In July 2016, a group of friends started a homeschool meet-up and began reading and discussing Charlotte Mason’s ideas monthly. Out of that reading and thinking together grew first plans and then a new reality: Bluebonnet Home Scholars Collaborative (BHSC), a 501(c)(3) non-profit ministry offering homeschool classes with a difference. We invite your family to join us as we spread a gentle, wholesome, and beautiful intellectual feast for our children.
Offering classes and activities in the liberal arts tradition, Bluebonnet Home Scholars Collaborative is a Group Class Community that exists to enrich the lives of Christian homeschool families in the joint pursuit of wonder, knowledge, and love.
Philosophy of Education
BHSC curriculum and instruction is developed on the basis of both classical tradition and
contemporary research. The Bluebonnet approach is heavily influenced by Christian
educators and thinkers such as Charlotte Mason, C. S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, and Jacques
Maritain. Our central objectives are
- to invite wonder and facilitate knowledge through the lively presentation of vital ideas,
- to model and transmit disciplined habits of sentiment and volition, and
- to inspire love and action that embraces the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.
And life exists, too, for an end which makes it worthy of being lived. Contemplation and self-perfection, in which human life aspires to flower forth, escape the purview of the pragmatic mind.
—Jacques Maritain, Education at the Crossroads
Core Values
Bluebonnet Home Scholars Collaborative seeks to partner with parents, teachers, and
students who demonstrate tenacity for learning and loving, collaboration in professional and
scholastic pursuits, and freedom through God’s empowering grace.
- Tenacity: As like-minded parents, teachers, and students, members of the BHSC community are hungry for continuous learning and growth, and they love tenaciously. Parents and teachers see themselves as fellow learners with their students and seek constantly to expand their understanding and to perfect their craft. BHSC students are eager to learn and grow, and they value and respect their peers and mentors as they continue to grow together into the fullness of the image and likeness of the Creator.
- Collaboration: Parents, teachers, and students respect the intrinsic dignity and personhood of each individual in all their interactions with one another. Parents and teachers understand that their peers and their children are full persons who bear the image of God and have direct access to beauty and truth, and to the Holy Spirit, without need of mediation. They know that the best way to learn, grow, and make decisions is to listen and hear insights from every member of the team. Each participant commits to direct, honest, and full communication in open collaboration.
- Freedom: BHSC is an ecumenical community of Trinitarian Christians who recognize their freedom in Christ. Through Christ our Savior, we are no longer slaves to sin but rather free children of God. God’s grace empowers us to freely know, choose, and love all that is good, true, and beautiful, especially God Himself. Our own individual freedom and potential fills us each with awe and gratitude. The freedom and potential of students, obliges parents and teachers to maintain humility and respect for the sacred dignity of each. The BHSC community honors the freedom and dignity of students, teachers, and families by creating an atmosphere of wonder and respect, presenting a generous curriculum of vital ideas, encouraging honest discussion and exploration, nurturing appropriate autonomy and choice, and encouraging habits conducive to freedom in Christ.
The common quest or vision which unites friends…is the very medium in which their mutual love and knowledge exist…. Our reliance, our respect and our admiration blossom into an Appreciative Love of a singularly robust and well-informed kind.
—C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
A Unique Approach
Bluebonnet Home Scholars Collaborative is committed to ecumenical Christian discipleship, parent involvement, and professionalism.
- Ecumenical Christian Discipleship: BHSC leaders, teachers, and participating families all profess belief in the Trinity and assent to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (with or without the filioque). They are committed to faithfully living out the Christian life as disciples of Christ and see home education as a vital part of that discipleship. Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox Christians are all warmly welcome in the BHSC community.
- Parent Involvement: Bluebonnet Home Scholars Collaborative upholds parents as the primary educators of their children and expects parents to be life-long learners who model a tenacious life of the mind for their children. Parents have flexibility to choose classes a la carte and to work with teachers to individualize the learning experience for particular students. BHSC prioritizes a school-life balance by designing classes with limited amounts of take-home assignments. BHSC requires on-site parent participation four or more class days per semester, as well as participation through shared readings and at periodic parent meetings.
- Professionalism: Teachers, leaders, and volunteers at BHSC hold themselves to high standards of professional behavior. Every teacher, volunteer, and staff member undergoes a background check and participates in child abuse prevention training. Teachers and leaders continuously increase their understanding and competency through collaboration and ongoing learning as individuals and as a community where clarity and organizational health are priorities.
As the flowers turn to the sun, so the hearts of the children turn to their Saviour and God with unconscious delight and trust…. The living Word reaches down, touches the soul—and there is life; growth and beauty, flower and fruit.
—Charlotte Mason, Home Education
Bluebonnet Home Scholars Motto
I am a child of God,
And by His grace I'm free
To know, to choose, to love
All Goodness, Truth, and Beauty.
I will with joy and awe.
Non-Discrimination Policy: It is the policy of BHSC to admit homeschooling families and students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally made available to families and students. BHSC will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and/or loan programs, or any other programs.
