JOIN GILLETTE HOMESCHOOLING MENTORS
Our Mission: To inspire ourselves and others to become lifelong learners. We learn because we are inspired, not required.
We are striving to surround our families with those who can inspire wonder and create opportunities for engaging, creative, critical thinking. We do homeschooling best with friends! Learning is powerful when it comes from many diverse cultures, religions, and homes. These types of learning experiences are as nourishing for the mentors as it is for the students. We need you and your family! Join our homeschooling community and experience this remarkable journey with us.
GILLETTE HOMESCHOOLING MENTORS AT A GLANCE
Thank you for your interest in Gillette Homeschooling Mentors!
Our group is a once a week 'school' for home schooling families. It fosters a close-knit, inclusive community where relationships are supportive of home schooling efforts; children and parents have the opportunity to bond with friends with whom they will share an educational experience, speak a common language, and enjoy the journey of each phase of learning.
All families are welcome to participate with the understanding that Leadership Education principles will be applied in the school, including the Five Pillars of Statesmanship, which are: Classics, Mentors, Simulations, Field Experience, and God. We open our school days with a group prayer, we take turns doing this so all faiths and denominations feel respected and included. We are a group of families of diverse faiths that unite in our belief in God and family.
We are uniting to raise joyful leaders who love learning, passionately pursue their God-given missions in life, and impact the human family for good. We work toward getting an education like the one our Founding Fathers received, one that matches our missions in life, and develops solid character and an allegiance to God/Good. We inspire students (both parents and children) to love learning, deeply study the classics, and learn how to think for themselves and initiate solutions based on the principles of freedom and self-control.
We focus on inspiring students to fall in love with learning through hands-on activities that bring those “wow, cool!” or “I always wondered about that” moments for our young learners and their parents. We do not focus on requiring students to complete assignments, but offer inspiring opportunities for them to do so as they freely choose. We do not focus on state standards for academic testing, but on the classics, and what our families are interested in learning and doing.
Recommended Reading:
For the Love of Learning: Giving Your Children a LOLIPOP Education by Amy Edwards
A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille
Student Whisperer by Oliver DeMille
Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning
Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens, (and every Adult who wants to change the world)
Parenting A House United by Nicholeen Peck
Resources:
The Leadership Education website is www.tjed.org.
Teaching Self Government website: www.parentingselfgovernment.com
WHAT WE DO
WEEKLY CLASSES
At Gillette Homeschooling Mentors, we are dedicated to stepping up our efforts in mentoring our youth to love learning, study the classics, and learn how to think for themselves.
There are currently two classes, one for children 0-11 and another for children 12 and up.
The younger class is designed to instill a love of learning in the young, fun-loving hearts. Occasionally themed units of study will be pursued in a loosely structured way. They will include concrete experiences and very little lecture. Projects will spark or respond to student interest. It may include occasional guest speakers. Throughout the year parents will work together to seek opportunities for field trips, projects, and classes. We will be able to unite and work together to call on the wealth of knowledge we all share and pursue. These experiences will bless each of our lives and round out each other's education.
The older classes will offer inspiring group environments in which students are challenged through project learning. The classes will be designed around reading, studying, experiencing and applying classical literature. These could be centered around historical eras, literature, sciences, arts, etc. We hope to create a group learning environment where our kids will excel.
FAMILY ACTIVITIES
We have fun activities and field trips planned throughout the year that will help to build our relationships and community. These will include ski trips, pioneer day, field day and many more.
SERVICE
We are very blessed to be able to meet at the Boys & Girls Club of Campbell County. After inquiring about service that we could provide for the organization, we have decided to sponsor The Fiber Arts Room – a craft room dedicated to fabric and fiber arts projects. Each family should contribute to this project.
Public education is constantly being “changed” and fixed to ensure a more educated populace, but the truth is that the only person who can fix education is the student. The parents and mentors job is to inspire the student enough that they want want to learn. In order for a parent to be inspiring, they themselves have to have a love of learning, a love of wisdom, knowledge, and truth.
Oliver DeMille in A Thomas Jefferson Education
OUR POLICIES
General Group Rules
* ALL parents are expected to correct rule violations and/or report them to leadership.*
1. Parents MUST stay on-site.
2. Arrive promptly @ 9:40 a.m.
3. All co-op participants, children and adults, must be dressed modestly and appropriately.
4. Students: No hand-held electronics or games (including phones).This includes during lunch and free play time.
5. Academy participants will be asked to pay for any damages they cause to the building, grounds, or equipment.
6. An un-enrolled child may not attend as a "visitor" unless that child’s parent is present and prior permission has been obtained from Leadership.
BEHAVIOR STANDARDS
We desire to create a positive, safe environment with a close knit community of happy, trusted, compassionate friends. Behavior at all times is expected to be morally appropriate, including clean language and modesty, clean language includes not taking God’s name in vain.
Each adult and student will show respect to each other’s religious and political views and tolerance of differences, especially during class discussions. As granted in the Constitution of the United States of America, we reserve the right to share our religious and political beliefs openly and freely in all of our discussions.
PARENT RESPONSIBILITIES
As a matter of protection for both our students and our teachers, we assign 2-deep parental leadership to all of our classes. In the event that you must step away from a classroom, please notify a member of leadership right away so that we may help you locate a replacement for you in that classroom.
At the end of the day, each teacher and the assistant(s) in that room are asked to clean that room according to the methods and standards set by our host. Students may be encouraged to help with the clean-up, at the teacher's discretion.
We expect that parents will do their part to keep themselves informed. To that end, attendance at the academy field trips, meetings, school days, assemblies and participation in our Facebook Group are encouraged.
ABSENCES
Ideally, you will be at every class day, however, we realize that sometimes there will be unavoidable situations that cause you to miss. Teachers need to provide us with the name of their designated substitute before school begins. If you serve as an assistant and need to be absent please provide a substitute for your classes. If it is an emergency, please let us know and we will make sure your assignment is covered.
Students may not attend without a parent on site at all times (or a designated substitute in case of an emergency or illness). In case of an emergency (not scheduling conflicts or errands) where you must leave the grounds, please ask another parent to be directly responsible for your children. Tell your children and the teachers to whom your children are accountable.
DISCIPLINE
Every adult is expected to intervene if disruptive or disrespectful behavior is observed. Parents will be contacted if a disciplinary problem arises and may be asked to remove their child from class.
Guidelines for handling disruptive behavior in class:
1st Offense - Speak to the student, asking him/her to stop the behavior and warning that the behavior does not stop, he/she will have to sit with parent.
2nd Offense - Remind the student to stop the behavior. Either move the student next to an adult or separate him from the other students.
3rd Offense - Remove the student from class and escort them to the parent.
If a student’s behavior is excessively rude or aggressive, steps 1 and 2 should be skipped and step 3 should be taken immediately.
REGISTER
Registration Fee*
There are costs associated with running a homeschool group. We appreciate the financial sacrifices homeschooling families often make to be at home with their children, we will therefore strive to keep the group affordable for everyone.
We require a $50 non-refundable registration fee per family yearly and a $10 per student per semester fee. This fee due on the first day of classes for each semester.
*All fees are subject to change.
CONTACT GILLETTE HOMESCHOOLING MENTORS
