“Children are born with all the curiosity they will ever need. It will last a lifetime if they are fed upon a daily diet of ideas.”

Our weekly schedule at Crestwood is different from traditional school. Our hope is to add more margin and prioritization of enjoying time with God and family for both our faculty and our students. Crestwood’s goal is to come alongside families in structuring our days where God and family have the opportunity for our focused attention and pursuit.

Crestwood school days will begin with a 9:00 am drop off and 2:00 pm pick up on Monday – Thursday. Fridays are open to be spent freely; however, Crestwood will supply recommended leisure time based on our curriculum. Our instructors often supply such activities as recommended extra reading, object lessons for nature walks, and other occupations that correlate with the curriculum. Again, Crestwood will only recommend these occupations, as Friday is really for the child/family to pursue desired interests.

Crestwood School of Hattiesburg prides itself in being able to, as Charlotte Mason said, “spread an abundant and delicate feast of subjects.” Rather than solely prioritizing 2 or 3 certain subjects that need to meet objectives, we provide a vast array of shortened lessons throughout the day. Well-timed lessons and intentionally changing materials train a child in the habit of attention and allow them to be more focused. These subjects are designed to work seamlessly together as a whole. Each subject enhances the study of the others. The subjects offered at Crestwood School of Hattiesburg include:

Bible, brush drawing, penmanship, reading, grammar, geography, history, life skills, literature, math, modern language, movement, music, picture study, and science.

Crestwood School of Hattiesburg will be following the Charlotte Mason Institute’s Alveary curriculum. As stated on the Alveary Website, “Charlotte Mason’s Alveary is the culmination of over a decade of research and work. The Charlotte Mason Institute (CMI) began exploring the idea of creating a modern Charlotte Mason curriculum and teacher training program in 2007. After analysis of Mason’s original programmes and other resources, we created the Alveary, piloting it in 2016. Our curriculum has evolved since then due to further research, feedback from our members, and the dedication of our development team, which now numbers more than 20 teachers, homeschool parents, and content-area experts. What started as an idea for helping teachers implement Mason’s methods while also learning them has grown from a collection of spreadsheets to a beautiful, robust curriculum that brings the full Mason feast within everyone’s grasp.“

Charlotte Mason’s Alveary is:

• A professional product
• Our curriculum is written by a team of over 20 veteran Charlotte Mason teachers, homeschool parents, administrators, and researchers.
• Our team includes both general practitioners and content-area experts in such areas as Science, Latin, French, Spanish, Art, Music, and Geography. This means you can be confident in the accuracy and thoroughness of the Alveary.
• Research-based
  • Our team is constantly immersed in Mason’s volumes, Parents’ Review articles, and the Charlotte Mason Digital Collection with an eye to creating a curriculum and training program that implements Mason’s principles and methods with fidelity. Our program is updated as we make new discoveries and connections.
  • Charlotte Mason said that education is physiology plus psychology unified by philosophy. Our team includes professionals who are well-versed in child development and psychology, and that knowledge informs our lesson plans. We also stay abreast of current educational research and do the hard work of wrestling with new discoveries to see if they should inform our practice. (For example, well-established research in neuroscience that did not exist in Mason’s day is currently informing our discussion of neurodiverse students in our new group, The Blue Orchard Bee.) For more information on why current research is important and how we use it, please watch the CMI conference lecture on The Role of an Institute.
• Organic and current
  • Charlotte Mason did not create a fixed product and then sell it in perpetuity. Her programs were fresh every single term. We follow her example by updating our curriculum each year.
  • We use member feedback and student exams to assess the quality of the books we recommend.
  • We assess new titles as we find out about them to see if they should be included.
  • When a book goes out of print we replace that title (or have it republished) to help keep your costs low.
• Complete and cohesive
  • You are not left on your own to figure out how to teach things like math, languages, dance, and handicrafts. We have thought through everything and made specific recommendations. When we couldn’t find resources we liked, we actually wrote materials ourselves, including our French, Spanish, Art, Geography, and Reading lessons.”
  • The program is designed to work seamlessly together as a whole. Each subject enhances the study of the others.
• Thoroughly vetted
  • In our search for the best books to include, we look for adherence to Mason’s philosophy, as well as a reflection of child development and well-established research. We include only the highest quality books and activities, as well as thoughtful exam questions.
  • Programs and lesson plans are read, reread, revised, and edited every year.

Crestwood School of Hattiesburg will have a yearly tuition rate of $5,200 per child for the 2023-2024 calendar school year. We will begin the school year in August of 2023 and end the school year in May of 2024.

Yes, you may pay online through our payment portal.

Yes, you may donate through our PayPal account linked here.