What is the Home School Resource Center?
In 1998, our founders saw a need in the homeschool community – a place where middle and high school students could take classes that their parents might not be able to teach at home. Many parents didn’t feel confident to teach upper level classes like Algebra or Government, or they didn’t have the skill to teach a foreign language. Other classes, like Chemistry and Biology, required a lot of equipment which can be cost prohibitive for many families.
Between them, the founders had degrees in Chemical Engineering, Medical Technology and Mechanical Engineering, as well as a keen interest in other areas of science, technology and history. They realized that they could meet the need in the community. And so the Home School Resource Center was born.
For nineteen years, the teachers at the Resource Center have been helping parents with upper level courses. We offer a full range of high school courses and a handful of courses for middle school students on a class by class basis. Parents pick and choose the classes that meet the needs of their family. We offer a full range of maths and sciences from Math 6 to Pre-Calculus; Earth Science to Marine Biology and Physics. We also have History and English courses and offer both Spanish and French.
Over the years, many parents have found the Resource Center to be a good transition from the kitchen table to the classroom. Our small class sizes make the transition easy for students. Additionally, being responsible to turn in work to someone other than Mom or Dad helps students prepare for college and work settings. We also have experience teaching students with Dyslexia and other learning disabilities and can help those students make a good transition into the classroom.
Another benefit of the Resource Center is that unlike more traditional co-ops, we do not require additional parental involvement. Many co-ops require parents to volunteer time teaching a class or helping out with snacks and other activities. Knowing that some parents cannot afford to take time away from home and their other responsibilities to volunteer, we simply ask that you monitor your student’s work at home as you would with their normal home work.
Each of our teachers works hard to present material that is interesting and engaging. Our classes are designed to push our students to excel. Our goal is to help prepare our students for college and careers by raising our expectations for their work as they progress through our classes. Please review this prospectus to see how we might be able to help your family.
"The first and most natural condition of things is for Christian parents to train up their own children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Statement of Philosophy
The Home School Resource Center (HSRC) has been established to serve the home-school community of the Upstate as just what the name implies – a resource center. It is the belief of the parents involved in developing this center that the primary responsibility for the education of children rests with their parents. This belief is shared by many who currently have their children enrolled in the public school system. The reluctance of these parents to home school their children is often based on a perceived or actual inability to teach courses at the junior and senior high school level, such as Chemistry, Algebra, and foreign languages. By pooling in one place parents trained in these areas, the HSRC hopes to provide the necessary assistance to such families in order for them to pursue the educational option deemed best for their children.
Homeschooling is burgeoning in the United States, and for diverse reasons. Many, perhaps most, home school parents do so for religious reasons; although this is not the universal explanation for why parents choose to educate their children at home. Many do so in order to improve the academic curriculum to which their child is exposed; many to provide that one-on-one attention so needed by all children. The philosophy held by the HSRC, however, is that children are gifts from the Lord, and that God has, in His Word, clearly placed the responsibility for training up a child upon the parents (Deut. 6:4-7; 11:19; Prov. 1:1-7) While the HSRC will seek to provide excellent instruction in the various courses offered, this instruction will be conducted on the clearly enunciated view of evangelical Christianity. In lieu of furnishing a separate Statement of Doctrinal Faith, the prospective parent can refer to several evangelical confessions which are held by the administration and teachers of HSRC to accurately present the system of doctrine believed to be taught in the Bible. These documents are:
The London Confession of Faith (1689) a.k.a. the Philadelphia Confession
The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms (1644)
The Belgic Confession and Heidelberg Catechism
The Home School Resource Center will not seek to employ state-certified teachers for the classes offered. Instead, parents, trained by degree and experience in the areas offered, will be utilized. A brief résumé of each teacher is offered as well as the course descriptions in the catalog.
The HSRC is not a school. The students attending classes at the HSRC are registered home schoolers, and the primary teaching responsibility remains with the parent. Parents will have the flexibility of choosing the courses best suited to their child’s personal academic needs and development.
Courses offered by the Home School Resource Center will not be segregated by ‘grade,’ but by academic proficiency. Therefore, some courses will approach the ‘one-room schoolhouse’ model, where students of different grade levels will take the same course. This will be especially true of the language courses, as some students will be taking these earlier in their academic career than others. The Math and Science core will also be determined on the basis of completion of prerequisite courses, rather than on specific grade level. It is possible, therefore, that any given course may have a 2 - 4 grade spectrum within its student composition.
The majority of our classes include two hours of instruction time per week. Most of these classes meet twice a week for one hour. Some classes meet once a week for two hours. Several of our upper level math and science classes meet for three or more hours a week. These classes have a higher tuition which is noted in the prospectus and on the application.
The Home School Resource Center offers some of its classes on a two year cycle. Core History and English classes will be offered once every two years. If you are looking for a specific History or English class and do not see it here, we will offer it next year. Elective courses are offered at the discretion of the instructor.