Torchlight is a comprehensive, literature-based curriculum for children ages PreK-3rd grade founded by an educator and homeschooling mom who was having trouble finding diverse, in-depth curriculum for her own children. Torchlight uses a Socratic-inspired approach, while embracing Humanistic thinking. Lessons encourage students to use logic, scientific inquiry and empathy to explore the world around them. It is a mastery-based program, that builds on concepts progressively and support students mastering each concept fully before moving on to the next. 

Excerpt: “Close to forty years after I first began to write about the concept “Multiple Intelligences,” the topic still dominates my mailbox, with questions arising each day,…. Rarely if ever does a questioner talk about the uses to which the several intelligences are to be put. For decades, I have sought to make the point that intelligences are morally and ethically neutral… From now on, when I am asked about “MI,” I will respond, “To what uses do you propose to put the intelligence or intelligences in which you are interested. And so, as we touch upon these issues, we enter a domain that my colleagues and I have been working on almost as long as the study of intelligences: what it means to be good, and what it means to do good. This is the province of what we now call The Good Project. “

The idea of giving a child the opportunity to “dive deep” into a learning concept is intuitively appealing to many parents. When a child takes their time to  fully explore a subject until they are able to understand, retain, articulate it back, even teach it to others (rather than just scratch the surface and forget it the next day) is what we call mastery.  And when they master one concept before moving on to the next, that is called master-based learning.

Are you looking for a full-day, experiential learning opportunity? Forest schools are a wonderful way to give your child the experience of being in nature and make friends. Many forest schools also offer drop-off options if you need full-time childcare.

One of San Francisco’s most popular forest schools, the Mission of “Little Earthlings Forest School” is to provide an emotional and physically responsible, nature based learning environment for children and parents alike” Full-day drop-off options available.