Elementary Course Descriptions - 9:00am-10:00am

Tutor: Ruth Meyer

The Kindergarten / First Grade class at PLA is so fun! It includes opportunities for our students to develop numerous academic and social skills. Studies will include Language Arts, Handwriting, Math, Recess, Chapel, Lunch, Social Studies, Art, and Science. Mrs. Melissa and Mrs. Ruth have been co-teaching this class for several years. It is a wonderful, safe, and welcoming environment for your K/1 students to learn about teamwork, following instructions, making new friends, and doing fun group activities! It's a joy to see the students progress over the course of the school year in their confidence and abilities.   Optional (not required) textbooks (Feel free to use a different curriculum at home, if you prefer. We do not use the Good and Beautiful curriculum in class on Fridays):  There are no required textbooks for this class, but if you would like a recommendation of a great, affordable curriculum, then we are happy to recommend "The Good and the Beautiful". Parents wishing to use "The Good and the Beautiful" Curriculum can administer the free Language Arts and Math assessments found on "The Good and The Beautiful" website before purchasing items. These assessments will help parents better gauge their child's appropriate learning level. 

• Class Materials: None
• Curriculum:
  The Good and Beautiful Language Arts Set  
  &
  The Good and Beautiful Math Course Set 

Tutor: Joanna Oeser

Geography Enrichment is designed to help students grow in locating and understanding Earth’s features, people and places. Students will focus on map skills, cardinal directions, and identifying landforms. Specifically, they will learn to identify continents/major countries, bodies of water, unique landforms in each area and the diverse cultures in each location. To reinforce these concepts, hands on activities will be used. This includes centers, puzzles, and even taste testing foods from different parts of the globe.  

• Class Materials: Pencils, colored pencils and glue sticks 
• Curriculum:
  Indescribable Atlas Adventures: An Explorer's Guide to Geography, Animals, and Cultures Through God's Amazing World by Louie Giglio  
  &
  The Only World Geography Activity Book for Kids Ages 8-12  

Tutor: Heather Donnell

This fun and engaging enrichment course helps students build confidence and speed with basic math facts. Through games, challenges, songs, and worksheets, students will practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in a way that feels more like play than work.  The goal is to strengthen fluency with these essential skills, so students develop a strong foundation for more advanced math concepts in the future. Along the way, they will build accuracy, quick thinking, and a positive attitude toward math!  

• Class Materials: Tutor will provide materials needed
• Curriculum: None

Tutor: Ruth Meyer

In Reading Enrichment we will focus on learning and memorizing the rules of reading, reviewing our phonic sounds and memorizing sight words.

These skills will be taught through flash cards, worksheets and games. We will have reading groups based on grades.

My goal is to help them fall in love 

with reading as they develop the skills to read. This class should help them be more independent learners in all subjects.  

• Class Materials: Binder with note book paper 
• Curriculum:
  Scholastic Phonics Week by Week Phonics Packet K-3
  OR
  Scholastics Phonics and Word Study 3-6  

Tutor: Jenni Lancaster

This class introduces students to the fundamentals of physical fitness in a fun, encouraging, and active environment. Students will run, jump, throw, and play their way through a variety of games, relay races, and obstacle courses.  Each week focuses on building coordination, balance, strength, and teamwork through age-appropriate activities. Emphasis is placed on good sportsmanship, following directions, and growing confidence while staying active. All skill levels are welcome—just come ready to move and have fun! 

• Class Materials: No materials needed
• Curriculum: No curriculum needed

Tutor: Eric Massengill

Since its beginnings the center of drama has been communication and involvement with the objective of understanding the world. Through active and interactive classes, students will gain self-confidence, leadership skills, and cooperation. Further, students will become comfortable being in front of others, will learn to think creatively, and acquire skills necessary for the audition process. By participating, students will have a hands-on opportunity to participate in their own learning through the exploration of various forms of drama such as mime, improvisational theater, reader’s theater, and creative drama. They will learn how to develop character, create environments, express emotion, movement, and learn memorization techniques. The class will touch on various theater styles throughout history (It's important to know how we got to where we are!) and encourage exploration of their own expression. The class will perform a one act play in late April. 

• Class Materials: None
• Curriculum: None

Tutor: Laura Motok

In this course students will expand their knowledge about their Creator and the incredible world God has uniquely designed to sustain life. An updated version of Apologia’s Earth Science will be available this Spring, which includes brand new activity videos and experiments. Subjects covered will include the Earth’s placement in the solar system, weather, atmosphere, rocks and minerals, the water cycle, and spheres of earth. 

• Class Materials: Pens and pencils in a pouch
• Curriculum:
  Exploring Creation with Earth Science Textbook 2nd edition
  &
  Exploring Creation with Earth Science Notebook Journal 2nd edition
  (Links Coming Soon)

Tutor: Colton Oeser

In this course students can expect to gain a solid foundational understanding of fundamental biblical truths. We will explore God’s overarching redemptive plan throughout careful Bible study along with various important topics to the faith. This includes the study of God, man, redemption, etc. With all of this said, this course aims to not only engage students heads by going deeper with their Bible knowledge, it also aims at their hearts to grow their faith and their walk in Christ.   Along with this student will also explore the theological arena of apologetics getting a foundational understanding of and confidence in defending the faith.  This course is for middle and high school students. I hope to see your student in class for an awesome journey through the Bible!  

• Class Materials: Bible and Books
• Curriculum:
  Summit Ministries Understanding the Times - Foundations & Apologetics [Text Book Only - Not the student manual or the teacher guide] 

Tutor: Teresa Burrow

 Math-U-See Geometry covers points, lines, planes, angles, circles, triangles, quadrilaterals, the Pythagorean Theorem, conic sections, proofs, and more. 

• Class Materials
• Curriculum:
  Math-U-See Geometry Student Workbook and Tests - $48
  Math-U-See Geometry Online Instruction with Video - $45 

Tutor: Jess Sauer

This class will focus on honing our craft in different writing styles and the ways we can master several different types of figurative language.  Students will keep a collective PORTFOLIO of their work including various writing forms such as descriptive writing, poetry, lyrics, speech writing, fiction, resumes, cover letters, and children's books. We will explore language, vocabulary, and style along the way as we study writing examples and participate in peer review workshops!  Our classes will consist of exciting journeys through the creation, editing, and production of different kinds of creative writing.  I am so excited to be teaching another year of Creative Writing with our students!    Topics:  The craft of writing- creation and publishing, short story writing, speeches, journal/writing for personal expression, poetry, fairy tale writing, and review writing.  In the high school course, we will also create cover letters, resumes, and personal statements in preparation for postsecondary writing. 

• Class Materials: We will be using various examples of creative writing from authors around the world in addition to a collection of small writing projects that students will keep in their portfolio throughout the year.  I will provide students with these materials! (ex: excerpts from beloved children's stories, fairy tales, psalms,short stories, poems, and fantasy writing)  Students will need the following materials: 1-2 inch binder (these may be creative and as fanciful as they like!)  Page protectors (at least 20) Binder dividers with tabs  
• Curriculum: The Creative Writer Level Three: Building Your Craft 

Tutor: Eric Massengill

Students will study the rise of the nation-state in Europe, the origins and consequences of the Industrial Revolution, political reform in Western Europe, imperialism across the world, and the economic and political roots of the modern world. Students will explain the causes and consequences of the great military and economic events of the past century, including the World Wars, Great Depression, Cold War, and Russian and Chinese Revolutions. Students will study the rise of nationalism and the continuing persistence of political, ethnic, and religious conflict in many parts of the world. Students will explore geographic influences on history, with attention to political boundaries that developed with the evolution of nations from 1750 to the present and the subsequent human geographic issues that dominate the global community. Additionally, students will examine aspects of technical geography and how these innovations continuously impact geopolitics in the contemporary world. 

• Class Materials: A notebook (either a 3-ring binder with paper or a spiral notebook) in which to take notes.
• Curriculum: God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life

Tutor: Kelsie Sims

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to psychological principles, concepts, and terminology. Students will explore the history of psychology, the central nervous system, learning development, and more.  Students will gain a good knowledge of secular psychology and how we as believers, with a biblical worldview, can support, and challenge philosophical assumptions. As Christians, the world of psychology can seem daunting. This course will help students recognize false relatives and approach psychology in a biblical worldview. Christian Psychologists are needed in our culture and society. 

• Class Materials: Notebook, Pen/Pencil, Laptops (only a couple times per year to write papers or work on projects - not required) 
• Curriculum: Psychology: A Christian Perspective by Tim Rice Textbook

Tutor: Teresa Burrow

Math-U-See Pre-Algebra covers negative numbers(including adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing negative numbrs), the order of operations, solving for the unknown, number lines, and more. 

• Class Materials: pencils, paper, Casio fx115ES PLUS calculator 
• Curriculum:
  Math-U-See Student Workbook and Test - $48
  &
  Math-U-See Pre-Algebra Online Instruction with Video - $41.40 

Tutor: Hope Bokoles

This is a literature-based course, and we will be reading exceptional classic literature that is middle school level and also watching movies that coincide with the books.   Reading and movie watching will be done in class and at home. These books are engaging and will help grow your students in reading and develop a love for reading. The movies are all age appropriate.  There will be discussion questions for each book  and movie. The homework and class work will focus on  vocabulary words, essay writing, comparing and contrasting  essays as well as hands-on activities and fun projects to enhance the learning experience for each of these literary/film works.  There will also be book reports and some movies we will right our own ending to.  This course is sure to have something for all middle school students.  Each book will be approached like a new adventure as we learn about the authors and explore their various styles of writing. Each film will also be a new adventure as we discuss producers, actors, budget and sales.  This is a unique way to learn language arts by incorporating and engaging in  all material from the exciting books the students are reading and movies they are watching.  The books may be audio books for any that need that style of learning.   

• Class Materials: Pencils, binder, notebook paper, colored pencils and markers 
• Curriculum: TBD
  

Tutor: Larissa Reed

The first four weeks of the course will focus on God the creator and His creation. I chose to add these to the curriculum because I believe that “We are created in the image of an extravagant Creator”. I feel that art being the act of creating something has its origin in the first creative acts, thus making God the first and ultimate artist.   The rest of the course the students will use the curriculum “God and the History of Art”. This curriculum is a comprehensive study of Art as it relates to our relationship with God and the stories in the Bible. I have rearranged the lessons to be more chronological than they appear in the curriculum. I learn history better this way and I feel the students do as well.  The curriculum also covers a lot of art theory. Lessons will include the color wheel, the elements of art and various types of media. The curriculum comes with (two books; paint and marker cards; and colored postcards depicting famous works of art). Make sure all of these are included in the set you purchase. Most of the homework will be based on these supplies. Also, it will be useful to have a good set of colored pencils. I prefer the Prismacolor brand. They are so soft and creamy that they blend beautifully. However, since they are so soft they break easily. Taking care of these pencils is a good lesson in itself; being careful to put them away when not using, refraining from tapping them on a table, and putting them on a mat or in a cup to keep them from rolling onto the floor while in use. The other item that would be useful is a good set of watercolor paints. I like the Cotman travel set. It has 12 half pan colors.   Each week we will have a lesson, lecture or discussion in class and 4 days of lessons outside of class. There will be a test at the end of the first semester and one at the end of the course. 

• Class Materials: Supply fees cover all materials
• Curriculum: None

Tutor: Jess Sauer

Composition and Critical Reading (11-12 English) Course description: Composition and Critical Reading is a study of writing skills and critical thinking skills. All literature selections will be used for the improvement of reading strategies, literacy interpretation, and critical analysis. Students will study different genres of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and plays).   Topics:   Composition-- writing techniques that enhance student’s ability to analyze tests, respond to literature, develop language and style, and produce various types of writing. We will also focus on ACT prep grammar! Critical Reading- 5 critical reading techniques (Survey, Ask Questions, Read Actively, Respond to Questions, Record Key Ideas) We will read work from various genres in order to learn interpretation and analysis skills.   

• Class Materials: 1-inch binder/highlighters 
• Text Curriculum (to be purchased by family): Fahrenheit 451" - Ray Bradbury  
  All other texts will be provided by tutor: "Great American Short Stories"  Native American Myth stories "Call of the Wild" - Jack London "The Great Gatsby" - F. Scott Fitzgerald American Non-Fiction essays (Early American essays/Emerson/Thoreau/Douglass/Lincoln/etc.) 
• Writing curriculum:  Literary Analysis-The American Identity Argumentative/Persuasive Essay Research Paper  

Tutor: Amy Holman

This high school science course will provide a broad overview of God’s creation as we gain a greater understanding of the study of life. Students will explore many topics including classification, protists, fungi, cell structure and function, plants, animals, genetics and so much more! We will be using the Apologia: Exploring Creation with Biology, 2nd edition, curriculum along with other supplemental materials to give students a detailed understanding of many forms of life. This course also includes the lab that is required for high school credit that will strengthen comprehension through dissections, group projects, lab activities, and experiments that will be conducted together in class. We will use the 2nd edition of the textbook which can be found used at a much lower price. This course is also an excellent choice for 8th grade students to take for high school credit.  

• Class Materials: Both books, pouch of writing utensils
• Curriculum:   
  Apologia Exploring Creation With Biology, 2nd edition ISBN: 1932012540
  or
  Apologia Exploring Creation With Biology, 2nd edition ISBN13: 9781932012545 

Tutor: Jennifer Latorre

Spanish 1 is an introductory course that develops basic skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Spanish, while also exploring cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. Using Español En Vivo Levels 1 and 2, students will learn essential vocabulary and grammar through interactive communication activities. By the end of the course, students will be able to communicate in simple Spanish and will be prepared for Spanish 2. 

• Class Materials: 3 ring binder (can be shared with other classes) with a divider for Spanish, 1 spiral or composition notebook, pencils. 
• Curriculum: Español En Vivo Level 1 for Grades 9-12
  &
  Español En Vivo Level 2 for Grades 9-12 Workbook

Tutor: Jess Sauer

The Newspaper course is a student-led and teacher facilitated class where students will create, edit, publish, and distribute a regularly scheduled newspaper/newsletter to our community! The main objective of the class is to learn skills related to (and not limited to)  journalistic writing, primary and secondary sources, interviewing, research, audience, and use of a publishing program (Canva/Picaboo). Our weekly meetings will involve assigning writing topics, learning how to use Canva, designing/creating pages, and editing. We will decide on the size and distribution schedule when we meet in class. This course will require at-home writing and research in order to meet class deadlines for distribution.  Newspaper class is meant to be interactive, fun, and meaningful for students who would like to be involved in their community and learn a new style of writing. All middle or high school students are welcome to join the Newspaper class!  Possible Newspaper topics:  News stories Photography Opinion pieces  Restaurant/Movie/Music reviews Comic writing/illustrating Sports/outdoors Art-highlighting local art Point/Counterpoint  Student highlight.

• Class Materials: It is not required, but helpful if student has access to a laptop/computer for editing newspaper and publishing! We will use Canva and a few other online programs for creating our newspapers. 
• Curriculum: None 

Tutor: Hope Bokoles

This course will teach cleaning, cooking, sewing, crocheting,  budgeting, childcare, hospitality, meal planning, nutrition, first aid, CPR, self-care, organization, job interviewing, and so much more while being Christ centered and preparing students to succeed in life independently. This course will focus on building and  developing the skills to perform these tasks while growing the character qualities in each student from Christ centered lessons. We will work on social and workplace skills such as time management, friendships, communication, manners, and behaviors.  Students will learn personal skills as well as home care. plant care,  and  forgotten skills like writing a thank you notes and letters.  This course will teach much more and will be fun, exciting and enriching for all students. 

• Class Materials: Pencils, Binder, notebook paper
• Curriculum: None

Tutor: Larissa Reed

This class changes year to year. Even if a student has taken this class before, this year will be different. The students will be introduced to new art mediums and new ways to use familiar ones. We often use pen and ink, markers, graphite pencils, watercolor, and pastels (both soft and oil). This class relies heavily on drawing to improve hand/eye coordination and observation skills. The students will create projects inspired by other artists and art movements. Often, the projects will take multiple classes to complete, helping to develop the ability to plan and execute projects. This will help them learn to troubleshoot problems and overcome adversity. 

• Class Materials: Supply fees cover all materials
• Curriculum: None

Tutor: Ryan Sims

This year-long homeschool tutorial offers middle and high school students a unique opportunity to build foundational skills in both guitar and piano. In the fall semester, students will focus on beginner guitar techniques, learning basic chords, strumming patterns, simple melodies, and familiar worship songs. In the spring semester, the focus will shift to piano, where students will learn basic note reading, simple rhythms, chord progressions, and beginner-level worship and classical pieces.  Throughout the year, students will develop a strong understanding of music fundamentals, including rhythm, melody, harmony, and musical notation, while also gaining hands-on experience applying these concepts to two versatile instruments. Instruction will emphasize playing by ear, reading chord charts, and understanding how music can be used in both personal devotion and worship settings.  No prior experience is required. Students will be encouraged to practice regularly at home and will have opportunities for group play, solo practice, and small performances.  By the end of the course, students will be able to confidently play beginner-level songs on both guitar and piano, understand basic music theory, and use their skills to participate in personal or group worship. 

• Class Materials:
  - Acoustic guitar (fall semester; Preferred but optional: I'll have at least 2 guitars available)
  - Piano or keyboard; preferred with full-size 88 keys (spring semester; Preferred but optional: I'll have at least 2 keyboards available)  
  - Guitar picks, capo (recommended)  - - Notebook or binder for notes and practice logs 
• Curriculum None

Tutor: Laura Motok

This one semester course (16 weeks)  is intended for the 9-12 grade student and is required by the state of Tennessee for a high school diploma.  Students will explore the history, meaning and function of the Constitution in their daily lives   We will learn how and why  our Founding Fathers fashioned this document consisting of our God-given rights that have stood the test of time.  An appreciation for our country, based and developed on Christ-centered principles will be emphasized.  To know your country is to love your country and fosters a compassion for those less fortunate than we, who are blessed to live in America.  

• Class Materials: folder, notebook, pouch of writing utensils 
• Curriculum: Abekah Economics:  Work and Prosperity in Christian Perspective Third Edition 

Tutor: Shelby Hazzard

Auto Upkeep is a year long class (20 chapters) that will train the student in critical areas of automotive car care to help the student save money and avoid unethical practices done by service providers. The class will cover topics such as basic mechanical and maintenance to how to manage road side emergencies.    

• Class Materials: Textbooks only
• Curriculum: Auto Upkeep, 4th Edition, by Michael E. Gray and Linda E. Gray (Textbook & Workbook bundle)
  

Tutor: Teresa Burrow

Algebra 1: Legacy Edition teaches all basic algebra concepts. These include basic properties, solving equations (including simultaneous equations), coin problems, exponents and square roots, scientific notation, unit multipliers, and metric conversions. Graphing lines is taught in detail, and graphing conic sections is introduced. Operations with polynomials are demonstrated with place value blocks for conceptual understanding before being taught conventionally.    

• Class Materials: pencils, paper, Casio fx115ES PLUS calculator 
• Curriculum:
  Math-U-See Algebra 1 Legacy Edition Student Workbook and Tests - $48.00
  &
  Math-U-See Algebra 1 Legacy Edition Online Instruction with Video - $41.40