» Homeschool

Monthly Homeschool Enrichment Lessons, Weekly Middle School Classes & Pre-K Pioneers

Bring history and science to life, right here in Huntsville!

Homeschool Happenings

Burritt on the Mountain is excited to offer another great year of homeschool classes! Whether your student loves experiencing history, expressing themselves in art, or discovering more about the science around us, you can find an enriching opportunity here at our mountaintop campus. Each lesson includes an oral presentation, a hands-on learning experience, and a handout featuring information and follow-up activities related to that month’s topic. We are looking forward to a year of lessons that will give you a chance to explore life in our historic homes or the wonder of nature on our forest trails. Our home school classes are open to children from kindergarten to 8th grade. This fall, we are offering Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning classes that are geared for lower elementary students (K-4th) and Wednesday and Thursday afternoon classes that are designed for upper elementary and middle school students (4th-8th). Morning classes run 9:30-11:00, and afternoon classes run 12:00-1:30. Exceptions may be made to these age designations so that siblings may attend class at the same time, so choose the class that best suits your family’s needs. There is an option on the website to be placed on a waiting list if a class is full.

The cost for each class is $15, or $12 for members. Due to limited space, parents who choose to attend with their child must register and pay also. Sorry, no younger siblings may attend with parents; we have found this can cause both space issues and distractions. Please note that during our winter hours (November-March) the gift shop is not open until 10:00, and our morning class will begin before the grounds and welcome center are open to the public.

Downloadable Resources

Download the Fall 2025 Home School Enrichment Classes Guide

For more information, please contact:

Avery Patz, Museum Educator
256-427-5199
Avery.Patz@huntsvilleal.gov

Homeschool Request Form Home School FAQs

Homeschool Happenings Fall 2025 Classes and Schedule

Hello homeschooling families!

We’re already looking forward to a new semester of fun and engaging classes! For those who don’t know me, my name is Avery Patz and I head up the homeschool program at Burritt. I’m a former Huntsville home schooler and have loved getting to reconnect with the community here!

A little bit about our upcoming classes: each one is historically contextualized and hands-on. We will spend time outside and/or in our Historic Park every month, regardless of the subject (and for the most part, the weather)!

I can’t wait to welcome the students I already know back up the mountain and welcome the friends I’ve yet to meet for the first time this spring! It’s going to be good stuff 🙂

-Avery

Avery Patz | avery.patz@huntsvilleal.gov or 256.427.5199 with any questions.

Register for Homeschool Classes HERE

September | Try the Trades Step back in time to the 1800s—you’re a kid, and it’s almost time to start your first job! Will you become a blacksmith, a seamstress, a chandler who makes candles, or something else altogether? Come see what life was like as an apprentice learning a trade and try out some fun old-timey skills for yourself!

Sept 16 (AM), 17, & 18 | 9:30am-11:00am and 12:00pm-1:30pm

October | Hiking Let’s hit the trail for an outdoor adventure! As we hike through one of our nature paths, we’ll discover all kinds of cool plants, animals, and rocks. Get ready to explore, touch, and learn all about the wild world around us—and find out how we can help take care of it too!

Oct 14 (AM), 15, & 16 | 9:30am-11:00am and 12:00pm-1:30pm

November | Native Americans of Alabama Travel back in time and discover the rich history of American Indians in northern Alabama! We’ll learn about how they lived, what changed during the Trail of Tears, and even check out some real Native American artifacts. Then, get creative and make a cool craft to take home with you!

Nov 18 (AM), 19, & 20 | 9:30am-11:00am and 12:00pm-1:30pm

December | Historic Holiday Wreaths & Crafts Get ready for some holiday fun! Wreaths have been a favorite decoration for hundreds of years. Join us as we explore how people around the world celebrate winter holidays and how their traditions have changed over time. Then, roll up your sleeves and make your very own one-of-a-kind historic wreath to take home!

Dec 9 (AM), 10, & 11 | 9:30am-11:00am and 12:00pm-1:30pm

Register for Home School Classes HERE

Middle School US History I Course

Hello middle school parents!

I am so excited to launch our first full-year class for middle school students at Burritt on the Mountain. My name is Avery Patz, and I’ve had the joy of teaching US History and English Composition to homeschooled students for the past two years. I’ve also spent the last year and a half working as Burritt’s Homeschool Coordinator, and I’m eager to expand the scope of our programming with this course.

A word about the curriculum: I have chosen to use Book Shark’s US History I curriculum for this class. It’s one I’ve used previously and value for its breadth, multiplicity of perspectives, and celebration of our country. It is a rigorous curriculum and is designed for students aged 13-15, but I am confident any hardworking middle-grade student will succeed in this class.

Each week, students will complete the assigned reading (or listening; you can find the curriculum on audio) and write answers to discussion questions to help prepare them for class. We’ll go over those questions together, learn about themes and events they’ll encounter in the next week’s reading, and spend time in Burritt’s Historic Park working through different hands-on units of historic skill study (think open-hearth cooking, agriculture, fiber artistry, and more).

Below is a rapid-fire introduction to the course. Please note that the class cost includes a supply fee but does not include the curriculum. If you have any additional questions, please let me know. I’m already looking forward to seeing your students on the mountain for this new class! Happy summer, everyone 🙂

Avery Patz

Homeschool Coordinator | Museum Educator

256.427.5199 | avery.patz@huntsvilleal.gov

US History I Class

Who: Homeschooled students in 6th-8th grades

What: Two-semester (32 week) US History I course; Pre-Columbus–The Civil War

Where: Dorothy Davidson Rosenwald Schoolhouse

When: Tuesdays 1:00-3:30 pm; August 19, 2025-April 28, 2026

Cost: $600/student for member families; $675/student for nonmember families

Class size: 6-12 students

Course Description

Students will move chronologically to discover life in America – before colonization, the Revolution, sectionalism, the Civil War and much more! This curriculum will use a combination of Bookshark’s US History I discussion questions and supplementary slides and videos. Students can expect to spend a little over an hour per class period in the classroom reviewing and previewing their at-home work and the rest of the class in our Historic Park getting hands-on practice with various historic trades and skills.

Course Objectives

Students will have a robust understanding of our country’s history pre-Columbus to Reconstruction, growing more confident in their ability to extract important information from secondary sources and retell key points of the narrative. Students will further develop their understanding of history as a larger story of inseparable, interrelated, culturally rooted events rather than a series of isolated incidents. Additionally, students will examine the significance of who decides which stories are told, as well as how they are relayed.

Required Student Resources

A History of US by Joy Hakim (Books 1-6)
- This is a full set of 11 books that we will use this year and next year for US History II (only books 1-6 are needed for this year). Individual books can be purchased on Amazon or via online/local secondhand bookstores if preferred.

Register for Home School Classes HERE

Home School FAQs

Will I drop off my child or stay with them?
Most parents drop their students off for the hour and a half class. A small number of parents do choose to stay with their students. However, due to limited space parents who choose to attend with their child must register and pay also. Sorry, no younger siblings may attend with parents; we have found this can cause both space issues and distractions.

Is there a place I can wait during the class?
Burritt on the Mountain has a large green with a restroom and some picnic tables that you are welcome to use if you choose to stay onsite. We also have our trails which circle the mountain and take just over an hour to hike. You can also pay admission or purchase a Burritt membership, and have full access to our facilities, including our playground, historic park with barnyard and animals, and the Burritt Mansion and exhibits.

What if I am late picking up my child from class?
Plan to pick up your child when the class ends. If you are more than ten minutes late picking up your child you will incur a $10 fee. For every additional five minutes that you are late, there will be an additional $5 fee. If you incur a charge due to picking your child up late, the fee must be paid before your child is accepted for the next class. We accept cash, check, and credit cards. After the second infraction, your child will be unenrolled from our homeschool program, and no refunds will be given.

If you have an unexpected delay (traffic, etc.), please call 256-536-2882 and let us know.

I have both elementary and middle school students. Will they need two different classes?
We are happy to allow siblings to attend together. The class material is the same, just presented at slightly different levels, which can be tailored based on the ages we have enrolled. If you have multiple students, choose whichever class suits your schedule best. If you have any concerns, we would be happy to advise you about which session would be ideal.

Should we sign up for all the classes in that week?
Each month’s lesson is a single class session, offered at four different times. Unless you would like additional reinforcement of the lesson, please choose one class.

My students have some home-schooled friends who would like to attend. Can I sign them up? Only a parent or guardian may register a student for classes. If you are attending with another family, please make sure they are listed as one of your emergency contacts. We can only release children to and share registration information with the contacts listed on your registration form.

What if I need to cancel or change my enrollment?
Please let us know as soon as possible if you need to change or cancel a class reservation. We will do our best to fit you in to another class when space is available. We will issue a refund if the student withdraws at least two weeks before the class.

I have a large study group/co-op that would like to come for this month’s topic.
If you have a group of 12 or more who would like to attend, we would be happy to look into setting up an individual class for you. Please contact Avery Patz at 256-427-5199 or avery.patz@huntsvilleal.gov to discuss the details of the trip.