Elementary · Grades K-6

Online Elementary School at VSA

Your child will sing through history from Creation, chant Latin at the dinner table, and read books worth remembering. Veritas Scholars Academy is an accredited classical Christian school, with live classes from 2nd grade and a complete plan for learning at home before then.

elementary school student
  • Accredited by Middle States
  • Live classes from 2nd grade
  • 20 students at most
  • History from Creation
  • Classical and Christian
  • Enroll year-round

Where Elementary Fits at VSA

ElementaryMiddle SchoolHigh School
VSA divisionGrammar SchoolSecondary SchoolSecondary School
GradesK-67-89-12
Classical stageGrammarLogicLogic (9), Rhetoric (10-12)

VSA has two divisions: Grammar School (K-6) and Secondary School (7-12). The elementary years are Grammar School, named for the first stage of a classical education. What is the Trivium?

Teaching With the Grain of Childhood

Choosing a school for a young child can feel like a big decision, especially an online one. You might wonder whether a six- or eight-year-old can really learn through a screen, or whether school at home will ask more of you than you can give. Those are wise questions to ask, and we’d be glad to help you think them through.

Here’s what we’ve learned in 30 years of helping families teach young children: they are wonderful learners. They love songs, chants, and repetition. They’ll ask for the same story a dozen times and remember every word. The classical tradition calls this the Grammar stage, and we teach with it rather than against it.

So our youngest students sing their way through the timeline of history, beginning with Creation. They chant Latin vocabulary, memorize Scripture, and master math facts until they know them by heart. Our teachers like to call it “filling the hard drive.” These years build a foundation of knowledge that students will draw on for the rest of their lives, and most children have a wonderful time doing it.

elementary school mom student

How Elementary School Works at VSA

Kindergarten to 2nd Grade

Learning at Home, With Everything You Need

In the earliest years, children learn best with a parent close beside them. Families start with Veritas curriculum, including our award-winning Phonics Museum reading program, and our Self-Paced history courses, which use actors, animated characters, and games to teach history from 2nd grade. Everything is planned for you, down to the daily lessons.

In 2nd grade, children can join their first live class, Stepping Stones, which brings literature and memory work together with a VSA teacher and classmates.

3rd to 6th Grade

Live Classes With Real Teachers

From 3rd grade, students can choose from a full range of live online classes, each with a VSA teacher and up to 20 classmates. Many families combine a few live classes with subjects they teach at home, and the balance can shift as your child grows. A Family Consultant can walk you through the live courses offered at each grade.

A Week in a Live Class

Twice a Week

Each live course meets twice a week at a set time, with the same teacher and classmates all year.

Hands Up, Voices On

Young students take part through the microphone, the chat box, quick polls, and raised hands. Teachers keep lessons lively with songs, chants, and games.

Never Behind

Every class is recorded. If your child misses one, they watch the recording before the next class, and you let the teacher know it’s done.

What Your Child Will Learn

Here’s our recommended plan for the elementary years. History and Bible each move in order, beginning with Creation, so by the end of 6th grade children have walked through the whole story of the world and the whole story of Scripture.

Kindergarten to 2nd Grade

SubjectKindergarten1st Grade2nd Grade
BibleBible KBible 1Genesis to Joshua
HistoryHistory KHistory 1Old Testament and Ancient Egypt
Reading and LiteraturePhonics MuseumPhonics MuseumStepping Stones (live)
Memory WorkStepping Stones (live)
Grammar and WritingGrammar and Writing 1Grammar and Writing 2
MathMath KMath 1Math 2
LatinSong School Latin
LinguisticsLinguistics 2
GeographyGeography 1Geography South
ArtArtArtArt

In these years, families teach at home with Veritas curriculum. Stepping Stones is the first live class, in 2nd grade.

3rd to 6th Grade

Subject3rd Grade4th Grade5th Grade6th Grade
BibleJudges to KingsChronicles to MalachiGospelsActs to Revelation
HistoryNew Testament, Greece, and RomeMiddle Ages, Renaissance, and ReformationExplorers to 18151815 to the Present
LiteratureLiterature 3Literature 4Literature 5Literature 6
Memory PeriodMemory Period IMemory Period I or IIMemory Period II
Grammar and WritingGrammar and Writing 3Grammar and Writing 4Grammar and Writing 5Grammar and Writing 6
MathMath 3Math 4Math 5Math 6
LatinLatin Grammar 3Latin Grammar 4Latin Grammar 5Latin I or Latin Transition
LinguisticsLinguistics 3Linguistics 4Linguistics 5Linguistics 6
GeographyGeography EastGeography NorthGeography West
ArtArt IArt IArt IIHistory of Art

Most of these courses are offered live. Bible and history are taught at home, with Self-Paced courses available for history and some years of Bible, and 6th grade art is taught at home. Literature includes books like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Heidi, and The Call of the Wild.

Your Role in the Elementary Years

In the elementary years, you’re closer to the learning than at any other stage, and that’s one of the joys of it. You’re there for the first read-aloud, the first Latin chant at the dinner table, the history song your child can’t stop singing.

You don’t have to do it alone. Veritas curriculum gives you a plan for every day, and once your child starts live classes, a VSA teacher takes the lead on those subjects. In the first few weeks, you may want to stay nearby during class while your child gets comfortable with the technology.

You’ll always see how your child is doing. Grades update as soon as they’re entered, teachers share comments every quarter, and you can reach any teacher directly.

I could never teach Latin and geography like they do… She has thrived in our first year of live classes. It’s academically more challenging, it’s exactly what my daughter needed, and she has risen beautifully to the challenge.

Karise O., parent of a VSA 3rd grader

Ways to Do Elementary School With Veritas

Grades 3-6

Full-Time Grammar School

A full course plan, an Academic Advisor, and yearly report cards. Students take some courses live and can complete others at home through You Teach Diploma, with a parent teaching from Veritas curriculum and a VSA teacher reviewing samples of the work each quarter.

$2,786 typical yearly cost

Grades 2-6

Part-Time Live Courses

Choose one live course or several to go alongside your own homeschool.

$729 per course, per year

Every Grade, Including K-2

Curriculum and Self-Paced Courses

Complete Veritas curriculum packages you teach at home, plus Self-Paced history and Bible courses your child can do independently.

elementary school mom son

A Foundation That Lasts

There’s a quiet power in the Grammar stage. A history song learned at seven gives a child a timeline to hang everything on: when they meet Augustine, the Reformation, or the Civil War in later years, they already know where it belongs. Knowledge learned joyfully tends to be knowledge learned for good.

Starting in 3rd grade, Full-Time students take a standardized test each year, so you can see how your child is growing against national benchmarks.

Questions About Online Elementary School

Can kindergartners enroll at VSA?

Yes. Kindergarten and 1st grade happen at home, with Veritas curriculum and the Phonics Museum reading program. In 2nd grade, children can join their first live class, Stepping Stones, and add Self-Paced history courses. From 3rd grade, they can choose from a full range of live courses. It’s the same classical foundation all the way through, and a Family Consultant can help you plan the early years.

Is online school a good idea for young children?

It depends on the child and on how the school is designed. Young children learn best with movement, music, and a caring adult nearby, so our live classes are lively and full of participation, and parents remain closely involved. Much of the learning happens away from the screen: reading books, singing songs, and working through lessons at the kitchen table.

How much screen time will my child have?

Each live course meets twice a week, and much of your child’s schoolwork happens with books, paper, and pencil. A Family Consultant can show you what a typical week looks like for your child’s grade.

How involved do I need to be?

More in the early years, and a little less each year. At first, you’re the teacher, with a complete plan to follow. As your child starts live classes, beginning with Stepping Stones in 2nd grade, VSA teachers lead those courses, and you help your child stay organized and practice at home.

Can my child take some subjects live and others at home?

Yes, and many families do. You might choose live classes for Latin and the Memory Period, for example, while you teach history and reading at home. Full-Time students can even earn credit for subjects taught at home through You Teach Diploma: a VSA teacher reviews samples of the work each quarter, and the course appears on the yearly report card.

How much does online elementary school cost at VSA?

A typical full-time Grammar School year comes to about $2,786, including the Diploma enrollment fee. Part-time students pay $729 per live course. Build a plan on our tuition page.

Let’s Talk About Your Child’s First Years of School

A Family Consultant would love to hear about your child and help you find the right place to begin, whether that’s Phonics Museum at the kitchen table or a first live class in 2nd grade.

Veritas Scholars Academy Logo

Keep Exploring

VSA at Every Grade Level

Grades 7-8

Middle School

The first years of Secondary School, where students learn to reason and argue well.

Explore Middle School

Grades 9-12

High School

Rhetoric, honors and AP courses, dual enrollment, and an accredited diploma.

Explore High School