What is Sursum Corda?
We are a community of homeschooling families that meets together for classes on Thursdays in Orange, CA. Parents participate as volunteer teachers, and serve in various other volunteer roles.
What do we believe about education?
On our Mission Page, you can read our Vision and Mission, our educational philosophy, and our core principles and practices.
How do we approach different developmental phases?
Read about the goals for each of our “Forms”:
Early Years (ages 3-5)
Form I (1st – 3rd grade)
Form II (4th – 6th grade)
Form III (7th to 8th grade)
Form IV (9th to 12th grade)
What classes do we offer?
You can read about our approach to each subject here, and find relevant articles and resources:
History
Science
Literature
Latin
Logic & Apologetics
Shakespeare
Plutarch
Geography
Music & Movement
Handicrafts
What do we do apart from classes?
In our Opening and Closing Gatherings, we sing Folk Songs and try out Folk Dance. We learn about famous Artists and Composers. We enjoy great poems and speeches. We practice Latin all together. We learn a new hymn each month, and use it to worship together. You can read about some of our current learning on our Fine Arts page.
We also have occasional social events, service events, and field trips. Our students present “Shakespeare Showcase” performances. We have school pictures, a yearbook, and a dedicated social media app where we can share photos and announcements. We are close as a community, and a key place for students to belong and to build relationships.
How do we support parents in their homeschooling journey?
One important element in our Mission is to “grow together.” In addition to the huge benefit of casual conversations around campus and partnerships in teaching roles, we offer monthly formal study and discussion times–known as “Patio Chats”–and biannual Teacher Training days. A monthly email provides encouragement and needed information. One area of our website, “Olea,” has inspirational articles written by and for our community.
What do we offer the larger community?
The background documents–full of resources and booklists–listed above are freely available to the public through this website. Several of our Olea articles are available for inspiration. We hope to develop events open to the general community in the future.
What are our costs and commitments?
We are a co-op program which runs on volunteer effort! Although we try to keep costs low, it does take money to rent facilities and provide supplies. Please refer to our “Information Packet” for the most up-to-date details about fees.