The local homeschool community needs a secular homeschool tutorial. Together we can build one.
Homeschooling is on the rise. The US Department of Education estimates there are 1,770,000 families currently homeschooling in the United States. Modern homeschool families want their children to have opportunities to learn in the presence of their peers. As parents, we all need a place where our children can spend a portion of their time repeatedly learning with the same children in order to develop a sense of community and personal relationships. Places that provide this kind of program for homeschoolers are called "tutorials".
Have you ever been in a situation where your kids were participating in an awesome program that got ruined because the program had something embedded in it that was a part of a different religious point of view that you hadn't intended to expose your children to? I have, too.
Depending on where you live, there may be many choices of tutorial or only a few. In our local market, there are many tutorials but all of them are faith-based. This presents a problem for parents who want the tutorial experience for their children but who would prefer to leave the spiritual teaching to their private life. Hence the need for a secular tutorial.
Art Play Learn is a special kind of education services company.
Our values focus on student-centered, active learning strategies that often include integrations and small class sizes. An integration is a blended learning activity that introduces and practices skills and knowledge from more than one subject at a time. The most famous kind is "Arts Integration". At Art Play Learn, we do not limit ourselves to integrating art and academic subjects, but instead, integrate any and every combination of subjects you can imagine.
Art Play Learn is lead by Meredith Kaunitz, a veteran educator and professional actor.
With 25 years of teaching experience, a curiosity about Neurology, Psychology, and Cognitive Science, and exposure to a wide variety of teaching strategies, Meredith has become a thought-leader in education. Developing and implementing new teaching strategies, Meredith has become a popular teacher and sought-out education consultant. She developed an Infant and Toddler Enrichment Program that continues to draw caregivers who want to give their children the best play-based, brain-building opportunities available. Courses include:
- Baby Sign
- Moving Storytime
- 4 Visual Arts classes
- Intro to Music
- 3 Dance classes
- Spanish for Babies, and
- Science for Toddlers.
Subsequently, Meredith has developed a distance-learning program, including 4 levels of Japanese (for 8-12 year olds, and for teens) with 2 writing supplemental classes, that has garnered the attention of over 600 families. She enjoys a 4.5 star rating for all of her distance learning classes overall with many classes at a 5-star rating. Teachers across the country have purchased Meredith's original curricula for use in their own classrooms. Meredith is uniquely positioned to create a neutral space for local homeschool families to learn together in using active learning techniques.
The roadblock to establishing this tutorial is a lack of affordable, appropriate space. We have identified the perfect space to move into. It is affordable, safe and ready to use. We just need to raise a little bit of money to use as a down-payment to secure our mortgage. We have bankers who are motivated to get us a mortgage if we can raise the necessary down payment.
Will you help us provide a safe, neutral space for our children to gain social skills while they learn?
