Hello SLOCA Families-
It’s Thursday, it must be update time! I heard someone say recently
“you’ll probably address this in the blog”. That was very encouraging
to know people are not only reading but are looking forward to finding out more! We do have many news items to share.
We Are Official!
San Luis Obispo Classical Academy is an officially recognized corporate entity at the state level! This is the first of three big steps toward becoming a nonprofit corporation at the state and federal levels.
Why Nonprofit if it’s so much work?
We have been asked this question a few times. The purpose of going the extra steps to form a nonprofit corporation is to allow us to secure grants for curriculum, computer labs, special training opportunities for parent teachers and mentor teachers, and many other support services for the school. In addition, as a nonprofit entity the school will be able to receive donations for the ongoing benefit of program function and those who donate receive a tax deduction. These are long term goals but much easier to implement from the beginning rather than go back and reconstruct at a later date.
Intake Interviews
We have established an official parents with directors interview which each prospective family will attend. As we have been gathering data regarding how private schools function, one consistent point has been an initial interview between the parents and directors. The purpose of the interview is to discuss how both the school and family will implement the classical model, to discuss the SLOCA Code of Conduct and to clarify any questions that may have come up in the application process. This interview process also provides time for either the family or the school to reconsider the partnership with SLOCA. As a family indicates their interest in applying to the school, we are scheduling the interviews in August.
School Site Options
We had a great time meeting our many of our committed families on Tuesday evening. Of the many things we discussed our site need was a priority. There were many new ideas suggested and contacts are being made to follow up with the great suggestions. We’re so glad to have such a great group of families! Hopefully we will have this site issue resolved soon!
School Size Limit
We have discussed how to best meet the needs of all the students who want to join us this year and we have decided to set a limit on the total number of students per class at 12. That means in first grade we currently have only 4 openings. If you know interested families, please encourage them to contact us soon. We are amazed at the number of calls and emails asking for more information about SLOCA daily. Thanks to you all for spreading the word!
The Feature Article this week is-
What is Home Schooling Like?
This is a question that has a variety of answers. For some it has added a wonderful dynamic to their family. For others (those of us over-doers!) it may add a lot of work. Allow me to explore this topic a bit for those of you who have not yet home schooled. I think of three F’s when I think of a way to talk about home schooling, and those are not letter grades! Freedom, Flexibility, and Fun! These are ideas that really epitomize this journey for me. Freedom to establish a schedule that is conducive to the life of your family. Freedom to spend as much or as little time on a subject as you see fit. Freedom to skip to a different subject than you did at that time on another day. There are many more I’m sure that other home schoolers can think of as well. Flexibility is tied to freedom. But there is more to it as well. In home schooling your children you have the flexibility to adjust the instruction of a particular subject to meet the needs of your child. Let’s use a math lesson for an example. You sit with your child and begin a lesson. As you are asking clarifying questions, you realize they understand the concept quickly. You have the flexibility to give them two or three skill practice problems to verify your observations, and once completed you can move on if you so choose. The final word for our family has been FUN! We have been able to spend time with Daddy when Daddy could take time off and not feel like we were shirking responsibility. We have built LEGO creations to represent the Pyramids, a castle, an oceanography unit and many other demonstrations of learning. We have done lots of math through baking together and of course eating together! We have been able to serve the needy at the Food Bank distribution site. I can go on and on. My point is home schooling is what your family makes it. We will be here to mentor you through the new adventure for your family and are looking forward to partnering with you in the journey.
On Curriculum:
We had a great resource mentioned to us that we want to be sure to pass on. www.childsbooks.com is the web address. Their prices were consistently lower than other sites. It’s worth checking out!
Finally…
We so appreciate all the great questions and suggestions that have been shared. Please keep them coming!
Again, if you would like to be removed from this update list just email us to let us know and we will quickly honor your request!
Until next week,
Susie Theule and Lisa Lewis
“Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.”
William Yeats
Contact information:
San Luis Obispo Classical Academy
P.O. Box 3601,
San Luis Obispo, CA 93403-3601
805-748-4048
email: [email protected]
blog: http://sloca.blogspot.com
