COLLABORATIVE EDUCATION

The basics

A collaborative education is one that, as its name suggests, allows for a unique collaboration between the parents and classroom teacher. The aim of collaborative education is to combine the best elements of a private Christian education and homeschooling. Valley Classical School provides a comprehensive curriculum and an intentional, planned scope and sequence for each subject area. 

All students attend school two days a week in a classroom setting with professional, qualified teachers; Upper School (grades 5th and up) students attend school one additional day with their teachers. These are full school days with the full range of subjects. Students then receive work to be completed at home with a parent on the alternate days. In Primer and Grammar school (grades PreK through 4th), Fridays are a flex day - a day for catching up on assignments, attending enrichment activities, or simply spending time with family. For Logic and Rhetoric Schools (5th grade and up), Fridays are used for additional coursework at home. VCS should not be considered a “part-time” schooling option, as school does meet five days per week--some days are on campus, and the other days are at home. To honor and recognize both the parents and VCS classroom teachers, we use the titles “co-teacher” to describe the parents of VCS students, and “campus teacher” to describe the classroom teacher.

campus Days

VCS students come to campus two or three days per week, depending on their grade level; Lower School students (grades PreK through 4th) attend school two days per week, and Upper School students (grades 5th and up) attend school three days per week. The days students attend classes on campus are called, “Campus Days.” Each campus day includes teaching in Classical Core: Math, Science, Language Arts, Latin, History, and Fine Arts or PE (Lower School has both). The on-campus teacher introduces new lessons and concepts for each academic discipline. Students will participate in a rigorous academic school day appropriate to their grade-level and stage in the Trivium.

Home days

Days where students are completing assignments at home are called, “Home Days.” On Home Days, Parents guide students in completing assignments prepared by the campus teacher, and the campus teacher serves as a resource to the parents. This arrangement gives parents more time to enjoy and train their children, yet also provides freedom from choosing/planning curriculum and always being “on” as teacher. It also offers flexibility in family schedules, allowing a range of other activities to supplement on-campus activities. The learning schedule during at-home days can be adapted to a student’s particular learning style.

The following are estimates for how much time will be needed on the home day to complete assignments. These numbers are simply a framework, and could certainly vary based on your child.

• Pre-K: home assignments are optional.

• Kindergarten: 1-2 hours (2 home days per week)

• 1st grade: 2-3 hours (2 home days per week)

• 2nd grade: 3-4 hours (2 home days per week)

• 3rd grade: 4-5 hours (2 home days per week)

• 4th grade: 4-6 hours (2 home days per week)

• 5th grade and up: 5+ hours (3 home days per week)

SAMPLE WEEKLY SCHEDULE 

• Monday: on-campus school day

• Tuesday: on-campus school day (grades 5th and up), and at-home school day (grades PreK-4th)

• Wednesday: on-campus school day

• Thursday: at-home school day

• Friday: activities vary by grade level. See above.