Louisville Homeschool Cottage Program for the 2015/16 school year!
Louisville Homeschool Cottage Program (LHCS) is an inclusive, secular cottage program that is dedicated to providing homeschooled children with opportunities to participate in fun classes with peers of the same age range. LHCS is not intended to replace homeschooling done at home by parents, and is not a school. LHCS proudly welcomes ALL homeschoolers. LHCS will meet at Bardstown Road Presbyterian Church (1722 Bardstown Rd, Louisville, KY 40205) for 24 Tuesdays from 10 am to 2:30 pm in the 2015/16 school year. We offer the most affordable cottage program in the Kentuckiana area, and have payment plans available. You must be a member of Louisville Homeschool to register for classes! You can become a member online at http://louisvillehomeschool.org/lhs-members/
Please do not contact Bardstown Road Presbyterian Church with questions regarding LHCS, as they will not be able to provide any answers.
Pre-Kindergarten (Ages 4-5) & Kindergarten (Ages 5-6):
Full Day Pre-K/K & AM Pre-K/K is FULL!! We do have 4 openings for the Half Day Afternoon class.
The Pre-Kindergarten & Kindergarten classes will be combined. Acquiring a strong sense of oneself is important for this age group! Activities will focus on allowing the children to express themselves through language, movement, art and music. Students will continue to develop fine motor and spatial awareness skills through various play based activities to help them become more socially aware of themselves and their peers. We will learn how to interact with our peers by discussing various educational topics with others, singing songs together, working side by side during activities, and listening to stories being told at story time. Children MUST be potty trained prior to the start of classes. Please pack a weather appropriate change of clothes in each child’s backpack. Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten are offered as a half day in the morning or a half day in the afternoon (10am – 12pm OR 12:30pm – 2:30pm) OR a full day program.
Sample Day Overview:
Circle Time –Circle Time will provide an opportunity for students to sit together for organized activities that will strengthen their listening skills and awareness of personal space.
Letters & Numbers- Activities centered on letter, number and sight word recognition will provide students with a strong foundation for math and reading skills in the future!
Science- For this young age, science activities will focus on content such as animals, weather and our planet!
Music & Art- Music and movement activities will offer both structured and free play opportunities. Students will have a chance to move around and be creative while being introduced to timeless compositions and music from around the world! Art and Crafts activities each week will relate to one or more of the lessons from the day. For instance, if we learn about a particular animal during science time, we might create that animal through a craft project at the end of the day.
Early Primary (Ages 6-9):
Early Primary is Full; contact us to be added to the waiting list!
Fall 2015
We will gather, greet, review jobs, and prepare for the day first thing. Then move into circle where we will use movement, verse, and singing to incorporate language and math skills into our day, building social and emotional skills and ties to the group experience. The Fall semester will focus on Social Studies, with Language Arts interwoven. Arts and Humanities will be further explored through our learning about various Festivals and the Seasons. Students learn songs, verses, movement, stories and crafts revolving around the seasons. They will also explore various lands related to the festivals, and investigate foods, music, dances and customs of these lands. Take home sheets will be available for home practice. Performance at the end of the Fall session. Our day will wind down with a final circle/sharing/recap of the days learning. Clean up will enforce mindfulness, good social etiquette and a sense of community.
Spring 2016
The Spring Semester focus will be Science, with Language Arts interwoven. Arts and Humanities will be further explored through “The Puppet Play is the Thing!” Here students move through the writing process to create a group project in the form of a script for a hand puppet play. Props and scenery will also accompany a performance at the end of the Spring session.
Circle – we will use movement, verse, and singing to incorporate language and math skills into our day, building social and emotional skills and ties to the group experience.
Social Studies – Fall 2015 – Students and teacher will decide on areas of interest and delve into learning about these areas through reading, listening and writing about them.
Arts and Humanities – Festivals and the Seasons: Students learn songs, verses, movement, stories and crafts revolving around the seasons. They will also explore various lands related to the festivals, and investigate foods, music, dances and customs of these lands. Take home sheets will be available for home practice. Performance at the end of the Fall session.
Science – Spring 2016 – Students and teacher will decide on areas of interest and delve into learning about these areas through reading, listening, and writing about them.
Arts and Humanities – The Puppet Play is the Thing! Students move through the writing process to create a group project in the form of a script for a hand puppet play. Props and scenery will also accompany a performance at the end of the Spring session.
Upper Primary (Ages 9-12):
Only 3 openings left!
Reader’s Workshop- During this class, we will dive into great books while we learn how to be great readers! Talking about how our schema (all the things you already know and experiences you’ve already had in life) will help us connect to characters. Visualizing and making predictions will cause the books to come alive! In this class we will practice great reading strategies as a whole group, divide into small groups to explore and enjoy books together, and report back during share time what we found.
Writer’s Workshop– Our writer’s workshop will be directly related to our reader’s workshop each week. Using examples set for us by wonderful authors, we will become authors ourselves. We will practice the brainstorming, prewriting, drafting, and publishing process as we learn more about several genres of writing. Students may choose to write poetry, historical fiction, non-fiction articles, personal narratives, fairy tales, opinion pieces and more, and will have lots of opportunity to share their writing.
American Sign Language- In this introduction to American Sign Language, we will learn how to introduce ourselves, tell about our family, and talk about things we like. We will practice fingerspelling and numbers, play games and learn songs in sign language. We will also learn a lot about Deaf Culture, what it is like to be deaf, and learn how to interact with a deaf person. This class will literally be “hands on”!
Music- In this music class, we will have fun learning the elements of music; melody, harmony, tempo, rhythm, dynamics, timbre, form. We will participate in singing games, movement activities, composing songs, singing together, and learning about musicians and composers from many different genres of music- from classical to Kentucky bluegrass. We will even each have our own recorders that we learn to play!
Our Teachers!
Brittany Stout
Brittany is our pre-kindergarten/kindergarten combined class teacher. She is a graduate of Western Kentucky University where she is currently a graduate student. She is the mother of two and worked as a Title I Instructor in Hardin County prior to staying home with them. She believes every child loves to learn and create in a way that is unique to them. She enjoys activities that allow students to work together while still exploring their individuality! Brittany is excited to be with Louisville Homeschool’s Preschool/Kindergarten Class!
Robbin Goodin
Robbin Goodin has 20 years’ experience teaching 4 – 44 year olds in public, private, and family education. She home schooled her daughter for 5 years. She has experience teaching every subject, K-3rd, although language arts and humanities are passions. Robbin also teaches a variety of subjects and a wide range of ages, K – 7th, at Gattiland for field trip groups. Robbin earned degrees in Recreation and Park Administration/Child Studies from Murray State University and a Master’s in Education from Bellarmine University. She has attended Waldorf training institutes for many years. She owned and directed the successful Robbin’s Wood Puppets company for 10 years, plays bass in a bluegrass band, and has been a folk dancer since she was in high school. Her daughter is also an aspiring puppeteer, writer and musician. She was the Lead Writer for the FIT4FUN Reader, developing curriculum and writing for 3 years and appreciates helping teachers, children and families connect in a fun way. She enjoys being a facilitator for learning. “I love to have fun with my teaching, but require dedication, hard work and honest effort from my students.”
Ashley Gardner
Ashley Gardner is our upper primary teacher. Originally from Illinois, she has called Louisville home since she moved here to study Sign Language Interpreting at the University of Louisville. She has spent the last six years as an educational interpreter in Jefferson and Oldham County schools, and has worked in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. She enjoys teaching students how to sign, as well as leading performing arts clubs and directing musicals. At home, Ashley has a seven month old son, Grayson, a deaf dog, Piper, and her husband, Cody. She loves to travel the world, frequent used book stores, and learn all sorts of arts and crafts. Ashley is excited to be teaching the upper elementary students this year!
All classes, teachers, and information are subject to change without notice.