What is Eagles Wing Learning Center?
Eagle’s Wing Learning Center is a weekly academic program serving homeschool families from Pre-K through 12th grade, following the Charlotte Mason methods of education. We function as a co-school
and offer a unique learning environment where we seek to nurture joy and creativity in learning.
What is Co-Schooling?
Co-schooling is an academic environment where parents, teachers, and students all partner together in the development of their education. In support of homeschooling parents, Eagle’s Wing provides
an academic program which is led by professional teachers. Children meet together at Eagle’s Wing 1, 2, or 3 days per week (depending on age) and parents are supported in their role as the primary educator.
Co-schooling provides a unique blend of school and home. Students enjoy coming together to participate in a group learning experience, and parents are given the benefit of a drop-off program led
by professional teachers. Teachers act as mentors to the student and a support system to the parent, but not as primary educator.
Who We Are ~
Foundations of Eagle’s Wing
Eagle’s Wing was born out of a desire to create a unique educational environment where joyful and creative learning could be nurtured in every student, where every child is valued and able to learn
at their own pace. We are located in Downers Grove, in the Western suburbs of Chicago, and are unique in both our approach to education and our academic methods. Eagle’s Wing is committed to providing a Christ-centered education. We pursue education in order to cultivate wisdom and virtue in every child.
We have three foundational principles which guide us in the implementation of our Academic Program. They are illustrated beautifully within the three foundations of a Charlotte Mason education~ Education as an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life.
Education is an atmosphere: Eagle’s Wing is implementing a Charlotte Mason Educational Program. We are guided by the atmosphere of a nurturing environment, full of creativity, living books, observation and discovery. We follow the Alveary online curriculum, which is a Charlotte Mason program, written by professionals, and modified for a co-school environment.
Education is a discipline: We seek to support and partner with parents as the primary educators of their children. We are partnering with parents in the formation of character and the habits of discipline.
Eagle’s Wing provides an academic grade level curriculum for school and home, training them in the habits of discipline.
Education is a life: We are cultivating a life of ideas in the child. We believe, as Charlotte Mason’s first principle states; that every child is born a person. So we do not provide a cookie cutter style of education,
rather we seek to minister to every individual child and to spark living ideas in each child.
As a teacher, I (Stacy) often get questions from students as to why we need to know this or that. I love this question, because even the youngest child can understand that every one of us is born with a God-given desire to know, and to understand the world around us; in fact, without the ability to learn and to know, we lose our humanity.
Our purpose in education, as expressed by Charlotte Mason, is knowledge of God, knowledge of man, and knowledge of the universe, all guided by the wisdom of the Bible and the influence of the Holy
Spirit. At Eagle’s Wing, we seek to nurture a life of education as our Divine responsibility and not just a utilitarian task.
Why are we different?
Our flexible feast within our Charlotte Mason Program makes Eagle’s Wing truly unique in the Chicago area. Students are being instructed in the gentle educational principles of Charlotte Mason, while being
nurtured in an atmosphere of joyful education, the discipline of habit, and a life of living ideas.
Scheduling is done in large blocks, rather than in hour-long classes, which allows for flexibility in subjects, along with the full scope of the ‘feast’ to be presented to students each week. On an average day, students will flow through lessons in Bible, history, literature, writing, singing, math, language instruction, picture and composer study, movement, outdoor nature study, art, music and more. As children explore, they are developing the ‘science of relations’, as they discover on their own the connections between disciplines.
Who are we for?
We are for homeschooling families who seek support and community. We are for traditional families who seek an alternative to the ‘conveyor belt’ model of education. We are for any individual who seeks passionate and purposeful learning. Whether you are a veteran homeschooler or someone just
beginning to explore Charlotte Mason Education and homeschooling, we are all learning and growing together.
Who was Charlotte Mason?
Charlotte Mason was a British educator during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She dedicated her life to the education of children and to the training and education of parents and teachers. Over a 30-year period, she developed a Philosophy of Education which was radically different from the educational model of her time. Although Charlotte Mason lived in an earlier time, we have volumes of information regarding her educational philosophy and methods, which were written over a 50-year period in a series of essays and are now gathered in her six-volume treatise of Education. We also have multitude of essays and teachings written to parents from her Parents’ National Education Union.
First and foremost, Miss Mason taught that Children are Born Persons, and that every child has genius inside of them; that genius simply needs to be nourished by ideas. These ideas come from the
world around them and from Living Books. Ideas and observations then become the seeds that are spread in the science of relations. The child wrestles with these ideas first in his mind, then in oral narration and discussion, and finally in written form. Learned in this manner, ideas form connections, which then instruct the child in wisdom and knowledge. The information gained is retained forever, and not just learned and forgotten after the test. It is the desire to know that is planted within every human mind which drives the child to learn. Charlotte Mason methods allow this to happen organically and yet powerfully.
Charlotte Mason taught that the teacher’s role is to present the feast before the child, but not to feed it to him. The teacher does not know which idea may spark interest, so she presents a wide feast and allows the child to explore and make connections. She does, however, guide him in the tools and skills necessary for discovery. These are the educational tools of (reading), which is the ability to see, (writing), the ability to formulate and articulate ideas, and finally (mathematics), which is the logic and order needed to make
conclusions.
A Charlotte Mason education is a gentle but steady upward slope, leading to the eventual attainment of a rigorous education. This education is built on the early life of discovery.
Charlotte Mason’s Principles Applied~
So, what do these principles look like on a daily, weekly basis at Eagle’s Wing?
We have designed a carefully structured day, in which students and teachers flow through the ‘feast’ of subjects that Charlotte Mason believed were necessary for the nourishment and education of the minds of every child. Lessons are short, activities are varied, and our days are structured within ‘blocks’ of time, allowing for flexibility. Families may enroll in a Morning Academic Block or a Full Day Block, and multiple
subjects are covered daily within these larger Blocks of time. We do not use textbooks or a canned curriculum, but are guided by the Charlotte Mason Alveary online curriculum, which consists primarily of Living Books. A student may enroll in one to three days per week, with each day independent unto itself and centered on World studies, US studies, or Science and Geography electives. Subjects are studied under the umbrella of a chronological rotation of one century per school year. This allows for a deeper
immersion and greater understanding of subject matter than a traditional survey type format. Every student from elementary to high school rotates together through the same chronological time period,
thus allowing for both family learning and multi-age collaboration among students. Morning Academics will flow through a variety of academic subjects which engage the mind and the hands, while afternoons spark the child’s imagination and creativity with outdoor time and nature study, art, music, handicrafts and building, and special studies.
The Curriculum Connection between School and Home
By far, the number one question parents have, who have made the decision to homeschool their children is the often daunting task of curriculum choice. Once parents have made the choice to take charge of their child’s education, they can become inundated with the scope of all of the planning, and then actual implementation of the education of their child. Eagle’s Wing is here to provide that support, that connective link for homeschooling parents.
Eagle’s Wing curriculum is structured around a 4-year chronological history rotation, with the Ancients layered in each year rather than all in one year. The historical time period guides Living and Classic Literature selections, hands-on history projects, geography, artist and composer studies, culture studies, and more. Lots of time in the classroom at Eagle’s Wing is centered on hands-on and creative projects, which are best accomplished in a group setting, thus saving parents from having to accomplish these projects at home.
Students age 3, 4, and 5 are gently introduced to classroom learning and play with singing, nature study, beginning reading and math exposure, stories, music, art, etc., in a one-day per week program. A second Pre-School class is available for age 4 and 5 year olds.
Students in grade K-12 may attend one, two, or three days per week. The full three-day program will cover Ancient and World studies on one day, US studies on another day, and Science and Geography on
the ‘elective’ day.
Our final, but essential layer in the curriculum connection is the home. It is assumed that families who enroll at Eagle’s Wing are supportive of the Charlotte Mason Philosophy of education, desire in some way to follow her educational principles, and take an active role in the education of their children.
How do we find out more information about Eagle’s Wing?
For more information on Eagle’s Wing the first place to look is the website and the Facebook page.
Our website is: https://eagleswingresources.com/
Enrollment information and forms for the upcoming school year are available in early February. After looking over our class schedules and educational philosophy, we will invite families to attend our Visit Week, usually in March. Families may tour the facility, observe classes, meet with the director and some teachers, and get a general feel for what a day at Eagle’s Wing is like.
Additional Thoughts or Questions?
Eagle’s Wing Resources
Website: https://eagleswingresources.com/
Contact us at:
Stacy Raymond, Director
Email: Stacy.Raymond@eagleswingresources.com
Jenna Dukes, Marketing and Enrollment
Email: jenna.dukes@eagleswingresources.com