Why This Class
As your student’s social circle grows, you want them to be aware of the effect their words and deeds have on others). This course is designed to give your student the self-awareness and relationship skills needed to have a positive impact.

Throughout this course, mentors guide students to become more aware of their communication habits and the messages they send and receive through body language, tone, and words. Students practice listening with compassion and sincerity, improving the timing of their words and actions, and identifying their negative thoughts and influences and the impact those have on their lives and relationships.

By the end of this course, students have gained a deeper understanding of why they communicate the way they do and made changes to improve their own life experience and their relationships with others. As a result, they are ready to experience life on a deeper and more fulfilling level.

Why This Class
It’s not always easy to be—or parent—a middle school student. This tumultuous phase of changing hormones, relationships, and circumstances can be as challenging for you as a parent as it is for your student. This course is designed to help students be more aware of, and start taking responsibility for, their choices to ease the tension of this time of life.

Students in this course learn how humility and integrity can help them experience more meaningful connections with the people around them and take charge of their own educational and life paths. They complete projects that help them appreciate their unique qualities and relate better to others from different walks of life.

By the end of this course, students are less affected by the actions of those around them and more able to forgive and move forward. They are aware of their strengths and weaknesses and more at peace with their experience of life.

Why This Class
As a parent, you recognize that one of the most significant factors in your children’s future happiness is their ability to step out of the prevailing worldviews of the day and think for themselves. This course gives students the tools to identify and decode those worldviews.

Throughout this course, mentors guide students to examine the worldviews that have most impacted periods of world history, including the Classical era, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Modernism. Students learn to recognize the ingredients that make up each of these worldviews, such as art, music, myth, and symbolism, and in turn, gain a clearer understanding of their lens on the world.

By the end of this course, students can better distinguish between their core values and beliefs and the cultural norms and pressures around them. They are more confident in themselves as independent thinkers and more sensitive to the worldviews held by others.

Why This Class
Your student is still young—but when they grow up, you want them to be an informed, responsible citizen. This course lays the groundwork for informed citizenship by taking your student on an in-depth tour of the inner workings of the U.S. government.

Students in this course learn that freedom, although almost universally desired, isn’t always easy to maintain. Through simulations, biography discussions, original document readings, and debates, mentors help students identify the principles that have made liberty possible in the United States. Mentors also introduce students to basic principles of economics and help students study current events. Finally, students work together to tackle an issue of their choice in a simulated “Situation Room,” and present their learnings to parents and guests.

By completing this course, students gain practical knowledge of and experience in taking responsibility for their liberty. They are better prepared to be active, informed citizens.

Why This Class
As important as it is for your student to understand life in other cultures, you also want them to know the story of where we’ve come from here in the United States. This course helps students understand the challenges America has overcome through the concept of citizen scholarship.

Students in this course travel back in time through projects, simulations, and debates to recreate some of the critical events that have defined U.S. history. Specifically, mentors help students explore the stories of America’s founders, showing how their lives as scholars enabled them to shape and influence our country in dramatically positive ways. The semester ends with a summit project in which students present what they’ve learned from this process to a live audience of classmates, parents, and guests.

By the end of this course, students appreciate the history and challenges of the United States, actively set goals for themselves as citizen-scholars, and take action to achieve those goals.

Why This Class
As a parent, you strive to help your kids break through the bubble of their own experience and become aware of life in other cultures. You also seek to make sure your kids appreciate what they have and realize the importance of giving back to others.

In pursuit of these goals, this course takes students on a guided journey through the history and culture of Latin America. Through projects that engage all five senses, mentors help students discover the geography, politics and significant events and people that have shaped Latin America and explore its unique artistic and culinary heritage.

At the end of this course, students get to practice “giving well” through a summit project in which they raise funds for a charity of their choice in Latin America. Students who complete this course learn what it means to put empathy into action.

Why This Class
This course builds on the foundation of Humanities 6 A to help your student cut through the complexity of world history and notice its patterns and core themes, while also learning how they can impact social liberty in today’s connected world.

Mentors in this course help students recognize the cause-and-effect relationship between actions and consequences in critical moments throughout world history. Mentors also guide students to examine and interpret significant ideas in their historical context, giving students a more in-depth view of how ideas impact liberty and human progress.

At the end of this course, students complete a guided summit project in which they connect directly with a peer from another country. Through reciprocal communication, students learn to break down walls between cultures—and in their minds. Students who complete this course become more connected with themselves and the world.

Why This Class
As a parent, you see value in helping your kids appreciate and be aware of the liberties they have as members of a free society. With that in mind, this course takes your student on a whirlwind journey through the history of freedom in countries around the world.

Students begin this course by learning about key sectors and systems that make up their own and other societies. Through a series of hands-on projects that introduce them not only to politics, but also music, cuisine, and entertainment from countries around the world, students gain a sense of how civilizations have grown and changed over time.

By the end of this course, students are confident discussing and presenting on world events (past and present) and can describe the key ingredients needed for freedom to flourish in society—as well as their roles in maintaining that freedom.

Why This Class
Your student is already a digital native, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve developed the best skills to succeed in the world of computers. This course will train your student in one skill that stands out when it comes to online communication and time management: typing!

Students in this self-paced course develop strong typing skills to prepare for high school and beyond. They practice in short bursts to improve their typing speed and accuracy. In the process, they learn about common typing “crutches” and how to avoid them.

Students who complete this course gain the confidence and skills to type quickly and effectively, which will give them an edge in their future educational and career pursuits.

Why This Class
As your student prepares for the adventure of an online middle school program, you want them to feel confident and excited. This course gives your student a complete set of tools to navigate the ups-and-downs of their unique educational journey—and ultimately make the coming year their very best school year yet.

Mentors kick off this intensive, one-week course by helping students level-up their reading skills, so they can read faster and understand more (even in challenging books). Students then practice skills to prepare for and make the most of class time, transform their study blocks into fun and productive learning sessions, and remember what they learn. They also learn the essential features of the technology systems they’ll be using throughout their classes.

By completing this course, students gain the confidence and learning skills they need to excel in their new middle school adventure. Most importantly, they know what resources are available to help them when they run into roadblocks along the way—and how to use them to get back on track.