FAQs

and a Leadership Education Glossary-of-Terms

Here you will find a compilation of frequently asked questions from our students and their families along with common leadership terminology. Should you have questions that are not addressed here, please contact us.

FAQs

How is a leadership education different from a regular education?

Leadership education is not just an educational philosophy; rather, it is a family and community culture. It is education as great leaders of the past, such as Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, obtained: education that leads to sovereignty over self, while firmly rooted in family, in order to positively influence local and global history and culture. Leadership education endeavors to teach pupils how to think rather than what to think and, grounded in timeless principles, prepares them to become statesmen and stateswomen who care about, and work to improve the world for, future generations. In a leadership education, each student will put in thousands of hours studying the classics of all time, shaping their hearts and minds, and obtaining the kind of education that is required to sustain freedom.

What are some of the distinguishing elements of a leadership education?

Here are the principles that a leadership education incorporates:

- A core book: a book that contains your core values and principles

- Leadership: both in the home and the community

- Virtue: both private and public

- Education in phases: including your own

- Active mentoring: of your own children through their education

- Family involvement: parents taking responsibility with their children to guide, direct, and own the education of family members.

Why do you call it a commonwealth? Isn't it a school or a homeschool co-op?

Yes, our commonwealth is a cooperative endeavor; however, a commonwealth is a co-op with endurance, designed to last decades. Regular homeschool co-ops spring up rapidly, are very transient, tend to lack an organized and principled approach to learning, and dissolve just as quickly as they appear. In contrast, a New Commonwealth School is owned and operated by the member families with a constitution, class structure, mentor training, and timeless guiding principles in place to ensure longevity.

What are mentors? Are they teachers or parents?

The mentors of Lighthouse Academy are commonwealth parents who have prayerfully elected to dedicate themselves to teaching the youth of our commonwealth. They are required to attend training specific to their project, provided each summer by the Leadership Education Mentoring Institute (LEMI).

What is the difference between a mentor and a teacher?

While a teacher is engaged in imparting knowledge (and our mentors do that, too), a mentor is an experienced individual who works to intimately understand his/her mentees and guide them to the next right step in their life through encouraging self-awareness, inspiring character growth, challenging preconceptions about self and society, facilitating the acquisition of skills and abilities, and exciting ownership of education and discovery of mission. This deep level of relationship is the reason our class sizes are kept small; an invested mentor is an invaluable asset in a youth's formative years. In summary, a good teacher is generally one who exhibits mentor traits and a good mentor also teaches.

Does Lighthouse Academy accept charter funds?

No, we are not set up to accept charter funds at this time.

Aren't the Lighthouse Academy constitution and parent/scholar contracts kind of a lot? Why so long? Can I just get a summary?

Our comprehensive constitution and contracts are crafted to inform your expectations of who we are, what we do, and what your role and responsibilities will be if you choose to join our community. A summary will not adequately prepare you for the growth you are sure to experience as you embark on the exciting adventure of an education model that is unfamiliar to our society today.

What is the parent participation/volunteer requirement?

Parent participation/volunteer requirements will vary by year, but the Lighthouse Academy Executive Board will post the requirements prior to annual registration.

What participation/volunteer roles are available to parents?

The following are ways in which parents can volunteer within Lighthouse Academy:

- Mentor a Scholar Project (requires approval from the board)

- Mentor the Junior Program

- Junior Parent Helpers

- Public Relations/Facilities Coordinator (requires appointment by Chair)

- Treasurer (requires appointment by Chair)

- Secretary (requires appointment by Chair)

- Social Secretary (requires appointment by Chair)

- Facilities Clean-up Supervisor

- On-campus Monitoring (drop-off, lunchtime, pick-up)

- Community Service Coordinator

- Youth Conference committee

- Attend Family Foundations (for your adult leadership education)

- Events committee (set-up, decor, serve food, take down, clean-up)

- Student Council Advisor

- Yearbook Advisor

- School Newspaper/Blog/Newsletter Advisor

Why are classes called scholar projects instead of classes?

Rather than simply disseminate information, our projects are developed to move youth or adults through the levels of scholarship (see "Scholar Phases" in glossary below), developing vision, mission, abilities, skills, and knowledge to become truly free: free to choose, free to act, free to influence, free to change the world for the better.

What is the at-home workload like for each scholar project?

Because we only meet once a week, there is definitely more work done at home than at school. You can find projected workloads for each scholar project on their individual pages under the "Scholar Projects" tab of our website.

How big is this commonwealth?

We currently have 38 families with roughly 82 students collectively.

Glossary of Leadership Education Terms

LEMI: Leadership Education Mentoring Institute. Although there are many ways to accomplish scholar phase, this organization provides valuable mentor training tools to assist the youth and adults of leadership education schools across the globe. At Lighthouse Academy, we subscribe to LEMI trainings and curricula; they provide our parents a rich mentor education with which to bless our youth and a tried and tested scaffolding and structure for our classes.

The Five Scholarship Ladders: VMASK

VMASK: Vision, Mission, Abilities, Skills, Knowledge

Scholar Phase: Scholar Phase is when we choose to, and spend the time needed to, educate ourselves. There are 7 phases within Scholar Phase and during these phases the student climbs the scholarship ladders (VMASK).

- Core: birth to age 5

Core phase is when children are exposed to all kinds of learning, especially from example, in the family environment, and in small, safe learning groups. In core phase, play IS learning.

- Love of Learning: ages 6-9

Love of Learning phase is when children begin to thrive in structured, creative environments where exposure and accountability are introduced.

- Transition-to-Scholar: ages 10 & 11

Transition-to-Scholar phase is when children begin to crave more mentoring and the satisfaction that comes from doing hard things. In this phase, students may begin to experiment with more formal writing or writing to prompts. They may enjoy memorizing small poems. And they will generally be eager to work on projects with their peers.

- Practice Scholar: generally ages 12-14

Practice Scholar phase is when students begin to gain scholar skills in reading, writing, thinking, computing, etc. to such a degree that they become independent thinkers. At first, it takes a lot of practice and looks inconsistent. In time, it becomes easier and easier and the student's ability to focus increases. It becomes more consistent with practice.

- Apprentice Scholar: generally ages 14-16

Apprentice Scholar phase is when study hours are doubled once again and scholars discover if they are willing to pay the price of a good education. This is the bottleneck of scholar phase where many, many scholar skills are learned so that the student's time can be used effectively.

- Self-directed Scholar: generally ages 17-18

Self-directed Scholar phase is "The Bar" where a student has proven that they have the skills and abilities to read anything, speak persuasively, obtain the mentors they desire, work with mentors, and think.

- Mentored Scholar: generally ages 18+

Mentored Scholar phase is when the scholars have the tools, experience, and knowledge necessary to identify, obtain, and submit to their desired mentors on their own. This is usually done at college/vocational school and beyond.

Learning Environments: lecture, colloquium, simulation, debate, field trip, testing, debriefing, coaching

Colloquium: a high-level discussion following the shared reading of literature

Keys of Personal Influence: example, the arts, prayer, oral persuasion, written persuasion, service

Core Book: a stable measure of truth that we use to compare other content, one that we return to again and again that contains our core values and principles. This book or set of books is generally established with parents through much prayerful pondering and meditation.

Classics: books, movies, documents, art, etc. that are worth experiencing over and over again because of their greatness. Classics teach human nature, right and wrong, cause and effect, and many more lessons that make us think.

Forms: methods or established systems of doing something, such as government forms.

Scholar Skills: thinking, speaking, writing, computing, reading, discerning

Mentor: a guide

FAQs

Many thanks to LEMIWorks! for allowing us to use information from their "about" page. Check it out here.