Learning Tree Academy: And Just WHAT are we doing again?

Learning Tree Academy: And Just WHAT are we doing again?:   I feel quite confident if you are here or watching us via Facebook your biggest question is, “what will this cooperative look like.”   A...

And Just WHAT are we doing again?

 I feel quite confident if you are here or watching us via Facebook your biggest question is, “what will this cooperative look like.”  And really, it is the most important question.  If you are like me, you have a clear vision on what you want your child’s education to look and feel like.  So I am going to attempt to paint a picture.  Please feel free to chime in with questions or comments!

Learning Tree Academy

Overview:We are looking to do something that has not been done in the Richmond area by marrying homeschooling with a more “school” like environment. 

School for most is looked at as a one stop shop.  You drop your children off and when they are picked up that day, they have been “educated.”  Typically, the most parental involvement that families have with hands on instruction is with their children’s homework.  Conversely, most homeschoolers bear not only the task of educating their children entirely, but also serving as social intermediary.  Our approach is different.

We see learning as an active process that occurs between student, teacher and parents. All have to be engaged in the process. Think of the academy as an educational tool to help redistribute the burden, not to remove it.  The emphasis is on the intersection where home and “school” come together, as such learning should extend beyond classroom time.  There will be a teacher on site approximately 3 hours a day.  The learning will be child centered, but facilitated by the teacher.  The teacher will introduce concepts to your child within a rich setting and your child will have different modalities in which to explore the concept. Sometimes that may be all your child needs, sometimes they will need you to help reinforce things beyond the classroom.   You will meet periodically with the teacher and they will review concepts that they will be introducing in class that you should be reinforcing at home.  You will also find out areas in which your child shows particular interest or talent.  There should never be a time when you are not aware of what is happening in the classroom at a given period or not clear on your child’s interests and areas you might want to watch or support.

After instruction, the children will all share lunch together.  The second part of the day is enrichment.   Depending on what is decided going into that year, enrichment might involve contracting an outside instructor to do some classes or it might be parent led. 

The other thing that will be unique about what we are doing is you can choose to do a whole day or just our enrichment program.   One of the frustrations with homeschooling is having to drive all over town to find enrichment activities for your children.  We would like to open the enrichment part to homeschoolers not interested in the academic day, but want a “one and done” place to provide their children with access to arts, music, language and more. 

Curriculum:The academy will take a child centered approach.  Child centered learning is a philosophy of education that focuses on learning by doing.  To paint a clearer picture, let’s say the concept being taught is fractions.  The teacher will introduce the concept.  To reinforce the concept the children will be given an option of either using a mixing bowl and water and various measuring cups to explore how many quarter, or eighth cups make a whole cup of water, or they might want to go to the area that has a play pizza to explore fractions, and if they are a worksheet sort of kid, they can do a worksheet. After they explore, they then have the opportunity to present to their classmate what they found. This not only builds their confidence and understanding of the skill, but allows the other students to learn at a peer to peer level. What is important is that they explore and use the concept in a way that is meaningful and concrete to them.   It is an approach that allows the teacher to individualize the learning process for your child.

Parents Role in the Academy : Your role is important.  In fact, it is critical in reducing the cost of your fees. The amount of time you are responsible for will be determined by enrollment.  While not everyone is comfortable leading a class there are many, many other ways you can contribute.

Planning field trips

Helping clean the space

Paperwork and Bookkeeping

Library Runs (to get material pertinent to the class)

Fundraising

What if I Work Full Time or Can Not Complete My Hours: The “dues” are based on the assumption you will not complete your hours.  While most of your dues  will go directly to pay for building fees and teacher fees, a portion is held in escrow.  At midterm, if you have completed your hours required you will be refunded half the amount held in escrow.  At year end, if you complete the hours required you will be given the remainder. You will have a set amount of time you are responsible for per week.  You cannot hold your time and “knock it out” the last month or so.

As a reminder, this refers to in school time.  No matter the circumstance you will still need to be engaged in co teaching your children at home if this is going to be successful for your child.  

So that is the concept in a nutshell. There is so much to iron out, but we will open in the fall. We hope you will join us!