Lucas and Henry finished up their semester at Montana Hybrid Academy (MHA) www.montanahybridacademy.com. They absolutely loved it. We are glad that we went out to Montana to meet Paz (the founder) and most of the kids in the school. It was a great two months.
MHA is not a traditional school. MHA focuses on developing the whole child in a fun and creative way. There are no tests. There are no grades. The kids do yoga. They learn how to play a jaw harp. They learn about investing and cooking in life skills class. They take creative writing and art. They learn how to start a fire and make bows and arrows in bushcraft.
Paz has a passion for education and is great with kids. She worked hard to put MHA together with the help of https://omniseducation.com/, an innovative online learning platform. The MHA teachers are all highly qualified and engaging. They have a passion for what they do and it shows.
MHA makes learning fun. The program does not teach to state or national tests. That does not mean that kids do not learn. Lucas and Henry grew by leaps and bounds this semester and they enjoyed it. MHA has math and writing in the curriculum. It also has history and science. Lucas and Henry enjoyed chemistry this semester. They made crystals and learned about chemical reactions by doing experiments. Every class was hands-on, which helped keep them engaged.
A unique feature of the school is that the kids, who range from 8 to 13, all learn together. This one room learning style has a lot of benefits. Lucas and Henry learn a lot from the older kids in the class. Collaberating with kids of different ages produces a lot of creativity.
It was great to meet most of the kids from MHA in person while we were in Montana. In addition to bushcraft the kids all got together several times to hang out. One day we took a trip up to Polebridge and Kintla Lake.
Polebridge is north of West Glacier and Columbia Falls. The route there is on a primarily dirt road. The town consists of a few of houses, cabins, a hostel and the Polebridge Mercantile. The Polebridge Mercantile has amazing fresh baked goods. They are known for their huckleberry bear claws.
Polebridge is less than a mile from the northwest entrance to Glacier National Park. We decided to head to Kintla Lake while we were there. Kinta Lake is 15 miles from the northwest entrance to Glacier, but it takes an hour to get to the lake because the road is full of potholes.
We feel lucky that we found MHA. Paz has created something special and we are excited to watch it grow.
