How It Works
American Heritage School Distance Education curriculum and courses are adaptable to the needs of the students and their parents.
Grades K-2
In early primary
grade courses, American Heritage School provides a rich packet of curriculum and
consumable student materials, along with online audio and visual resources to help
children and parents complete those activities and learn together. The home is the
classroom and parents serve as the primary teachers. An American Heritage School
teacher sets up parent and teacher conferences a few times per year to answer questions
and offer assistance, including reviewing student work, if desired, and to describe
to the parent our observations about their students’ progress in our learning management
system. Parents may also contact the teacher at any time to ask for assistance.
Grades 3-6
While the parents
remain the primary teacher, the curriculum increasingly offers teacher-graded writing
assignments and computer-measured quizzes and activities. A teacher holds increasingly
frequent parent-teacher or student-teacher conferences—typically once per month,
except in math, which may be more frequent. These conferences are held only in consultation
with and at the discretion of the parent(s). The purposes of these meetings include:
review student work (with the parent or student), discuss teaching strategies, answer
questions, offer assistance, and describe to the parent our observations about their
students’ progress in our learning management system. Parents may also contact the
teacher at any time to ask for assistance.
Grades 7-12
Three varieties
of distance education will be available for most subjects and courses in grades
7-12:
Live Course. Teachers and student groups meet together online at scheduled times to engage in discussions based on researching, reasoning, relating, and recording. Teachers and students also have the opportunity to meet together during 20-minute, one-on-one, individual, weekly consulting sessions to review written assignments and discuss questions or topics of interest to the student. Teachers help students collaborate in online discussions. Teachers also provide American Heritage School’s curriculum for student use. Teacher-graded assignments and computer-generated feedback are also provided in the course.
Consulted Course. Students explore curricular materials and pre-recorded classes at their own pace. Students are strongly encouraged to meet online with the instructor for 20-minute, one-on-one, individual, weekly consulting sessions to review written assignments and discuss assignments and other questions or topics of interest to the student. These will be encouraged, but not strictly required. Students collaborate in online discussions with a class of students. Students also have access to American Heritage School’s curriculum. Students receive teacher-graded assignments and computer-generated feedback in the course.
Independent Study. American Heritage School's copyrighted online or print curricula (materials that are not licensed to share or re-sell) will be provided for family use with some teacher-graded assignments and computer-generated feedback.
Sample Online Resources
To experience sample online resources, please go to http://american-heritage.brainhoney.com and use the following login information:
Username: sample
Password: sample
"The students log on to internet software, and then we screen-share. We have shared audio and visual, I have PowerPoints, I have activities, I have interactive quizzes, Word Studies—all of the benefits of an American Heritage education, that are uploaded online. [Students] then have access to files of all of these wonderful educational tools, and then, when they come to our classes, we talk together about the History, we use the 4-R’ing method, which is a wonderful method—it’s the research, reason, relate, and record [method]."