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Father Deacon James and Katherine Hughes have been teaching since the late 1970's, helping develop curricula for schools in Oregon and in California. They have spoken at educational conferences and given many workshops for home schooling parents and other teachers on a wide range of topics, including childhood neurological development.

In 1992 they started St. Michael’s Orthodox School in Santa Rosa, California, as a ministry of Holy Dormition Orthodox Church. It was especially during this time in Santa Rosa that they consciously designed the school to reflect Orthodox anthropology, making sure that the curricula engaged all the powers of the child’s soul. As much as possible, art, physical activity, and academics were part of every area of study. The children labored physically as well as mentally. The result was a school full of joy, love of the Church, and academic excellence. The pictures give a glimpse of various school activities.

Having retired from full-time teaching in 2014, they are currently writing about their experience of over 60 years, combined. The goal is to articulate the principles of an Orthodox pedagogy.

Their books include:

The Days of Creation Art Book, a series of water color painting, with instructions, depicting the Days of Creation. This is the first volume of our Old Testament curriculum.
The Sentence Family - Introducing Grammar through Art and Story
A Closer Look - What Orthodox Christians Should Know About the Theory of Evolution
Sanctity Through the Centuries, a three volume list of Orthodox saints in chronological order. This was produced as a resource to those wanting to integrate the lives of the saints and secular history.

We look forward to sharing our experiences with other educators.