Our Approach
Classically Inspired
Heritage Flex Academy follows a classical approach to learning, emphasizing western literature and ideas and focusing on language as a vehicle for critical thinking. We also understand the value of art and music and seek to inspire imagination and creativity in an effort to educate the whole child.
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”― Aristotle
Educational Philosophy
At Heritage Flex Academy, we believe that parents have primary responsibility for the education of their children, and we are here to support them in that effort. Everything we do is centered on helping parent educators to be the best teachers they can be, whether they choose to bring their students into our classroom for a portion of the week or teach everything from home.
Our curriculum is designed to give students the tools they need to build a solid foundation of fundamental knowledge which they will use as a springboard to higher-level thought. Our curricula framework is a blend of E. D. Hirsch's Core Knowledge Sequence, California State Standards, classical learning. We developed a rich humanities program integrating history with the great books. Students develop the critical-thinking and problem-solving skills necessary for success in life. They will also develop their imagination and creativity to help shape their futures and the future of our country. We believe that reading is the key that unlocks the door to the greatest minds in history, and we want our students not only to understand their ideas, but to advance those ideas with improvements.
At Heritage Flex Academy, we believe deeply that a complete education of the whole child includes the development of character. We have identified ten virtues that we feel are essential to a well-rounded person: honesty, self-control, responsibility, gratitude, kindness, diligence, respect, courage, patience, and humility. We focus on one of these virtues each month we are in session and hope to inspire you with practical ideas to teach these virtues at home.
We take a classical approach to learning, focusing on western thought and educating both heart and mind. We teach from the Great Books and seek to create an environment where students can learn the fundamentals of math and science right alongside art and music.
The Trivium
The "Seven Liberal Arts" of classical education are often divided into the Trivium - grammar, logic, and rhetoric; and the Quadrivium – arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. The Trivium focuses on the development of language-based thinking skills, from basic grammar where a solid linguistic foundation is laid, through logic where the mind learns to develop critical thinking and debating skills, into rhetoric where attention is turned to using those skills to persuade others.
The Trivium can also be a metaphor for the developmental stages of students, regardless of the subject matter. In our case, grammar represents the early developmental stage, where students are acquiring foundational tools and factual knowledge in preparation for more advanced learning. Logic then represents the next stage where students begin to demonstrate independent or abstract thought and develop critical thinking skills. Rhetoric is the capstone stage, where students apply the foundational and abstract skills they have acquired to persuade others and to affect their world.
In our metaphorical application of the Trivium, grammar applies to children at an early developmental stage (between six and ten years old) when they are the most receptive to learning factual information and will readily memorize. We focus on reading, writing, and spelling, with an introduction to Latin as a means to more fully understand English. We help our students to develop fundamental math skills and introduce them to art, music, and history. We help them to develop the practical skills of observation, listening, and memorization as they build their own framework for learning.
The next developmental stage corresponds with logic. In the logic stage (generally ages eleven through thirteen), students often ask sincere questions and search for the reasons behind long-held principles and beliefs. This is a time when their reasoning capabilities are coming to the forefront and they can more easily be shown how to develop logical arguments that lead to correct conclusions supported by facts. During this stage, those critical thinking skills are put to use in every subject from literature, to math, to history, to art.
The rhetoric stage emerges as students are entering high school (ages fourteen and up). When students reach this stage, they can use language and logic in an eloquent manner to persuade others and to express their own thoughts and feelings effectively.
Personalized Support
Heritage Flex Academy reinvigorated a learning model that requires parent involvement on non-classroom days and enables parents to tailor the curriculum to their student’s learning needs. Heritage Flex Academy encourages the family to spend time exploring their student’s talents, strengths, and individual interests. This model invites parents to enter the educational journey alongside their student and to remain the primary influence in their student’s growth in knowledge and character development. Building strong connections between home and school benefits both the students and their families. We know that, when parent educators and classroom teachers are highly engaged, student engagement and love of learning grows.
A Second Opportunity for Parents.
One of the greatest advantages of educating children at home is that parents have a second chance to receive the classical education they may have missed growing up. Even those who are well educated learn profoundly more the second time around. It is well known that the best way to learn is to teach! When parents are intrinsically involved in the teaching of their own students, they often find that they enjoy learning some Latin, discussing the classics, examining more closely their conclusions in scientific research, and applying the logical steps of mathematical thought. Parents using the classical approach to education at home find that a whole new world of understanding begins to open up for them - and their students as well. As G.K. Chesterton said, “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.”