Can homeschool students participate in JA BizTown?
Yes, we do have a few home school groups that participate. However, it does require a whole group, not just an individual student. Our facility requires at least 70 students to operate. Since most home school groups do not have enough students to operate the facility, we treat them as small private schools and partner them with other small schools or home school groups so that there are enough students for operation. Most home school families operate under some sort of "umbrella" group. We recommend that interested parents work with other families in the umbrella group to get as many participants as possible.
What age groups can participate?
The program is developmentally appropriate for grades 4-6. Groups may combine students from those grades.
What is the minimum number of students our group can have?
Our average traditional participating school has about 90 students. We must have a minimum of 70 students to operate and a maximum of around 120. We are happy to work with small groups, but because each school/group we manage requires considerable staff time and coordination as well as teacher materials which can get quite costly in terms of financial and human resources, we must place some limitations on how we work with them. We prefer our home school groups be at least a typical classroom size of approximately 20-25 students. We cannot accept groups smaller than 10 students.
Who teaches the curriculum in a home school setting?
Usually one or two parents/teachers act as the coordinator for the group, attend training with the JA BizTown staff, and teach the curriculum to the participating students during regular meetings in a group setting.
How much time is needed for a home school group to teach the lessons for JA BizTown?
Our traditional schools generally spend about an hour per day over a six week period in preparation for the visit to JA BizTown. Most of our home school groups meet once/week and spread the lessons out over several weeks. The home school teachers just tailor the timing and the lessons for the smaller group and the logistics of meeting for one full day/week.
What do we do if we want to sign-up to participate in JA BizTown?
Once you have identified enough families/students for a workable group, the designated coordinator should complete an application to participate on behalf of the group. Fax and/or mail the application to us. Accepted groups will receive a letter of acceptance shortly thereafter with more information regarding dates for teacher training, the visit date the group has been assigned, and the name of any currently identifiable partner schools/groups.
