"Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works."
CLASSES FOR HOMESCHOOLERS SINCE 2014
How The FUN Began
In 2013, the De Francisco family had an idea. Carrie was a homeschooling mom who had spent the past six years teaching Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), middle school math, and creation science to her daughter and friends out of her home and in the CC community. Joseph, her son and several of his friends, were now ready to tackle the world of IEW. Mr. De thought it was time to move the writing classes out of their front room to a larger area.
FIrst Year of FUN
The following year, FUNdamentals Co-Op was officially named and moved to IFGF Church in Monrovia.
Carrie, Francesca, and Joe sat down for another brainstorming session and created a schedule full of FUN and core classes for 1st-12th graders. Carrie had some very gifted, creative, and godly homeschooling friends. After a few coffee dates at the local Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Carrie had convinced her friends and fellow homeschooling moms, dads, and grandparents- Michele Small, Matt Sanders, and Georgina Tanefski- to teach math, science and conversational Spanish.
Francesca created and taught FUNdamental’s flagship class, Gameology as well as created and taught FUN’s first PE class, tap dancing for kids and moms. Joe turned his Lego business into a class and asked his buddy, Kedan, to “teach” it. Nathan Small, Ms. Small’s son, led our Bible Club for 1st-3rd graders, Mr. Tanefski taught our high schoolers Bible and Debate, Mrs. Lisa Wong started our US Government & Econ class, and Alexandar Strauss continued to teach art and added a photography class too. Carrie led the Mom’s Bible study and continued to teach all things IEW.
The FUN Continues
FUN grew so much that first official year, the De Francisco’s relocated to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Monrovia. For the next several years, FUNdamentals added more classes to the schedule, and Carrie asked more of her talented homeschooling friends to teach. The FUNdamental community grew so much, the De Francisco’s needed to relocate again. The Lord answered their prayers in abundance.
In 2018, FUNdamentals partnered with Hills Church in Arcadia, CA.
Mrs. D also asked her dear friend, Desiree Lang, to start and lead FUN’s leadership class. With the creation of an ASB group, FUN got even more FUN! In 2020 when the world shut down and most homeschooling classes went online or closed down, FUNdamentals met in freedom. The campus was not hindered by masks or social distancing regulations. Parents, students, and teachers built community and met in person when families needed it the most. In 2022 after Joe graduated high school and Carrie became a “retired” homeschool mom, FUNdamentals began offering classes two days a week.
The FUN Comes to an End
For the past eleven years, Francesca and Joe have helped organize and/ or teach classes at FUN. They have continued to make administrative and scheduling decisions alongside Carrie and Mike. Mr. De continues to fix broken items around campus and continues to tell really bad jokes to any student who will listen. FUNdamentals began as a family affair. It will continue to be a family affair until FUN closes its doors for good on May 29th, 2025. At that time, Mr. De will lock the last door. Francesca and Joe will offer their final words of wisdom. And Mrs. De will remind her last writing students (and budding authors) to replace those banned words with strong verbs.
What started out in a basement with a few good friends, a FUN idea, (and a lot of dust), has grown into a really FUN place to learn and a community of forever friends. Thank you to our past and current students, parents, and instructors for being a part of our FUN Family.
Stay in touch with Carrie at Coffee With Carrie Homeschool Help Ministry