Highlands Latin School Cottage Program? Am I crazy?

[Guest twilkerson]

I went at the end of last school year and toured HLS Cottage School.  Seemed fine.  The classes that they offer seem really interesting.  My son is a rising 3rd grader, and I wanted something that would give me more accountability for him.  We have been doing Classical Conversations each Friday and so far so good.  I don't feel overwhelmed.  Now I am starting to get nervous.  I have enrolled my son in the HLS program from 8:30 to 3:30 on Mondays.  I've paid the $100 non-refundable deposit and am gettting ready to cut a check for a partial year's tuition.  I am afraid I am crazy for doing HLS and CC.  Will I spend so much time working with him on his work from HLS that we won't get anything else done?  Will I be overwhelmed? 

 

I also have a soon-to-be 6 year old who will be starting First grade.  I plan on working with her one on one on those Mondays while he's at the Cottage School  We live in a town that is exaclty 30 minutes from both HLS and our CC campus, so we won't be driving home on Mondays after I drop him off.  I had planned to take my daughter to the library and work with her there, run errands in that area of town, etc, until his school day is over.  But I am beginning to think I might be making a mistake putting him in HLS.  I really like that they offer Latin 1, English Composition, literature, and a Greek Myths class...but I would honestly be okay with just doing a couple out of those classes....although it wouldn't really be conventient to go to the Latin class at 8:30 and then come back several hours later for another class, so I just chose to enroll him for the entire day. 

 

Tell me....am I making a mistake?  Should I just see how it goes?  Help!

 

~Tiffany

[Guest twilkerson]

Thank you so much for your input, you've made me feel better about my decision :)

I've been thinking about it all day.  If I don't do it, I'll never know and probably regret it.  The only way to know for sure is if I try, I guess. 

[fourisenough]

Sounds pretty lovely to me.

 

We do something similar: CC on Mondays (full-day because we do Foundations & Essentials) and on Fridays we do an enrichment program 9-12 where my girls take French, art, ballet, and a hands-on class to accompany SOTW. I jealously guard our Tuesday-Thursday day times, however, so we can accomplish all we need to during the week.

 

You will find out pretty quickly whether it us a good fit, or if it is too much. I'm sure it would be too much for some families, but that is a personal decision.

[Storygirl]

I'd say it depends on the school, your student, and you whether it ends up being a good choice or not. When my oldest was in third grade, we enrolled her in a classical school that met two days a week with work assigned for them to complete on the other days. There were pros and cons. The following year, she took only a couple of classes, and the next year we quit altogether.

 

Pros: 

 *During the time she was in school, I could work with my younger three children.

 *The academics were challenging, and she enjoyed it.

 

Cons:

 *Some of the curriculum choices were not my favorite, but we had to do them anyway, instead of using what we liked/worked best for us.

 

*We had to complete assignments on their schedule, and there was a LOT of work -- hours and hours for every day that she was at home.

 

 *During her at-home days, she needed my full attention while she did her work, so I felt I was neglecting the other children.

 

 *Some of the assignments were busy work -- things that I didn't think added to the learning but had to be done anyway (ie, making a poster showing all the parts of a book for a Shirley grammar lesson or drawing a picture for each chapter of a book and making a mobile out of it).

 

 *We really struggled with the amount of writing required, since DD is not a natural writer.

 

 *Families that complained about the workload were told that children will rise to a challenge and needed to have a lot expected of them. Parents could not tailor the experience to meet their own child's needs.

 

This school aspired to use Highlands Latin as a model, but it was not affiliated with them. The students who persevere do gain an excellent education, but it was not a good fit for our family. I like to be in charge of my children's education, and having to do what someone else told us to do went against my goals for homeschooling and frankly annoyed me.

 

My issues may not be your own. Unless your school is set up differently than ours, participants need to be willing to give up  some control of their child's education. This was hard for me. And we didn't have time left over for me to do all the things that I wanted to do with her. Completing their work was very time consuming.

 

Do you know what volume of work is expected during the at-home days?

 

 

 

[FO4UR]

I think HLS and CC sounds crazy.  I'd just do HLS.

 

 

...super jealous...I want HLS...

[GrammarGirl]

I'd say it depends on the school, your student, and you whether it ends up being a good choice or not. When my oldest was in third grade, we enrolled her in a classical school that met two days a week with work assigned for them to complete on the other days. There were pros and cons. The following year, she took only a couple of classes, and the next year we quit altogether.

 

Pros:

*During the time she was in school, I could work with my younger three children.

*The academics were challenging, and she enjoyed it.

 

Cons:

*Some of the curriculum choices were not my favorite, but we had to do them anyway, instead of using what we liked/worked best for us.

 

*We had to complete assignments on their schedule, and there was a LOT of work -- hours and hours for every day that she was at home.

 

*During her at-home days, she needed my full attention while she did her work, so I felt I was neglecting the other children.

 

*Some of the assignments were busy work -- things that I didn't think added to the learning but had to be done anyway (ie, making a poster showing all the parts of a book for a Shirley grammar lesson or drawing a picture for each chapter of a book and making a mobile out of it).

 

*We really struggled with the amount of writing required, since DD is not a natural writer.

 

*Families that complained about the workload were told that children will rise to a challenge and needed to have a lot expected of them. Parents could not tailor the experience to meet their own child's needs.

 

This school aspired to use Highlands Latin as a model, but it was not affiliated with them. The students who persevere do gain an excellent education, but it was not a good fit for our family. I like to be in charge of my children's education, and having to do what someone else told us to do went against my goals for homeschooling and frankly annoyed me.

 

My issues may not be your own. Unless your school is set up differently than ours, participants need to be willing to give up some control of their child's education. This was hard for me. And we didn't have time left over for me to do all the things that I wanted to do with her. Completing their work was very time consuming.

 

Do you know what volume of work is expected during the at-home days?

I worked in a UMS school which has a similar set up, three school days and two at home. I agree about the con of not having control over the curriculum. When my oldest reached school age, we closely looked at the school's elementary program and had philosophical disagreements, so I decided to stop teaching and homeschool. We thought about just enrolling for the classes for which we had no concerns, but the load would have been a strain on the whole family.

 

Ultimately, I would think the HLS and CC commitments will put time constraints on the other subjects you do yourself and possibly drain the joy out of homeschooling. Of course, it's all a matter of what you really desire for your child to learn and why you chose to homeschool. My pick would be to drop the CC.

[hellen]

You could designate Monday as field trip day for your 6 year old. Go to Cave Hill Cemetery, the Science museum, the Frasier, see the fossils at Falls of the Ohio, Derby Dinner Playhouse, etc. I think it could be nice for the six year old to get some one on one attention.

[PagesandFields]

I live a bit over an hour away and I'm planning on sending my kiddos when they're old enough also... I also wouldn't drive home in between.  When the older is there it would be lovely time with just the younger, and when they're both in it... Oh my gosh... I'd have a day to do whatever I want.  

 

On another note - Which direction 30 minutes?   Are we close to each other? (message me!   :))

 

[Mswin15]

It sounds a little overwhelming to me just because they are two totally separate programs at heart.  I would probably pick one. We do UMS which is probably similar to the HLS approach. Since your cottage school program is only one day there would be more flexibility than what we have since we go two days. We do give up curricula decisions and time flexibility but so far the advantages of: amazing community of children and families, wonderful classroom environment with great discussions and the accountability for me and my children (which looks a little more like the real world, in my opinion). Not to mention they do science, art, music during their school days so I don't really have to delve too much into those at home except for attending performances, visiting art galleries and field trips (which is so much fun!). 

 

I think each of those programs is designed as a one day/4 day home program so you might find less time than you need for each one at home.