Orchard Blossom Academy
Cultivating students who relate to their world with curiosity, courage, and compassion
A Charlotte Mason homeschool-hybrid program
in the fruitful Yakima Valley
"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life."
Orchard Blossom Academy was created to cultivate students who relate to their world with curiosity, courage, and compassion.
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We seek to provide a Christian education which nourishes the mind through honoring the personhood of each student, nurturing habits of discipline, and providing a rich feast of living ideas. ​​​
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Our Values
Devoted to Christ
​​We agree with Charlotte Mason that devotion to God is the aim of education, and in encountering living ideas, we more fully, know and experience God. Orchard Blossom embraces the traditions and teachings of the ​Orthodox Christian faith and approaches spiritual instruction from this framework and mindset.
The Personhood of All
"All children are born persons," Miss Mason declared. We believe that each child deserves dignity and respect and that the strengths, giftings and personalities they possess are God-given. The classroom is a place of joyful connection and learning so that each student will thrive without anxiety over performance. Orchard Blossom students are honored as made in God's image just as they are right now.
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Self-Discipline
Miss Mason states, "The question is not, 'How much does the child know, but how much does he care. and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?'"
Our students develop self-discipline, leading to courageous perseverance through all life experiences. We allow the student's affinites for Creation (both seen and unseen) to flourish and grow so that they care deeply and with compassion about their world.
Living Ideas
We affirm with Miss Mason that ideas are food of the mind and we must take care not to quench natural knowledge-hunger. Our curriculum is designed using the best books and materials available for each topic, living books written by authors intimately acquainted with and passionate about their subject material. As a result, students from OBA are able to think and speak intelligently and passionately about a wide array of ideas and knowledge in many subject areas.
The Holy Spirit as Master Teacher
As Charlotte Mason reminds us in her 20th educational principle, the Holy Spirit is the true teacher of us all, and has constant access to the minds and hearts of each student. Therefore, we carefully spread a rich feast of ideas, the student takes and learns from the feast, and the Holy Spirit can be trusted to guide and direct the growth of each student.
