Elementary Programs, PreK-5th, are a drop off program. There is one qualified teacher and one aid per 12 students. Parents will be asked to be a classroom aid once or twice per semester for any of the 3 classrooms (may or may not be the class your child is in.) An assigned date and classroom will be given to you with our handbook. Please be prepared to have one day of childcare set up or be off work in order to help in the classroom. Any adult you know is welcome to fill that role (mom, dad, grandparents, aunt, uncle, etc.)
Behavior expectations: All students should be able to sit quietly and listen for around 20 minutes, play without hurting others, play without destroying property, and follow directions from an adult without arguing. Students are expected to use indoor voices and walking feet while indoors. Students are expected to wear shoes and clothes the entire time they are at co-op. Students are expected to sit at a table in a chair for the entire lunch/snack without wandering about the room.
THA is a peanut free environment. Lunches and snacks need to be ready to eat (not heated up.)
The supply fee is wrapped into the total fee, so there is no extra supply fee. There is also a supply list of basic school supplies to bring every week to class in a zipper bag/school box. These are very basic (pencil, crayons, scissors, etc.) and can be pre-loved supplies you already own. We also have them bring their own can of playdough to avoid sharing playdough and germs.
Ms. Kristin
Explorer classes are taught by Ms. Kristin. This will be Ms. Kristin’s 18th year as an OK certified teacher, teaching in some capacity as either a public school teacher, online teacher, daycare owner, or THA teacher. She has some really fun projects planned for the upper elementary class and is excited about another great year here at THA! She has three children of her own here at THA. She also teaches online classes for THA that can be taken in conjunction with or independently of the in-person classes.
Mondays – 11:30 – 3:30
Pre-requisite: Must be reading at or above a 3rd grade reading level (Grade 3, Month 1 or about a 500 Lexile Score.) Email us if you have questions about specific disabilities/accommodations.
“I don’t know my child’s reading level.” No problem! Let’s give them a little assessment: listed below. Fluent reading means not having to sound out more than about 5 words per page, stopping at end-marks and commas appropriately, and reading with some expression. They may still miss a few words entirely and need you to tell them the words, but not more than about 5.
Can they read this fluently without missing more than a handful of words? Then they are reading on a 500 lexile level, or Grade 3 Month 1. This one is a book you can flip through.
Can they read this fluently without missing more than a handful of words? Then they are reading on a 650 lexile level, or Grade 4 Month 1.
Can they read this fluently without missing more than a handful of words? Then they are reading on a 750 lexile level, or Grade 5 Month 1.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1881486-a-wrinkle-in-time-excerpt
Mondays will focus on literature, writing, and art. Monday students will have some (minimal) homework over the week. Homework will be to read the books and possibly finish some writing assignments; it shouldn’t be extensive or time consuming. Spring 2023, Monday Explorers will also be working on a project to create their own civilization. We will read aloud the book Weslandia in class before beginning this project.
Students will need to read or listen to the following books:
3rd grade – Snot Stew, Code 7: Cracking the Code for an Epic Life, Because of Winn Dixie
4th grade – Tale of Despereaux, The Lemonade War, City of Ember
5th grade – Fantastic Mr. Fox, Hatchet, Esperanza Rising
Challenge Level for advanced Readers: Stuart Little, Bridge to Terabithia, The Book Thief
You can access copies of these books from the local library, thiftbooks.com, amazon, etc. You can also listen to most in full on Youtube for free by typing in the name of the book and the words “read aloud” if you really can’t access the actual book. Listening to the books is fine, but they still need to be able to read and write on grade level in order to complete the assignments. It is also extremely helpful to bring a copy of the book to class to complete the in-class projects.
If you are certain your child is reading above grade level and want to have them read the more difficult books, that is fine. You need to let Ms. Kristin know this when enrolling. For example, you have a 3rd grader, but they are reading on a 5th grade level or higher, so you want them to read the 5th grade books, but work on a 3rd grade level for everything else in class, that’s not an issue at all. You can also enroll a 5th grader who needs to work at a 3rd grade level, etc.
Some of the books are sad. Some are funny. Some require high level thinking and bring up lots of questions about the world. Please review the books via google before enrolling and make sure you aren’t going to have an issue with them as a parent before you enroll. By enrolling, you are agreeing you won’t have complaints about the books’ content. If you have some sort of problem with a book, then you also have the choice to choose one of the other grade level books for that 4 week period (but your child may need some help reading it if it’s above their reading level.) We will read the books in the order listed above: 4 weeks per each book
Fridays – 9:30 – 3:30
Explorer Fridays will focus on SEL, Science, Art, Geography through Art, and socializing. Any child considered 3rd-5th grade is welcome. Some projects will include reading and writing on third grade level, so if your child is below third grade level please let me (Ms. Kristin) know when enrolling so they can be accommodated to the best of my ability. The day will consist of morning meetings/SEL, a science project, recess, lunch, World Geography and architecture, which will have a different art project each week, and an additional fun art project. We will also have some time for free play with friends built into the day. We will be finishing our read aloud of The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole from last semester, which has been a favorite part of the day and we can’t stand to not finish it. If you are new this semester, I’d suggest listening to the audio book of it or reading it. It’s such a great book. When we finish that one, we will begin a new book.
Tulsa Homeschool Academy 