SFA parents teach their children at home on non-SFA days, and SFA parents are responsible for choosing and implementing an at-home curriculum. SFA’s course offerings are designed to supplement this at-home learning with courses that many parents find difficult to facilitate in their homes. Please see the above chart for subjects that Charlotte Mason recommended. With one exception (see note on Language Arts below), SFA does not provide materials for at-home instruction on non-SFA days. While SFA parents select their at-home curriculum, SFA’s Head of Curriculum, Liza Yarbrough, is happy to discuss options for those interested.
Note that as Language Arts is a subject intended to be offered each day of instruction (i.e., four days a week), we provide brief, 20-minute lesson assignments to be facilitated by the parent on Mondays and Wednesdays. We do this because we do not want parents to have to “double up” assignments on at-home days. Nevertheless, we try to structure our Language Arts assignments such that students who were unable to complete an at-home lesson are not “left behind” during the next at-school Language Arts class. On occasion, SFA teachers suggest additional materials or out-of-school learning for individual children, but this is solely supplementary and completely at the parents’ discretion.
In addition, we spend two Fridays per month exploring nature together during a nature excursion, and SFA children are encouraged to solidify that experience through regular nature journal entries at home.