Academy Overview
For Waldorf, Public, Private, and Home Schools
The Academy year starts on the first Monday of September, but you can enroll throughout the school year!
In our Academy, students watch and listen to recorded lectures by master teachers. They then delve more deeply into the lessons during weekly LIVE sessions with master instructors and their peers.
Our approach develops a real understanding of the subjects while fostering creative thinking. Students find enthusiasm for learning and genuine human connection by working together weekly in student groups.
When Can we Join?
The Math Academy school year starts on the first Monday of September, but your child can join a class at any point in the year. We will assist them to make sure there is a smooth transition into our program. We have yearly and monthly payment options available.
Most of our students are in work groups and go through the Math Academy according to our scheduling calendar. You should then choose one of the two payment options below.
Occasionally, a family is not able to have a student in a work group or be on our calendar schedule. If that is the case for you, we recommend a quarterly self-paced option.
If you are a classroom teacher who would like to watch Jamie’s videos to help with lesson plans, we recommend the teacher only option. Jamie’s videos are only to be viewed by the teacher – NOT the students.
India students: Learn more here.
How JYMA Turns Math on its Head!
In a world that often views education as a competition, it stands to reason that learning skills would dominate our math classrooms. The goal seems to be learning material as quickly as possible, usually without regard to deep understanding and creative thinking. Therefore, it’s not surprising that math class is normally all about doing homework and taking tests, with little creative work or individual or group discovery opportunities.
To some degree, our Math Academy turns this on its head. We believe that engendering enthusiasm for learning and developing thinking (independent and creative thinking) are our most important goals. Our students also spend a good amount of time strengthening their math skills, but we set it in a context of discovery and creative thinking.
Jamie says this is the best teaching he’s ever done
Teaching in this way (online) has forced me to be more organized with my teaching. With only two lectures per week, I need to teach efficiently. But most of all, the Math Academy structure has required me to carefully design group assignments whereby the students are truly problem-solving and discovering new mathematics together with their peers.
I have never before seen my students so excited about math nor witnessed such huge advances in their mathematical thinking capacities!
-Jamie York
Middle School Overview
A look at the middle school program
The middle school academic curriculum engages the curiosity and budding capacities of the young pre-teen and emerging teenager.
Our online middle-school math courses use the Making Math Meaningful™ curriculum to stimulate self-confidence and trust in intellectual thinking. Science begins with Botany in 5th, with Physics and Chemistry in 6th-8th.
We also offer beginner and intermediate level Spanish as well as select 4-week Humanities blocks.
Middle School Teaching
The middle school academic curriculum engages the curiosity and budding intellect of the pre-teen and young teenager. Through age-appropriate challenges, practical experiences, and meaningful social interactions and peer-group work, students thrive academically and emotionally.
Students experience immersive, exploratory inquiry, broadening and deepening their understanding of the world while engaging their capacities to create, participate, listen, observe, and think practically.
Math in the middle school
In the early elementary grades students play with numbers and develop a love of math. By 5th and 6th grades, students consolidate the skills introduced earlier (such as fractions and long multiplication). In 7th and 8th grades the algebraic “real math” begins as they start to think more abstractly. Now the middle schooler learns to think more logically and critically, and engages deeply in problem solving.
As children approach adolescence their emotion life expands in many ways. Mathematics offers important support. Mathematical certainty allows the 6th grader to learn self-confidence and gain trust in intellectual thought processes.
They open to the curiosity of math rather than seeing it just as computation. We remind students that mistakes are important, as are taking risks in a safe learning environment to see the benefit of using visual models, and deep thinking, not speed, is the focus.
Science in the middle school
Studying subjects such as physics and chemistry in middle school rekindles the ebbing wonder and excitement for the natural world by engaging a child’s own observations. The child is asked to use their senses, and budding logical thinking in new ways to discover laws of the natural world. The scientific demonstrations provide a chance for the child to see the cause and effect of nature right in front of them.
Spanish in the middle school
As adults, we are often in awe at our childrens’ ability to learn languages and without the self-consciousness we have when we are older. Learning a language young has many advantages and wires us for later language learning. Our native Guatemalan Spanish teacher, Juan Pablo is one of the most creative and innovative teachers we know. In his first year with us, he live-streamed a report from a local food market and pulled off a miraculous online play. We are so grateful he is part of our community.
Humanities in the middle school
David Sloan and Juan Pablo Barillas are seasoned and talented teachers who will take your student on a journey that explores an understanding of the human being as much as an understanding of history, culture, literature, and social trends. We are grateful for their exemplary teaching.
High School Overview
High School Courses and Philosophy
Jamie York Academy High School program offers exciting, engaging, content-rich online math courses using our Making Math Meaningful™ curriculum, as well as thoughtful, in-depth science, humanities, and language courses.
Our High School courses develop enthusiasm for learning, introduce rigorous but achievable coursework, and encourage collaborative learning through human interaction.
Find Schedules, Calendars, Tutorial Times and more on the Resources Page.
High School Teaching Philosophy Overview
High School should be a journey of dynamic academics. It should include hands-on experiences, creative inquiry, artistic exploration, and meaningful human connection. As the journey through adolescence unfolds, the outer and inner world reflect in each other.
In the High School years, we strive for our students to become active learners. We want them to become creative, flexible thinkers with the confidence to face the challenges of our complex, interconnected world.
Jamie York Academy meets adolescents at their particular stage of development with content that engages and challenges them, whatever their ability level. Our approach and our curriculum assist students in developing their ability to think, to create, and to do meaningful work in the world.
Our curriculum meets the needs of the developing adolescent. It acknowledges their inner and outer struggles. It also supports the development of the wisdom of what it means to be human. High school students can pursue their own intellectual, creative, artistic, and physical pursuits while learning how to contribute to the greater good of the world.
Principles of our Science Method
Real science is based on observation and thinking
All too often, mainstream science starts with the theory and the finished (often meaningless) facts. A Waldorf approach to science is based on two things: observation and thinking. We start by very carefully observing what is before us (the phenomena), and then, through a process carefully guided by the teacher, we employ our thinking in order to ascertain the law or principle behind what we have observed. This gives the students an experience of scientific discovery.
What is a Science “Main Lesson”?
In a Waldorf school, science courses (physics, chemistry, biology, earth science) are taught every year in single, intensive main lesson blocks, usually for four weeks. For example, a Waldorf student will get physics every year in grades 6-12.
Each of our science courses are a four-week main lesson block, except for fifth grade botany, which runs for three weeks.
These science courses are completely separate from the Math Academy. Families sign up and pay for each course separately.
Each science course is taught by a Waldorf-trained teacher. The students will learn through a synthesis of hands-on experiments, (recorded) demonstrations, and live discussions led by the teacher (via Zoom).
We take the students through immersive, explorative inquiry, broadening and deepening their understanding of the world while engaging their capacities to create, participate, listen, observe, and think practically.
Curriculum & Our Story
Jamie York’s Making Math Meaningful™ curriculum was born out of his own notes while teaching in Waldorf Schools decades ago. As more people asked for copies, they grew into books and a complete curriculum for grades 1-12, and finally the Academy. Read more about our story.
The Jamie York Academy in a Nutshell
- Jamie York Math Academy is a daily, 32-week-long math course for students in grades 5-12, offered between August and May.
- The Science and Humanities consist of daily lectures and live teacher-guided peer discussions in concentrated 4-week blocks.
- At the center of the Math Academy experience is human connection – small group meetings to work on real math (puzzles, problem solving, and discovery), as well as weekly (live) tutorial sessions led by one of our trained tutors.
- Each week, students watch two recorded lectures, where Jamie builds upon concepts from previous weeks, introduces new material, and allows the students to practice some new skills.
- Each week, students work on two types of assignments: group work (to be done during the group meetings) and individual work (to practice math skills).
- Our Waldorf-oriented math curriculum is rooted in discovery, problem-solving and human connection. It is an alternative to Common-Core-based, standardized-test-focused, or textbook-reliant learning.
- Yes, we believe that math skills are important. Our students develop strong math skills, but we focus on much more than just math skills.
- Our students experience the wonders of math through math puzzles, games, problem solving, and discovery. This approach fosters mathematical thinking, develops solid math skills, and enlivens an enthusiasm for learning.
- We derive our teaching approach from Waldorf education, yet we also attract families from all educational philosophies who are looking for a deeper, more meaningful education.
Our Math Curriculum
Calendars and Schedules
Open House and Orientation Meetings
Are you thinking about enrolling but still have questions (even after looking through this website)? Find out more about our Open House and Parent Orientation here.
The Three Pillars of our Math Academy: Parent, Tutors, and Jamie York
In short, the parent, tutor, and Jamie are all collaborating to provide the best math experience for the student
Parent
Parents play an important role in monitoring the students’ work at home. They can judge how much work is optimal for the student, motivate, encourage, and communicate with the teacher.
Live Tutorial Sessions
Students have a weekly live tutorial session in a a group of about 10 or 12 students, led by one of our experienced tutors. This tutor oversees and supports the academic progress of your student.
Jamie York
Jamie York, architect of the Math Academy, creator of the Making Math Meaningful™ curriculum, oversees the entire academy’s program. He is the creator of the recorded math lectures and the individual and group assignments.
Weekly Routine
Students mostly watch the lectures on Monday and Wednesday. But because they are recorded, students can watch them at any time. The lectures are “active” in that Jamie asks students to solve problems or to think about something. As the lectures are recorded, students can pause the video and take as much time as they need. The recordings are mostly around 35 or 45-minutes long.
Student work group meetings are usually Tuesday and Thursday. Group work is the heart and soul of the Math Academy. Why? It is because here is where students engage in problem-solving, work together on puzzles, and discover the laws of mathematics. That’s real math! We don’t expect them to blindly follow instructions from the teacher. Group work is where the students really develop their mathematical thinking capacities.
Academy parents or a class teacher (in the case of a participating school), supervise the student group meetings for the middle school grades. You can find out more details about group work in the JYMA – Parent Handbook.
The weekly live tutorial session is either on Friday, or on the following Monday. This live tutorial session takes place via Zoom. It is an opportunity for your child to receive guidance from one of our expert tutors, to reflect upon the past week, and to get answers to some questions.
Check the options for the Weekly Tutorial Sessions
More Quick LInks
Developmentally Appropriate learning
Meeting the Needs of your Child
Waldorf education is developmentally based. In part, this means that, regardless of intelligence or ability, topics are chosen primarily based upon the age of the students. If a child is behind grade level and has weak skills (and honestly, most children have some holes in their math skills base), then that child will still experience the proper grade-level topics. Also, we don’t feel it is desirable for a gifted student to be doing math that is meant be for older students; we don’t engage in the “race to get ahead”. However, it is absolutely our intention to make sure that all students are met; we will do our best to offer challenging material for the more advanced students, and somehow, at the same time, make sure that nobody is feeling overwhelmed and anxious. This is challenging for us teachers! Hopefully, we will all get to the end of the year with all of our students feeling successful, appropriately challenged, and excited about learning math.
In some rare cases, an advanced math student may choose to join the Math Academy three weeks after the start of the year, which is a time that many grades (specifically, grades 5, 6, 7, and 9) focus on reviewing previous material.
My Child is “Behind” – What should I do?
Today’s parents seem to worry about their child being “behind”. Most students have some holes or weaknesses with their math skills. But don’t worry, I start with the assumption that all students have either not been introduced to certain topics, or have forgotten. My job is to introduce new material in an engaging way that works for children of all ability levels, and to find ways to review and strengthen skills that were introduced (or not) in previous years.
However, if your child is truly too far behind grade level or his/her learning challenges are too great, then you may choose to have your child just work individually with one of our tutors instead of being enrolled in a class with other students.
Tuition
We strive to make the program affordable and accessible.
More Details about our Math Academy
JAMIE YORK ACADEMY SCHOOL YEAR
The Math Academy school year is 32-weeks long, divided into four quarters of 8-weeks each (as shown in the above calendar). To offer flexibility to families, payment (and enrollment) is made on a quarterly basis.
- The first day of the school year is always the first Monday in September (where the students watch a recorded lecture).
- The last day of the school year is the Friday before Memorial Day (USA holiday which falls on the last Monday of May).
The Science and Humanities happen blocks of 4 weeks. Check the schedule to see when our blocks are offered.
If following our calendar does not work for you, then you can do the Math Academy independently, which means that you set your own calendar, work at your own pace (but you aren’t in a student group or in the weekly tutorial), and then would pay on a quarterly basis.
Weekly Tutorial Sessions
See the options for the Weekly Tutorial Sessions.
TIMES FOR THE STUDENT WORK GROUPS
There are many student work groups for each grade, and they meet at a variety of times. We try our best to put students in a work group that matches their ability level and works for the family’s schedule.
Parent Meetings with Jamie
After the school year gets started, Jamie will hold parent meetings every quarter (about once every two months) in order to elaborate on his intentions for the class and to answer parents’ questions. While it is best to attend these meetings live, they will be recorded so you can watch them at a later time.
Math Main lessons
As opposed to our science and humanities main lessons (which are separate courses altogether), our three-week-long math main lessons are not separate; they are included as part of the Math Academy. Each grade has one or two math main lessons, which potentially give the child an “extra dose” of math beyond what normally takes place in the Math Academy. (More details about these math main lessons are found in the Parent Handbook.)
How JYMA can help Schools
It is possible for an entire (in-person) class to join our Math Academy. Jamie is then providing the program, lectures, and assignments, but the class teacher (as the “tutor”) still remains connected to the students’ learning. The class of students is then experiencing the “flipped classroom”, where the students’ homework is to watch the two weekly lectures, and classroom time is then dedicated to working on skills and doing group work – all under the guidance of the teacher. Contact us if you are interested in this.
Another option is the “teacher only” option, where only the teacher (not the students) watches the recorded lectures, and then Jamie’s lectures and assignments can help to inspire the teacher’s lessons for the upcoming week.
Appropriate Use of Technology
Our students need to watch Jamie’s recorded lectures and participate in Zoom meetings (with their parents at their side for grades 5 and 6). Our program does not involve any other use of computers, such as Internet research, watching YouTube videos, etc.
Class Size
The whole class (grade level) could be any size. We have students in the Math Academy from around the world. The tutorial sessions usually consist of around ten students. Student work groups are between two and five students.
Credits
Math Academy students spend about 6 hours per week between recorded lectures, live sessions and individual work. This amounts to about 96hours per 16-week semester, which works out to 0.8 Carnegie units per semester. Learn more here.
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