3-Day Program at Heartwood

Looking to join a learning center community without giving up the homeschool activities you already love? Happily unschooling and looking to broaden your child’s social world? Join us Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays!

shared learning

Each semester we host offerings based on kids’ interests. Chess, crafting, graphic novels, and Minecraft are perennial favorites. We also set up student accounts so they can access platforms like IXL, Scratch, and Brilliant.

creative play

We prioritize play, for so many reasons. It keeps us creative, lets us practice skills, builds social ties, and brings us joy. We enthusiastically welcome paint splatters, mud puddles, video game puzzles, and ambitious blanket fort experiments.

project support

When kids have big project ideas, we work together to identify the smaller steps, map out a plan, and check-in across days or weeks. Whether they accomplish their goal or change plans, we know there are many lessons to uncover just by trying.

Our 3-Day program operates during our August-to-May school year. Learners join us at Heartwood Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. The space is open from 9:00 am to 3:15 pm, and programming runs from 9:30 am to 3 pm. Enrollment fee is $350/month.

There isn’t a requirement to attend all 3 days, but we are deliberately choosing to gather a cohort instead of offering drop-in or per activity registration. The young people around us said they want to prioritize finding community, and encouraging them to gather consistently — even if they aren’t sure they are excited about any scheduled events that day — is intended to help set them up to build community with each other.

We have rolling admissions and are currently accepting applications for cohort members ages 8 - 14 from the metro Atlanta area. The admissions process is the same as for enrollment in the school, except that the student “visiting week” will be 3 days instead of 5 unless the family and facilitator arrange otherwise.

This program is offered as an experiential learning and social space for self-directed homeschoolers and unschoolers! It was launched in response to community requests, which means we might change the format slightly in the next iteration based on participant feedback. Suggestions or sharing about what you loved about other, similar programs is very welcome! Invitations to partner with existing programs for outings and events are also welcome!

There are many ways that people practice self-directed education. You can learn more about Heartwood’s approach on our FAQ page.