Communication, Preparation, Attendance, and Active Participation

While the role held with Capital Christian Homeschool will impact what participation looks like on community days, performing our roles to the best of our abilities will result in a more enjoyable and educational experience for everyone.

There are four key components to a successful and healthy collaborative learning community:

• Communication
• Attendance
• Preparation and Active Participation

Because participation is key to our collaborative learning communities, all members agree to abide by this participation policy when registering for classes.

Communication

Because communication within our group is so important, we ask families to join our group chats in Signal. Signal is a messaging app with end-to-end encryption and easy-to-use chat groups. These groups keep us connected throughout the year. To begin, download the Signal app on your phone.

CCH Community Chat

This is where all members are welcome to share homeschool experiences related to our community, pictures from events, requests for supplies, and questions for the full group of members.

If this chat becomes too busy for you, please feel free to silence notifications and just check in when you have time.

CCH Announcements
This group is where leaders will post essential information, like upcoming deadlines, event dates, and any event cancellations. This is also where our members will report any absences for classes.

Attendance

Unless you are a pay-and-drop parent, you are making a commitment to attend and be prepared for scheduled classes.

By registering with Capital Christian Homeschool Community, parents are committing to helping their student(s) attend scheduled classes and complete the assignments for each class at home.

Attendance is taken for both parents and students at the start of each class.

Absences

Since we only meet every other Thursday, we ask members to schedule events around community days whenever possible. If scheduling requires a planned absence, there is one planned absence allowed per semester for extenuating circumstances.

During the school year, two unscheduled, emergency absences are permissible. When families reach three absences, they will receive an attendance reminder email regarding the importance of regular attendance.

IMPORTANT: Four or more total absences can result in dismissal from classes from the Capital Christian Homeschool Community and/or the inability to return to our community in future school years.

Communicating Absences

ALL absences should be communicated in the Signal Announcements group. This allows leaders to find class coverage and teachers to know which students will be absent.

Preparation and Active Participation

General Parent Responsibilities:

Parents are their students’ primary educators and are responsible for overseeing their children’s education. For that reason, parents need to help students complete assigned work outside of class.

Homework prepares students for labs, discussions, projects, presentations, and other class activities. These activities are designed to enhance the learning done at home and not replace it.

Oversee Setup/Teardown/Cleanup:

All students in 5th grade and older are assigned specific tasks for setup, teardown/cleanup. This is a great opportunity for students to learn about good stewardship and being a contributing member.

Parents of these students are assigned a specific “team” to oversee and ensure the jobs are done well.

Facilitator Responsibilities:

Capital Christian Homeschool seeks to provide consistent and quality learning experiences for our students, so the investment in facilitators is key. Class facilitators are required to fill out an application and are approved by the board.

The duties of a facilitator are the following:

• Choose a curriculum and write a course description.
• Develop a course outline.
• Plan class activities and gather necessary supplies.
• Provide a lesson plan for any absences.
• Communicate the course plan to parents.
• Facilitate class time.
• High School Only: Create a Google Classroom for student assignments and resources, if any electronic resources will be used.

Optional:

• Incorporate testing in class or require students to do testing at home (testing is most common in high school classes).
• Choose whether or not to grade assignments or provide a final course grade.
• Organize a field trip.

Repeated failure to conduct the duties of a teacher may result in a change of roles, repayment of the teaching discount, and/or suspension.

Assistant Responsibilities:

Assistants play a critical role in the functioning of Capital Christian Homeschool. They arrive on time and are ready to assist in helping classes run smoothly. They actively engage during class.

Assistants in classes are required to:

• Arrive on time and assist in assigned classes.
• Actively engage with students and assist the teacher as asked during classes.
• Refrain from screen use during classes unless asked by the teacher.
• Report any absences to the teacher and to leadership with as much advance notice as possible so that leadership can find a substitute if needed.

Optional:

• Organize a field trip.

Due to child safety policies, we need at least one assistant in the room with the teacher for the class to run. This means that attendance and advance notice of absences are important.

Student Responsibilities:

• Do homework assignments before class and arrive prepared to actively learn and engage.
• Attend classes.
• Ages 11 and Up Only: Help with assigned set-up/tear-down/clean-up jobs.

Students who do their assigned reading, answer questions, complete specified projects or reports, and prepare for an experiment or activity are not only learning more, but they are contributing to a positive learning environment in classes.

Opting out of homework is not acceptable, but parents are more than welcome to discuss changes to the homework with the teacher to tailor the learning to their student’s needs.

Repeatedly failing to do the required assignments outside of class may result in a suspension from the Capital Christian Homeschool Community.