Homeschool group, coop or small private school

I wanted to reply to the part of your question that concerns small, private schools for 2018-19. I am a parent at Berkeley Rose Waldorf School and I also now work for the school as the Outreach Coordinator. My children are in first and fourth grades. I invite you to come explore our school at our tour on Thursday, November 30 at 8:30 am or our open house on Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 10 am to learn more about Waldorf Education. Our programs are centered around delivering the curriculum as it is developmentally appropriate based on children's learning stages. We have had several homeschooling families successfully transfer into our school in the last years. The class sizes do not go above 20:1 in the grades (and are currently more like 14 kids per grade); we are at 120 children in our school from preschool to fifth grade and will be adding sixth grade next Fall.  We offer Mandarin and Spanish, orchestra, music, handwork, movement, math and language arts, gardening and lots of outdoor time with fine art integrated into every subject.  If this sounds like it might be appealing to your family, you are welcome to come see for yourself. Our community is wonderful and the rewards of volunteering are a large part of our success. Our tuition is approximately half of what most schools of our quality and capacity charge in this area. Good luck in your search. --Kim   kim [at] berkeleyrose.org

If you're considering a private co-op be sure to check out Crestmont School in the Richmond Hills. It's a small co-op elementary school which expanded last year to include its first middle school cohort. My son just started kindergarten this year and we couldn't be happier. We love the small class sizes, the emphasis on project based learning,social-emotional development. and social justice. Not to mention the many,many field trips, amazing school community, enthusiastic teachers and really sweet, kind kids. It's a special place, please feel free to come for a visit:  http://www.crestmontschool.org/apply/tou...

Hi!

We are also a homeschooling family in the Hercules area! My 3 oldest kids, ages 6-10 recently started attending micro school one day a week at In Addition: http://www.inadditionedcenter.com/microschool.html

It is run by two wonderful certified teachers who because it is :not: a school have a ton of flexibility in the way things are presented. Because of the small class size they can adjust to the individual child's needs and really give them 1:1 attention. The classes are roughly broken up by groupings of K/1 and 2-5, and 6+ so that the teachers can do differentiated instruction. For example, my 1st grader went on a hike to gather some leaves, which they then painted with shaving cream, and my 3rd & 4th graders engaged in a group activity where each of the children acted out a different part of city government (think mayor, parks & rec., etc.) It provides the types of group activities that you cannot get within your own family, but with all homeschooled children. This week they were working on haikus, and non-fiction reports about turkeys that live in the east bay, among other things!

Additionally, one of my favorite aspects of In Addition is how responsive the owner/head teacher Vonnie is. She is always reachable and does her best to accommodate schedules, which with 5 kids can be complicated! For example, I recently asked her about reading tutoring for my 8 year old, and she set up a small reading group which has led to wonderful progress!

Anyhow, I really love this place, and it fits in with our other activities nicely. My kids love going there and always ask when they will be going back! Feel free to contact me off list!