Benefits of a Homeschooling Academy

Homeschooling offers the opportunity to create a customized curriculum for each student. The lifestyle gives freedom from the boundaries of a traditional school week, which often equals much more free time to pursue personal interests. Still, it can be challenging to create a sense of community for both parent and children of like-minded individuals. Our solution was to create a homeschooling academy.

Our weekly classes serve to create an environment that encourages children to love learning while providing opportunities for academic excellence and achievement. We assist families by offering weekly classes taught by specialists in each field who are usually homeschooling parents as well. By pooling our resources, we are able to offer a rich diversity of expertise that helps families build upon their own knowledge and abilities by providing broader educational experiences.

Our classes support the home education program through classroom experiences, giving both a framework as well as outside accountability and mentoring. Often when homeschooled children reach middle school, they will wish to pursue subject matter that is difficult or foreign to the parent teacher. Many high school students require courses which some parents feel uncomfortable teaching on their own. Our classes help meet these needs for families by bridging any gaps in the home education program, while offering the benefits of a small-sized classroom experience for students.

It is important to note that our classes are not meant to absolve the parent of their responsibility for their child's education. We seek to create a place where parents can share the resources of others to meet the educational needs of each child in a joint effort. Some subjects are just more fun with a group! Classes include, but are not limited to: mathematics, science, foreign language, history, geography, writing, literature, social sciences, public speaking, and fine arts.

Academic goals are not the only benefit of a homeschooling academy co-op. Fireside Academy helps foster a sense of community for homeschooling families. Our enrichment classes and extra-curricular activities provide opportunities for social interaction with others who understand a lifestyle focused on family and education. Opportunities to participate in musical theater and chorus programs, or to develop new hobbies by learning to paint or sew, are vital to a rich educational experience. Teens love the opportunity to create a yearbook and newspaper, documenting their experiences and providing information for our co-op families.

Most important is the overwhelming sense of community. All our teachers volunteer their time to teach. Other parents volunteer their time in various capacities. This coming together with a single goal is something that is not attained through other outside classes. Feel free to visit our site on the web for more ideas (see the link below in blue).

Angela Landis, Lehigh Valley, PA, USA

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