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?
My son failed every class except English in Freshman year at the local, highly rated High School. Teachers would not communicate with me at all
He spent the next 4 years doing online high school.
Pennsylvania based, called 21st Century Cyber Charter School. Mac computer and all books were provided by the school. They paid partially for my internet also.
The curriculum was appropriate and challenging. The teachers were great, available at most any time. Social activities were planned regionally once or twice a month. I believe that the school would also pay for you to attend Advanced classes (if you qualified) at the local Community College.
It was still a struggle getting my son to do his school work but he did do it. Two to three hours a day of intense work was really all that was needed most times.
My son would never have gotten a High School Diploma without the cyber school.
I hope that Connections Academy is something you do for maybe a year. For some parents, these online schools give them the confidence to truly homeschool, which means, you, the parent, select and customize the curriculum and instruction. These virtual academies are just public school at home.
From their website: “Free Online Public School”
One friend did this for a year and the time involved was mind boggling. A great benefit of homeschooling is that kids can move at their own pace, but virtual academies require a certain number of minutes of seat time, for lack of a better word. She said her public school teacher adviser was very nice and supportive, but the process of checking in each week becomes yet another weight around the parent’s neck.
After a year, she felt more confident and branched out as a real homeschooler.
For sure the curriculum will be Common Core aligned. It’s no different than the curriculum used at the public school. After all, it’s taxpayer funded and government controlled.
I don’t want to discourage you, but these public school virtual academies are just one way the system can keep control over students and parents, giving them the illusion of being independent. I hope that after this first year, you’ll have the confidence to launch out on your own. There are so many support systems out there and Texas is one of the best states for home schooling.
My kids have used AmblesideOnline.com for several years. It’s a free curriculum — we just have to buy the books used and many are free online.
I’m thrilled that you’re homeschooling, don’t get me wrong! It’s a huge step for parents. Just please use this year to learn more about homeschooling, join one or more homeschool groups, learn from other moms, go to a homeschooling convention.
Metmom, We tried SOS and hated it in less than a week.
Nope, I was wrong. Kahn is not the homeschool academy that I was thinking of, thank you for informing me. :)
I never used it. Mr. mm knows someone who did and loved it. It worked for them.
What didn’t you like about it?
It was a textbook on a screen. It was the first time my kids had ever gotten D’s and F’s on assignments! They didn’t even know what those were.
It’s coded very poorly and at times, seemed to test how well a kid could use a mouse than whether or not they got the answer right. This was particularly bad in math. If a kid placed the cursor just a smidgen to the right and typed his answer, they got an F. One time my daughter couldn’t figure out why her answer was wrong. My husband and I both read the passage and answered the question — we got big fat F’s!
It was horrible. Maybe kids who are used to public school textbooks might do well, but mine hated it. After a week, I sold everything on eBay and we went back to Ambleside Online.
To be fair, the Bible curriculum definitely taught the Bible, complete with study questions, quizzes, and tests. My daughter remembers quite a bit of that.
My daughter has been studying Chinese for a couple of years now.
Several years back my youngest son finished his high school Sr. year online. The most important thing is to check and make sure the school is accredited.
Verify with your local community college or university if they indeed accept the accreditation. A lot of accreditation claims by online schools are meaningless.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.