Imagine with me for a moment. The morning is cool and crisp. You hold a warm cup of coffee in your hand. From the next room you hear your children listening to a video in Latin, and you smile as they laugh at a joke in an ancient tongue. You pat yourself on the back for being so wise and choosing to homeschool. You are abruptly torn from this fantasy when your pre-teen shrieks, “Mom! He’s not wearing any pants and the curtains are open!”No? Just me? I think we all beg ..read more

If your student is in K-2nd Grade, you have hopefully already picked out a good phonics curriculum. (If not, get one ASAP! Check out our blog post from July 2023, “Choosing a Phonics Curriculum.”) Learning to decode words through the study of phonics is an ESSENTIAL reading skill. You must teach this! (CHA does not teach reading so this is the job of the homeschool parent!)In addition to phonics, learning sight words is a nice supplement to get your child reading quick ..read more

Teaching your child how to read may be one of the most rewarding (and frustrating!) things you will ever do as a homeschool parent. Teaching children to read begins way before the child brain is ready to actually decode words.  We need to prepare them to read!  Reading readiness skills are developed with a variety of practices that begin at an early age.  We teach the importance of learning to read by modeling to them ourselves reading and enjoying good books. Reading ou ..read more

Salvete omnes! I’ve been digging through some older articles and podcasts recently, and these thoughts about learning Latin were worth sharing. Especially since any quote about “cultivating attentiveness” in our children seems, well, worth our attention!The Society for Classical Learning writes the following about learning Latin (and Greek) in their article, “The Elements of Classical Education”:     Classical educators defend Latin and Greek in a num ..read more

Let’s start by answering the question, “Why doesn’t CHA teach Health?” The simple reason here is that we have always thought Health was best handled by you, the parents. Although, in 1st grade, Mrs. Craig does cover nutrition and germs as part of her Science unit, and this definitely counts as “Health.” And our Biology classes in 3rd, 6th, and 9th all have units that teach about the human body and can double as Science and Health. In other grades, pa ..read more

Did you know that CHA has a used clothing rack by our entrance? So if you find something that will fit your student, feel free to grab it! And later, when they grow out of their uniform, if it doesn't have stains and holes, throw it on the rack for the next family. These gently loved clothes have the added benefit of being "broken in" and "pre-shrunk." Win-win! Sometimes there are even shoes to be found there. CHA mom Samantha Berry is our "Donations" coordinator- she'll be keeping the rack clea ..read more

This year the Board of Directors drafted an important document titled "Portrait of a Christiana Graduate." This list represents the essential virtues which will contribute to the formation of our students into mature and thoughtful Christian adults. With a thorough grounding in the liberal arts, Christiana graduates are equipped with the tools of learning which can facilitate their success in any walk of adult life. We would invite you to see what this looks like in our current senior class during Senior Speeches at the End of Year Program on Monday, May 20th at 8:30am, and also at our Gradua ..read more

FIELD TRIPS! As the summer quickly approaches, we have been gathering suggestions for great field trips to keep the learning going all year long! Enjoy the list! History Williamsburg , VA Colonial Williamsburg Homeschool Days: ​ https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/visit/group-tours/homeschool/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=tickets-nonbrand&utm_content=cwf-homeschooldays-2024&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAlcyuBhBnEiwAOGZ2S8gDbXDXHBNRUzL-jfUwdMh5KHLjgXthWGsERVKQcni4h-8M7paGPBoCcIcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds  Jamestown Settlement: https://www.jyfmuseums.org ..read more

Announcing… “Explore New Worlds!” (See the attached flyer for the complete list of titles and places we’ll be exploring!) We have been building up to it in Bite-Sized Great Books. In February we discussed Sir Thomas More’s Utopia. Mrs. Peterson, the parent who had the most experience with this book, introduced it to us. (Utopia is an 11th grade “Great Book.”) “Utopia is a novel whereby St. Thomas More imagines a distant land where no one owns anything and everyone shares what they have. He lays out a political and social structure where this might be possible but never tells us whether ..read more

Check out the comments below from participants who attended the recent high school trip to Rome, Italy! Thank you for all your support and prayers. We hope to return in 3 or 4 years! (Fundraising for the next trip begins NOW!) “The entire trip was spectacular and life changing. Seeing places where major events of the faith occurred has allowed me to explore and understand what I believe more deeply. Seeing the major basilicas and all the churches around every corner allowed me to better center my life around Christ. I know that it wasn't in the tour, but going to Asissi with several of the ot ..read more