HYBRID EDUCATION
Our hybrid high school is a homeschool co-op with conventional features. We offer high school courses "a la carte" for homeschoolers. Students may register for just one or two courses to supplement their own curriculum/coursework at home, or they may register for everything we offer for a more conventional, university-style experience.
All students at Mater Dei benefit from the Christ-centered peer community that is cultivated through Mass and the sacraments, monthly service projects, spiritual retreats and pilgrimages, and student events. The environment at Mater Dei reinforces the values and morals of the Christian home. Our role is to bring students together in an authentically Catholic environment to learn from qualified educators. Beyond that, we honor the role of parents as primary educators of their children. Our hybrid model serves to strengthen parents and the family unit under the principle of subsidiarity, as articulated by Pope Pius XI in Quadragesimo Anno, 79.
Academics
Mater Dei students study a classical curriculum rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition for their core academic courses.
Full-time Mater Dei students are on-campus for class Monday-Thursday.
Qualified Mater Dei instructors teach each course fully.
Full-time Mater Dei graduates receive a college-prep high school diploma.
As a remote option, Mater Dei students may join class virtually for a synchronistic "real-time" learning experience.
Student Life
Monthly service projects allow Mater Dei students to foster positive relationships with peers while serving those in need within our community.
Enrichment elective courses teach life skills to prepare Mater Dei students to become confident, successful, well-rounded adults.
Mater Dei students have regular opportunities for Mass, Adoration, Confession, spiritual retreats and pilgrimages.
PROGRAM SPECIFICS
The core courses offered at Mater Dei utilize the classical high school curriculum of Kolbe Academy. Kolbe Academy is a homeschool curriculum provider that has been providing curriculum, services and resources to homeschool families for over forty years and is well reputed in the Catholic community nation wide.
Students receive course instruction from qualified educators at Mater Dei for each course they register for. Parents are responsible for their own record-keeping and transcripts. If a family is looking for extra support with transcripts, Kolbe Academy offers this service for an additional fee.
Students who follow the full curriculum as laid out by Mater Dei graduate with a college preparatory high school diploma that exceeds the Minnesota Department of Education graduation requirements. Our course of study is academically challenging, while allowing for flexibility if needed. Students may choose to fulfill basic graduation requirements only, follow an alternative path, or tailor their course of study for a particular prospective college, utilizing Mater Dei for whichever courses fall in line with the educational path they are pursuing. As primary educators, parents have complete control over their student’s schedule.
In addition to our core curriculum offerings, we offer a variety of enrichment elective courses which are described in the electives overview below. For registration information, including fees and policies, please see our admissions tab.
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
At Mater Dei, we are devoted to a philosophy and method of education that is thoroughly Catholic and academically challenging. We study a Classical curriculum, rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition, for our core academic courses. We believe in a classical approach to education, built upon the foundation of the Ignatian Method.
Ignatian Method
Our teaching philosophy is built upon the foundation of the Ignatian Method. The three tools of Ignatian education are:
Self-activity: forms the habit of independent study and interest in scholarly pursuits
Mastery: builds confidence by tackling progressively more difficult material through learning, repetition, and memorization
Formation: emphasizes development of the whole person–mind, body and soul–to help the student learn to make wise choices in line with the will of God
Classical Curriculum
Our classical curriculum, combined with the study of Latin, brings intellectual knowledge of the faith into the heart by introducing students to the great works of Christendom and the pre-Christian masterpieces that influenced and inspired Catholic Europe. The study of a classical curriculum:
Focuses on the highest spiritual, literary and artistic achievements of Western civilization, elevating the mind and soul
Introduces students to the greatest books in their original sources, not textbook summaries
Integrates the study of different subjects, showing the interrelationships that exist among them
Provides a solid grounding in the basics, emphasizing the technique of learning by memorization
Improves language skills by the study of Latin