S.H.A.P.E. In a Nutshell
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. “Deut 6:5-7
This is our heart for homeschooling. SHAPE was developed to help carry the load. Our goal is to support families throughout the journey of home education by providing community and experiential learning to enrich your personal curriculum. 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 network of certified, experienced teachers who have a love for home education and a dedication to investing in the overall growth of each individual learner. Our families enjoy field trips, guest speakers, class picture day, in-house evaluations, social outings, field day, fire safety education, charity projects, and theatrical performances in addition to the base subjects offered. 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.
Science
Each year we choose Science topics which relate to our History time-period. We take an inter-disciplinary approach, integrating lessons through real-life application. We focus on a love and respect for nature through journaling and observation during weekly time outdoors. Past science topics have included World Ecosystems, Farming, and Food, Earth and Space, Simple Machines and Engineering, Anatomy and Biology. Some of the projects the students have enjoyed are cooking over a fire, growing seedlings, hatching eggs, survival techniques, foraging, shelter building, engineering challenges and experiments, and collaborative projects.
History
History comes alive at SHAPE though games, projects and simulations . In addition kids engage in literature study, activities, and crafts. Each year we focus on a historical time-period. In past years we have enjoying learning about the Age of Exploration, American Revolution, Louis and Clark, Westward expansion, Civil War, Immigration, Medieval times, and the Renaissance. Studies includes world cultures, geography, major events, and historical relevance. The kids love being a part of the history they are learning about.
Arts
Everyone is an artist! Our approach is to equip children with the tools to express creativity through various media while building up their self-confidence. We want to give each student the chance to explore and practice with different materials while learning basic skills and techniques. Pupils explore famous artists and 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 indoor and outdoor spaces for everything from Capture the Flag to historical games to snow play. Mid-day break is filled with Basketball, Gaga ball, hide and seek, and pick-up games of football or whiffle-ball. During class we play competitive and team building games. Winter allows us to get creative outdoors with snow play and imaginative exploration. When outside play is not an option, we use our indoor space for four corners, four square, dodge ball, parachute, and other games. Our goal is to train our bodies as well as our minds as we integrate sportsmanship, teamwork, health, and self control into each lesson.
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. Students have ample choice time allotted for play throughout the day to explore personal interests and build meaningful relationships. We encourage whole-child development through engaged curiosity, growth mindset discussion, and problem-solving cultivation. We seek to SHAPE each other in order to SHAPE the world.