Posted on 08/24/2014 9:58:27 AM PDT by TexasBarak
At the end of her seventh grade year a few months ago, my daughter was of the opinion that she had not received the education that she should have, so she determined to find courses online that she could take over the summer. What she found (completely on her own) turned out to be a full time public school- online! She starts tomorrow at Connections Academy Texas. With her mother and I both working, she'll be attending school at her Grandmother's house for the time being.
I'm very excited about this- my child is *very* intelligent, and with self-paced courses and no children to distract her (or rude teachers), I have a feeling that she will be flying through her courses.
Have any other Freepers taken this particular plunge?
What are you using this year, if I may ask?
And I’m not playing yours.
Called Florida Virtual School, here's their URL if you'd like to sample their wares:
http://www.flvs.net/Parents/Pages/getting-started.aspx
I’m pretty sure that she’s smarter than either of her parents (and we’re no dummies!). She’s definitely got a better memory than I do, which can make her difficult to deal with at times, since she remembers everything we say to her.
I’m not sure if Common Core is involved- we’ll find out soon enough, I’m sure.
No, this is not home school (I’m all for homeschooling, unfortunately, it’s just not practical for us). This is a Texas public school, conducted online. The courses are self paced, with only the ending date being specified, and they are tailored to the individual child. I expect to see my kid burn through them quickly.
I signed my 12-year-old son up for Khan Academy earlier this month. In less than three weeks, he’s completed over 60% of 6th grade math. He wants to do it all day - it’s really cut into my FR time!
I’m sure it would benefit my 14-year-old, as well, but she can’t be trusted to actually work when she’s on the computer. She’s going to have to do her remedial math with pencil and paper.
My daughters are enrolled in CAVA (California Virtual Acadamy). This is our second year. We like it.
AcadEmy....
Khan Academy is a free, online tutoring program. We’ve just begun using their math instruction, but it’s very good.
My son clicks on a topic, say “Multiplying Decimals.” The program gives him a problem. If he completes it and enters an answer, it tells him whether it’s correct. If he doesn’t know how to do it, the program lets him look at one step at a time. Each subject also has an instructional video which explains how to solve the problems and works several examples.
To complete a lesson, he has to answer five problems in a row correctly. If he has to work 40 problems in order to get five in a row right, then he obviously needed the drill.
Ping.
This ping list is for articles of interest to homeschoolers. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping List. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added or removed from either list, or both.
The keyword for the FREE REPUBLIC HOMESCHOOLERS’ FORUM is frhf.
There’s also Alpha and Omega Switched on Schoolhouse.
Please add me to both homeschool ping lists! :) Thank you!
Sure thing.
There is also another list called *Another Reason to Homeschool* which is much higher traffic and deals with public school articles, which are reasons we homeschool.
That one too?
In addition to the academic, social, and moral/religious benefits, there is the additional benefit of spending a lot of time with your children, who won't see you as "uncool."
texas....my son pulled his three daughters out of public school at the ages of 14, 15 and 17, in order to lessen the drama and have peace on their home front. The school system, though excellent in the area, the environement was horrible and not conduciuve to learning.
He took a basement room with windows and made it into a school room at very meager expense. Used “office” desks, office bookcases, painted and carpeted with a great piece of remnant carpet..... along with wipe boards and such. So the girls learned in an educational environment at home.
They chose a charter school program suitable to their daughters interests. He was astounded at the differences in the girls....so worth the change. One has graduated now and the other will be doing so this year. The youngest was accepted into a performing arts school last year and loves it there. (also very much better environment).
So I for one am all for taking students out of pucblic schools...the difference in my sons girls was marked...and they loved being home. They still participated in various school events, as well as planned trips through the charter school as well. Which they had far more outings then when in the school system.
So all in all a good thing I suspect you will not have any regrets either. Though the first year is a time of adjustment...it really went quite well.
How excellent for your daughter! She will go far, being so interested in learning!
There are no particular 'standards' required to earn credits, students just need to meet the correct number of "Carnegie Units". There are 'umbrella' schools that will provide guidance for those who are not sure about what courses are needed. There are other groups to which you can send evidence of the studies the kids have done, and which will provide a transcript and issue a diploma based on that evidence. We homeschooled our two younger kids in high school, and they graduated from one of these, North Atlantic Regional High School, and their diplomas were accepted by the colleges to which they applied. I knew what courses they needed in order to be accepted by those colleges, simply by going to the college websites and looking at the requirements for acceptance.
We created courses for our kids, using THEIR interests, and fashioned them in such a way that they fulfilled those requirements. For one of the English requirements, we devised a course called "The Graphic Novel as Literature", for our daughter, who is a manga and anime fan, an idea we got from a course offered at UMass Amherst. For our son, I got a literature curriculum called "Literary Lessons from The Lord of the Rings" that he really enjoyed. It was a good way to do "British Literature", which most schools use for Senior Year. For history, literature, and art, the kids used a programs called TRISMS, www.trisms.com. It is a full curriculum that encompasses those three disciplines, and teaches the kids good research skill. For English Composition, upper level Math, and lab sciences, they attended a local Community college. What was great about that was that they earned high school credits, as well as college credits, which were transferred to the colleges they eventually attended.
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