marco Polo (Penguin Classics) · The World in a Grain — Vince Beiser · Blue Highways — William Least Heat-Moon
Teens Canon Non-Fiction Advanced 'B' (ages 12–14)
Semester 1: Notes of a Native Son — James Baldwin · A Moveable Feast — Ernest Hemingway · Blood, Bullets and Bones — Bridget Heos
Semester 2: Travels with Charley — Steinbeck · The Future of Humanity — Michio Kaku · Finding the Mother Tree — Suzanne Simard
Teens Canon Non-Fiction Advanced 'C' (ages 14+)
Semester 1: Turn Right at Machu Picchu — Mark Adams · The Autobiography & Other Writings — Benjamin Franklin · Garbology — Edward Humes
Semester 2: My First Summer in the Sierra — John Muir · Talking to Strangers — Malcolm Gladwell · A Brief History of Time — Stephen Hawking
In every place across the globe where humans began to emerge over three-hundred thousand years ago, our ancestors expressed their wonder at the mysteries of existence in imaginative explanations of how and why the universe is how it is. Our common heritage is the mythology of the world, from Pangu to the titans to the great turtle to floods and fire and beasts and the nature of evil and of fate.
In these special one-week activities, children will explore our shared human heritage through dramatic interpretation of our ancestors' stories. Students begin the week with an introduction to mythology. Next, they read and analyse two myths on the same topic — one Greek and one Chinese. After grappling with both myths, students collaboratively devise two short playscripts, rehearse and perform them, and document their reflections in a daily Enquiry Journal. On the final day, they deliver an oral presentation and take home their scripts, their journal, and a film of their performance.
Five-day plan
Monday — Introduction to mythology; read and understand two myths, one Chinese, one Greek; group-devise two playscripts; Enquiry Journal
Tuesday — Group-devise playscript for Myth 2; mark up scripts; rehearse; Enquiry Journal
Wednesday — Rehearse; Enquiry Journal
Thursday — Rehearse; perform; Enquiry Journal
Friday — Watch the film of their own performance; write a presentation about explorations and experience; children take home two playscripts, film of performance, presentation script, a film of their presentation, Enquiry Journal
Children are arranged according to age: 7–9, 9–11, and 11–13, and according to their Primary English, Kids Canon or Teens Canon level.
Winter School programme — myth pairings by group
PEP–PEF
1. Zao Jun / Baucis & Philemon — Hearth
2. Lady White Snake / Attack on Mount Olympus — Mountains
3. Taibai Jinxing / Hermes — Messengers
4. The Monkey King / Odysseus — Oceans
KCI–KCA
1. Lei Gong / Phaethon — Thunder
2. Shennong / Demeter and Triptolemus — Agriculture
3. Zhong Kui / Actaeon — Hunting
4. Butterfly Lovers / Eros and Psyche — Family
KCB+
1. Jade Emperor Tricks the Monkey King / Zeus — Supreme Ruler
2. The Heibai Wuchang / Demeter and Persephone — The Underworld
3. Gun & Dayu / Lycaon and Deucalion — Floods
4. Nvwa / Prometheus — Origin of Mankind
Summer School programme — myth pairings by group
PEB
1. The Man with 100 Mothers / Melampus and Bias — Helping Others
2. Ugly Mrs. Liu / Odysseus and Circe — Magic and Potions
3. The Dog that Nipped Lu Dongbin / The Minotaur — Tricks
4. The Great Race / Scorpio — The Zodiac
PEP–PEF
1. The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl / Heracles and the Nemean Lion — Astrology
2. Magistrate Zhu and the Golden Rod / The Midas Touch — Gold
3. The Dragon and the Pearl / Cadmus and Europa — Dragons
4. The Dancing Crane / Heracles and Cerberus — Penniless Heroes
KCI–KCA
1. The Fox Sprite / Phrixus and Helle — Animals as Humans
2. Three Tests for Fei Jiangfang / Jason Wins the Golden Fleece — Tests and Challenges
3. The Peach Blossom Oath / Helen of Troy — Oaths and Promises
4. The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea / The Clashing Rocks — Crossing the Sea
KCB+
1. Nuwa Mends the Sky / Otus and Ephialtes — Heroines
2. How Zhang Guolao Became an Immortal / Tantalus — Food
3. Dueling Tigers: Zhang Fei and Ma Chao / Paris and Menelaus — Duels
4. Han Xiangzi and the Dragon Princess / The Sirens — Music
TCA+
1. The Royal Uncle Cao Guojiu / Danaus and Aegyptus — Brothers
2. The Ballad of Mulan / Euthyphro — Filial Piety
3. Lu Dongbin and the Peony Fairy / Perseus — Nymphs and Fairies
4. Gan Jiang and Mo Ye / The Vengeance of Medea — Revenge
Studio Ready is a literature, writing, and grammar programme designed to prepare students to enter Studio's core programmes — Primary English, Kids Canon, and Teens Canon. Studio's core programmes require a student's English proficiency to be above, at, or approaching, native-English level, which is not always the case when English is a student's second or third language. Studio Ready is a literature-based offering, delivering excellence in grammar, reading, writing, and thinking to help students achieve the high level of skills required.
Studio Ready uses the reading lists for Primary English (for levels Initial through Three) and Kids Canon Intermediate (for Level Four) and Teens Canon Foundation (for Level Five), alongside Scholastic grammar workbooks.
Please speak to your Learning Consultant about Studio Ready level placement and pace of progression.
Non-Fiction
Comparative Mythology Through Drama
