Bonner Classical Academy opened its doors to Bonner County students on September 6, 2023. We currently serve students in kindergarten through 5th grade, and we get calls from interested families almost every week. As we grow, we will add a grade every year until the school offers grades kindergarten through 12th grade.
On a typical day, the entire school gathers for morning liturgy; during this time we announce Lion Paw Awards, pray and sing, and recite memory verses and the virtue of the week (so far we’ve learned courtesy, attention, wonder, self-control, and contentment). After morning liturgy, all students go to P.E., and then they spend the morning doing math and English, with a mid-morning snack recess.
Three days a week, students also have science in the mornings. Grades 1-5 do experiments and study the history of scientific discovery, and Kindergarten students spend their science lessons doing Charlotte Mason-style nature studies and seasonal crafts. Wednesday and Friday mornings, students do math and English, and then they come together for K-5 choir followed by Mechanical Arts. In morning Mechanical Arts this fall, students built outdoor garden beds and planted them with garlic and flowering bulbs. Right now they’re in the middle of an etiquette unit, and they’ll have special “House Dinners” together to practice what they’ve learned.
After lunch, we study Bible every day, and world history and American civics three days a week. On Wednesday and Friday afternoons, there is a second Mechanical Arts class that focuses on craftsmanship and outdoor skills: this fall our students learned how to build a shelter outdoors, how to use a compass, the physics of jump ropes, and the science of levers while building mini catapults. At the end of each day, we pray the Lord’s Prayer together and sing the doxology before students return to their families.
The halls resound with young voices singing the doxology or songs from choir. Students are learning the language of virtue and how important it is for Christian love and community. They see the fruit of courtesy and self-control, and they get excited about the friends they’re making. They enjoy the fruit of perseverance as they gain facility in reading or make progress in arithmetic. They’ve memorized poems and Psalms, and their teachers bring lessons alive through multi-sensory activities and hands-on learning. Good literature is an essential part of every day, whether it’s read alouds by Beatrix Potter, E.B. White novels, or narratives in history, civics, and science. In a short two months, Bonner Classical students are growing in wonder, knowledge, wisdom, and virtue.