| Personal (1 hr.) | The tutor visit students in their home/specified location for reading/writing tutoring* |
| Communal (1 hr.) | As a group, we discuss books and journals in a literature seminar |
| Personal and Communal (3.5 hrs.) | As a group, we spend time in nature, discussing, reflecting, and pursuing art in various forms. |
Maple Key Tutoring – Homeschool (6th through 8th)
– The seminar and outdoor time will be done together on one day. The in-home tutoring will be set up with what works for each individual student’s schedule.
*If you would like to extend the personal tutoring time by 30 minutes or an hour for an additional fee, this is an option that can be discussed during registration.
Meet The Tutors
My name is Ashley Baird, and I am so excited to be a tutor with Maple Key this year! I have a degree in K-8 Education and have been a homeschool mom since 2012. I have been active in education in some way alongside homeschooling either by facilitating co-op classes, tutoring, leading Tinkergarten classes or teaching at The Blessing Place. I am passionate about education that honors the whole person, respects the learner as a child of God, and adapts and changes with the learner’s needs. I consider myself a life-long learner and I am always interested in learning more about child development and educational philosophies!
My husband Dan and I have been married for close to 14 years and have a blended family with three kids from age 12 to 27. When I am not working or with my family I can be found with my nose in a book, working with the littles at my church, or singing with my choir and community theater group.
I’m Ashley Tanis and I’m thrilled to be joining the Maple Key team this year! I have a B.A. in English with a minor in Biology, and have experienced homeschooling both from a student and a mom/teacher perspective. I grew up on a farm in NJ bordering the Appalachian Trail and spent most of my free time exploring our property or buried in a book. As a bonus, NYC was only an hour away and we took full advantage of the museums, art, music, and shows not available to us in the country. This provided me with a lifelong love of learning, creating, and field trips of any kind!
My husband Paul and I have been married 21 years and have 3 children, all of whom have their own, individual neurodivergencies. Their unique needs, as well as our time spent as foster parents, opened our eyes to the many different ways a person can be gifted in learning, and how much better they will thrive when those needs are being met well in their educational setting. I am passionate about advocating for educators to be trained to understand and address how a student’s personal experiences, trauma, and brain chemistry affect them in the classroom, and in life. While most of my professional experience has been in nonprofit work, I have worked with children of all ages throughout my life and have loved getting to know each one and watching them blossom into the people God made them to be.
Every morning you can find me in my sunroom drinking my coffee and doing the NYT puzzles, praying it will snow, even in August. Otherwise, my free time is spent cooking, baking, crafting, reading, or hanging out with my kids playing video games, searching McKay’s for graphic novels, or vying for dominance in Uno.
My name is Michelle Haddock. I hold a B.A. in English Literature from Kennesaw State University (2009) and have spent my career working with children across a variety of educational settings—from after-school and enrichment programs to years as a private nanny, and teaching in both traditional classrooms and an outdoor forest school. I currently serve at the East Ridge City Library and love to create engaging programs that nurture a love of literacy and learning in our youngest patrons. As a homeschooling parent, I’ve had the joy of educating my own children and teaching a variety of community classes. I’m also the mother of a disabled child with profound autism which has sparked a deep passion for supporting neurodivergent learners and honoring their strengths, needs, and unique ways of connecting. This perspective shapes my approach to education for all children.
Outside of work, I enjoy camping, hiking, traveling, gardening, yoga and snuggling with my cats. I’m a lifelong learner and bookworm and, most importantly, the proud mother of four wild boys—three earthside and one dearly missed. I believe in the power of community and love creating spaces where children feel safe, seen, capable, and valued. I’m thrilled to be part of the Maple Key community.
My name is Rachel Lonas, the founder of Maple Key Tutoring. I have been teaching and enjoying literature for over 20 years in some capacity. I have a B.S. from Bryan College in Literature with a Secondary Licensure (2006). I worked as an English teacher at Lookout Valley Middle/High for 3 years before coming home to have our first daughter. Since then my husband Justin and I have had 3 more daughters and I have continued to tutor either in the home or other tutorials and co-ops (most notably Ingleside Tutorial) in the Chattanooga-ish area.
Justin and I have been married for 19 years. He works for The Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College and just finished his M.Div. last summer. We have 4 daughters who range from age 16 all the way down to 7.
I love having built a program for the ‘whole child’ on the merits of discipleship and stewardship of God’s creation for girls through literature, art, gardening, communal learning, and nature study. Nothing excites me more than to talk about educational philosophy and I derive so much joy from what we all get to do together in our program each week!
Outside of Maple Key, I attend The Mission with my family, do lead training for a program called Faith and Finances as well as celebrating community 8 hours a week as a librarian at our small city library.
What Does a Maple Key Day Look Like?
Literature and Writing Component
Literature does the heavy lifting for us and our children (the vicarious experience); it gives us curiosity and perspective that will keep us from an “impoverished imagination” (i.e. the inability to see things from someone else’s perspective). The booklist for Maple Key is purposefully multicultural and both old and new and will give the girls much to discuss in seminar.
Each seminar we will start our time off with poetry. Simply, you write better poetry when you read good poetry. It also makes for exceptional discussions. It will be tutor led and as the year progresses will be student led. We will learn how to annotate literature, use a commonplace book (a place to keep meaningful quotes), and personal journaling. These practices will be the fuel for our seminar time. Weekly reading assignments will be assigned — roughly 20 to 30 pages.
The 1 on 1 tutoring time is to develop trust between tutor and student, discuss and read other books together, work on papers related to their reading or journaling, or talk about life.
Introduction to Science and Nature Journaling
“Ultimately we must embrace the paradox, learning from nature what it must tell us and learning from Scripture what it must tell us. But if God is the God of both nature and Scripture, do not be surprised when they say the same thing. Do not be surprised when they sing in harmony.”
Hannah Anderson
Depending on who you ask, there may or may not be a distinction between nature journaling and science journaling. For my purposes, I do. I tend to think of nature journaling as more art focused with quotes, poetry, or diary type entries. Essentially, nature shown in art with actual journaling. What I call science journaling is more about digging into your curiosity. It’s really seeking to ask questions, observe, and make connections. Neither journaling is about coming in with all the answers (though we might occasionally learn some vocabulary to help us describe well). The journals will be portfolios of growth and discovery for the year through sketching, painting, writing, etc.
Other things during our outdoor time will include hiking, quiet reflection, building things from nature, sculpting, and unstructured exercise.
Creative and Others Focused Art
Part of the integration includes learning some basic art skills (drawing, watercolor painting, etc.) together as a group. More advanced students will continue on practicing at their level within the group as well.
We will also be pursuing others focused art — making cards, baking and preparing a meal for fellowship, flower arranging, etc. This will be one more opportunity for them to work on a project to lead the group in as the year progresses.
Stewardship Education
Also we will be engaging in trash walks, planting/mulching, community volunteer opportunities, and other service based projects seasonally and as they are available in our communities.
Film Club, Summer Meet and Greets, and Field Trips
Optional opportunities will be provided for the girls. This includes once a semester film club where we watch a movie followed by discussion. We will have a “meet and greet” during the summer to get to know one another and enjoy the outdoors. We will also take a minimum of one field trip during each semester.
Communication to Parents
I will communicate directly with a calendar of events, an email once a semester regarding your child’s progress, and also monthly newsletters with reminders, documentation of what we’ve been doing, and “lightbulb” moments. We will also have family nights for everyone to get together and share recitations and fellowship.
***Registration for 2026-2027 is OPEN. See below for applying!***
Application Process for 26/27 School Year
– Fill out application via this Google Form and contact Maple Key Tutoring at maplekeytutoring@gmail.com letting me know you have filled out the form.
– I will follow up with an email to schedule a time to talk and answer questions if I have not previously
– If accepted, you will receive an email with an acceptance letter and instructions for the $100 non-refundable deposit and a form about your specifics needs for tutoring time.
– Cost is $4500 for the whole year (August to May); sibling discount is available and a $1000 scholarship application is available (you can apply here)
– The location will be at High Point Farms on Tuesdays from 1pm-5:30pm.
– Individual tutoring meeting times will be worked out between family and tutor
– This is an intentionally small program of 10, so please note that depending on registration numbers there may be a waiting list.
Maple Key Tutoring 