By Michael Smith
Area homeschool families have a new educational option available to them.
Veritas Florida, a hybrid school that combines homeschooling and classroom instruction, started its second year of holding classes at Southside Baptist Church, located at 415 W. Lumsden Rd. in Brandon, on Tuesday, August 15.
As part of the Veritas Classical Schools family, Veritas Florida offers homeschooling families a unique complement to their home-study programs with an emphasis on a classical Christian model of education.
Christian, experienced teachers with degrees lead a traditional classroom that meets from 9-2 p.m. on Tuesdays (Humanities) and from 12:30-3 p.m. on Thursdays (math). There is an optional Humanities help day available on Wednesdays.
Humanities classes consist of history, grammar, literature/composition, Bible, logic, geography, vocabulary/spelling, cultural literacy/art and handwriting (cursive).
Veritas Florida functions in the role of a tutor, assisting parents in their educational roles. Students receive grades and report cards, and they are provided with weekly assignment sheets outlining work to complete at home. Teachers grade work and administer quizzes and tests.
Veritas Florida Administrator Robin Hair McEuen said the hybrid model offers homeschool families “the best of both worlds.”
Last year Morgendee Meachem Flannery and her husband were looking to revamp their homeschool curriculum when they discovered Veritas Classical Schools.
She contacted Veritas Florida about bringing its program to Brandon. McEuen agreed, and Flannery’s twin sons started attending classes at Southside Baptist Church.
“It was a perfect fit for our family as it has an emphasis on a classical Christian education that glorifies Christ and models character and virtue throughout every subject and the academic standards remain high,” Flannery said.
“Few decisions have more impact in my children’s lives than the education that I chose for them. We are so very lucky to have Veritas in Brandon.”
The Brandon campus of Veritas Florida is enrolling students from kindergarten through sixth grade for the 2017-18 school year, which will last 33 weeks and run though mid-May.
For more info, visit its website at www.veritasflorida.com.
