For families in CT, NY, and NJ
Coursework for homeschooled teens
 The Blend is our lineup of year-long courses with challenging high-school-level content. — We call our program "The Blend" because most of our courses integrate two forms of instruction:
- one on-site class each week in Bethel, CT;
- one class online later that same week.
We have many families traveling 90+ minutes for their students to attend The Blend — not just from CT, but from parts of NY state, from New Jersey, and even from western Massachusetts.
Social gatherings
sponsored by The Blend:
— holiday & end-of-year
celebrations;
— weekend Movie Nights.
Have questions?
Just contact us.
What The Blend offers
Here at The Blend we provide:
- Solid content. We provide challenging and often honors-level high school content — math, science, history & literature, and more.
- Vital skills. Students in The Blend learn —
- study skills — taking notes in a live lecture; studying notes and committing information to memory; close reading; annotating a text; test-taking; and more;
- organization skills — tracking tasks and assignments; managing a calendar and scheduling study time; project breakdown, planning, and scheduling; and more;
- collaboration & communication skills — working in groups and teams; delivering presentations; in-depth discussion; and more;
- technology skills — PowerPoint design; conducting yourself in online classes; presenting online; correct use of lab equipment, including computer simulations; and more.
Want to discuss
your student's needs?
Contact us — we'd be happy
to hear about your student and explore options with you.
- All the benefits of studying with a group of peers. Blend students learn in a supportive, inclusive atmosphere of mutual respect. Our students often form lasting bonds.
- No nonsense. We maintain a disciplined approach to learning in a group. Blend students develop intellectual curiosity and real respect for learning and for listening.
What's more, we extend a warm welcome to all homeschool philosophies.
To view class schedules and
calendar for The Blend, go to:
Class schedules.
The challenge
Homeschoolers of teens often search for relevant coursework that is not only rich but fulfills the principal requirements for high school. In addition to such content, homeschoolers seek regular gatherings so their teens can form peer groups, learn critical communication skills, and exchange ideas.
What they find is limited options:
- organized activities that meet social needs, but not academic needs;
- organized classes that mimic school;
- online classes, often asynchronous, with few opportunities for real interaction;
- AP classes that are a mile wide and an inch deep, with more time spent preparing for the AP test than exploring the subject;
- college classes that may pose any of a multitude of concerns — e.g., widely varying quality and cost.
So HS College-Bound launched The Blend in order to meet teens' real needs.
We are new to homeschooling. My son attended a prep school in Fairfield County, and I was concerned about its method of teaching: rote short-term memory, with a focus on studying for tests — no real conceptual learning.
The Blend is so different, and Diane and Roy are great educators! My son has developed a love of learning. The courses have great context — thought-provoking and interesting. I sometimes eavesdrop on the history online courses as I find them so interesting. The environment is very inclusive and supportive, which has been wonderful for my son who is 16 years old. I will be enrolling him in the Blend once more as I am so impressed with the level of education he receives there.
—Karen R.
A different approach
The approach we're using at The Blend yields significant benefits to our families:
- High standards. The expectations for our students are high on every front—not just with academics, but in the respectful way our students communicate and collaborate with one another, in the way they organize their projects and assignments, and in all their dealings with instructors at The Blend.
- A learning peer group. Among our students, learning seems to be "cool," and the students are rightly proud of their projects and research and of the knowledge and skills they acquire.
- Flexibility. Because we provide in-person instruction just one day each week—with all other sessions held online—families are able to cut down on their students' travel time. Also, all our online sessions are recorded, so that if a student must miss such a session, catching up is easy: the student simply watches the recording.
 Our plans for the 2019-20 school year
In
2019–20 we are both running a variety of Blend courses and extending our online offerings. For details:
- List of courses. See above right for our lineup of course offerings — each course title links to more information on that course.
- View or print our brochure. You may download a brochure containing our complete course descriptions — just click on the image at right.
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Now open for enrollment
The Blend 2019–20
Courses blending on-site with online instruction
SCIENCE
MATH
LITERATURE & WRITING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Online courses 2019–20
Courses that are entirely online and open to students around the world
WRITING
LITERATURE
The Blend is a perfect segué into college life, both academically and socially. Academically, the excellence has not diminished in the three years my daughter has attended. More importantly, she has been exposed to opposing viewpoints, which has given her the opportunity to define her own, to argue respectfully, and to get along with people who think differently. This is not a superficial education of check boxes and political correctness. All of her teachers (Roy, Diane, and Monica, in her case) delve deeply, whatever the topic.
—Michelle S.
Homeschooling mom
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