Philosophy




Our Objective
We believe that within the standards of the Bible, the purpose of school is to provide a nurturing, safe and stimulating environment where children can be free to be who God created them to be, free to make the educational choices necessary to achieve God's purpose for their lives and free to be able to have a voice in their lives and the school community. 


Our Background
If you look up the etymology for the word “school” it means “leisure or leisure for learning.” In ancient times, schooling took place in the context of relaxing with friends and discussing topics in a leisurely manner…topics of personal interest. There was usually an adult there to guide the
discussion without too much interference in the child's thought process. From this schools were formed. Over the centuries there became such a demand to create people to establish society and to fit certain tasks to do so, so schooling became much more rigorous and specific to certain tasks. We have gotten away from cultivating the child’s natural intellect in order to develop them into the person God ordained for them to be. The Living Water School seeks to present a school that follows a more natural path. Parents and teachers (we call them Guides) are still there guiding students, but we are supporting God’s original plan for the child and helping that plan come into being. 
Our Method

The Living Water School believes that in order to best educate a child, we have to learn to flow with the four areas of their life: 1). Their Faith  2). Their Person  3). Their Learning Style  4). Their Community.:

  • Faith:  A child’s faith is unique and personal for them.  It is between them and God.  Our purpose as a staff is to support the child as they discover how to establish that unique and personal relationship.   Jeremiah 29:11-For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
  • Person:  Every child has been specially designed by God.  Only the child and the parent really know or have a sense of that design.  Our purpose is to pay attention and listen to both parent and child in order to learn how the person of the child has been created by the Father. Upon gaining understanding of that, we then encourage, mentor and support the child as they develop a personalized education program for themselves, based upon their interests and needs. The Democratic School Model gives the child freedom to discover their unique interests and natural bents and allows them to design their educational path based upon that.  Charlotte Mason creates the nurturing environment in which to grow and develop, as well as filling the school space with a feast of ideas to stimulate their natural curiosity. Psalm 139:13-"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb."
  • Learning Style:  Along with the overall person of the child, each child has a specific way that they learn.  We are not here to judge and say which learning style is better.  Because we understand that God created each child’s learning style, and He makes NO mistakes, we seek to understand the learning style and then encourage, mentor and support the child as they create learning experiences that connect to their particular learning style. To help us understand each child's development and learning style, we observe them through the lens of the Trivium.  Students freely move throughout the day engaging in the various activities and resources throughout the school building and property.  We do not force learning (i.e. scheduled classes, etc.), we do not force them to be in a certain part of the Trivium by a certain age, but the Trivium helps us to understand where a child is in their cognitive development.  Most classes are by student choice or through them signing up to take an offered course. All class time is in small groups and most classes are taught using the classical model and approved classical curricula. 1 Cor. 12:18-"But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose."
  • Community:   Here at the Living Water School, we appreciate the child's community and create opportunities for the child’s community to come together in order to support the learning life of the child. This is done through the school meeting, the school assembly, the judicial committee and other school community events.  Living in consideration of the community is a major part of our program.  Acts 4:32- "All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had."
Our Course Requirements
Classical education believes in students gaining the building blocks for all learning.  Some students are required to join a reading skills group and a math skills group (only if they are very remedial).  Eventually, a student obtains the skills necessary to continue to grow as a learner on an independent basis. The goal is to have students obtain complete freedom to pursue their own learning path. There are also book clubs scheduled throughout the year, where students can sign up to join a group in reading a certain book and discussing it.  Students also have opportunities to freely and leisurely "graze" on the subject areas, through learning games, computer games, independent projects and other group activities.  For more information, please contact the school.


(c) 2015

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