General Information
|
An Overview of
the Christiana Homeschool Academy Program
Christiana Homeschool Academy is a classical, Christ-centered
classroom based program for homeschoolers. If you would be
interested in a two day a week structured program, which offers
group learning for your children, please read on. It provides the
“best of both worlds” of homeschooling and private school
education. The following is a brief overview of the CHA program.
In the Beginning
We
began as a group of families who ran this program for the first time
in 2001-2002 as a pilot program on a cooperative basis. We had
great success! The kids and the moms grew and learned faster than
we had ever imagined possible! Happily, we decided to open the
program to the public based on the facility we procured, as well as
the tremendous fruits we experienced during that first year.
Very
Christ-centered in nature, we are Catholics and Evangelicals working
together to produce Godly leaders for our society. Our common
beliefs unite us at school, while our individual doctrines are
studied at home. The program of education follows the Classical
Methodology largely taken from ideas in The Well-Trained Mind,
by Susan Wise Bauer and The Thomas Jefferson Education, by
Oliver DeMille. Our curriculum is varied and pulls from what we
believe to be the best on the market from both Christian and secular
sources. We choose the Classical approach because it will best
prepare our children to be articulate, well educated, and respected
members of society who will truly make a positive impact on the
world because of their faith and their training.
The
Classical methodology is based on the Trivium, which is made up of
three distinct developmental stages of education. The following is
a brief description of how the Trivium, comprised of the Grammar
stage, the Dialectic (or logic) stage, and the Rhetoric stage, is
implemented at Christiana.
Grammar Stage
The
first of the three stages, the grammar stage comprises the first
four years of elementary school, give or take a few months or a
year. The K-3rd grades are geared towards preparing the children
for the fourth grade year where academics become more enhanced and
focused. In the younger (K-3) years the students are given lots of
exposure to many different areas of content. They focus on
recovering lost classical tools such as memorizing, narrating and
retelling stories, as well as outlining and constant review. These
tools are applied and practiced especially in the areas of history,
science and language arts. Student’s minds are opened to the joy of
learning with lots of hands on and interactive activities. They
memorize and recite poetry as well as prayers and songs in Latin
(public speaking skills). Sign Language is also a favorite among
this group. Music and Art appreciation provide more stimulation and
practice of the classical learning tools. We do NOT teach them
phonics and/or spelling at the Academy. This is done at home with
the curriculum choice of the parents to ensure the individual rate
and needs of the child are met. Children are on so many different
levels in the areas of Math and Phonics, that those subjects are
best studied at each child’s individual rate at home. Some practice
of basic math skills in the form of games and drills is provided,
but families choose and implement their own curricula for Math.
Beginning in third grade, students are given a Math study hall so
they won’t need to return home at the end of the day only to do
their math! Students in the third through 7th grades
bring math pages from home to work on during math study hall and
there is a math monitor to help with problems. The math monitor
begins each study hall with 15 minutes of games and drills to
encourage the memorization of math facts, which are basic to the
math education at this age.
Homework Assignment Sheets are sent home on Mondays for all grades
but Kindergarten. The homework for 1st grade is only in
History, and the assignments throughout the grammar stage are
carefully designed to become increasingly challenging through the
Grammar stage years. Light homework is assigned for 2nd
graders on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Friday is seen as a day for
catching up, chores, and field trips etc. This stage is
characterized by an intense involvement with varied and exciting
stimuli designed to intrigue and delight the young growing mind.
Dialectic Stage (Logic)
The
next group, (4th/5th – 7th/8th) is not given
the wide variety that the younger ones experience, as they need to
spend their class time in a more focused and deeper study of the
core subjects of Latin, Spanish, Science, History, Grammar, and
Writing. Again we do NOT teach Math or Reading. As mentioned
above, math study hall is provided for students in the 3rd
through 7th grades, with a monitor working on drills for
the first 15 minutes of the class. The History classes are
inclusive of period Literature which is incorporated into the class
discussion. The children get an excellent, in depth education in all
of the above fields according to the Classical Method which means a
deep and analytical look at each topic for study. Our focus is
largely on learning to think, and practicing communication skills,
both written and oral. The classes are well integrated across
subjects. Developing writing skills is integral to our program as
well as paramount to a student’s success in all subjects, especially
history and science. Furthermore, Latin grammar is understood
better in light of English grammar studies, and visa versa. As in
the Grammar stage, Homework Assignment Sheets are handed out in each
class on Mondays. They detail what is to be covered in class on
Monday and Wednesday, as well as what is to be done at home on
Tuesday and Thursday. Increasingly in Middle School, students have
more homework to do on Fridays as well. This stage is characterized
by a growing love of learning, articulated by newly formed opinions,
and a gradual recognition and acceptance of responsibility for the
desired education.
Rhetoric Stage
The
final stage, high school, is the rhetoric stage. During this phase,
the students are learning to take all the information they gathered
together with their opinions, and now put them eloquently into
words, in both written and oral forms. Their reading load increases
as they enter into the “Great Books” years. In the rhetoric stage
students are applying all that they have learned to the world around
them, and especially in their classes, where discussion will be
taking place on a regular basis! Parents must, at this point in
their children’s education, be willing and able, or at least
willing, to hold lively discussions with their rhetoric stage
children about the Classics they are reading as their students seek
to understand and apply all that they have read and discussed in
class. Rhetoric students will continue in their scientific studies
and languages, but will be getting in touch with where their
strengths lie, and will be able to spend some time studying topics
of their own choice as they near the end of the high school years.
Their study of logic and rhetoric is integral to their thought
processes as they develop and stretch their minds. It enables the
clear and concise writing with which they will be equipped for
life. As their worldviews are being shaped, their faith is faced
with the realities of the society and world around them, and they
need encouragement, challenge, and understanding as they continue to
form themselves in this final stage of Primary education. By this
time, their love of learning and debate is solidified and their
foundation is firm.
Integral
Formation of the Student
At CHA
we seek to form the whole child, not just the academics. By
building an environment which is at once Christian, and academically
stimulating, we hope to develop leaders who are self motivated and
will effect positive changes in our culture at large. By imbuing
them with values and morals which are commensurate with a Christian
worldview, in an intellectual environment, we will be giving them a
gift for life, which will serve them, their future families and the
societies they live in, immeasurably. Our program includes not only
intramural sports after school, but organized outreach projects to
develop a sense of mission and stewardship of the gifts they have
been given. Field trips to tie in with current studies are
organized several times a year, and families are encouraged to
participate in several family activities throughout the year in
order to promote a sense of family and fun. Our goal at CHA is to
produce wholesome activities and learning situations to meet the
needs of minds, hearts, souls and bodies of the students and their
families.
A final
factor to the integral formation of the student is that of the
involvement of the parents. Because children have differing
abilities at varying stages of their education, CHA parents as the
primary educators, have the flexibility to modify homework in order
for each child to be successful. The parents, who have the final
responsibility for their children’s formation and education play an
integral role in making CHA a successful program. Those students
whose parents are invested in the mission of raising leaders for
Christ according to a classical methodology will be confidently
equipped to build the Kingdom of God with excellence. Parents who
are constantly in formation themselves, by taking opportunities to
read, learn and grow are positive role models for their children
and reap the best fruits. Our hope at CHA is to not only support,
but challenge and stimulate the parents in addition to the students,
to be the best parents and mentors they can be for each of their
children in all of their many stages of life.
We
believe that the comprehensive Program of Life that we offer at CHA
is truly the “best of both worlds”!
For
more information on “What is a Classical Education”, please visit
the following website and read “Recovering The Lost Tools of
Learning” by Dorothy Sayers.
www.logosschool.com/files/LostTools.asp |
