Home - Branches & Vine Cottage School

If you desire a life-giving learning atmosphere for your child,
WE CAN HELP YOU.

If you're interested in a faith-based, high-quality private education with affordable rates for your family,
WE CAN HELP YOU.

If you have a morning homeschool curriculum but desire
additional enrichment and social learning opportunities,
WE CAN HELP YOU.

If you're longing to plug in to a vibrant learning community that offers genuine encouragement and support designed for your whole family,
WE CAN HELP YOU.

Nourishing the whole person with first-hand exposure to great and noble ideas.

Our 2021-2022 Academic Year Enrollment is now closed!
If you would like to be placed on our Wait List and contacted as soon as spots are opened, please email us here!

Sign-Ups are now closed for the fall term.

Check out our 2021-2021 School Calendar!

See our Woodland Friends Offerings this year!

Click pic!

SCHEDULE
In-Class: Mondays-Thursdays
At-Home: Fridays

FORMS
Woodland Friends - ages 4-6
(Mon, Tue, Wed mornings)
Form I - ages 6-9 (roughly 1st-3rd)
Form II - ages 9-12 (roughly 4th-6th)
Form III - ages 12-15 (roughly 7th-9th)
Form IV - ages 15-18 (roughly 10th-12th)

IN-CLASS OPTIONS & HOURS
Cottage Students Full Day:
8:10 am - 3:40 pm

Enrichment Half-Days:
11:30 am - 3:40 pm

We have a 5 acre country-like campus with a chicken coop, gardens, various creatures,
and open green space that facilitates generous outdoor exploration and play.

We are easily accessible (just four minutes off I-75) in South Dayton, close to many amenities.

"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life."
~ Charlotte Mason (1842 – 1923)

Branches & Vine Approach

At Branches & Vine, we honor the child's dignity as a whole person designed in God's image.

Our educational approach nourishes the whole person with first-hand exposure to great and noble ideas through: "living books" in every subject, timeless literature and poetry, treasured handicrafts, Shakespeare plays, inspiring art, beautiful music, biblical worldview conversations, structured maths and sciences, Latin, Greek and classical studies, generous nature exploration, piano and violin study.

We believe life-giving education possesses "depth of relations" through a three-fold framework: "knowledge of God," "knowledge of man," and "knowledge of the universe." We help students build deepening relationships with God and His Word; with people from various eras, places, and cultures; and with nature and daily outdoor life, geography, and the sciences.

Chronological history comes alive through well-written books, source documents, captivating biographies, and literature selections which illuminate the era.

Focused attention at short, varied lessons keeps students' minds fresh, leaving free time for exploration of nature, personal interests, and life skills.

English skills develop beautifully through "copywork" (transcribing a portion of quality literature), and "dictation" of familiar passages. Memorization and "recitation" are approached, not as tools for repeating facts, but to give children rich words to ponder for a lifetime.

Instead of dry worksheets, students design and develop cherished "living notebooks" including: Book of Centuries (master timeline), Commonplace Book (literary quotations), Nature Notebook (observational sketches, paintings, and notes), Copybook (Scripture, poetry, and literature selections), Scripture Notebook (Bible readings, memory work, and favorite passages), Fortitude Journal, Latin Notebook ... among other notebook keep-sakes that take shape through the years.

"Narrating" (retelling) from living books teaches students to reflect upon and digest vital ideas.

Our teachers direct the course of study, but students assume personal responsibility for their own learning.

We seize every opportunity to experience wonder and delight. Along with intentional "habit formation," students appropriate true knowledge, understanding, and wisdom into a life of virtue.

Branches & Vine Mission

In partnership with families, and guided by the Word of God, we provide a rich and varied feast of living ideas reflective of truth, goodness, and beauty, that equips students to lead lives of true knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to the glory of Christ.

True Vine CM Network

Discover the Difference of Branches & Vine

NURTURING A LIFE-GIVING ATMOSPHERE
INSPIRING HABITS OF WISDOM
NOURISHING MINDS WITH A GENEROUS FEAST OF LIVING IDEAS

JOINING THE GREAT CONVERSATION THROUGH THE GREAT BOOKS, GREAT THINKERS, AND GREAT WORKS OF THE WESTERN TRADITION

“We all have need to be trained to see, and to have our eyes opened
before we can take in the joy that is meant for us in this beautiful life.”

"We wish to place before the child open doors to many avenues of instruction and delight,
in each one of which he should find quickening thoughts."

~ Charlotte Mason (1842 – 1923)

EMAIL US WITH QUESTIONS!

All applicants and BVCS parents are expected to have read: For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay and In Vital Harmony by Karen Glass. Our families must be supportive of Charlotte Mason principles and methods to ensure that your hopes for your children resonate with our vision and priorities for B&V, and are in keeping with the philosophical distinctives of our work.

ENROLLMENT STEPS
[email protected]
(937) 618 3030
3150 W ALEX BELL, DAYTON, OH 45449

PARENT PORTAL
WHY CHOOSE US (AND WHY NOT TO)
B&V DISTINCTIVES
LIVING CURRICULUM

Branches & Vine Cottage School is a four-day classically-based Charlotte Mason Cottage School walking alongside families located in Dayton, Ohio.

Abiding in Christ and His Word, informed by Charlotte Mason principles, and in partnership with parents . . . we spread a rich and varied feast of a life-giving education (truth, goodness, beauty) through three-fold knowledge with deepening relationships (God, humanity, universe). This is to be used by the Holy Spirit in transforming students to genuinely love the Lord (heart, soul, mind; Deut 6:4-9), lead gracious lives of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom (Prov 24:3-4), and bear much fruit for the glory of God (John 15:1-11).

“I am the VINE, you are the BRANCHES. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

A 501c3 educational
ministry initiative of
Calvary South Dayton