Because taking on the role of home educator can be a challenging and even daunting task, SLO Classical Academy prioritizes parent support in a number of ways.
At SLO Classical Academy, we refer to our site teachers as “Mentor Teachers” because that is the role they play in the lives of the "Parent Teachers" who teach their children on home days. A mentor is one who has walked a given path before and is able to provide wisdom and encouragement to someone who has little or no experience in the subject. The Parent Teacher has access to the Mentor Teacher via email and occasionally by phone in order to ask questions about instruction, difficulties, joys, challenges, etc. The Mentor Teachers keep office hours throughout the week for appointments to meet with Parent Teachers. The beauty of this model is there is as much or as little support as is appropriate for the parent teacher’s needs. There is a system of weekly accountability for the benefit of the student and parent in order to provide ongoing support and communication between home and school site.
When your children are enrolled at SLO Classical Academy, our goal is to support you in every way we can!
As we work to move forward together in providing an exceptional education experience, we offer and sometimes require parent training throughout the year. Parents are required to train in the writing program we use, are often provided with training in teaching history, and are given a multitude of training opportunities in areas unique to home education: teaching multiple children, getting organized, using the library, and teaching with toddlers are just a few of the topics covered.
Much of this training comes from parents who have years of experience at the school, and are specially equipped to share their own stories, offer support, and shed light on issues that come up frequently for all home educators.
We also seek to provide workshop opportunities for our parents and the local community. To hear some of the workshops we have offered, click here
We have an incredible parent community at SLO Classical Academy, unified by each parent’s desire to offer their child/ren an incredible educational experience that fosters a passion for learning, provides the tools necessary to think on one’s own, and prepares these children uniquely as leaders for the future. We come from different backgrounds, but are bound together by this common goal.
There are several ways the parents support each other – each class has a parent liaison that heads up a support system for that class, there are monthly PIE meetings that offer parent inspiration and encouragement, and it is common to find parents talking things through on the playground!
In addition to more formal training, there is a fun Parent Reading Club that meets once monthly over food and drink to discuss a piece of literature. Often, we will read the book next on our list to read with our children, but occasionally fit in a book just for plain fun. In the process, we not only increase our ability to process literature with our kids, but we truly grow ourselves.
We also not only encourage but require reading aloud with your student/s. While independent reading is also necessary, we find that reading aloud does wonders for the children, the family and the parents – personal development in its easiest form! |
