A day of enrichment for homeschool students
One Day Enrichment exists to support homeschooling families. We meet on Fridays for the whole school day, offering a wide range of classes. At the elementary level, our classes aim to provide enrichment. We assume the basic fundamentals are being taught at home through a wide range of philosophy and curriculum. Many of our families are deeply immersed in a rigorous, daily program while others embrace a more relaxed approach. Consequently, the time frame when students reach proficiency in reading and math skills is very broad. So we at ODE focus instead on classes that really are better in a group or require more skill and expertise than the average mom typically has. It is very difficult to play a game of kickball or dodgeball at home. Creating a choir is a challenge on the living room couch. And how about art? Children love art - but for a busy (and oftentimes exhausted!) homeschooling mom, art can easily be left by the wayside because it is not critical to academic development, and finding the required materials can be an overwhelming obstacle. And of course science experiments are the same way! Who has time to plan experiments in advance to make sure science they happen? Sometimes it is hard just to get the required ingredients to even feed the little guys, let alone do science experiments with them!!
We recognize and applaud the very deep investment parents make in the lives of their children when they make the decision to homeschool. Homeschooling can be exhilarating and should be rewarding as you watch your children grow and develop, but of course it is also exhausting. At ODE we understand that homeschooling young students offers very little respite, and we are so glad to provide a day when you as a homeschooling mom can take a few hours to rest, run errands (without the endearing, incessant questions!), go to lunch with a friend, make plans for next week, or do anything that strikes your fancy. This is a huge part of our mission - caring for mom! To that end, we never want you to feel pressure to be at ODE to pitch in with anything at all. Yes, you read that correctly. We do not want you to feel pressure to help with anything. However, community is important and can help with days that seem hard and long. Knowing you are not the only one in your situation, not the only one struggling, can be a lifeline. Hearing the stories of others can be just the balm you need. To help us connect, we do provide moms’ coffees from time to time, and we hope that you will make use of our forum and closed facebook group to connect with others and to draw encouragement from others who have been exactly where you are.
Many ask if ODE is a Christian program. The founders of ODE are Christians. The current director of ODE is a Christian and a member of Judson, the church that graciously hosts our program. Most of our teachers are also Christians. They believe in God and his love for each one of the people He created, and that we can know Him and be known by Him. Our salvation comes through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, his son, and we humbly acknowledge our need for him on a daily, even hourly basis. Having said that, we do not require that our families believe the same way. We welcome any student and family who wants to come to ODE, and we respect and value each student and each parent. We want to be very sensitive to the very diverse group that we represent, and we are grateful and acknowledge your valid views and opinions. We hope and pray that there would never be any circumstance where someone feels belittled or unvalued because of their beliefs or opinions - when it comes to religion or politics or any other issue. We are all enriched by cultivating authentic relationships with people who are different from us, provided we put aside our preconceived generalizations and begin from a position of humility and respect for all people.
You may wonder if your child will be asked to do homework for ODE. We do believe that for a class that meets once a week, your child’s experience will be richer if they do add time at home and do some work on their end. We post homework on the website every Monday morning for your student to do for maximum success in the class. You can even use the class and the homework as a springboard for deeper study or more work in your homeschool - especially in the literature, unit, and science classes. Having said that, we again want to emphasize that our desire is to come alongside you and lighten your load. If you are very busy during the week and doing homework for ODE would be a burden to you, and you do not wish to spend any time on it, that is ok. We do hope that as the students get older, they will be able to independently find and complete their work, but again, that is up to your discretion as the parent.
You may feel confused by the class names - Dolphin Swimmers, Time Travelers, Banana Smoothies, Seahorses, and Dragons. These names were voted on by the students themselves, and we love the creative flair. We have five levels for six actual grades of elementary. We know that homeschooling can be a little more loose as far as age ranges, and we want you to feel free to place your child where you think she or he will thrive. As a general rule of thumb, the Dolphin Swimmers group is for 1st and 2nd graders. Time Travelers is for 2nd and 3rd graders, Banana Smoothies for 3rd and 4th, Seahorses for 4th and 5th, and Dragons for 5th and 6th graders. So it is not necessary to move to the next level every year, but most years they will probably move up. Please do communicate with us about any questions you might have about placement and we will be happy to help you find the best group for your child!
Any other questions? Please feel free to shoot an email to info@onedayenrichment.com. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
Week 1 - Sept. 6, 2019
Week 2 - Sept. 13
Week 3 - Sept. 20
Week 4 - Sept. 27
Week 5 - Oct. 4
Week 6 - Oct. 11
Week 7 - Oct. 18
Week 8 - Oct. 25
Week 1 - Nov. 8
Week 2 - Nov. 15
Week 3 - Nov. 22
Week 4 - Dec. 6
Week 5 - Dec. 13
Week 6 - Jan 10, 2020
Week 7 - Jan. 17, 2020
Week 8 - Jan. 24
Week 1 - Jan. 31, 2020
Week 2 - Feb. 7
Week 3 - Feb. 14
Week 4 - Feb. 21
Week 5 - Feb. 28
Week 6 - March 6
Week 7 - March 13
Week 8 - March 20
Week 1 - April 3
Week 2 - April 17
Week 3 - April 24
Week 4 - May 1
Week 5 - May 8
Week 6 - May 15
Week 7 - May 22
Week 8 - May 29
These are the preliminary Preschool and Elementary class schedules for Fall 2019 through Spring 2020.
There are two options for our Ladybugs and Grasshoppers. They can choose to begin at 8:30 and take a Kindermusik class or they can arrive at 9:30. Pick-up time is 3:00.
| Ladybugs (3-4 year olds) |
Grasshoppers (4-6 year olds) |
|
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 - 3:00 | Kindermusik followed by ODE programming | Kindermusik followed by ODE programming |
| 9:30 - 3:00 | Regular ODE Preschool with no Kindermusik | Regular ODE Preschool/Kindergarten with no Kindermusik |
| Dolphin Swimmers | Time Travelers | Banana Smoothies | Seahorses | Dragons | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30-9:30 | Science | Literature | Unit | Science | Art |
| 9:30-10:30 | Unit | Science | Science | PE | Music |
| 10:30-11:30 | Art | PE | Literature | Music | Science |
| 11:30-12:30 | Music | Art | PE | Unit | Literature |
| 12:30-1:00 | ----- LUNCH ----- | ||||
| 1:00-2:00 | Literature | Unit | Music | Art | PE |
| 2:00-3:00 | PE | Music | Art | Literature | Unit |
ODE's upper school journalism class has worked hard to launch their new website: Ode to Journalism.
October 16th-18th
There's an opportunity to visit LEGOLAND Discovery Center Chicago for Homeschool Week! Enjoy a LEGO® Education Workshop and everything the center has to offer for just $15.
Your Dolphin Swimmer, Time Traveler, Banana Smoothie, Seahorse, or Dragon needs the following items for Session I.
You will also need to get your child a copy of the literature book that the will be reading and discussing in literature class. For Time Travelers and Banana Smoothies, that book will be Space Taxi: Water Planet Rescue by Wendy Mass and Michael Brawer. For Seahorses and Dragons, your book is 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass. Check your library, the Swan system, Amazon, or download it on your Kindle, use and Audio Book credit, steal it off your sister-in-law's bookshelf, or whatever way works best for you.
We may have other needs that will be communicated as we go - but this is all you need for now. There should be nothing that will incur any expense.
What? What is this new ODE Academy? Why do students have to apply? Will you be turning students down? Does my child have to apply even if he or she has been at ODE for a long time?
Lots of questions are rolling in so we thought we’d try to address some of them in this post.
Our overall purpose is to help and encourage homeschooling families, to support and fortify, bring resources, community, and respite. We all want our children to grow up to be compassionate, well-adjusted, caring, disciplined, hard-working, competent adults. In order to be those people, they must be confident in their own worth, know their own value as individuals, know that they are deeply loved and cared for, and from there they can take on challenges and adversity that they will inevitably encounter as they face the world. We believe that each and every child is uniquely equipped with skills, talents, and many different areas of strength and intelligence.
ODE provides classes and programming for children beginning at age 3 all the way through high school graduation at 18. While our purpose remains the same for the entire program, our implementation does, out of necessity, adjust. Children in elementary learn at such widely different rates and in so many different ways, and do not have the independence to make their educational choices for themselves. Young adults in high school, although they may attack their workloads in different manners, need to function independently, and work within the perimeters laid out for them, taking the responsibility on for themselves. This is why we want the STUDENT to apply - just filling out the application and submitting is a great way to begin. This is a way for teachers to get to know a little bit about them as well.
To sum up, yes, ALL students need to apply - even those who have been at ODE previously. Please encourage your student to take the time to think through the questions. Encourage them to take this opportunity to tell us (their prospective teachers and admin) about themselves. We would love to know them better, and we are so very willing and eager to work WITH them! We are all on the same team. And for those new 7th graders who are just now transitioning from our enrichment program to our ODE Academy - please do not worry! We will walk the bridge with them. We know the 7th graders are not at a place of independent motivation. It is a wonderful and exhilarating thing to see the students bloom in those bridge (7th and 8th grade) years.
Our Bridge classes will look great on a transcript if you are thinking of putting your child in high school. But you do need to make sure you are aware of the requirements to get into high school because ODE only provides a handful of classes. If you are homeschooling for high school, you will not need a formal transcript for those years. A high school transcript will just be for the classes taken during the high school years.
This is the preliminary Academy schedule for Fall 2019 through Spring 2020.
| Bridge to High School 7th, 8th, 9th Grade |
High School Track 9th-12th |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30-9:30 | PE | 8:30-10:00 | Local |
| 9:30-10:30 | Art | ||
| 10:00-11:30 | Literature | ||
| 10:30-11:30 | Science | ||
| 11:30-12 | LUNCH | ||
| 12-1:30 | United States Geography | 12-1:30 | Theater
Honor's Literature |
| 1:30-3:00 | Bridge Literature | 1:30-3:00 | Speech & Debate |