Become a Mentor at YLA
MENTORING AT YLA
Thank you for considering mentoring at our YLA Scholar School!! Mentors are a critical component to helping us accomplish our vision and mission as a homeschool community.
Great mentoring takes place when someone is passionate, inspired, and dedicated to the growth of each of their students. YLA mentors provide projects or classes based on their own passion, experience, and skills.
MENTORS OWN THEIR CLASSES
As a mentor at YLA, you own your class, just as if you were offering a class out of your home or through a community ED program. Mentors determine the specifics of their classes, including but not limited to, materials, fees, class size, appropriate age and/or scholar phase.
Mentors submit class proposals to the leadership team. Classes will be selected based upon current interest, space, and time availability. As we receive class proposals, we will contact each mentor for an interview as needed. You do not need to know all of the details for your class to submit this form, we just need enough information to be able to put a schedule together. If your class is added to our final class schedule, we will send you a more detailed information form for your class page on the website. All of the information you include on THIS form can be adjusted before classes are final.
Responsible and mature youth are welcome to submit class proposals. Youth lead classes must have an adult assistant in the class.
The YLA leadership team is here to support you and help in any way needed.
TWO TYPES OF MENTORS
There are two types of mentors at YLA: Volunteer and Compensated.
Volunteer Mentors offer a class or project, volunteering their time without compensation (which fulfills their volunteer hours if they are members). These class fees are often lower, as they charge only for supplies and needs for the class. Compensated mentors are offering their professional services through YLA at their regular or discounted tuition costs. They are not paid for through member fees, but through class fees, by those attending their classes. A member mentor can also offer their professional skills through a class at YLA and charge tuition for their services through their class fees, however, those teaching hours will not count for their member volunteer hours.
MENTOR STANDARDS
Mentors may teach as many classes as they feel they are able to commit to and provide a quality experience for. Be mindful of your time, family circumstances, and personal needs when committing to mentor.
Mentors are responsible to find their own child care during their class time teaching at YLA. We encourage them to reach out to other members and for members to support each other as much as possible. However, if a young child (or children) must come with their parent during the time they are teaching, they may attend class with their parent.
As a positive example and crucial influence over the youth at YLA, mentors are expected to be on time, be present each week, set a positive example and do their best work. If sick or otherwise unavoidably absent, the mentor is responsible to find a sub and prepare a lesson plan for a substitute. Parents and YLA Leadership members are usually willing to step in and help. In an emergency situation, the class may be canceled and students will sit in study hall that week.
Mentors should communicate with the YLA leadership team regarding any needs, concerns or other support they may need.
PROJECTS & TRAINING
Any topic can be turned into a meaningful Scholar Project! If you are not sure how to do that, we would love to help you. There are also great resources that others have put together so you don't have to come up with anything from scratch, just take their outline, make it yours and run with it!
Leadership Education Mentoring Institute (LEMI) offers fabulous mentor training and class curriculum that go right along with the principles of TJED, which YLA is based on. You can read more about them and what they offer HERE.
Another great resource is Curriculum Square. Anyone who has created a curriculum or project can sell their resources here. Many homeschool families and mentors share their class outlines and curriculum on this site.
The YLA leadership team will conduct a Mentor Training & Council meeting at least once a semester. We highly encourage mentors to attend.
SCHOLAR PHASES
YLA Scholar Schools focus on the Scholar phase of learning, as outlined in A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Demille. This includes students who are ready to choose into their own education, who want to be there and are ready to do the work to gain their own education. Typically this begins between ages 12-14 but can happen sooner or much later. Scholars at YLA Scholar Schools should be between ages 12-18, but each class will have a recommended age and/or appropriate scholar phase for the content of the class.
There are several different levels of Scholar Phase beginning with Practice Scholar Phase and eventually ending with Depth and Mission Phase. Because YLA Scholar Schools focus on the first 3 phases they are outlined below. You can read more about these in the TJED books or at TJED.org.
Practice Scholar (approximately ages 12-14)
This is the time of life when children relearn everything they’ve been taught, but now as their own person, rather than as an extension of their parents. They are coming to the realization that they have a unique mission for their life, even though they do not yet know what that mission is. They are beginning to spend real time studying, their attention span is increasing, and they are learning to be more responsible. They “practice” scholar skills; reading, writing, group discussion, argumentation, critical thinking etc… Students in this phase often desire to be “studious” but still often oscillate back to love of learning and want to be free to “play” and remain young.
Apprentice Scholar (approximately ages 14-16)
Apprentice scholars are taking the next step needed to move forward in their education. They realize that they truly do have something unique to offer the world, and have a greater desire to find out what that entails. They are more committed to, and have more self-initiative in, their studies. They can more easily inspire themselves, and begin to lead out more among their peers and siblings. They have a greater capacity to study for long hours, follow through with commitments and do the work required for real growth.
Self-Directed Scholar (approximately ages 16+)
These scholars have experienced personal change from exposure to many classics, and are ready to have real impact in the world. These students begin to feel a strong pull in one direction of study, and realize that they want to sink deeper in this chosen subject. They are creating their own plans for their studies, and have solid self-discipline to follow through and answer to their own plans. They begin seeking a mentor outside the home, and are ready to make the full commitment needed for a full mentorial experience.
DEPTH CLASSES AND ENRICHMENT CLASSES
Depth
Projects may integrate several topics exposing students to a broad body of knowledge or be thematic unit studies that take students to a deeper level of understanding. These typically require a good amount of work outside of class (typically 4-6 hours weekly per class hour), sometimes more depending on the Scholar Phase the class is intended for.
Enrichment
Some classes at YLA Scholar Schools are enrichment type classes that are based around a very specific topic and skill set (i.e. band, karate, watercolor, ballroom). This does not mean that it cannot also incorporate scholar skills or integrated subjects, but it is less focused on the 5 scholar skills and more focused on a specific topic. These classes enrich the students' learning and do not require much, if any, work outside of class.