General FAQ

  • Where is your contact page? We have our contact information posted here.
  • What costs are involved? There is a $100 fee to process your application. Tuition for a full year is $3,000. We offer a 10% discount to families who pay in full at the time of registration. We also have two monthly payment options. Families are offered the option of paying $300 per month from August 2015 through May 2016, or paying $250 per month from August 2015 through July 2016. Payment is due on the tenth of each month. Beforer the tax-free holiday in August, we will publish a list of typical school supplies as well as unique items like rain gear, boots, watercolor pencils, etc. Any books you purchase belong to your family.
  • Will we have to pay for a lot of books? No, many of our books are public domain. You can download them for free or purchase them for a small price. Yesterday's Classics offers a bargain bundle that contains some of our books. We only require one copy for the classroom if the book is expensive or out-of-print. We will give you a list of required books with your supply list.
  • Why are some of your books old or out-of-print? Through the 1940s, most children's books were written in a narrative style (facts clothed in story with lovely rabbit trails). We do include modern books and award-winning books as long as they tell a narrative and meet the needs of the curricula. Our aim is to find the best living books, which is determined by how well the students narrate them.
  • Where is your school schedule? We are in the process of making a calendar and will post it soon. School starts near the end of August, and classes meet from 8:30 through 2:10, Monday through Friday. We have thirty-six weeks of school with breaks at Christmas and Easter but only a handful of three-day weekends and no half-days.
  • Do you have class on Fridays? Yes, some of our students enjoy Friday so much that they forget it is school, hence, the rumor.
  • Will you offer a preschool program in the future? We do not offer full-day preschool at this time. If you need a preschool program for your child, contact the Montessori preschool in Summerton. If you would like to know what Charlotte Mason, who specialized in ages two through nine in her early career, wrote about children under age six, contact us and we will be happy to meet with you.
  • Why is there so little homework? This style of education requires the mind to be attentive for a good portion of the day. Adults who have been through a two-hour immersion into their child's day report mental exhaustion. You will know they are learning enough when they trade their superheroes for Vikings and pioneers or when you catch them reenacting something from Shakespeare. They might bring home critters or read a book. Some begin to ask a lot of questions or come home excited to tell you something they learned at school. Living ideas take interesting journeys in the imagination. High school students do have some homework.
  • How do you assess students short-term? Whenever a child reads aloud, retells a passage, describes something seen, draws, or writes, teachers assess what the child knows. Students are to know while teachers are to see that students know. 
  • How do you assess students long-term? We break up our year into three terms. Each term has eleven weeks of careful study, followed by a term finale when we assess long-term memory. Students share what they know about a topic. Primary students orally tell their thoughts to a scribe—teacher, staff, or volunteer—who records their narration. Elementary students and above write their narrations. They will also have a chance to recite a poem from memory, sing in English or Spanish, do some math problems, draw, or read aloud.
  • What do you do with shy students? We believe some children are shy because they are afraid of getting the wrong answer. We focus on allowing children to share what they know, instead of asking narrowly defined questions. Children open up when given the freedom to share what they think. We assess in alternative ways by seeing what they draw and write and watching their imaginative play, which are avenues for extremely shy children.
  • How can children keep track of multiple threads of history and geography? Classrooms will have a timeline and maps posted to help students put people, locations, and events in their proper place. Because we focus on a period of time, we can address what is happening in the United States and other parts of the world. Children have no problem keeping it straight because of the way knowledge is presented (in a narrative).
  • Why is there so much English and Canadian history? English history is our history up until the time we became a nation. Our history is interconnected with that of our neighbors to the North and South, and we ought to know a bit of their histories, too.
  • Does the curriculum offer enough science? We open the doors of science with a healthy dose of wonder in the early years. We develop powers of observation to help students gather and notebook first-hand knowledge through nature study, gardening, and applying what they read. Biographies of scientists teach students how scientists think and inspires perseverance, hard work, and diligence.
  • Will students get enough exposure to technology? Students today have too much exposure to technology which can shorten attention span and led to sedentary habits. We use technology mindfully when it enhances their learning. As students mature, we show them how to use the tools of technology in meaningful ways.
  • Why Spanish? We believe in starting the acquisition of a second language early through the ear at first in different contexts (nursery songs, rhymes, plays, children's literature, and conversations). It makes sense to learn to speak the language of one of our neighboring countries (Canada or Mexico). Because we live in a rural county with a Latino population that is growing in number, Spanish makes sense for HCS. A few high schoolers are taking German.
  • Why does Shakespeare start in fourth grade? At Harvest, the play's the thing! We watch a little snippet of the Bard, scripts in hand, break up into small groups to act it out with props and improvisation, and meet up for a large group showing and "ham it up" time. Play is the royal road to more serious study in high school.
  • Who is Plutarch? Like Shakespeare, Plutarch, a Greek writer from the first century AD, was widely read during the founding of our country. He paired biographies of famous Greeks and Romans to spotlight character. Shakespeare used his work as the source for his plays on Roman history. Plutarch is the father of political science as pointed out by Dr. George Grant of King's Meadow Study Center  in his article "Why Read Plutarch?"
  • What is paper sloyd? Paper sloyd is the construction of paper objects in a way that develops habits of attention and perfect work while teaching students to use paper, scissors, ruler, hole-puncher, compass, tape, glue, string, etc. Gifted students sharpen math and visual-spatial skills by making their own designs.
  • Why is your curricula drawn from the homeschooling community? AmblesideOnline began developing their free curricula in 2000. Homeschoolers and private schools all over the world have vetted these books. Our sister school, Red Mountain, has gleaned from the enduring work of AO as have we in the past three years.
  • Who is Charlotte Mason? She was a British educator who invested her life in improving the quality of education at the turn of the 20th century. Her revolutionary methods led to a shift from utilitarian education to an education based upon living ideas. Her methods have led to a new generation of teachers, students, schools, and homeschools based on her philosophy.