Frequently Asked Questions
is your school full-time?
We offer full-time and part-time options:
Full-time school replacement meets Monday - Friday, 5 hours per day for the full 10-month school year.
Part-time options include 2, 3, or 4 days per week and are suitable for homeschoolers.
We cover all academic areas, and there are also opportunities for after school enrichment.
Where do we host the pod?
Pods are hosted right at home! Basements and backyards make perfect spaces, and you can decide as a pod whether to rotate homes throughout the year or create a permanent set-up for the school year. Alternatively, we can also host the post in a community center.
How do i get started?
Form your pod: Find 3 - 5 other families who are interested in sharing your microschool experience. SchoolHouse has a facebook group where parents can meet each other, share tips, and start their pods together.
Sit back: SchoolHouse will cover all legal work, insurance, enrollment, etc. They also ensure full compliance with New York State homeschool requirements.
Start learning! SchoolHouse and I will take care of materials and supplies. You just tell us where to show up!
How much Does it Cost?
Cost varies depending on the number of students in our pod.
Generally, full-time attendance lands between $1,000 - 2,000 per month, with a part-time attendance range of $600 - 1,500 per month.
who do i contact?
To find out more, please contact me at:
(917) 268 - 3778
or schedule a video chat with me at https://calendly.com/abennettschoolhouse/30min
can you tell me more about your curriculum?
Each year will vary, depending on the age range and interests of the students.
Here's a glimpse of this past year:
Arts:
- Drawing, coloring, painting, sculpting, collages, paper making, papier mâché, mixed media projects, oil pastel, chalk-dust watercolor, arts and crafts.
- Reader's Theatre: We read, re-read, and performed short skits; We performed two alternative versions of popular fairy tales, and did some improvisational retelling of other fairy tales. We also performed a skit about animal adaptations to connect to our science unit.
- Play: After we read Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, we put together props, scenery, and costumes, and performed it for the students' families. The students thought up all staging, helped each other out with delivery, and sang "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch".
- At our International Day celebration to showcase a thorough social studies research project, students sang the Tom Chapin & Friends song "Family Tree", which includes signing the chorus in American Sign Language.
- Filmmaking: After writing a movie script as a class, we painted backdrops, created sets, and filmed it!
Cross Curricular:
- As part of our pumpkin study during the unit on plant life cycles, we baked pumpkin seeds and pumpkin muffins. Cooking together requires reading, following instructions, turn-taking, and measuring (which was a great introduction to fractions).
- While learning about geography and map skills, students drew their own treasure maps and wrote stories to go along with them, including directional instructions to find their treasure. Then we used compasses to help us navigate a real treasure hunt in a nearby park!
- To celebrate Earth Day we did a neighborhood cleanup, made collages out of scraps of paper (that we've collected during the year after cutting), and walked around the neighborhood taking nature photography. We also made recycled paper for Arbor Day and recycled crayons to connect to our science unit on states of matter.
- Our in-depth social studies research project had us reading books, articles, and magazines, and watching documentaries. The kids each chose a country and spent many months researching and creating, which culminated in a beautiful showcase called International Day. Students wrote postcards as if they visited that country, which included geographic and cultural facts they learned. Then they drew flags and translated conversational sentences into their country's language. They painted maps of their country and surrounding countries and bodies of water, then added clay to form landforms and rivers. Finally, they sculpted and painted a famous landmark from their country, and created a piece of art that was culturally relevant to their country. On International Day, families brought in traditional foods from their researched countries, and the kids performed a song they learned about people from all around the world.
Reading:
- Book Club: We read Heart and Soul, by Kadir Nelson, and discussed each chapter virtually with two other SchoolHouse pods.
- Book Bowl: Virtual competition with other SH pods. We read 4 books to prepare; Amelia Bedelia, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Ramona the Pest, and The Day the Crayons Quit. Then we answered questions about each book (and won! 😉).
- Spelling Bee: Virtual competition with other SH pods. This was a very exciting event, and we spent many fun lunch times preparing!
Writing:
- Creative writing, both independently and collaboratively (including a movie script we wrote as a class!)
- Mindful journaling
- Pen pals with another SchoolHouse pod
- Letters to President Biden, at a student's suggestion
- Limericks, and a haiku for each season
- Pod newsletters: front page with "breaking news", book reviews, opinion pieces, summaries of what we're learning, crossword puzzles with content-related clues and words, pretend advertisements, and a research-backed debate section.
Click on the left or right of this picture to see more pod magic!