Subjects
Our subjects vary from year to year according to the needs of our students and availability of experienced teachers. We pride ourselves on our teacher team. Each teacher is passionate about their subject and has years of teaching experience in the home and classroom.
Geography
Geography is taught on a 3 year rotation World Geography for 2 and U.S. History for 1 year. Junior High students will begin to learn basic note taking skills, while working on their individual map skills, coloring their own map of the U.S. We’ll be using living books and mapping through each story in class. High school students will have some required homework each week to complete the course.
Bible
Bible is taught in the context of weaving a thread for students to connect the Old Testament to the New Testament. This is a 4 year rotation of 1) Genesis through the life of Moses, 2) Old Testament & History of Israel, 3) John, the Life of Jesus & 4 Gospels 4) Revelation. Junior High & High School students will also be focusing on note taking skills and narration. Light reading home work will be required of Junior High Students as training for the high school years. Homework will be required of High School students to complete the course.
Latin
Latin is taught beginning at age 5 through 7. Students will focus on vocab memorization of colors, days and numbers with some verb conjugating. 12 years and up have the opportunity to participate in Latin tutori
Literature
The foundation of the Literature class is helping parents ensure their children are familiar with classic literature going back to the very beginnings of literature.
For the younger students (ages 6-8/9?), we’ll start each year with a few Aesop’s fables and some poetry. Through reading excellent literature, we will cover basic phonics, play with rhyme, build vocabulary, and introduce elements of literature. We will also incorporate elements intended to reach auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners.
For older students, the principles remain the same but build according to the increasing abilities of these students. We will not only build vocabulary, but also learn more about the history of English. We will begin to learn the whys of English and literature as well as the hows.
In the oldest group, learning the history of literature will include Aristotle’s Poetics wherein he outlined the basics truths of literature over 2,000 years ago. Selections from Nicomachean Ethics may also be included. We will begin each year with four weeks on a Shakespeare play, with the next four weeks for poetry.
Older students will need their own copy of the reading selections for each school year and will have reading homework as well as some short writing assignments, such as character analysis.
Writing (High School only)
The framework of this class will be the first three books of the Memoria Press Classical Composition series. These are the beginning stages of the Progymnasmata progression. The first three are Fable, Narrative, and Chreia/Maxim. Rather than completing every lesson at each level, we will practice some of all three. Homework will be necessary.
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Art
Art varies from year to year based on students abilities and interests and what was covered in previous years. We focus on hand crafts for hand eye coordination with younger students, including weaving, knot tying, beading and water coloring. Older student have the opportunity to learn many concepts including portraiture, watercolor and studies in line, shape and shading.
Science
Junior high and younger will go through a unit study each semester on varying science topics, including messy experiments, hands on learning opportunities and activities.