HLS Paradise Valley — Highlands Latin School

About | Course Offerings | Calendar | Learn More | Culture

About

Welcome! Highlands Latin Cottage School in Paradise Valley is a classical, Christian homeschool program. We offer instruction in core subjects using the award winning Memoria Press Curriculum through a one day per week traditional classroom experience. Our goal is to enhance the homeschool experience of our students by offering a challenging, traditional academic experience that enlivens the mind and refines the soul. Highlands Latin Cottage School Paradise Valley aims to pass on the heritage of the Christian West to the modern student. We are Christian, classical, and traditional. In all we do, we seek to engender a love for the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.

Our Mission

In partnership with parents, and guided by the Gospel, Highlands Latin Schools strive to educate students to the highest standards of the classical tradition, so that they may grow in knowledge, wisdom, and the love of Our Lord, and more ably use their gifts in the service of others, and for the glory of Christ and his Church.

Our Distinctives

Classical education aims to teach wisdom—how to think—and virtue—what to do—through the learning of classical languages, reading classical texts, and study of the liberal arts.

Christian education anchors itself to the essentials of the Christian faith, maintaining belief in the goodness of Christian morality and the divine inspiration of the Christian Scriptures.

Traditional education takes place in an orderly, teacher-guided classroom with lessons focused on content mastery.

Course Offerings

We meet Mondays from 7:45am-12pm (lunch together from 12pm-1pm) at a beautiful historic church located in the town of Paradise Valley, 85253

Primary School

Preschool through 2nd Grade is what we call our Primary School. It is such an enriching, beautiful time as they are learning basic phonic skills and math skills, with the 2nd graders even beginning to touch on latin. In all these grades we also spend time focusing on beautiful enrichment such as studying famous works of art, listening to classical music, excellent picture book read-alouds, poetry, science, history, and more!

Most parents will purchase the standard curriculum package for a great discount (and it contains all that you need) but in some rarer instances there are students who are advanced and parents can opt to choose classes that fit best for them (such as grade level higher or lower where appropriate).

Our fervent desire is to serve and bless the families at cottage school. We achieve this goal by knocking out the Memoria Press Day 1 assignments in the core curriculum guides. And the best part is we do it together, in community (and we have a lot of fun!)

Preschool:

Preschool is for 2’s and 3’s of the moms who serve at cottage school. This is the preschool curriculum we use in class. Children in Preschool will experience each day:

free outside play (we have a lovely fenced in preschool level playground with small swings, slides, and tiny picnic benches!)
we read beautifully written board books with excellent illustrations (see the curriculum book list)
singing
nursery rhymes
every day we make time for free play that inspires creativity such as: silks, wooden blocks, puppets, play dough, percussion musical instrument set, wiki sticks, duplos, magnet tiles, ribbon wands, pipe cleaner activities, and more! (we have a toy rotation to keep the toys fresh and interesting)
drawing time – we have special pencils and crayons designed for their little hands
snack time (parents pack their snacks)
optional nap/rest time (there have been times when that worked well with the ages we had and then there came a time when they outgrew it–that is an option that we gage based on the class needs/parent input)
time with the JrK kids – when it makes sense we like to integrate ages, it builds leadership in the older children and teaches the younger children maturity as well. In our safe, small, loving community it is a beautiful replication of God’s natural order he designed in the family unit– multiple ages. We do outside play with the 4 yr olds as well as free play and song time. The little ones love seeing their big brothers and sisters.

JrK Schedule:

JrK is for 4 year olds. It is a great introductory year in numbers and phonics that prepares them for kindergarten. We recommend the 2 day a week curriculum, it is what we follow in cottage school (we will accomplish 1 of your 2 days. It is not necessary to do the second day at home but is of course beneficial).

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Manners Lesson, Dismissed to lessons
8:20am Bible Story Time, Bible Verse, JrK Recitation, Prayers for Little Children book
8:35am Big Thoughts for Little People book, JrK literature picture book, Nursery Rhyme, JrK Song time
9:15am Handwriting/phonics/alphabet lesson
9:30am: Numbers lesson outdoors (weather permitting)
9:45am Outside playground free play time and snack time
10:30am Children’s traditional game (outside weather permitting)
10:45am Calendar, clock, weather and JrK Numbers workbook time
11:00pm Music class (learning a song to perform as well as basic introduction to pitch, scale, tone, rhythm)
11:15pm: JrK craft or fun age appropriate science experiment
12:00pm Pray and closing, lunch/recess
1:00pm Everyone goes home

Kindergarten Schedule:

Unsure if your child is ready for kindergarten? We are in no rush at HLSPVRead this article to assess

Click here for the kindergarten curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Manners Lesson, Dismissed to lessons
8:20am Bible Story Time, Bible Memory Verse, Kindergarten Recitation
8:35am Poetry time, Show and Tell, literature picture book
9:15am First Start Reading (phonics, handwriting, and reading practice)
9:30am: Science and History Enrichment, Famous works of art (art cards), classical music
9:45am Outside break time and snack time
10:30am Outside traditional children’s game
10:45am Math
11:00am Music class (learning a song to perform as well as basic introduction to pitch, scale, tone, rhythm)
11:30 Craft or fun age appropriate science experiment
12:00pm Gather for closing prayer and Doxology hymn, lunch/recess
1pm: Everyone goes home

1st grade:

Click here for the First Grade Curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Manners Lesson, Dismissed to lessons
8:20am Bible Story Time, Bible Memory Verse (from 1st grade Copybook), First Grade Recitation
8:35am: Poetry time, Show and Tell, literature picture book
9:15am: Cursive
9:30am: Traditional Spelling I (read from Classical Phonics, drill phonics flashcards for lesson, go over new list of spelling words, and complete assignment)
10:15am: Outside playground time and snack break
10:30am Storytime Treasures (Pre-reading of new words, phonics flashcards, reading practice from excellent beginning level readers such as Frog and Toad, Little Bear, etc, and Storytime Treasures student book assignment)
11:00am Music class (learning a song to perform as well as basic introduction to pitch, scale, tone, rhythm)
11:30 Craft or fun age appropriate science experiment
12:00pm Gather for closing prayer and Doxology hymn, lunch/recess
1pm: Everyone goes home

2nd grade:

Click here for the Second Grade curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Manners Lesson, Dismissed to lessons
8:20am Bible Story Time, Bible Memory Verse, Recitation
8:35am: Poetry time, Show and Tell, literature picture book
9:15am: Traditional Spelling II (read from Classical Phonics, drill phonics flashcards for lesson, go over new list of spelling words, and complete assignment)
10:15am: Prima Latina (gentle introduction to latin, for second graders who are reading proficiently)
10:30am: Spelling and Latin writing assignments, Math, Copybook, Cursive
11:00am Music class (learning a song to perform as well as basic introduction to pitch, scale, tone, rhythm)
11:30 Craft or fun age appropriate science experiment
12:00pm Gather for closing prayer and Doxology hymn, lunch/recess
1pm: Everyone goes home

Grammar School

3rd through 6th grade is what we call our Grammar School. It is a time when they are laying the foundation of the essential building blocks that will carry them through to higher, more complex learning. They will dive deeper into latin starting with Latina Christiana and then progress into First Form Latin and Second Form Latin. Through several years of meeting with our moms and receiving their input, we have honed in on the classes that are most important to the moms to be done at cottage school in community. These are classes that benefit from live instruction or are more enriched to do with other children, as we have fun learning together in community.

Our fervent desire is to serve and bless the families at co-op. We achieve this goal by accomplishing SEVEN classes of your school week in a four hour period. This is a unique distinction developed by the team at HLS Paradise Valley. This is made possible in the teacher’s part by excellent planning (we waste no classroom time). And the best part is we do it together, in community, and we have a lot of fun!

3rd grade:

Click here for the Third Grade curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Manners/Etiquette Lesson, Dismissed to classes
8:20am Christian Studies I (Part I)
9:00am 3rd Grade Recitation and Bible Memory Verses
9:15am: Latina Christiana Part I (Every week we recite our latin forms, learn or review a lesson, do the current week’s assignment in workbook, and play latin games like “Latin Jeopardy”) and Lingua Angelica (we learn songs and prayers in latin)
9:45am: Introduction to Grammar
10:00am: All Things Fun and Fascinating (Introduction to Composition by IEW)
10:30: Geography: States and Capitals (Over the course of 2 years students will learn about each state, fun facts, topography, they will memorize the capital, all spellings and abbreviation, and be able to recognize and recall where all states are on the map)
11:00am: Classical Studies: D’Aulaires Greek Myths
11:30am: Science: Mammals (Students will learn about all the different kinds of mammals, learning in depth about what makes each family of mammals unique and developing a love for God’s natural world).
12:00pm: Gather for closing prayer and Doxology hymn, lunch/recess
1pm: Dismissal

4th grade:

Click here for the Fourth Grade curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Manners/Etiquette Lesson, Dismissed to classes
8:20am Christian Studies I (Part II)
9:00am 4th Grade Recitation and Bible Memory Verses
9:15am: Latina Christiana Part II (Every week we recite our latin forms, learn or review a lesson, do the current week’s assignment in workbook, and play latin games like “Latin Jeopardy”) and Lingua Angelica II (we learn songs and prayers in latin)
9:45am English Grammar I
10:00am Composition: Fable Stage
10:30 Geography: States and Capitals Part II (Over the course of 2 years, of which this is the second and last year, students will learn about each state, fun facts, topography, they will memorize the capital, all spellings and abbreviation, and be able to recognize and recall where all states are on the map)
11:00am Classical Studies: D’Aulaires Greek Myths (Part II)
11:30am Science: Astronomy (Students will be able to recognize and name all major constellations, stars, and star clusters and they also will learn a basic introduction to the the solar system)
12:00pm Gather for closing prayer and Doxology hymn, lunch/recess
1pm: Pick up

5th grade:

Click here for the Fifth Grade curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Manners/Etiquette Lesson, Dismissed to classes
8:20am Christian Studies II (Old Testament: Promised Land-Prophets)
9:00am 5th Grade Recitation and Bible Memory Verse
9:15am: First Form Latin and Lingua Angelica III
10:00am English Grammar II and Composition: Narrative Stage
10:30: Geography I (and US States and Capitals Review)
11:00am: Classical Studies (Famous Men of Rome)
11:30am: Science (Book of Insects)
12:00pm: Gather for closing prayer and Doxology hymn, lunch/recess
1pm: Pick Up

6th grade:

Click here for the Sixth Grade curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Manners/Etiquette Lesson, Dismissed to classes
8:20am Christian Studies III (New Testament)
9:00am 5th Grade Recitation and Bible Memory Verse
9:15am: Second Form Latin and Lingua Angelica IV
10:00 English Grammar II and Composition: Chreia/Maxim Stage
10:30: Geography II (and Geography I Review)
11:00am: Classical Studies (Famous Men of of Middle Ages)
11:30am: Semester 1: Science (The Book of the Birds) and Semester 2: Literature Studies (Robin Hood, King Arthur)
12:00pm: Gather for closing prayer and Doxology hymn, lunch/recess
1pm: Pick Up

Upper School

7th through 12th grade is what we call our Upper School. It is a time when they build on all they have learned in previous years and begin the processes of thinking logically in their writing and oration, working towards developing excellent rhetoric (the ability to speak and write well and persuade). They will achieve mastery in 1-3 classical languages through which they will develop their minds and have a thorough understanding of the English language.

To honor this time in life, and all that they have accomplished we give them an advancement ceremony at the beginning of the year where they receive their new uniforms. The Upper School students are given blazers and the girls now wear a new uniform, trading in their jumpers for skirts, Peter Pan collars for Oxford shirts, and Mary Janes for Penny-loafers. All of the children are excited for this important milestone when they graduate to Upper School.

Through several years of meeting with our moms and receiving their input, we have honed in on the classes that are most important to the moms to be done at cottage school in community. These are classes that benefit from live instruction or are more enriched to do with other children, as we have fun learning together in community.

Our fervent desire is to serve and bless the families at co-op. We achieve this goal by accomplishing 6-7 classes of your school week in our 8am-12pm four hour period. This is a unique distinction developed by the team at HLS Paradise Valley. This is made possible in the teacher’s part by excellent planning (we waste no classroom time). And the best part is we do it together, in community, and we have a lot of fun!

Note: We also offer an additional 1-3 classes in the afternoon for upper school children who would like to accomplish even more of their academic week together.

7th grade:

This is the 7th grade curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and the Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Etiquette Lesson, Dismissed to classes
8:20am: Christian Studies IV, Memory Verse Learning and Recitation
9:00am: 7th Grade Academic Recitation
9:15am: Third Form Latin and Lingua Angelica
10:00am: American History (200 Questions about American History and 13 Colonies by Guerber)
11:00am: Horatius at the Bridge (an epic poem of 70 stanzas we learn and memorize over the course of the entire year, at the end the children receive a medal, pin, and certificate and are inducted into the Horatius Society
11:30am: Classical Studies: Famous Men of Greece (weeks 1-12) and Greek Alphabet (weeks 13-33)
12:00pm: Lunch
1pm: Pickup
Optional:
1pm-1:30pm Science (Book Of Trees)

8th grade:

This is the 8th grade curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and the Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Etiquette Lesson, Dismissed to classes
8:20am: Christian Studies (The Acts of the Apostles), Memory Verse Learning and Recitation
9:00am: 8th Grade Academic Recitation
9:15am: Fourth Form Latin and Henle I
10:00am: Classical Composition V: Common Topic
10:30: Geography III
11:00am: Classical Studies (Book of the Ancient Greeks/Iliad/Odyssey)
11:30am: First Form Greek
12:15pm: Lunch
1pm: Pickup
Optional:
1pm-1:30pm Science (Exploring Planet Earth)

9th grade:

This is the 9th grade curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and the Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Etiquette Lesson, Dismissed to classes
8:20am: Christian Studies (The Story of Christianity/Bible Reading), Memory Verse Learning and Recitation
9:00am: 9th Grade Academic Recitation
9:15am: Henle II
10:00am: Classical Composition VI: Encomium, Invective, Comparison
10:30: Traditional Logic I and II
11:00am: The Renaissance and Reformation
11:30am: Advanced Greek I
12:00pm: Lunch
1:15pm-2:15 pm Biology
2:15-2:45 Hebrew

10th grade:

This is the 10th grade curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and the Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Etiquette Lesson, Dismissed to classes
8:20am: Christian Studies (The Wars of the Jews by Josephus/Bible Reading) Memory Verse Learning & Recitation
9:00am: 10th Grade Academic Recitation
9:15am: Mueller’s Caesar (de Bello Gallico)
10:00am: Classical Composition VII-VIII: Characterization and Description
10:30: A History of Medieval Europe
11:00am: Material Logic
11:30am: Advanced Greek II
12:00pm: Lunch
1:15-2:15pm Chemistry
2:15-2:45pm Hebrew II

11th grade:

This is the 11th grade curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and the Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Etiquette Lesson, Dismissed to classes
8:20am: Christian Studies (History of the Early Church by Eusebius/Bible Reading) Memory Verses Learning & Recitation
9:00am: 11th Grade Academic Recitation
9:15am: Ovid (Latin)
10:00am: Classical Composition VIV: Thesis & Law
10:30: A History of Europe in the Modern World, Volumes 1 & 2
11:00am: Classical Studies (The City of God, The Republic and the Laws & On Obligations by Cicero)
11:30am: Advanced Greek III
12:00pm: Lunch
1:15-2:15pm: Physics
2:15-2:45pm: Hebrew III

12th grade:

This is the 12th grade curriculum we use.

7:45am: Students arrive and assemble for Morning Assembly
8:00am: Pray, Pledge to the Flag and the Bible, Hymn, Announcements, Etiquette Lesson, Dismissed to classes
8:20am: Christian Studies (Fundamentals of the Christian Faith by Peter Kreeft, Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis/Bible Reading/Memory Verse Learning & Recitation, also optional Hebrew passage translation assignments for those who did afternoon Hebrew classes these last 3 years.)
9:00am: AP Vergil Latin
10:00am: Classical Composition IX: Thesis and Law
10:30: A Concise History of the American Republic
11:00am: Classical Studies (Metaphysics)
11:30am: Advanced Greek IV
12:00pm: Lunch
1:15-2:15pm Classical Rhetoric
2:15-3:15pm Anatomy

School Year Calendar:

For up-to-date calendar and events go to: https://classicalhomeschoolcurriculum.com/calendar-and-events/

Tuition and Fees:

For up-to-date tuition and fees go to: https://classicalhomeschoolcurriculum.com/fees/

Learn More:

If you are interested in learning more about our cottage school or visiting on our open house day, please take a minute and fill out our interest form.

Contact

Email: Pauline Abello, Headmistress | pauline@classicalhomeschoolcurriculum.com

Or you can visit our blog and school website at: classicalhomeschoolcurriculum.com