Dd (13yo) mentioned the other day that she really enjoyed the small group discussions she had about Philosophy at summer camp last year, led by a camp counselor who is a college philosophy major. She has aged out of that camp and won't be going back this year, and asked about other opportunities to explore Philosophy. We see that NUMATS/GLL has an online course, but were concerned that it will be lacking in the group discussion element, which was a key aspect that made it enjoyable for her. If any of you can recommend Philosophy-related activities that your kids have enjoyed, we'd welcome the input. Thanks!

Comparative religion might be something she'd like.

Unfortunately, I can identify with the problem of having a DD that enjoys active/spirited discussion as her favored mode of education. It's problematic because it requires synchronous discussion with others thinking about things on a higher level than most of their peers do/want.

Online courses have been of limited value to us in that regard. the discussion there just isn't robust enough-- or, indeed, interactive enough.

A message board environment like this one is one possibility, though I've found that my DD is a bit intimidated by the wild west feel of the most active message boards, which tend to have light-to-nonexistent moderation driving active or highly controversial discussions.

My suggestion would vary depending on your religious persuasion and how much you want to make the investigation about religion.

We're Catholics, and one of the aspects I love about Catholicism is its scholarly tradition, so I'd see if the local parish had any discussion series open to the public. (I can't speak to resources available within other denominations.) Our parish is colocated with a university teaching arm, so we have some wonderful, erudite speakers leading the discussion series.

Because philosophy is so tied up with religion for a family like ours (per my screen name), these are discussions we have around the dinner table all the time. A favourite author of mine, Thomas Merton, a Trappist Monk, has written some lovely, short meditations that might be a good starting point. You could try "The New Seeds of Contemplation", if my leanings suit your taste. Simplified synopses of the writings of the Doctors of the Church, like Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine, are also wonderful, timeless resources.

My 15-year-old son likes anime with philosophical content and it is fun to read about philosophy and religion on tvtropes.org. My son picked out a book on world religions last week at the bookstore after reading "30-Second Religion." He has read philosophy books also but I don't remember the names of the books. We also bought "The Everything Gnostic Gospels book" and it is very interesting. We are reading and discussing it together. I did not study philosophy at all until my son became interested in it several years ago.

They don't offer them every summer, but my D took two philosophy courses at Davidson THINK a few years ago. One summer they had Intro to Philosophy, and another they had some kind of philosophy of science class. THINK was a fantastic experience for my kid anyway (not just because of the philosophy classes), but I think she especially enjoyed discussing it with other bright teens.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, everyone! I've requested a couple of the recommended books from the library, and will see how that goes. She may do some reading on her own, but I think it is the interactive discussion (with people other than parents) that she is interested in right now. The idea of seeking out a group at a local church is also a good idea I hadn't thought of and one to keep in mind, but dd is not ready for this just yet (an ardent and vocal atheist as a pre-teen, I think she is just starting to become more open-minded about religion).

And intparent, thanks so much for the input on THINK. I had noticed they did not have a philosophy class this year, but I will keep an eye on their offerings now that I know they change from year to year.

What about Unitarian Universalist church in your area? I have heard that they have wonderful study groups and probably would have a philosophy group or could start one.

If you're looking for online and interactive discussion- I would definitely check out Philosophy for Kids from Athena's Academy. The readings were high quality and high level and the discussion was really interesting. The group may be a touch young for her, but there were some older kids as well. Just judging off of voices (no video) I'd say the group was between 9-13.

http://www.athenasacademy.com/

I was thinking this, too.

A liberal Friends' meeting or synagogue might be another source for people who like thinking/discussing this kind of subject matter.

The churches we visited in our small town seem to have a different idea of discussion. I looked for a church that would allow discussion because I knew it wasn't enough for my son to discuss things with me. What I found out was that their method of discussion is that they tell you what you are supposed to believe, for example, that it is necessary to focus on pointing out other people's sins and that those sins are the reason anyone is in pain and that if you are in pain or if a tornado hits your house it might be because you were not praying hard enough or you support gay people, or you are not wearing the right clothes or something like that. If you disagree with anything that is said during these "discussions" then you are shunned and they say they will pray for you but they don't check to see how you are doing when they know you are going through a difficult time.

I couldn't take my child to their kind of discussion. He was born with a medical condition that is causing a lot of pain. People we thought were friends are not supportive. My son told me that we don't really have friends, only people we used to know.

The best we could do was buy a college textbook on the New Testament and discuss what it says. I think this might be one of the reasons he begs to move away from here. He just needs more than he can get here. We also have the family discussions with my husband about religious beliefs and things that are happening in the news. I continue to look for resources.

Good luck in your search, amylou!

Your question reminded me of two of my high school teachers who made classical philosophy interesting enough to me to start out my undergraduate years as a philosophy major.

I did go to a Catholic high school, and did have trouble with the day "the hierarchy of religions" was discussed. But that was a few days out of two very interesting years.

I liked reading CS Lewis' and Madeleine L'Engle's non-fiction works. I even went to a talk given by Madeleine L'Engle at a nearby university, about which I only remember that I got to bask in her presence and that my dad was so willing to drive me to things he had no interest in himself.

For one class, we watched the movie "My Dinner With Andre."

A third vote for the UUs. Especially for an ardent and vocal atheist (I am an atheist and feel very at home in my UU church). Our church spends a lot of time considering questions of morality and philosophy. Sometimes using religious texts as one point of reference in the discussion, but looking at the subjects from many perspectives and not through a theistic lens. Different congregations do have different flavors on this, though. My oldest D belongs to a large UU congregation in Washington DC with several pastors, and when I went to church with her I noticed that some of the pastors were more "theist" than others. So if she wants to try it you might plan to go to a couple different ones if there are choices in your area.

I also attended my first Mensa meeting recently and there were a few teenagers there. I chatted with them, and they seemed like the types who would enjoy a good philosophy discussion!

What is a good overview of philosophy? There is a multi-volume series by Frederick Copleston, but what are the better single-volume treatments?

Two of my favorite philosophical works are Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" and Spinoza's "Ethics" (the original is tough going, but I suggest "Spinoza: An Introduction to His Philosophical Thought" by Stuart Hampshire).

Several posts have mentioned the intersection of religion and philosophy. I read "Atheism: The Case Against God" by George H. Smith in my early 20s. I think it was well-argued, and it confirmed my non-belief.

Tech entrepreneur and essayist Paul Graham has argued that philosophy has largely been a dead end http://paulgraham.com/philosophy.html , and he has actually read the philosophers he criticizes (he started college as a philosophy major).

I just remembered that one of the things we did a few years ago was use sparknotes.com philosophy study guides. Plato's Republic is one of the things we read. I only bought a few philosophy books and spent more time using sparknotes than reading those books.

E-gifted sometimes hosts a philosophy class. I believe we are doing one in October. You should get on the mailing list by going the website and at the bottom you can put your email in.

www.egifted.org