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The home school assistance program provides an educational alternative for K-12 students, and is for parents or guardians who wish to educate their children at home. The program meets Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD) educational requirements, builds community, and considers the best interests of students. Our certified teachers support home school families by guiding them in the many decisions needed to give their children the best learning experience possible. We collaborate with other CRCSD buildings to provide dual enrollment options for students. Students can enroll in a variety of classes, clubs, and activities in their neighborhood school. Respecting the uniqueness of each family is important to us. By supporting families with educational goals, graduation requirements, professional materials, teaching techniques, and curriculum, we are invested in the success of your home school. Our teachers offer weekly enrichment classes, field trips, parent workshops, and much more. The home school assistance program office is located in Wilson Middle School at 2301 J St SW, Cedar Rapids. The main office can be reached at 319-558-2088. Interested in enrolling in the home school program? Learn more about registration and enrollment here. Interested students may tour our facilities. |
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Home visits
The home school assistance program offers a variety of educational activities to enrich your home school. We require 16 contacts per year with each family, which includes eight home visits. The home visits meet the needs of each family—our resource teachers have met with families in their home, onsite at our Wilson location, the library, a restaurant, parks, and more. Your resource teacher may do an activity with your student at a home visit.
Home visits are an important component of the program. Resource teachers work with families and provide educational support through curriculum, lesson sharing, assessments, and multiple types of other resources found in our lending library and online.
We work alongside families by:
- Building a supportive community of homeschooling families in the Cedar Rapids metro area
- Resourcing our families with pertinent information, resources, timelines, activities, and activities
- Offering weekly enrichment classes for students grades K-12 (writing, history, science, art, technology, PE, lunch, recess)
- Supporting families with information for dual-enrolling students for specific academic classes, sports, PACT/Prime-Time, special services, clubs, and activities offered at local public schools
- Setting up and overseeing fun and educational field trips for families one to two times per month
- Organizing Makerspace events and promoting local STEM events
- Hosting a lending library with books, curriculum, educational resources, and games
- Sponsoring clubs for art, robotic, chess, and book readers
- Providing Edgenuity online classes for students grades K-12
- Providing iReady online reading and math instruction and progress monitoring for elementary students
- Providing rental curriculum
- Hosting an annual world food fest
- Hosting a spring and fall family picnic
- Supporting families to remain in compliance with Iowa state law
Enrichment classes
Weekly enrichment classes are held for K-12 students. These classes provide students with academic and extension learning activities, and provide homeschoolers a “day-like” school experience. These classes are a great time for kids to build their social network of friends.
Elementary classes are taught on Tuesdays, and middle and high school classes are taught on Thursdays. Learn more below about the enrichment classes that will be taught in the fall of 2021.
Makerspace
A Makerspace is a community-operated workspace that can fuel creativity by encouraging people of all ages to make and create. They often function as centers for peer learning and knowledge sharing, as well as a social opportunity that promotes design process and STEM skills. The home school hatchery is our Makerspace, designed for use by CRHSAP students in grades K-12, in collaboration with their parent and teacher mentors.
The home school hatchery helps students grow from consumers into creators. As part of the Makerspace movement, The hatchery allows students to build and revise, fail and retry, bounce ideas off one another, and make something. By integrating design thinking and playfulness, we hope to nurture students into a maker mindset, and ultimately “hatch” students who are full of ideas…and the ability to develop them.
Explore ideas, create something new, and share it with others: join us!
Elementary classes
Writing class
Ms. Jeannie
Our writing classes learn about writing through a variety of ways. Our students write for a variety of purposes: opinion, how-to, point-of-view, comparing and contrasting, and real and imaginative narratives. We use literature as a model of good writing. We work together by brainstorming, using organizers, building stronger sentences, editing and publishing. Our goal is to encourage the love of writing for many purposes.
Science
Ms. Josie
During elementary science enrichment classes students are immersed in hands-on learning related to the world around them. Using Foss science kits, the students learn about rocks, soils, insects, ecosystems, and so much more.
Physical education
Ms. Mary
The purpose of the physical education program is to engage the student’s body and mind through a variety of planned activities. We hope each student reaches their optimum physical, mental, emotional, and social development. Our PE classes will provide activities and sports all students can enjoy and pursue throughout their lives. “Health is to the body what wisdom is to the mind.”
Back-to-school basics (grades K-1)
Mr. Wayne
This class will help ease Kindergarten and first grade students into basic school behaviors and expectations. Through community circle and calendar time, students will learn about: raising hands, speaking at appropriate times, keeping hands to self, responding to questions, listening to literature read-alouds, and expressing personal ideas. Students will be taught the basics of forming a line, sitting in a circle, walking in a line, how to go through the lunch line, and walk quietly in the hallway. Students will learn about working together, getting along with peers, speaking politely, asking for help, and how to be a friend. Toward the end of the school year, students will be given opportunities to access Chromebooks and early childhood learning apps.
Technology tools for kids (grades 2-5)
Mr. Wayne
This class will teach kids the basics of using a CRCSD-issued Chromebook. Basic skills include how to login/logout, use a mouse/trackpad, navigate between open windows, find and launch apps. Students will be introduced to apps within the Google Suite (Docs, Chrome, Draw, Gmail, Classroom) and others installed or linked on their Chromebook (Classlink, Typing.com, EPIC Books, GWAEA Online Resources, Mystery Science)
Art
Ms. Cheryl
Elementary art’s purpose is to understand and apply the fundamentals of art. We will learn and practice using tools, such as scissors, glue, painting and drawing tools, and more. An introduction to drawing, painting, ceramics, and crafts is followed by a scaffolded approach to art skills every year. Students will learn about art styles and famous artists along the way.
Middle school classes
Science
Ms. Kristin
Science education involves performing experiments, exploring, researching, observing, hypothesizing, testing, collaborating, and learning. Students will explore a wide variety of science topics, perform hands-on activities, and work in groups with their same-aged peers. Science enrichment classes provide an opportunity for students to have fun and gain an understanding of the world around them.
Writing
Ms. Liz
Writing class will creatively apply reading, writing, and speaking/listening skills. Student curiosity and critical thinking skills will be nurtured by providing diverse and interactive opportunities throughout these areas as well as cross-curricularly. Additionally, different forms of writing will be experimented with: narrative (and personal), informational, persuasive, opinion (descriptive).
Economics
Mr. Matt
Over the course of the 30 class periods, students will be introduced to theories, terms, and strategies at both the macro and micro economic levels. The students will gain practice thinking like an economist when it comes to larger issues such as taxation and regulation, as well as personal issues, such as buying a car, saving for retirement, or starting a business.
Art
Ms. Cheryl
In middle school, students will broaden their understanding of art fundamentals by focusing on different styles of art so the student can begin to develop their own. Styles such as pop art, cubism, impressionism, and contemporary will be explored. We continue to work on developing their age-appropriate skill set and introduction of harder concepts, such as plaster casting, printmaking, sculpting, and realism in painting/drawing. These tweens and teens will find art a little more challenging and rewarding when they see art can be for any ability level.
High school classes
Science
Ms. Kristin
Science education involves performing experiments, exploring, researching, observing, hypothesizing, testing, collaborating, and learning. Students will explore a wide variety of science topics, perform hands-on activities, and work in groups with their same-aged peers. Science enrichment classes provide an opportunity for students to have fun and gain an understanding of the world around them.
Writing
Ms. Liz
Writing class will creatively apply reading, writing, and speaking/listening skills. Student curiosity and critical thinking skills will be nurtured by providing diverse and interactive opportunities throughout these areas as well as cross-curricularly. Additionally, different forms of writing will be experimented with: narrative (and personal), informational, persuasive, opinion (descriptive).
Economics
Mr. Matt
Over the course of the 30 class periods, students will be introduced to theories, terms, and strategies at both the macro and micro economic levels. The students will gain practice thinking like an economist when it comes to larger issues such as taxation and regulation, as well as personal issues, such as buying a car, saving for retirement, or starting a business.
Art
Ms. Cheryl
High school students focus on the creative benefits of art. At this point, they usually know what style of art they are passionate about so individualized instruction is provided to enhance their skills. Their interests are also used to expand and enhance their artistic abilities.
Activities
Each month, families may participate in activities, opportunities, field trips, and events happening within our home school group. Below is a listing of recurring events:
Chess club
The CRHSAP chess club meets weekly from September through May. Students must be in grades three to 12 to participate. Beginning players with no experience to players with competition experience are invited to join. Mr. Munstermann will coach the team on game rules, piece movement, rules, tactics, strategies, current events in the world of chess, and chess trivia. Mr. Mustermann is a Level I USCF certified coach and is author of the book, “Chess Handbook for Parents and Coaches.” Mr. Wayne is the staff sponsor and chess enthusiast.
Our chess club will be held virtually, using chesskid.com as our platform of choice, Google Meet for the conference calls, and Google Classroom for communication. If you have a child(ren) who are interested in participating in chess club during the 2021-22 school year, register here.
Club Create
Once a quarter, Ms. Cheryl demonstrates a particular art form to students and provides them the materials to create similar projects within that same art form. These events are open to students of all artistic abilities.
FIRST Lego League (FLL)
This is a competitive league team. Fourth through eighth grade students sign up to build and program a Lego Mindstorm EV3 robot. Ten students can join a team and must make a commitment to meet for 1.5 hours twice a week from September to December.
During the season, students will not only program a robot, but will also research a real-world problem and work together toward solving that problem. The team will attend a local competition in early December to share their research and solution before judges. The team will also put their robot up against others on the playing field with hopes of earning a reward for their effort and hard work. Mr. Wayne is the staff sponsor and supervisor of the FLL Team while parent volunteers are needed to plan and organize team meetings.
Register your child here to participate in FLL 2021 Cargo Connect Season.
First Lego League Junior (FLL Jr.)
This is a non-competitive league team for students kindergarten through fourth grade. A team consists of no more than six students. These students commit to meeting 1.5 hours, once a week, between September and December. They use Lego WeDo robots and program them for a local showcase event where they meet up with other FLL Jr. teams to be held in early December. Mr. Wayne is the staff sponsor and supervisor of the FLL Jr. team while parent volunteers are needed to plan and organize team meetings.
Register your child here to participate in FLL Jr. 2021 Cargo Connect Season.