Image credits: John Miller, 1789 and Charles F. Millspaugh, 1887
Helianthus Third and Fourth Grade Pod
During the 2025-26 school year, I will be running a homeschool pod co-op class based out of my home for third and fourth graders. Helianthus is the genus name for sunflowers, and it reflects our growing and evolving students as they enter their upper elementary school years. We will be taking inspiration from a wide variety of teaching styles, curricula, and best practices.
Our current group has a maximum of seven children, including my daughter. We will work on social skills, academic skills, fine and gross motor, and life skills. This year, I will be continuing to shift our classroom focus from skills to content. We will be focusing on science, history, literature, research, and mathematics. I use a mixture of Waldorf-inspired activities, published curricula, and integrated project-based learning.
The pod will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:15-1:30. To enable more comprehensive curriculum planning, the intention is for students to attend both Tuesdays and Thursdays for the full academic year.
We will have both a daily and weekly rhythm to cultivate predictability and structure, while still having ample time for the children to do the open-ended play and investigation that is so necessary for this age group. We have had a wonderful three years with this group since our Kindergarten/first grade, and I look forward to continuing with this amazing cohort of children.
I have learned from experience that I would like to have another adult available as an assistant each day. I am hoping that the parent assistants can continue to bring some of what they know into our group. This year, parents have brought their knowledge of yoga, museum curation, art history, poetry, herbalism, painting, and sign language. I have been enjoying co-planning with our co-op parents each day, and I am excited to see what we can bring to these third and fourth graders to enrich their 2025-26 school year. I hope to have someone from each of the families come in at least once per month to serve as an assistant and co-teacher to the class, as a “co-op” style program. If you, your spouse, or local grandparents have any special skills, I would love to feature them in our program. Coming in to assist will give the parents a hands-on experience of the class, and also reduce the cost for families.
Please note: In addition to the tuition cost for this program, there is a materials charge of $75 issued three times throughout the year. The first will come out of your initial deposit upon registration, and then there will be one for each semester (September and January).