S. H. A. P. E
In a nutshell
It all started with a small art class in the barn. It has grown into a full day of adventure covering Science, History, Arts, and Phys. Ed for homeschoolers from kindergarten to middle school. We offer a community of certified, experienced teachers who have a love for home education and a dedication to providing a thorough, hands-on education while investing in the overall growth of each individual learner. Our community enjoys family field trips, guest speakers, class picture day, in-house evaluations, mom’s nights, field day, fire safety education, charity projects, and theatrical performances, in addition to the base subjects offered. Our goal is to offer assistance in the journey of homeschooling by giving you a day to breathe and taking some of the pressure off. Each student goes home at the end of the year with a folder of work for each subject to complete your portfolio and endless experiences that can hardly be called “school”.
Registration begins each April based on availability. Please contact us to set up a tour.
More than just Science, History, Arts, and Phys Ed!
Science
Science covers a variety of concepts. We focus on a love and respect for nature. We do this through journaling and observation during weekly walks through our fields, woods, and creek. It also includes farm animal care and development. The focus of this year is Living off the Land, Farming, and Food. Some of the projects the students are enjoying are cooking over a fire, growing seedlings, survival techniques including fire starting, foraging, shelter building and herbology. We are delving deeper into biology with experiments on microbiology and water safety. Our yearly science program also includes farm animal care and development, egg incubation, and breeding rabbits.
History
We love living history books! Our focus for history is a read-aloud setting where we explore historical periods through historical fiction and biographies. In addition to listening, the kids engage in period appropriate activities and crafts. This year we are enjoying learning the period of westward expansion including the Oregon trail, Gold Rush and Pioneer life. This study includes Native American culture, geography of the United States, the states; then and now, and the historical journey of our developing country. The kids love being a part of the history they are learning about.
Arts
Everyone is an artist! Our approach to art is to equip children with the tools to express creativity through various media while building up their self-confidence to create. We want to give each student the chance to explore and practice with different materials while learning basic fine art skills and techniques. Pupils explore various famous artists and the Elements of Art though projects using paints, pastels, charcoal, clay, and more. Each week we observe an artist, practice a style or technique, and encourage each other while children share positive feedback on each other’s work. The students look forward to the freedom of expression and the uplifting peer comments accompanying each lesson.
Phys. Ed.
Physical Education can be a little out of the box at SHAPE. We get moving utilizing the entire 11 acres with everything from Capture the Flag to historical games to creek stomping. Mid-day break is filled with Gaga ball, hide and seek, and pick-up games of football or whiffleball in the yard. Many weeks we play competitive and team building games in the field such as kickball, relay races, tag, and sharks and minnows, the list goes on. Winter allows us to get creative outdoors with snow play and imaginative exploration in the woods. When outside play is not an option, we move into our indoor gymnasium space in the barn for basketball, four square, dodge ball, and other games. No matter the season or weather, we make sure to burn off some energy together!
More than just letters
S. H. A. P. E. may stand for the subjects we offer, but there is so much more. Character development is our primary goal. We design our schedule around the emotional needs of children. This encourages friendships to be forged, disagreements to be worked out, and concepts to be digested. Each week farmer’s helpers assist with the chores of gathering eggs, feeding, and watering the animals to learn to value of hard work and sacrifice. Students have ample social time allotted for play throughout the day to explore personal interests and build meaningful relationships. We utilize the outdoors as much as possible in any weather. However, winter brings the opportunity to slow down a bit inside the barn with board games and STEAM manipulatives, as well as foosball and gym games. We even have a library filled with books for students to peruse and borrow!