At Homestead, academic excellence and childhood curiosity aren't competing priorities.
Our Montessori approach combines individualized academics with hands-on experience, inquiry, nature, creativity, practical life, and a Christian worldview to help students understand not only what they're learning, but why it matters.
An education built around how children actually learn.
Curiosity has a place in the curriculum.
Learning at Homestead isn't always divided into rigid subjects and blocks of time. Instead, students are encouraged to see how what they're learning connects.
Reading may lead to science, science may take us outdoors, and a discovery outside may inspire research, writing, mathematics, geography, history, or art. Even something growing in the garden can become a lesson in biology, measurement, nutrition, responsibility, and stewardship.
Our educators intentionally teach the academic skills students need while leaving room for curiosity, individual interests, and meaningful discovery.
The result is an education that is structured without being rigid and individualized without losing community.
Strong foundations. Engaged minds. Lifelong learners.
Academics at Homestead are individualized for each child. Students are encouraged to explore their interests while their teacher intentionally guides them toward the academic benchmarks appropriate for their age, ability, and stage of development.
Rather than asking every student to learn every concept in exactly the same way, Montessori education allows children to work with concepts concretely, develop understanding, practice independently, and progress when they're ready.
Our mixed-age environment also creates opportunities for children to learn from one another, work independently, collaborate, and naturally develop leadership skills.
GEOGRAPHY + HISTORY
Students explore geography, cultures, civilizations, historical events, and the relationship between people and the world around them, with an emphasis on understanding connections rather than simply memorizing facts.
Art and music complement core academics by giving students opportunities to create, experiment, express themselves, and develop new ways of thinking.
Students build skills in reading, comprehension, vocabulary, writing, and communication while developing the confidence and curiosity to become lifelong readers.
Using Montessori materials and supplemental curriculum, students move from concrete, hands-on concepts toward abstract mathematical thinking, building fluency, reasoning, and problem-solving skills along the way.
Students study scientific concepts through formal instruction as well as observation, experimentation, nature study, and real-world experiences that make science tangible.
Yes, the fundamentals still matter.
Our hands-on approach doesn't mean academics take a back seat.
Homestead students receive intentional instruction in foundational subjects including:
As a non-denominational Christian school, our faith is naturally woven throughout the Homestead education.
Students are encouraged to approach learning with curiosity and gratitude while developing compassion, responsibility, character, and an understanding of what it means to faithfully steward God's creation.
Faith doesn't replace rigorous academics. It provides the worldview through which we encourage students to understand their knowledge, their responsibility to others, and their place in the world.
At Homestead, children don't only learn about the world. They learn how to participate in it.
Practical life and hands-on experiences reinforce what students are learning academically while building independence, confidence, and responsibility.
Throughout their time at Homestead, students may garden and prepare the food they've grown, learn age-appropriate cooking skills, care for animals, study bees and participate in honey harvesting, sew, hike, explore nature, practice outdoor and survival skills, and take responsibility for their shared environment.
These experiences aren't separate from their education. They're opportunities to apply it.
A garden can teach biology and measurement. Beehives can introduce ecosystems and agriculture. Cooking puts mathematics and reading into practice. Caring for animals develops observation and responsibility. Time outdoors creates endless opportunities for scientific inquiry.
Homestead doesn't rely exclusively on one curriculum. Instead, we thoughtfully blend Montessori materials with trusted resources including Waseca, The Good and the Beautiful, Spectrum, Forest School, Elephant Learning, and teacher-created instruction.
This gives us the flexibility to meet individual students where they are while maintaining clear academic expectations and helping them continue progressing.
