Little Cottage School

Fall was fully upon us! One day we were enjoying the beautifully changing leaves, and the next day, we were covered in snow! Next week is Thanksgiving! It's crazy how fast this year has flown. It seems like I was just lying in bed, recovering from surgery, and planning the school year. Now, here we are in the thick of cold weather and lessons!

 As I type this, I am sitting at my oldest son's cottage school. I have had many people ask me what a cottage school is so I thought I would share about it. I'm sure cottage schools range in differences as much as other types of schools do, so I will describe what ours is like.

Every Tuesday, we have a group of students who meet at a local church and take classes from paid tutors. The class sizes are small, and each student's parents pay a fee for the 1.5 hours of instruction. 

The tutor/instructor/facilitator/teacher (whatever you would like to call him/her) goes over the new material, leads class projects, discussions, or presentations, and assigns homework for the rest of the week.

Last year, Garrison (my oldest son, a junior now) took chemistry and an integrated three-hour-block class based on David Quine's Cornerstone Tutorials. This class was a doozy, worth nine credits because it covered so many subjects. It was quite a learning curve for our whole family, but that's another story for another day! This year, Garrison is taking government (from a lawyer!) first semester and civics and economics second semester.

The way our school works: There are five periods in a day, beginning at 9 A.M. and ending at 5 P.M. Parents sign their students up for the classes they will take and there is a study hall room students can utilize if they have periods when they don't have classes.

I truly appreciate the excellence with which our school is run. There is a board who makes all decisions and implements all policies. There is a contractual agreement that all students and parents sign to ensure we are operating on the same page with the same expectations.

We do have a dress code which I also like. We are trying to set a standard of professionalism in the students...you know, train in all areas of life. There is such an "I don't care" attitude in this age among young people.

Moving on to the class instruction itself, I will use my son's government class for an example. As I said, this class is taught by a lawyer. The school searches to find tutors with solid credentials for our classes. He is such a wonderful man, full of excitement and joy about young people and the difference they can make in their world!

My son arrives for class just before 10:30 on Tuesday mornings. He signs himself into the sign-in table where a volunteer sits to welcome parents and students and keep an eye on who comes in the church building.

After signing in for the day, Garrison walks to his classroom, chooses his own seat around a long set of tables. The teacher arrives and they begin to discuss material that was read over the previous week. They move on to any presentations or activities. 

I really love how this teacher facilitates discussion in his class! He challenges his students by firing questions at them from the opposing point of view. It's great training in logical thinking.

My son's class ends at noon. He likes to stay for the lunch period to visit with friends. That is the only class he has that worked for our curriculum plan and needs for this semester. 

All in all, I just can't share enough praise about our little cottage school. It has been a blessing to our family and provided connections into the homeschool community. Out of this, we found our speech and debate club!

My other two sons are part of a homeschool co-op. I'll tell you more about that and the differences between these two schooling options next time. 

Take care!