Our Arete Crew Has It's Own Page Now- Under Parent Resources
From the Parents
Aimee O'Brien
In our Arete Origin Story we mentioned that the first family enrolled in Arete in July 2017 just 2 days after the announcement of a new Charter School within PRSD went live. Aimee O’Brien was the one to enroll and all 4 of her kids attended/ are attending Arete.
How and why did you choose Arete?
Aimee and her kids had recently returned from Australia and they were looking for a schooling option that provided both individualized attention for learning and flexibility. She had heard there was an amazing teacher in the community who was starting a charter homeschool and decided to give it a try.
Why does Arete work well for your family?
Since the beginning, the Arete teachers and staff have been able to spend dedicated time with her children to identify the need for focused tutoring in areas like reading or speech, and then work on those subjects.
Aimee and her kids take full advantage of the opportunities Arete provides, such as attending resource center, field trips, cross-country and volleyball teams, and special events like reading night and holiday parties. They also fully utilize their budget for tutoring with reading and math as well as extracurriculars like ballet and karate.
Aimee finds that very focused tutoring efforts leaves the family plenty of time for fun stuff like camping trips and character-building stuff like chores around the house.
What are some of your lessons learned and what advice do you have for new families?
Now with 7 years as a homeschool mom and teacher, Aimee has definitely found her groove and takes full advantage of the resources that Arete provides while also enjoying the time and flexibility to focus on family, home, health, and relationships.
In the beginning, she didn’t know what to expect and kept questioning herself - could she keep up with teaching the kids as they grew older, or teach the younger kids how to read? Questions we have probably all asked ourselves :-).
The advice she has for new families is to not stress or try to adhere to someone else’s schedule. Get comfortable recognizing your own and your children’s emotional states and adjust the pace of work as needed. Some days are great and we get a lot done, some days we need to take a break and find a way to keep learning fun. It is an adjustment when you are always the authority figure as parent and teacher, but it also means we get more time to shape our kids as they grow.
Closing remarks
The Arete staff has been like an extended family for Aimee over the years, really listening to her challenges and supporting her kids at every step. During Covid, the teachers even drove by her house and sang Happy Birthday to her daughter :-). She is so thankful that even though the school has grown from a single room to now having its own campus, the same Arete staff and teachers are there providing the same type of support they did when it was a single room.
