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AXIS Home School Program

AXIS International Academy is a tuition-free public school committed to offering language learning opportunities to students in grades Kindergarten through 6th grade throughout our Northern Colorado community. We value parents’ right to choose an educational program that best fits the needs of their student(s), which may include home schooling for some families.

AXIS is committed to respecting different languages and cultures. We encourage parents to read our AXIS mission and educational philosophy before enrolling. Join us for a parent info session! We also offer staff support to home schooling families. 

Enroll your child in AXIS Home School Enrichment
 
Your child can participate in a language immersion program, tuition-free.
  • One day each week your child attends a special language class for homeschoolers where they can learn Mandarin Chinese or Spanish with an AXIS Partner Language teacher.
  • While onsite your child also participates in specials classes: PE, Music or STEM. 
  • Your child will have the opportunity to participate in the Winter Festival and Science Fair if you so choose.
  • You receive free high-quality learning materials in the Partner Language (directly from their partner language teacher) and in English (by using Core Knowledge Language Arts curriculum that is aligned with our standard school curriculum).
  • You will also receive free access to our AXIS online learning platforms:  
  • You can access one of our AXIS specialists for support using these materials/curricula, please contact Elisa Welch for details at [email protected]
  • We also offer you the choice for support with the state-required assessment for homeschooling families in grades 3, 5, and 7. 
  • Students can participate in the AXIS school lunch program or bring a lunch.
  • Students can also participate in the AXIS fee-based afterschool program and enrichment classes: AXIS Enrich (Tae Kwon Do, Dance, Music, Lego Robotics, etc.).
 
 
Program Overview
 

AXIS offers a supportive language learning home school enrichment program for students. The home school program is held at AXIS International Academy located at 2700 S. Lemay Ave, Fort Collins, CO 80525 (inside the Clearwater Church building). AXIS is a CSI-authorized school and accepts students from across Colorado residing in any Colorado school district. Students are unable to be enrolled in more than one public school home school program, which includes Poudre School District Options. To declare your interest in our home school program, please complete an Initial Student Application. 

Letter of Intent to Home School

Pursuant to Colorado law, parents who wish to begin home schooling must provide written notification of the establishment of the home school program 14 days before beginning the home school program to a Colorado school district. The written notification must include the name, age, place of residence, and number of attendance hours for each child that will be participating in the home school program. Written notification must be re-submitted to a Colorado school district each year.   

Program Model

For children aged 5-12 years, AXIS offers a full day of language immersion (8:30am-3:00pm) each week in Mandarin Chinese. Language-learning research supports immersion as the best model for learning a second language. In an immersion classroom, the use of English is only used in cases of safety. Immersion teachers speak the partner language only and use visuals, physical response, movement, songs, games, and many other strategies to engage students in language learning.
 
If the full-day home school enrichment program cannot work for your child, AXIS MAY be able to offer two additional options where possible (pending partner language full-time class enrollment numbers and scheduling):
 
(1) AXIS offers Home School parents of students aged 5-6 years the option to have their child join our AXIS non-home school Kinder partner language class for the morning, and then join the home school enrichment program in the afternoon.
 
(2) If there are spots available AXIS may offer interested families the opportunity to have their student integrated into a full-time partner language class two times a week (either in the morning or afternoon), where available and with evidence that the student will be successful in this setting. When you connect with an AXIS staff member, please let them know you are interested in this option. 
 
We encourage parents to ensure their 5-year-old is school ready and has the skills necessary to participate in a classroom setting.

The home school enrichment will be taught by a teacher who possesses native-like proficiency in the language and has prior teaching experience in teaching a variety of ages. The teacher will also be able to effectively communicate with parents in English. These teachers will have passed a background check and meet state requirements.

 

8:30-8:45 Whole group greeting; class community building

8:45-10:00 Centers

10:00-10:20 Outdoor play/recess

10:20-11:00 Whole group lesson

11:00-11:30 Lunch + Recess

11:30-12:00 Whole group lesson

12:00-12:55 Centers

12:55-3:00 Small group differentiation and Specials (Science, PE or Music)

Teachers will use a variety of differentiation strategies including small groups, centers, and differentiation of assignments or activities. One central piece of differentiation during whole group lessons will be scaffolding or supporting student responses. The teacher will differentiate her expectations of each student’s response based on their partner language level. Teachers support students to respond in the partner language beginning with the simplest option of nodding yes or no, then saying yes or no in the partner language. This scaffolding continues: two-word choice in the partner language (do you want red or blue?), teacher-modeled response, student self-generated one word response, phrase response, and building to student self-generated sentence or multi-sentence response. As you can tell, these are similar to the supports many parents used as their child(ren) progressed in learning English. Students will be encouraged to work on only responding in the partner language during this time. English will be used during non-instructional recess, lunch, and enrichment.
 
AXIS teachers will conduct informal assessment and checks for understanding during the home school enrichment partner language learning. The purpose of this is to ensure students are growing in the partner language. Our long-term vision is to support students committed to long-term language study the opportunity to participate in internationally-recognized language development tests: DELF for French, DELE for Spanish, and YCT or Youth Chinese Test for Chinese. Additionally, some students may seek to achieve the Seal of Biliteracy (for students who will eventually work towards a state or district high school diploma). These assessments may require a fee and are optional for the child based on parent desire and language proficiency level.
The goal of the AXIS Home School Language Enrichment Program is to develop and grow language proficiency in the partner language across listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as developmentally-appropriate. Art, music, stories, and cultural artifacts from cultures that speak the partner language will be integrated into the curriculum. To give your child(ren) the best opportunity for partner language development, we ask families to commit to attending as many weeks as possible, except in the occasional case of illness, travel, or other family emergency. The teachers will also offer parents the opportunity to extend the language learning at home through a language-learning application (app) or other materials.
 
The classroom will be multi-age and mixed-language-ability students. Maximum enrollment will be capped at 12 students based on the age and ability range of the students. Students may spend non-instructional minutes with same-age peers outside of the home school program. This may be done to support the teacher with opportunities for small group differentiation to meet the different needs of students, Non-instructional time will be less than 60 minutes and may include age-appropriate recess (or two) and/or specials class (art, music, or PE). AXIS teachers will be intentional with welcoming home school students, so they have opportunities to make friends with other same-age peers that are also learning the same partner language. AXIS teachers or staff will also pick up/drop off students at the home school room, so students will not be unattended or unsupervised at any time. Homeschoolers will eat lunch together in the cafeteria. Home school enrichment teachers will discuss this schedule with parents, so parents are clear. English will likely be used outside of the classroom during recess, lunch, and specials.