The Summit Workshop
For 15-18 year olds
It’s time to prepare these teenagers for adulthood! While the world changes quickly into the unknown, we’ll prepare them for their future with lots of practice solving different real world problems that exist today.
Core Work
We’ll continue using proven homeschool curriculums that will include books and online courses that can easily be translated into a high school transcript. Their core work’s difficulty will increase and will take around three hours each day to complete.
They’ll have the most number of badges to choose from and master. We’ll also expect a ‘voluntaryist’ badge to be completed by serving the younger learners and our local community.
Afternoon Projects (Quests)
Quests will begin to evolve into longer apprenticeships, starting their own businesses, extensive projects, hands on science projects, or even just studying for college entrance exams.
Honors/AP Classes
The projects summiters work on would count as honors level at any high school.
Our mastery focus has allowed our learners to test out of subjects at the university level, with some CLEPping or scoring well on AP tests giving them college credit.
We’ll have some AP classes available via Khan Academy and we’re working on having official AP project based courses available starting in the 2026 - 2027 school year.
Summit Workshop Sample Daily Schedule
8:30am: Drop off & free time
8:45am: Morning meeting
9am: Core work
12 noon: Lunch & free time
1pm: Socratic Circle and begin Quest work
3pm: Clean up workshop
3:15pm: Closing group
3:30pm: Pick up
This schedule is flexible in our learning design. Time blocks can be moved around based on the workshop’s needs. Within each work block, learners choose from a broad range of learning options based on their personal goals, interests, and other commitments. Most of the time, we will break tasks down into 25 minute pomodoro technique blocks so teens have plenty of brain breaks and chances to move their bodies!
COURSES OFFERED
Our variety of courses even come with a variety of ways to learn!
Courses
Mathematics
Algebra 1 through Calculus 2. We’ll have ‘quick & to the point’ based (through Algebra 2), story based, online based, and manipulative based ways of learning mathematics available. (Only online and story based for Calc 2 is available.) Learners wishing to take AP level math exams will be encouraged to practice with the online Khan Academy program so they’re ready for that exam at the end of the school year.
Foreign Language
Immersive Spanish will be included in our school. (Equivalent to finishing Spanish 4.) If your teen wants to learn more languages, we’ll work with him or her to find the best program for her or him to learn the language he or she wants to learn!
English & Writing
-We’ll still cover grammar through our first year in the Summit Workshop.
-Writing will be taught using an almost ancient form of writing that our founding father’s used. Your teens will become excellent writers through this program!
-Public speaking and preparation for university level writing will be covered during the second year of the Summit Workshop.
-Creative writing will be covered during their last year of this workshop.
Science
Currently we have Physical Science with a lab, Biology with a lab, Chemistry with a lab, and Physics with a lab available. We’ll be switching to a story/history based science program that is adding high school level science very soon. (Their labs are even cooler!)
History & Social Studies
Ancient history, Geography, World History, US History, and Civics will all be offered. Our approach will include learning about cultural shifts that also occurred during those historical event so they not only learn the when, but the reason why people/countries/armies shifted during historical events.
Personal finance and economics will also be offered with an approach to real life financial decisions we would make as adults and entrepreneurs.
Life Skills & Project Based Learning
Our six week long projects will dive into project based learning where multiple subjects & electives combine to solve a real life problem. Learners will tackle anything from big, physical problems (like inventing a new theme park) to how to handle their personal finances.
These projects would all count as Honors level projects at any public high school.
Apprenticeships & The Trades
Learners will need to complete a minimum of two six week long apprenticeships during their time in the Summit Workshop. Apprenticeships will be in the afternoons after core work is completed in the morning. Most learners will leave for their afternoon apprenticeship during lunch time. The apprenticeship should be in a field they’re interested in possibly entering once they’re an adult. Learners who want to go into the trades will be encouraged to apprentice in the trades and we’ll even encourage them to focus on a trade during six week projects where each learner has their own project they individually work on.
Electives & Extra Curricular Activities
We’ll have a camping trip, field trips, and other fun activities through out the year. We’ll ask the learners at the beginning of each term what electives they’re interested in learning and we will try to accommodate anything they wish to learn about. For example, one learner wanted to study to become a pilot and learn mechanical things along with digital 3D modeling. We connected him with his local Young Eagles chapter for a basic flight course, found an engine for him to learn to work on, and made sure we had a computer with Blender on it so he could work on his 3D models that he 3D printed out. Each learner will be different and we’re excited to learn with them!
Orlando McGuire
“In this day and age, some turn 18 and think they’re a man or a woman and that’s it, but that’s just not true. You have to establish your manhood or your womanhood with actions.”
Benjamin Franklin