Registration for ALH (Aquinas Learning at Home) families is open.
Center families, please check with your individual director for registration opening.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to register to use your curriculum?
Yes, because it’s the registration that grants access to our curriculum and the comprehensive course site, community support, and free and discounted training. Click here to learn how to register, or click on your center name under the REGISTER tab above if your center has opened registration.
Do I have to join a center to use your curriculum?
Not at all. Many of our families prefer to go at their own pace and use our Catholic, classical curriculum entirely at home. But for those who desire more community and accountability, participating in an Aquinas Learning Center (be it in-person or virtual) can be a great blessing. Learn more about ALH (Aquinas Learning at Home) here, and learn more about our independently owned and operated centers (including a virtual center) here.
How much does it cost to use your curriculum?
The total cost will vary greatly from one family to another. But registration costs $185 for Parva, $250 for Prima I, $250 for Prima II, and $75 per Alta Course (both IHP and STEM). Please note: the registration fee is charged per family, not per student. Welcome, large families!
The registration fee does not include the cost of materials or tuition paid to a center. If you choose to enroll at an independently owned and operated center licensed to use our curriculum, you will pay their tuition enrollment fees to that center director.
Can I start my own center?
Absolutely! We require that new directors have one year of experience using our curriculum at a center (it can be online with the Aquinas Learning Virtual Center) before starting their own business of a Hybrid Homeschool Classical Center. We provide directors with a toolbox that includes training and support in starting a center, phone consultations, quarterly directors’ calls, shared marketing material templates, a center page on our international website, and more. The license fee for the first year is $350, with a renewal fee of $175/year.
The $350 Director Administration Fee is to be paid before the start of the first year as a center. If you decide not to start a center, this fee can be applied to your own registration fee for the upcoming year. Otherwise, it is non-refundable.
General business expenses are not included (e.g. computer, printer, insurance, business cards, stationery, travel, meetings, training, office supplies, internet, name registration (d.b.a.), optional supplies for your center – center toys/games, P.E. equipment, lab equipment, art supplies, etc.
To begin, watch the two-part webinar series linked below. Once you've done that, please email info@aquinaslearning.com to schedule an initial consultation with Rosario.
Do you offer any training for parents, mentors, and directors?
We offer the curriculum, and we offer the following training options:
Course Site with Resource Folders for parents, mentors, and directors.
Parent Guide: A Workbook for Primary Educators is available for purchase in print and is freely available for download on the course site to member families.
Annual Webinars are deeply discounted for member families. Recordings are made available to registrants after the event.
Quarterly Director Meetings including director training, resources, and continuing updates.
Upon request from a director - a one-day in-person, onsite training at your location - cost is variable based on availability, time of year, and number of trainers. Please contact info@aquinaslearning.com for more details.
“Inside Aquinas”, our Digital Monthly Magazine with cycle-themed continuing education for primary educators, mentors, and directors.
Do you have any social media or online discussion forums?
Yes! For our registered members, we offer a private Facebook page (search Aquinas Learning Families and ask to join) and a private Groups.io community forum.
Do you provide report cards, transcripts, or accreditation?
We do not provide grades, report cards, or transcripts. Since it is a homeschool program, the homeschool teacher is responsible for record-keeping and producing report cards, and transcripts. However, we do provide templates, webinars on homeschooling through high school with Aquinas Learning, and guidance in creating transcripts for college applications.
As far as accreditation goes, we elected not to pursue any licenses from accrediting agencies for various reasons.
Accreditation began for the purpose of accrediting colleges and universities and making them eligible for federal funding, so it is not necessary for independent homeschoolers,
it would not only bog us down with bureaucratic work, and
it may even limit our education to more basic standards and requirements that would not necessarily align with our Catholic, classical standards and philosophy of education.
Accrediting agencies are concerned with things such as improvement plans, student performance, annual reports, membership to the accrediting agency, legal operations, licensing regardless of religious exemption, successful operations for a year based on accrediting agencies standards, a site visit, a self study, a curriculum plan organized by consecutive levels of teaching (whereas, we teach by cycle to the entire family), diversity standards, ratio of teacher to student (even at our largest centers, the ratio is about 8:1), gender accommodations, etc. The only reason to get accreditation is to be able to claim that we are accredited.
So one asks, “What are the accrediting agencies, what do they consider an accredited institution, and does it serve the same ends we have of teaching children to become the adults that God intended?” In response, you might ask, “What curriculum is Aquinas Learning using, and is it good enough?”
Our curriculum has been tried and tested since 2009 with tremendous success.
More importantly, our curriculum was based on the Great Conversation that has gone on throughout the ages. Our true developers are masters from the past: Aristotle, Plato, Jesus, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Albert the Great, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, Flannery O’Connor, and so many more.
From these great giants of education, we developed materials to be studied by the entire family on a cyclical basis, returning to Cycle 1, once we’ve finished Cycle 3. Our goal is to marinate our students on what is true, good, and beautiful, so that their affections will be turned toward things from God and turned away from things that are not from God, with the ultimate goal of eternal happiness with Him in heaven.
To return to the question of whether or not our curriculum is “good enough?” Does an education that helps the students, parents, and mentors to love what is worth loving good? Does an education that helps families learn as a unit and build long-lasting bonds good? Does an education that helps students discern truth and their vocation good? Does an education that helps students graduate high school with honors and get accepted into various colleges with scholarships good? So far our graduates have been accepted (often with scholarships) to Ave Maria University, Belmont Abbey, Benedictine College, Catholic University of America, Christendom College, Franciscan University of Steubenville, John Paul the Great College, Shenandoah Conservatory, University of Dallas, University of Mary, Universidad de Navarre, Villanova University, and Virginia Military Institute.