Branches & Vine Cottage School
  • Home
  • ABOUT US
    • Welcome From the Director
    • B&V Distinctives
    • TRUEVINECM Network
  • ADMISSIONS
    • 4-Day/ 2-Day /Half-Day Options
    • 2022-23 FEES
    • Enrollment Steps & Interest Form
    • Application Form
  • LIVING CURRICULUM
  • WHY CHOOSE US
  • RESOURCES
    • Parents' Required Reading List
    • CM's 20 Principles
    • AmblesideOnline
    • The New Mason Jar Podcast
    • A Delectable Education Podcast
    • The Literary Life Podcast
  • Calvary South Dayton

WHY CHOOSE US
​(AND WHY NOT TO)

Discover the Difference of Branches & Vine

CULTIVATING A LIFE-GIVING ATMOSPHERE
SHEPHERDING HABITS OF WISDOM & HUMILITY
NOURISHING HEARTS & MINDS WITH A FEAST OF LIVING IDEAS

Are you ready to experience life-giving education?

CULTIVATING A LIFE-GIVING ATMOSPHERE
SHEPHERDING HABITS OF WISDOM & HUMILITY
NOURISHING HEARTS & MINDS WITH A FEAST OF LIVING IDEAS

Would your child thrive in our whole-hearted learning community?

CULTIVATING A LIFE-GIVING ATMOSPHERE
SHEPHERDING HABITS OF WISDOM & HUMILITY
NOURISHING HEARTS & MINDS WITH A FEAST OF LIVING IDEAS

 Why CHOOSE Branches & Vine Cottage School

1. Affordable Price for High Quality, Charlotte Mason Education
  • Weekly rates that are cheaper than childcare rates ... or the cost of a restaurant meal for the average family.
  • Degreed and specialized Charlotte Mason teachers who are highly invested and experienced.
  • The benefits of a rich and varied education, inspired and influenced by Charlotte Mason principles and methods.
​​
2. Children Develop a Love for Learning & Confident Life Skills 
  • Children engage with a wide and high quality curriculum that ignites a love of learning for a lifetime.
  • We intentionally teach life skills so we can launch whole and confident individuals into the adult world.

3. Every Child Treasured and Thriving
  • Small teacher-student ratios.
  • A nurturing learning atmosphere.
  • Instead of falling through the cracks, children at Branches & Vine Cottage School are uniquely shepherded, loved, and equipped.

4. Historic Christian Values & Character Formation
  • Parents can trust their children are receiving quality training in Christian values and worldview.

​5. Tranquil Learning Location
  • We are blessed with a 5 acre campus with a chicken coop, gardens, guinea pigs, bunnies, a resident reptile, aquarium, open green space, and wildlife.
  • Easily accessible school facility ... just four minutes off I-75 and close to many amenities.
  • Intentional outdoor play and nature study.
  • Settled hearts and minds so children are free to truly learn and grow.

Why NOT to choose Branches & Vine Cottage School

1. If you are looking for a full 5-day on-site public school-style program.
  • We are not a traditional school.
  • We do not teach Common Core.
  • We are intentionally avoiding an institutional learning environment dominated by large class sizes, screens, and progressive educational methods and theories.

What we are ...
  • We are a "cottage school" that combines 4 days of rich group learning in a family-like setting.
  • BVCS parents are required to notify their school districts regarding excusal.
  • We provide families with a weekly syllabus to help parents keep their children's academic year on track. 
2. If you're looking for the benefits of homeschooling without the responsibility or commitment. ​
  • We are not an individualized homeschool program where every aspect can be customized to your child.
  • We are not a drop-in program, with every assignment as optional.
What we are ...
  • We offer a dynamic partnership with parents who are invested and active in their children's progress and development with us. 
3. If you're looking for a "homeschool co-op."
  • We are not a homeschool co-op wherein the parents divide teaching among themselves and select personal subjects of interest.
  • We are not an "academic buffet" where parents pick which days and times and subjects work best for them. We are open to parents substituting some books and resources (especially with regard to math, some of our reading lists, and english material) but this is mutually-agreed with Form teachers.
What we are ...
  • A wide and varied learning atmosphere where we instruct according to a unified Charlotte Mason approach and philosophy.
  • We adhere to an orderly scope and sequence, informed by Charlotte Mason cottage schools of both yesteryear (PNEU) and today.
4. If you're looking for an exclusive and strict "classical" learning environment.
  • Although we acknowledge that a true Charlotte Mason education is "classical" as many define it, we are most highly committed to CM principles, methods, and priorities.  
What we are ...
  • We endeavor to spread an abundant feast every day for our students - this includes declining Latin nouns, mastering math and critical thinking concepts, writing well-crafted essays, and tackling the Great Books ... but it ALSO includes pausing to sketch clouds, singing hymns and songs together, laughing through weekly country dancing, knitting scarves, reciting breath-taking Scripture and poetry, praying and studying the Word together, keeping notebooks and portfolios, creating art, pulling up a chair to our wonderful literature tea times, acting out scenes from Shakespeare plays, playing chess over cups of hot chocolate in the winter, cheering during "House" Competitions, listening to awe-inspiring classical music ... and MUCH celebrating, feasting, and JOY! 
  • We will always prioritize whole-hearted learning shaped by truth, goodness, and beauty over a primary emphasis on heavy academic push and transcript preparation.
5. If you're looking for secular or "worldview neutral" education.  ​

Our statement of faith is the historic Apostles' Creed ...
WE BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.

We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day He rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy *catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

*catholic meaning: true, Christian church of all times and all places


  • ​While not every text and book we use will have been written by men and women who share all of these convictions, every book will be approached in light of a worldview that is consistent with these beliefs.
 
  • ​We do not require that parents or students sign a specific statement of faith. We do intend to be respectful of the differences that may exist among our students and we have no desire to undermine parental authority. Parents should be aware (and should be comfortable with the fact) that we will teach from an explicit, unequivocal, and unapologetic historical Christian worldview.

Do you long to be part of a nurturing learning community that offers practical encouragement & support ​to your whole family?

CULTIVATING A LIFE-GIVING ATMOSPHERE
SHEPHERDING HABITS OF WISDOM & VIRTUE
NOURISHING MINDS WITH A GENEROUS FEAST OF LIVING IDEAS
JOINING THE GREAT CONVERSATION THROUGH
​THE GREAT BOOKS, GREAT THINKERS, AND GREAT WORKS
APPLY TO BRANCHES & VINE COTTAGE SCHOOL
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.
INFO@BVCOTTAGESCHOOL.COM
​(937) 618 3030
​
3150 W ALEX BELL
​LIVING CURRICULUM
OUR DISTINCTIVES
ENROLLMENT STEPS
​APPLICATION FORM
​RETURNING STUDENT REGISTRATION FORM

Branches & Vine Cottage School is a classical 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 the feast of a "life-giving education" reflective of truth, goodness, and beauty that nurtures true knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, to be used by the Holy Spirit to transform students who bear much fruit to the glory of God. John 15:1-15​
“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

​​

The Cottage School Branch of our TRUE VINE CM NETWORK
An educational ministry initiative of Calvary South Dayton
  • Home
  • ABOUT US
    • Welcome From the Director
    • B&V Distinctives
    • TRUEVINECM Network
  • ADMISSIONS
    • 4-Day/ 2-Day /Half-Day Options
    • 2022-23 FEES
    • Enrollment Steps & Interest Form
    • Application Form
  • LIVING CURRICULUM
  • WHY CHOOSE US
  • RESOURCES
    • Parents' Required Reading List
    • CM's 20 Principles
    • AmblesideOnline
    • The New Mason Jar Podcast
    • A Delectable Education Podcast
    • The Literary Life Podcast
  • Calvary South Dayton