I have to say, this whole idea of Virtual Education terrified me at first. It took me a month of continual research and reading to even approach my husband with this as a possible solution. It took me two full years to convince him that private school was the direction we needed when my oldest was a baby. He is a bit of a traditionalist...
Anyway, today's post is not about him... It is all about me. We started the enrollment process in February after gathering all of our documents and waiting for the open enrollment date. I was nervous. I had a tiny feeling in the back of my mind that there would be some crazy fine print or some slight of hand that would mean that this program would be just another version of what my kids would get across the street.
At some point, a DVD came that 'introduced' us to other families who have been using the virtual school system and why. There were child athletes that needed to practice their sport for 40 hours per week, families who travelled and did not want their children constantly changing curriculum and standards. There were families with remedial education needs and with accelerated needs. There are some things in the DVD and blogs that I question now, but I am seeing that each state also has slightly different rules.
Now, for the points that I chose this program. I chose this because my younger child has a very specific need. She is super speedy. I will concede that perhaps if she were tested, she may even be ADD/ADHD. As she has never been confined to traditional rules, she has excelled. She races through her work. She would even take her classwork onto the playground so that she would never have homework. She told me it only took her about 5 minutes to do it and then she could play, but she could not bear the thought of bringing work to her time at home. Now... having said this, she may be able to do 7th grade math as a 9 year old, but emotionally and in some ways developmentally, she is on par with much younger children. We have been very fortunate to have teachers who have allowed her to be herself. They have kept her in a younger classroom, yet given her more work for her voracious cognitive appetite. She is a poor fit for a typical brick and mortar public school. I won't fill you in on all of the details, but we have reason to believe she would spend a great deal of time with the principal and probably get herself suspended. This new program would allow her to work ahead when she wanted, add an elective (language, art or music class) if necessary, or just take her time and explore other things. It just seemed a better fit for her.
Having said this. Yes, this is without a doubt, a much better fit for her. Not only is she able to excel, but she is also able to see that she has more control of her own time and education. Thanks to sports and other activities she is enrolled in to keep her busy, she also is able to be around other children her age in a non educational setting. She does not feel 'different' when she is on a volleyball team or basketball team because she is not needing to wait on their math skills to catch up to hers. This is possibly the best perk of all. She really has struggled with being so small and so young and yet able to do her older sister's homework. This year will give her some time to be more comfortable with who she is, without watching the reaction of her 'peers'.
Now for social issues. The first thing everyone seems to bring up about educating children at home is this fear that the child will not develop socially. First, I have a relatively obvious answer to that. I am not moving to a cave with no other human life forms. Okay, I know.. Now for a grown up answer. First, the virtual school students are invited to attend a field trip each month to encourage families to get together. Second, if that is not enough, there are ways to get to know other families in your area. You could plan your own outings. It's really not that difficult. You have managed to take your children to the zoo before... now you just meet another family there. Okay, trying to get back to the grown up answers. Third, does your life now revolve only around the people at your child's school? Ours does not. We have plenty of other events we attend with other people. Sports, clubs, etc can all fill that gap. If you do not have anything like that currently, you can easily go online and find something in your area. Lastly... Your children will model your behavior. This means that most of their social skills come from watching you anyway.
Okay, one more... My children are NOTHING alike. From the moment I met them, they have been very different people. My children do have some interests that overlap, but how they handle themselves and others is very unique to each of them. Both of my children are fairly outgoing, so I would assume they will continue to be. If your child is more introverted, I have no official advice for you. This is not something I have experience with. For what it is worth, I do see those children seem to work it out in their own time. I have not seen a miraculous change, but I have seen 'shy' children take their time and open up... Basically, I have no business giving advice about a shy child, but if one lived in my home, I do not believe I would force the issues, just offer opportunities.
So, to sum up.. Neither of my children are pursuing an acting career, neither of them are an Olympic hopeful. Neither of them have an IEP. Although they are the most stunning children in the universe, you might even perceive them as just average kids. I'm okay with that. Our average family is finding that we are able to do more than we had dreamed with this curriculum.
I have always planned little educational events. If we go out, we do not go to the arcade, we go to the zoo, museum, explore real dinosaur fossilized footprints, historical sites...etc.. You get the idea. Well the wonderful thing about this new program is that when we get to the unit on different species (in science) we will be able to count our trip to the Osteology Museum as part of our attendance. You get the idea. This opens a world of possibilities for weeks where they are ahead in their schoolwork. (Of course, the teacher will not approve if the child is behind, and you need the teacher to approve.)
In addition to trips and outings planned, at the request of my children, I ordered the religion workbooks. I'm fortunate in that I knew exactly where to order them from as I volunteered at their previous school. Score! They also requested to be allowed to attend "chapel" on Wednesday mornings and the Pastor said yes so... nothing but bonuses for us!
I am still making daily adjustments to our "plan". One of my children just has her own schedule. She is getting the work done at lightning speed. The work is not too easy for the average 9 year old. In fact, I am very comfortable saying this curriculum is geared to be both challenging and interesting to the kids. As for the electives, I can only speak about the ones my children chose. One chose Art and the other chose Latin. They LOVE them.
One word of advice, you will definitely want to look at the plan and the materials needed approximately a week at a time. Sometimes, an assignment may call for something as obscure as a toilet paper tube.. Now, since I do not save toilet paper tubes, it is very handy to know this ahead of time. Most of the "extra's" are either free or very very cheap.. Please do not complain to me about purchasing masking tape and straws for a science lesson. Your teachers have been purchasing many 'extra's' for your child for years. Now that I am thinking of this.. I will go back and amend/update my previous post about supplies.
So, my point is.. I suffered a traumatic brain injury two years ago. I have recovered my speech and many other things, but I have some short term memory issues that I struggle with. I have two part time jobs. My children go with me to my office three days per week. We have moved the lessons around to make this easier for the children. More intensive hands on lessons we save for the days when I am at home and uninterupted. I would say this would be easier if I did not have to go to work, for all of us, but we have enough flexibility with K12 to make this work. I do not think it would work with younger children, but thankfully, it works for us. I am determined not to let my limitations limit my children. If I can do this...anyone who is willing to do the work can.
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