Parent-led is a term used to define homeschooling in the traditional sense of the word, where the parent is the teacher of all content. As the roles of home education are changing, AHS Worldwide seeks to meet parents who need to be the guide or simply be well-connected with the learning happening online and with AHS teachers and mentors—thus the addition of student- and teacher-led offerings now in development.
Go to FamilySchoolOnline.org to login to your personal dashboard, view your calendar, courses, update your account, and more!
Yes, by using the site search engine. You can search our entire site by keyword and you will find results including lessons, websites, videos, worksheets, articles, diagrams – anything that we have curated to our site.
Your Family School membership includes full access to our PreK-8 curriculum, which includes math, language arts, science, literature, art, music, geography, history, world studies, and personal growth. It also includes the full HeartStart Preschool curriculum, daily “Seize the Day” mini-lessons, “In the Constitution” Bee course, and Foundations lessons that teach our methodology. Plus, thousands of resources!
The Free membership gives you full access to three of our courses, one in each of our three age groups:
- HeartStart preschool – “I am a Child of God”
- Elementary (K-8) – “Zoology”
- High School – “U.S. History”
You will also have access to our daily “Seize the Day” mini-lesson, one free Family School lesson a week, plus free access to thousands of supporting resources from our Freely Learn search engine. The courses are available to you already loaded on your Dashboard under “My Courses”. You can see the other courses that are available with a paid membership under “Courses” on the left side of the page.
Simply click on “My Account” from your dashboard after logging in. Then click on the “Update to Full Access” button inside your current members box.
Yes! Family School is the parent-led resource, while LiftEd is a student-led program. The two programs complement each other and can be used together.
We are excited to have four new courses available in Family School! Get full details by logging into your Family School account and going to the Courses page. You can also find FAQs for Math and Language Arts on the FAQ page.
- I Master Math! (pilot)
- I Love Language! (pilot)
- World Studies Course: Family & Community Life
- Growth Courses: Health, Liberty through Law
Heartstart Preschool
You decide! Have a look at the lessons and evaluate if your child is ready for HeartStart Preschool. All memberships to HeartStart are for life, so there is no risk if you purchase it and do not end up using it as much as you had planned initially.
We are not likely to produce teacher videos for HeartStart Preschool. At this age, a parent’s involvement is most necessary to facilitate the tactile experiences used throughout this resource.
LiftEd (K-8) More Info >
Most fundamentally, LiftEd is a student-led resource and Family School is a parent-led resource. Family School is more comprehensive with a K–8 math and language arts program. Math and language arts curriculum will be a part of the LiftEd experience for our worldwide public launch in fall of 2024.
Family School provides ready-made lessons for parents to use to teach multiple children of various ages together in subjects like history, geography, science, literature, art, and music. While LiftEd includes access to recorded teacher video instruction and access to a group of students that students connect with throughout the learning experiences (Explore and Gather; more below).
Content Access (Explore): LiftEd provides access to various courses presented episodically (one new lesson each day; Monday–Thursday) to your student(s) with their student cohort throughout each respective school year. Courses include instruction for history, science, geography, art, music, literature, entrepreneurship, leadership, health, and others. We call this experience on the LiftEd platform “Explore.”
Virtual live gathering: In addition to enrollment in LiftEd, parents may also add-on a daily virtual live gathering (Monday through Thursday) facilitated by AHS Worldwide mentors via Zoom. Virtual gatherings allow students to connect and extend learning through various activities, projects, deeper dive, discussion, etc. This daily live gathering is an add-on service and paid in full when enrolling. Tuition is prorated if enrolling after school begins. We call this experience “Gather.”
In-person Gathering: For 2023/24, we are introducing and providing to every LiftEd member a “Mentor’s Guide,” which will act as a course companion and provide parents with the same outlines we are using for the daily virtual live gatherings. This course-specific Mentor’s Guide provides parents, grandparents—and whoever families choose to mentor their children—with extensive ideas for applying and extending student learning on LiftEd through labs, projects, activities, games, competitions, discussions, recitations, deeper dive, etc., and will greatly simplify the preparation and facilitation of an in-person gathering for parents who want to do this together with their children or in smaller local groups with other LiftEd families. Again, this resource is provided free of charge to all LiftEd members, and we strongly encourage this form of gathering over the paid virtual gathering service when able.
LiftEd content and course work is delivered episodically, four days a week (Monday through Thursday). Fridays are reserved for “Celebrations” and other family or group learning experiences. New lessons “drop” daily and are accessed from each student’s private dashboard calendar as their daily Explore and Gather sessions, depending on their specific enrollment. During the Explore experience, students join with a cohort of other students of similar age and geography to learn content together. Students Explore content together for 20–45 minutes (lesson lengths vary by level).
Following the Explore experience, students are encouraged to complete one of the “Record” options (assignment and activities are provided). Although these are optional, we strongly encourage parents to encourage their students to complete at least one of these Record options prior to the Gather experience (more below). Recording is a critical part of the overall experience and allows students to showcase their work during the Gathering and to demonstrate learning by recording their learning on the “fleshy tables of their heart.”
Lastly, after their daily Explore and Record experiences, they are prepared for the live virtual gathering (Gathering), or in many cases, families will do this in their homes, or with a group of other local families. Whether in-person or online, the gathering allows students an important opportunity to connect live and to discuss, share, and extend learning through projects, activities, games, etc.
You can view our 2023-24 academic calendar, course offerings, and sequence here: https://ahsworldwide.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/LiftEd-2023-24-Courses-and-Calendars-2.pdf
The new K–8 math and language arts curricula are now available for all students at FamilySchoolOnline.org. All LiftEd families are provided with a free account to Family School, and parents can use this resource freely for each of their children. Both resources are currently in written form only, however, so students who cannot read (at minimum) will need parent support.
Beginning 2023/24, we will be piloting a student- and teacher-led cohort for each math level (and possibly for language arts as well). Invitations to participate will be sent this summer 2022, and seating will be limited to about 25 students per level/grade (K–8). More information (cost, schedule, offering) is forthcoming. Student-facilitated math and language arts will be available for all students on LiftEd for the 2024/25 school year. Courses will be highly interactive, video-based, and organized so students can work through material together with other students or independently.
For the 2023-24 school year, middle school students also have access to our legacy Saxon math and language arts courses available from Canvas. Parents can enroll students in these Canvas courses on LiftEd as either an a la carte course or part of the Full Access pack with their other LiftEd courses.
LiftEd content and course work is delivered episodically, four days a week (Monday through Thursday). Fridays are reserved for “Celebrations” and other family or group learning experiences organized locally. Courses are organized in eight 4-week units (32 weeks in total). The calendar includes several full-week breaks (Fall Break, Thanksgiving Break, Christmas Break, Winter Break, and Spring Break). Each year begins with “Foundations”—two days dedicated to a review of school mission, methods, core values, honor code, and technical training.
View the detailed 2023/24 school and curricular calendar, here: https://ahsworldwide.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/LiftEd-2023-24-Courses-and-Calendars-2.pdf
During the 2023-24 pilot year we will rotate through four general subject areas—one unit every two weeks. Subject areas include history, science, world studies, and a combination of other elective courses (a.k.a. growth courses). The unit approach allows students to cover material with much greater depth and breadth, while also allowing us to implement the new “production-based” learning experiences and activities to reinforce and demonstrate learning in more meaningful and “productive” ways.
LiftEd “core” courses include the above-described history/humanities course and science for all three levels. Level 1 is for K–2; Level 2 for 3–5, and Level 3 for middle school, or 6–8. As enrollment grows, we will produce courses for high school on LiftEd, too.
Importantly, parents decide what level is right for each child each year. Their level will default to their respective grade during registration, but parents can edit that level based on the respective student’s actual learning level.
LiftEd supplemental and supporting resources include printable resources (i.e., handouts, instructions), supplies/materials, and recommended literature. Printable resources are available for self-download and print. Other suggested supplies, materials, and literature are organized by unit for simple preparation and purchase.
All course content is archived from “My Courses” on the student dashboard and can be accessed at any time, or until the course is republished and replaced at a future date. Due to the cost of storage and hosting, student-submitted videos are deleted at the end of each semester. Parents will be notified before the student-submitted videos are deleted and can download any they want to keep.
LiftEd is being developed for all platforms (mobile, tablet, laptop, desktop). A desktop or laptop is preferred, but newer model tablets and touch screen Chromebooks also work very well. Chrome is the recommended browser.
Digital and online safety is an especially important part of the LiftEd experience. We are doing everything under our control to ensure that students have a positive and safe experience while using the LiftEd platform to access content and connect with other students. These safety measures include the following:
- Parents may audit the live class at any time.
- Parents can review all messages to and from their student(s) in the messaging hub.
- Parents can review all videos submitted by their student(s).
- Any external videos from YouTube are locked down to prevent students from going to YouTube from the video or clicking on any other recommended videos from the LiftEd video player.
- Students have a “Report” button throughout the experience to report any suspicious or inappropriate behavior, video submissions, and messaging, immediately to AHS Worldwide administration.
- Parents can attend an annual tech review and FAQ online seminar to provide additional ideas and recommendations for securing devices locally.
- Students participate in annual “Foundations Training,” which includes a segment on responsible and safe technology use as well as a review of the school’s honor code that all students must agree to follow to participate.
Ultimately, it is the parent’s continued modeling and communication with children that will have the greatest impact in helping children to be successful as they develop in the digital world in which they live. LiftEd will provide just one tool and experience that can help children to develop the tools and skills to thrive in an online world, especially from an early age before challenges increase.
We are offering several options for the daily LiftEd group study experience (Explore). Morning sessions begin on the hour from 8:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. (based on demand). All session times are in Mountain Time. The new lesson of the day will go live Monday–Thursday at the time parents have specified for each student.
At the time scheduled for a student’s respective Explore experience, a new lesson will be released episodically each day. This episodic method for releasing content encourages students to join with their cohort and to experience learning in a virtual environment together. There are many synchronous and asynchronous connection points with other students and family during this live group study experience.
Students will be assigned an Explore time and class based on their age, proximity, and original enrollment preferences selected by the parent. However, parents may move their student(s) to another time/group at any time, based on availability, using their dashboard settings/tools.
No, we cannot enable earlier viewing of each daily lesson before the scheduled time.
The cost for the services provided on LiftEd are as follows:
- Content—”Explore” (Levels 1 & 2): $49/mo. per student, billed monthly
- Content—”Explore” (Level 3): $69/mo. per student, billed monthly; includes one additional course (Impact)
- Live Class—“Gather” (Levels 1, 2, and 3): $588 per student, billed annually
Additionally, Level 3 students (middle school) may add-on our former math and language arts courses for the 2023-24 school year, which are provided through Canvas. The cost for this add-on is $20/mo per student. As always, the AHS Worldwide K–8 math and language arts curriculum is freely available at familyschoolonline.org.
Access to the course content and the daily group study experience on LiftEd (Explore) is billed monthly and recurs automatically until canceled. There is no contract or commitment, so parents can enroll and unenroll at any time. Upon cancelation, students will have access to Explore content through that billing period. Prorated refunds will not be provided for the monthly Explore service fee.
Access to the live virtual gathering (Gather) that follows each LiftEd daily group study experience is billed annually. Similarly, there is no contract or commitment for this service, so parents can enroll and unenroll at any time. Enrollment in Gather is prorated if enrolling after school begins. Partial prorated refunds (75% of remaining service prepaid) are provided when unenrolling to help cover the continuing fixed costs of coaching, software, etc.
All LiftEd members receive a complimentary Family School membership, so enrollment in LiftEd simply updates your Family School membership from paid to complimentary. In both cases, you have full access to Family School. LiftEd members will lose their complimentary access to Family School upon cancelling their LiftEd membership(s).
Founding Families enrolled in LiftEd during its inaugural year (2021/22) and received exclusive discounts and lifetime benefits in exchange for their willingness to beta test LiftEd and to share ongoing feedback through focus groups, webinars, and surveys. Founding Families perform an essential role in supporting a learn–fast, improve–fast development strategy for all new products and services. We are no longer offering this Founding Family program.
Your discount is an account level and lifetime discount, which means that once used to enroll even a single child for the 2022–23 pilot, it will remain on your account and be applied to other students for eligible enrollment options. This benefit will remain on the account as long as there is at least one paying student. Unenrolling all students removes this discount from the account. Reenrollment will not reinstate that discount or any other benefits that may have applied to the account when actively enrolled.
Yes, all active paying LiftEd members receive full access to all resources at FamilySchoolOnine.org while their LiftEd membership is active.
Absolutely! Each of your children will be learning with a coordinated scope and sequence, but at varying levels. In fact, it is designed for this kind of family-centered use. Many families do opt to review lessons with their own family group (or with a group of families) at a time that works best for them.
YES!!! In fact, that is highly recommended. We provide the Gather experience (virtual live gathering), but we can never replicate and exceed the effectiveness of what you can do in person within your home. Many families need the virtual live gathering to support their children, but others have the time and desire to “outsource” a little less and to do a little more in their homes.
For 2023-24, we are introducing and providing to every LiftEd member a “Mentor’s Guide,” which will act as a course companion and provide parents with the same outlines we are using for the daily Virtual live gathering. This course-specific Mentor’s Guide provides parents, grandparents—and whoever families choose to mentor their children—with extensive ideas for applying and extending student learning on LiftEd through labs, projects, activities, games, competitions, discussions, recitations, deeper dive, etc., and will greatly simplify the preparation and facilitation of an in-person gathering for parents who want to do this together with their children or in smaller local groups with other LiftEd families. Again, this resource is provided free of charge to all LiftEd members, and we strongly encourage this form of gathering over the paid virtual gathering service when able.
Families can use LiftEd Explore content AND Gather class in any way they feel is supportive of their family or learning community objectives and goals. LiftEd content can be used by mothers to share with children together; group leaders can use it as a pre-learning resource before gathering locally for projects and activities; academies and schools can use it to provide a “flipped class” experience and to allow teachers to focus on activities, projects, and assignments to focus on the application of learning. LiftEd provides pre-recorded, video-based lessons and can be used in any format and to support any function of a home- or school-centered organization.
Yes, that is the goal. We are pushing to begin our first cohort of students for 9th grade in the fall of 2024/25. Availability of funds is always a factor in estimating these kinds of developments, however.
Yes. The for-credit services like grading, feedback, tutoring, grade cards, etc. will eventually be offered to our K–8 LiftEd students (for 2024/25 school year). These types of teacher– and school-supported services will be an add-on to LiftEd enrollments, and “Founding Family” discounts will not apply.
Live virtual gatherings support and extend what students learn on the LiftEd platform during their Explore lessons. Each session is approximately 50 minutes and is provided for each course on LiftEd via Zoom. Each LVG group is organized by age, preferred time, and geography (in that order). The daily LVG is accessible each day from the student dashboard calendar as “Gathering.” The format for this gathering is as follows:
- Seize The Day Kahoot
- Daily Announcements
- Time to greet each other and catch up.
- Prayer
- Review & Share LiftEd take-aways
- Dive Deeper Activities
- Reasoning Together
- Relating Together
- Coaches Challenge
- Prayer
- 5-minute Work Out
- Close
The live virtual gathering (Gather) will be one hour before the respective daily Explore experience and calendar event. For example, if your Explore hour is 1:00 p.m., then your daily Gather experience will be at 12:00 p.m. Parents may adjust their Gather hour, by adjusting/changing the Explore hour/class. Importantly, each day’s respective topic for Gather will cover the material learned during Explore the day before. Thus, allowing students adequate time to complete a “Record” assignment prior to the respective Gather class discussion.
Although students are not required to complete assignments and projects in LiftEd in order to join their Gather experience, we strongly encourage that they do. As we continue to develop the Gather experience, we have incorporated activities and projects that are far less meaningful if the student hasn’t prepared by completing the recommended Explore experience and “Recording” for each lesson.
All live virtual gatherings will occur between 7:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Mountain Time for this 2023-24 school year. For families living in areas where participation in the live experiences would be inconvenient, we strongly recommend that they form their own home-based or group-based LiftEd Gather experience, locally, and possibly in–person with other families. We are now providing the Mentor Guides (outlines for each lesson/course) that we produce for each Gather hour to all families so that they can participate and provide this experience at the time that does work for them.
Access to the live virtual gathering (Gather) is billed annually (all up front). We hire, train, and commit to coaches for the full school year based on the initial enrollment demand for this service. However, there is no contract or commitment for this service, so parents can enroll and unenroll at any time. If the LVG is not right for a student, parents can therefore unenroll and receive a partial prorated refund (75% of remaining service prepaid).
No. The Gather experience is not recorded for later viewing and participation. During these classes we are discussing, sharing, playing games, competing, and celebrating learning in highly participatory ways. Therefore, we don’t post recordings. However, LiftEd course content that is completed with their study group during the Explore experience is available at any time once it has “dropped” on their personal dashboard. This can be reviewed at any time thereafter.
No. This would be disruptive to the coach and class to have new students as a daily occurrence. If students miss their class, they will not fall behind, because these classes are not the primary academic experience of LiftEd. They simply extend the learning that already happens during the Explore experience. Keeping up with this content will allow a student to miss their Gather experience but stay on track and to pace with their classmates.
Yes, eventually, but not for the 2023-24 school year. We will likely add a Spanish and Portuguese Gather experiences, first, with other languages following.
The price for the live virtual gathering is based on a group size of 60. Generally, between 30–40 join each day. Smaller groups may be offered, but the price of the experience would be adjusted based on the size of the group. The fewer students, the more expensive for each student participating. We have decided that 60 is the right student count for the type of experience we are hoping to create and for purposes of desired affordability.
There are a few rules we have put in place for these Zoom-based gatherings, so that they are safe, orderly, educational, and fun!
- Every student needs to use a device with a camera to join the class and must have their camera on for the entire class. This helps us make sure only registered students attend class and helps facilitate participation and new friendships.
- We do not allow students to turn on virtual backgrounds or foregrounds (virtual hats, sunglasses, facial hair, etc.) Sometimes the mentor will invite students to use them for a special occasion.
- Students may only unmute themselves when they have raised their virtual zoom hand and their mentor calls on them to share or gives them permission to unmute without raising their hand.
- In order to maintain an uplifting atmosphere, we require students to follow the For Strength of Youth pamphlet, especially as it relates to dress and language.
- Bullying, swearing, or other disrespectful or inappropriate language is not tolerated in a live class or any live experience on LiftEd.
- When chat is enabled, spam and any other inappropriate or distracting messages are not tolerated.
Students who violate these rules will be reminded once, then removed from the Zoom room for the day if the behavior persists. Parents will be notified when this occurs. Repeated violations may require permanent removal from the Gather experience.
Scholar Connect (9-12)More Info >
- All courses are a la carte, with “For-Credit” and “Non-Credit” options.
- All courses are offered as independent study. However, in an effort to continue to support families, parents will have the OPTION to contract directly with Mentors for their services. These services will be facilitated by ScholarConnect (formerly AHS Online) and more details will be forthcoming in early summer.
- High School Registration will be initiated on the LiftEd platform. Courses will still be accessed through Canvas until we have transitioned them to the LiftEd platform in the coming years.
- Middle School Registration will be initiated on the LiftEd platform. Course options will consist of math and language arts and will also continue to be accessed through Canvas. We also recommend middle school students enroll in our Level 3 courses on the LiftEd platform giving them a complete curriculum. LiftEd courses include history, science, and a new course entitled Impact.
AHS Online (7-12) (Old 2022-2023) |
Scholar Connect (9-12) (2023+) |
|
|---|---|---|
| For-Credit Cost (per course/semester) | $330 | $195 |
| Non-Credit Cost (per course/semester) | $100 | $49 |
| Cost full time | $4,290 | |
| Grading/Feedback | ||
| Accredited | ||
| A-la-carte | ||
| Diploma | ||
| Tech Support | ||
| High School | ||
| Middle School | ||
| Mentor Support | ||
| Full Time |
Changes will take effect in the 2023-2024 school year.
- All courses in the 2022-2023 school year will remain the same.
- The final enrollment for current MyPace classes is February 28th, 2023.
- Enrollment in ScholarConnect courses begins in August 2023.
- Yes. The following courses will no longer be offered:
- Foreign Languages
- Pre-Calculus
- Computer Science: Python
- Computer Science Discoveries
- Middle School courses (except for math and language arts)
- All our courses are accredited and can be taken for credit, which can then be transferred with an official AHS transcript.
- Yes, your student can graduate and receive a high school diploma with StudentConnect.
- Students must complete and pass all the required courses listed on our Graduation Requirements page, and a Grad Pack must be purchased when enrolling for courses at the beginning of each school year.
- A Grad Pack includes
- A graduation plan
- Academic advisement each semester
- Transcript services
- Graduation services (Senior Year)
- $200 fee yearly
- Yes! Our courses are based on a curriculum developed over years of success. We use the same methods (4-ring and F.A.C.E.) as our brick-and-mortar campuses.
- AHS includes teachings of the restored gospel throughout our academic curriculum.
- New students must fill out a brief application online via our LiftEd platform and sign a commitment to our honor code.
There are three platforms for your middle school student to access learning materials through AHS Worldwide.
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- LiftEd offers middle school courses that are student-led and include Humanities, Science, and a new course titled Impact, which engages students in a hands-on, production-based experience of personal development, applied research, and entrepreneurship.
- Canvas hosts student-led Math and Language Arts only
- FamilySchool is an option for a parent-led experience for all subjects
- Non-Credit independent study courses have a base cost of $49, with an additional cost of $35 for Math and $49 for science classes.
- This option includes student access to course materials for 6 months.
- For-Credit independent study courses have a base cost of $195, with an additional cost of $35 for Math and $49 for Science.
- This option includes homework grading, feedback, and accredited transcript services.
- Depending on the classes, the cost for 7 courses will be approximately $1484 per semester. Please note: this does not include grading services, mentoring services, or a graduation package.
- No, there is no designation for full-time vs. part-time students.
- All classes are now less expensive than in former years.
- All classes are now considered independent study and are offered on an à la carte basis.
- You will have the option to share your contact information with other families, either in your geographic area or more broadly, for the purpose of forming study groups, live class groups (groups arrange for their own coach), etc.
- You may join our Facebook group for the Independent Study program to interact with other parents.
- Students will communicate with and receive feedback from their graders through the course interface (Canvas).
- High School Course material is currently delivered through the Canvas Learning Management System. Homework submission and grading also take place on Canvas.
- Live classes: Yes. The mentor will set a schedule and corresponding due dates for the class to follow.
- Independent Study only: No. You will have 6 months to complete an independent study course.
- They will need to pay for the course again and repeat the course.
- Courses will be available for enrollment in the summer.
English Writing
- Written Portfolio: Effective Essays
- Written Portfolio: Narrative’s Flow and Structure
- Written Portfolio: Persuasion with Style
- Written Portfolio: Technical Tools
- Senior Thesis (1 full credit)
English Literature
- Literature: Examining Conscience (Sem 1 & 2)
- Literature: Moral Aptitude (Sem 1 & 2)
- Literature: Examing Conscience (Sem 1 & 2)
- Literature: Reaching for Redemption (Sem 1 & 2)
History
- World History: Contemporary to Modern (Sem 1 & 2)
- US History: The Founding Era (Sem 1 & 2)
- History: Ancient Rome, Christianity, and the Apostasy (Sem 1 & 2)
- American Government and Economics
- Constitutional Studies
Science
- Biology (Sem 1 & 2)
- Chemistry (Sem 1 & 2)
- Physics (Sem 1 & 2)
Math
- Pre-Algebra (Sem 1 & 2)
- Algebra 1 (Sem 1 & 2)
- Algebra 2 (Sem 1 & 2)
Electives
- Business Technology
- Financial Literacy
- Family Science (Sem 1 & 2)
- Health (Sem 1 & 2)
- Experiential Learning/Artistic Performance/Athletic Performance (for credit only)
Middle School
- Language Arts
- Math 7
- There will be a mentor for Math 7 and Pre-algebra
- We will provide a list of vetted tutors that you may contact privately if you would like to set up tutoring for your student, at your own cost.
- Not at this time.
A maximum refund of 75% can be received If requested in writing at least two weeks before the course start date.
I Master Math
It is a mastery-based program where students will master an essential skill in each lesson.
No, I Master Math is not based on a spiral review. Instead, student progress will be seen on a continuum. When one essential skill is mastered, the student will be taken to the next level or lesson where they work on mastery of the next skill within that unit/domain.
In the next version, or in LiftEd, if the student does not master the specific skill contained in the lesson, they will be direct to a previous lesson that reinforces/reteaches the concept they are missing.
I Master Math is not aligned with Saxon for several reasons:
- Saxon methods don’t always work well in an independent learning environment.
- The “drill and review” methods tend to burn out children, and parent can’t keep up with all that is required.
- Saxon was written for the classroom and not the individual student.
- With Saxon, the student can’t progress at their own pace. It will take them longer to master an entire concept due to the incremental approach.
- Saxon is highly repetitive. The student takes longer to progress due to all of the repetition.
- Saxon material is hard to find. They aren’t printing new materials anymore.
- Saxon has very specific copyright laws that are hard to work with.
We went through a specific process of finding a curriculum. First, we analyzed what has been taught at the American Fork campus. Next, we researched other homeschooling materials. In addition, we looked at what public schools are using. In our research we found that the state of Virginia did years of research before coming up with the standards of learning for math. Further in our research, we discovered that Virginia’s students consistently score highly in math when compared to other states in the nation and it was not a common core curriculum. The Virginia standards became the most instructive to us as we put together our scope and sequence.
This pilot version will be a parent-led program. In coming years, it will be student-facilitated—with the exception of younger grades who will always need parent guidance. We are encouraging parent feedback to make necessary changes to the next versions which will be on LiftEd.
Yes, all levels contain five domains or areas.
- Number Sense (quantities, comparing, ordering, relationships between numbers)
- Computation and Estimation (all operations +, –, ×, ÷, decimals, fractions, practical applications)
- Measurement and Geometry (money, calendar, time, US customary system, metric system, shapes, angles, perimeter, area, volume, surface)
- Probability and Statistics (probability, graphs, tables, charts, etc.)
- Algebraic Thinking (patterns, sorting, classifying, equality, equations, variables, expressions, linear functions and equations)
Yes, check out the I Master Math Scope and Sequence.
- K-8 Math curriculum will be available on Family School and accessed there.
- 7 practice problems per lesson
- Divided by rigor along Webb’s Depth of Knowledge.
- Level 1 problems: Recall and Reproduction
- Level 2 problems: Skills and Concepts
- Level 3 problems: Strategic Thinking
- Divided by rigor along Webb’s Depth of Knowledge.
- Interactive formative questions
- Enrichment Activities
- Placement tests not available for pilot year
I Master Math can be accessed on the Family School for 22-23. For 23-24, it will be on LiftEd.
We gathered a team of experts in the field of mathematics teaching from all over the country. Their qualifications are both education and experience in the classroom. Several of our writers are teachers from the state of Virginia who are well versed in the standards that guided our curriculum. We also have a team of PhD-educated advisors who have provided feedback on the content of every lesson.
- Title of the lesson is the “I can” statement which identifies the skill that will be mastered.
- Preparation: what specific materials will be needed,
- lesson resources including practice problems and handouts for parents to print
- vocabulary words specific to the lesson
- Math in my world: how this concept relates to the child’s real world.
- Lesson section: concept is taught using an example that “we work through together” then a “try it on your own” question with drop down answer.
- All answers include a detailed explanation of how to solve the problem. It is a “walk through” example outlining the student thinking—how to solve the problem and get the correct answer.
- Sum it up section: Summarizes the essential skill taught and leaves the student with a challenge to apply the essential skill.
- Practice Problems. Called DOK’s or Depth of Knowledge questions based on Blooms Taxonomy.
- DOK 1 (3 of them) represent simple recall and reproduction. Fill in the blank, multiple choice
- DOK 2 (3 of them) represent higher level thinking. Compare/contrast, true/false with explanation, finding the error in an example problem.
- DOK 3 (1 of them) represent strategic thinking. Drawing conclusions, using the concept taught in their problem. These problems have more than one answer and allow for the student to draw upon skills learned in the lesson and apply to a situation.
- Each lesson has a practice key that provides detailed explanation for the answer to the problem. Parents do not have to know how the problem is solved. They can refer to the key and the detailed explanation for solving the problem.
- Activities: Engaging, fun activities where student can apply concept learned in an exciting way. (printable).
No, there will not be placement test for the first version. We will have a placement test for the coming version of LiftEd.
Your child can move as quickly as he/she wants after obtaining mastery of the skill listed in each lesson.
Yes, physical manipulatives will need to be purchased for the younger grades, i.e. Kindergarten and First grade. These manipulatives will include an abacus, linking cubes, and number cards. For all other grades, manipulatives are parent-friendly and easy to obtain (ruler, coins, etc.). In many lessons, there are printable manipulatives for ease of the parent.
Yes, the lessons have images to help teach the concepts. In younger levels, there are more images to help keep the student engaged. In the older levels, there are more math-type images (graphs, number lines, etc.)
This pilot version will not include unit or domain tests. Assessments will appear in the next version on LiftEd.
The main difference between Saxon and I Master Math is the teaching approach. Saxon takes an incremental approach where the concepts taught are divided into smaller chunks and scattered across the level. This approach can hinder the development of a unified view of a specific area and forces students to memorize rules without tying them together into a whole concept. I Master Math takes the student completely through a concept within the unit. Teaching is this way allows them to “tie together” whole concepts.
Other differences include the number of practice problems per lesson. In Saxon, among the 20 to 30 total problems per lesson, only 2 or 3 problems pertain to the lesson. The rest of the Saxon practice problems are a review of the previous 5+ lessons. I Master Math will have all 7 practice problems pertain to the essential skill being taught.
Saxon and I Master Math will align similarly. However, I Master Math will be more rigorous in that the concepts will be taught in earlier levels.
I Love Language
We are very excited to announce that our Language Arts program for Levels K-8 will be called “I Love Language.” We chose this because our program is fun and engaging and will make students walking away loving Language Arts.
We based our standards on the Virginia State Standards because they were higher level thinking. As a team, we are doing extensive research on the best methods to teach Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. We have an incredible team that has a lot of experience and education behind them to better enhance our Language Arts Program and make it better for the students.
There are 3 domains that we focus on in the daily lessons: Reading, Written Language, Speaking and Listening. Within each of these major domains, there are essential skills. Under our Reading Domain, we are including essential skills for Phonics/Phonemic Awareness, Fluency, and Comprehension. Under our Written Language Domain, we have Spelling, Grammar, and Writing. Finally, under the Speaking and Listening and we are focusing on Speaking and Listening, Vocabulary, and Memorizations.
Our Spelling is part of a Phonics Based Spelling program. All the phonics/phonemic awareness lessons will teach foundational concepts and skills that will help them with their spelling. The spelling practice in each lesson supports the phonics/phonemic awareness part of each lesson. Students will have weekly spelling assessments. The words will represent the phonics concept they are learning that week. This will help with student mastery of foundational phonic/phonemic skills they need to understand instead of memorizing a word list each week.
Placement tests will not be available 2023-2024. We encourage you to place your child in the level that they would be for their age.
All materials are printable. We encourage you to keep a binder with the different subjects and store the practice sheets in it for reference in the future as well as a keepsake of all that your student learned that year. Levels K-1 will have printable readers that will support the daily lessons. Levels 2-3 will have passages that also support the lessons learned. Levels 4-8 will have a list of literature that can be purchased or checked out at a local library that goes with each of the units.
We will not offer a handwriting course this year for any levels. However, levels K and 1 will talk about letter formations at the beginning of the year and have practice sheets to help students learn those basic writing skills.
Family Education Centers More Info >
In the most basic form, a Family Education Center is a group of two or more families that gather on a regular basis to learn, celebrate, and connect with each other around Family School or LiftEd learning experiences. Each FEC is unique, locally self-governed, and tailored to the needs of the group leader and families participating.
A Family Education Center is simply the branded term used by American Heritage School to distinguish a group of families gathering around AHS Worldwide content (Family School or LiftEd). It functions much like common homeschool cooperatives, but it is supported by the history, philosophy, credibility, resources, training, and accreditation of American Heritage School.
In short, an FEC is a school-supported, parent-led community of likeminded families and students. Unlike most co-ops, FECs can grow to provide more in-person “seat-time,” more accommodating facilities, and a more comprehensive curricular offering for students. In this event, we envision FECs becoming AHS micro-schools, academies, and even sister schools.
First, read the FEC Leader QuickStart Guide! You’ll find that it is quite easy to begin. Just start talking, start meeting, and leverage our team to host an FEC information meeting, which we call an FEC Kickstart, from a home or other public facility. You can begin operating as an FEC with just one other family; others will come! Once formed, make sure that it is added to our Member Map so other nearby families can find you. Email nboyer@ahsworldwide.org to submit your FEC information.
FEC support and resources are provided free of charge to FEC leadership and families. The FEC gathering represents a vehicle for new enrollment and long-term success for our families. Their membership in LiftEd or Family School sustains our support of FEC leaders and Groups.
Your FEC will provide tremendous opportunities for connection, friendship (for students and parents), and an unlimited array of hands-on and in-person learning experiences. FEC group gatherings include, learning discussions, unit celebrations, upper-level courses, subject-specific mentors, choirs, running clubs, game nights, field trips, science fairs, spelling or geography bees, projects, competitions, debates, plays, dances, and on and on.
Yes! In fact, many FECs begin by gathering for Celebrations, only. Coordinate with your local FEC leader and align their curriculum with yours to make the Celebrations more meaningful to you and your children.
FECs can meet anywhere! Your home or backyard, a park, community center, library, rented facility, a church, etc. As they say, and we strongly believe, “if you build it” a facility will come that will accommodate your families and your needs.
Starting this fall 2023, we will have a Member Map tool that shows every family using Family School and LiftEd and every FEC that has formed! This tool will significantly help families connect with each other to form FECs and to identify FECs that are already in their area.
Ameican Heritage School was founded in 1970 as an independent, faith-based K–12 school. FECs all over the world will be blessed by over a half century of history, faith-deepening methods and pedagogy, and experience. Additionally, the accreditation of the school will become more needed by families pursuing graduation during their high school years— accreditation that will support FECs.
Beyond this, a host of other curricular, training, operational, and support tools and resources will enable FECs to form successfully and grow to impact many families in each area where they exist. Importantly, everything provided by AHS Worldwide is designed to enable a high level of local self-government and autonomy. Every FEC is unique, and every family is unique. Honoring individuality and personal revelation is critical to the success of every FEC and every family.
