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Classical PSPs in Orange County, CA


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I recently moved to Orange County, CA from Washington State, and I am struggling to find a PSP that is a good fit. (I will post my questions about Charter Schools in a separate thread.) Are there any classical PSPs in Orange County? Since we are new to the area, I was hoping for a PSP that also had classes. The PSPs that I have found with classes seem to have very strict requirements about parenting or other issues that seem to have nothing to do with education. I am a Christian and am fine with a Christian group, but my educational goals seem to be very different from the few groups I have visited. (I was very spoiled by some of the people in the Seattle area, and I am really missing them!)

 

I am located close to Orange but am willing to drive a reasonable distance for a good fit. My children are 5th grade and 1st grade.

 

Thank you for any assitance that you can offer!

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I am of no help - but I grew up on Chestnut, just off Katella*, and worked in downtown Orange (at the now defunct Orange Camera) and D' Land and went to Chapman College and my ears just perk up when I see any Orange-related post. Orangeorangeorangeorange. There. Got it out of my system.

 

* when 14 we moved to the tiny bit of Orange out surrounded by Villa Park.

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We are actually in Villa Park. I couldn't handled the density of some areas in Orange County, and I was so delighted to actually find space and some trees. The winters in Chicago must seem brutal to you. It is a huge change for us, but we are hoping that it will be a great thing for our family.

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PSP stands for "Private School Satellite Program". From what I understand the ways to homeschool legally in California are by filing your own affidavit (which terrifies me) or using a PSP. The PSP maintains your records, provides testing, etc. Some also have teachers that meet with you to provide help and ensure that you are making progress. I know there are also Charter Schools which I realize can be somewhat controversial in some homeschooling circles. I moved from a state that only required me to fill out an "intent to homeschool" form each year and have my child tested each year. Consequently, having someone dictate what history I need to study each year seems very strange to me. Especially, when I do not see the wonderful SOTW on the list.

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PSP stands for "Private School Satellite Program". From what I understand the ways to homeschool legally in California are by filing your own affidavit (which terrifies me) or using a PSP. The PSP maintains your records, provides testing, etc. Some also have teachers that meet with you to provide help and ensure that you are making progress. I know there are also Charter Schools which I realize can be somewhat controversial in some homeschooling circles. I moved from a state that only required me to fill out an "intent to homeschool" form each year and have my child tested each year. Consequently, having someone dictate what history I need to study each year seems very strange to me. Especially, when I do not see the wonderful SOTW on the list.

 

(hijack) Filing the affidavit takes 5 min. and you can do it online. It's very, very easy and truly no big deal. Honest. It's far easier than either of the other options. (/hijack)

 

Sorry, I have no info on PSPs.

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Sky Mountain is a rather popular umbrella/charter school in these parts. I have a couple friends that homeschool through it and seem pleased. But, filling an affidavit each year is very easy - that is the option I choose (I like my independence ;) ). It is an on-line form that filled out and electronically filed each year between October 1 and October 15 (or at any point in time thereafter if you are just beginning homeschooling mid-year). Both of our statewide homeschool associations post information on how to fill it out, but it is mostly a lot of "yes/no" questions and information on the location of the school, administrator's name, teacher's name, etc. It's a very easy form to fill out and once done, tells the state that you are establishing a private school - no approval necessary. Other than that, you keep attendance records (I print a 12 month calendar beginning in July as we school year-round and only mark it if a kiddo is absent, which considering they live with me, is never) and course of study (I print a list of what subjects we are studying for the year - if I feel ambitious I'll list the curriculum I use). But, the only paperwork the state needs is the electronic affidavit.
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MyLittleWonders, thank you for sending the links. I thought I read somewhere that I had to swear that I was qualified to teach all subjects in order to file the affidavit. (Of course, I can't find that now.) I am fine for the elementary years, but I am definitely not "qualified" to teach upper level math or science classes. Is this even an issue? I have a tendency to worry about things--fortunately my husband is more reasonable! I didn't realize what a "rebel" I was until I started seeing all of the rules everyone wanted me to follow. I really like Singapore math and don't really want to change that!

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Hi, I am in Orange County, over by the Orange crush...I was involved with a Classical conversations group last year, I am on my way out, I'll come back with a link or email. Last year, I also had my oldest in a really nice PSP group, but it was not classical per se..it's called Integrity Christian School, and would be close to you, right near the 91 and 55 fwy. They had many classes and activities.

 

I have my 3 youngest students in Sky Mountain charter, and my oldest High school student is enrolled with River Springs Charter this year. My high school student is also taking 2 classes with the Biola Star program- it's a homeschool program run by Biola University. The classes are very rigorous, I am so pleased with what she is doing this year. These classes, though start at Jr. High and up.

 

I'll get back to you with some links and stuff if you are interested in any of these.

 

welcome to Ca!

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  • 3 years later...
Guest Sunshine639

Adelphia Classical Christian Academy is a classical PSP located centrally in Orange County, CA off the 22 at Glassel.  You can check out their website at: http://adelphiaclassical.com

 

Here is their description:

"Adelphia is a hybrid: balancing the best of a full time Christian school with the best of homeschooling. Students meet on campus 3 days a week for full time instruction. The other two days the learning takes place at home under the direction of the parents. The school establishes the curriculum, and provides the framework for the parent to be a success while at home."

 

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Village Bible Academy is a PSP in Garden Grove, not necessarily classical but (obviously) christian. They do have on-campus classes.

 

I've heard good things about Integrity. (I miss SoCal; we moved up north of San Francisco about 4 years ago but I still have friends in Orange.)

 

Most of the public charters are going to give you more freedom up until 8th grade and then the A-G class requirement thumbscrews go on. And with Common Core, all bets are off.

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MyLittleWonders, thank you for sending the links. I thought I read somewhere that I had to swear that I was qualified to teach all subjects in order to file the affidavit. (Of course, I can't find that now.) I am fine for the elementary years, but I am definitely not "qualified" to teach upper level math or science classes. Is this even an issue? I have a tendency to worry about things--fortunately my husband is more reasonable! I didn't realize what a "rebel" I was until I started seeing all of the rules everyone wanted me to follow. I really like Singapore math and don't really want to change that!

 

No, you don't have to swear to anything, ever. :-)

 

Private schools in California (and remember that homeschools are considered the equivalent of private schools) must file an affidavit annually, which is not a big deal; they must have teachers who are persons "capable of teaching" (no definition of what that means). they must "offer" the same subjects that public schools do (and it's very general--English, history, math, science, health...the kinds of things you will teach your dc anyway, and there are no grade-level requirements, or definition of scope of each subject, or anything), keep the qualifications of their teachers (whatever they are) on file, and keep an attendance calendar indicating when children are absent (not when they are present, mind you, but when they are *absent*);

 

So, pretty much, you file the affidavit on-line once a year, print a copy for yourself, and then do your own thing. No one has the authority to see anything except the affidavit.

 

A PSP files the affidavit, and presumably has some sort of teacher-qualification form for their parents (who are the teachers in the school) to fill out. Most will have some sort of requirement for their parents to submit a list of subjects they're teaching, which may or may not include textbooks and whatnot being used (not required by law, but most still require it), and some sort of attendance calendar (some require parents to check off 180 days or some such thing, but the *state* does not require it). Some will also require annual testing (again, not required by law), parent meetings, stuff like that. Many do support group-type activities, or offer on-campus classes ("Friday school" was very popular in the early 80s).

 

On paper, a PSP doesn't look any different from a campus-based school or the school that's in your house when you file the affidavit--all private schools file exactly the same form with the state. Some people like it because it makes them anonymous--the PSP might have 100 students enrolled as opposed to the one or two that individual families might have--but they are not more legal. Some counties in the past were particularly hostile to homeschoolers, and this was a way for homeschoolers to avoid drawing attention to themselves by filing an affidavit with only a couple of children--obviously homeschoolers (although even back in the day, no one was actually dragged off to court for homeschooling; there were just some awkward conversations).

 

PSPs were previously, colloquially, known as ISPs--Independent Study Programs. It was recommended long ago that they  not use that term, as it denotes a specific public school program and it was confusing to public school people. ISP has still hung on, though. :-)

 

FTR, a charter school is not an "umbrella school." It is a public school, either campus-based or home-based, as opposed to a private school. Children are subject to public school regs such as annual testing, and the charters are supposed to keep track of *minutes* per day, because that's how they receive funding (there seems to be some variation on this, but it is still supposed to happen).

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