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Student Work
All learning activities in the Philomath virtual school, independent study, and tutoring programs center on putting the student at the center of their own learning journey. Educational research has consistently shown that students are able to attain higher academic goals sooner and apply them more easily to the rest of their life if they are empowered to pursue their own natural curiosity and creativity. As opposed to traditional models of schooling, in which students are expected to quietly follow instructions and passively receive information from the teacher, Philomath students are given every opportunity to direct their own educational tasks and the means by which they demonstrate their learning.
One of the best ways to make sure students are engaged in the content at a high level of critical thinking is to make learning activities authentic and relevant to their own experiences. At Philomath Microschool, we achieve that goal by letting the students be the star of the show. This page contains some of the real-life learning activities completed by Philomath students, activities that are proudly shared with the rest of the world to motivate our students and to help other learners benefit from their hard work and imagination.
Social Studies
The second quarter of the 2022–23 virtual school academic year has featured a self-directed study of ancient civilizations, focusing on diverse aspects including geography, culture, government, and economy. As a culmination of our three-week unit, students were responsible for researching, writing, designing, and publishing websites to share what they learned about an ancient civilization of their choice.
All About Ancient China, by Jake (grade 4)
All You Need to Know About Ancient Etruria, by Emil (grade 6)
All About Ancient Greece, by Nico (grade 4)
Welcome to Ancient China, by Andrew (grade 6)
Kingdom of Kush, by Aspen (grade 6)
English and Language Arts
Our ELA class focuses on a wide variety of learning targets, ranging from research and reading comprehension to vocabulary and spelling to rhetoric and publication. One of our favorite regular activities is our monthly story contest, in which students are challenged to write an original short work of fiction or creative nonfiction on an assigned prompt. Students vote for the story that best achieves the assignment, and the winning story is published on the Philomath blog. Here are some of our winners:
“No Entry Beyond This Point…Deck 11” by Andrew (grade 6)
“Max and Rick” by Nico (grade 4)
“Robbin the Sentient Rock” by Jake (grade 4)
“The Angry Doctor” by Jeremiah Ansy Dessources Jr. (grade 6)
Science
Our final science units of the semester were all about the physical and chemical changes observed while baking bread (“Bake It!”) and observing the living world around us (“Sharing Planet Earth”). Our Exit Point projects included recipe experimentation and field guide compilations. Ready to try some new bread recipes or make a difference saving biodiversity?
Math
Conversions, Expressions, Equations, oh my!
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