Okay, I would be lying if I said everything went perfectly and there were no awkward moments. Having said that, it was wonderful. Yes, we were a bit slow navigating a few things as there are extra tabs to explore on some of the Internet lessons. That was actually the most complicated part of the day. Everything seemed to flow nicely.
First, we started with writing. Their previous school started each day with journaling so it seemed fitting to keep some familiarity. The completed their assignments at different times, which gave me a moment with each of them individually to go over what they had completed and suggest a second assignment. After their second assignments were completed, I assigned each of them a "break" task. Go get a drink and a snack, walk around for a moment. Just something to keep them from feeling any sense of getting overwhelmed. After about ten minutes, I gave each of them another assignment to complete.
Basically, this was really easy to manage. My 7th grader really does not need much help. Occasionally, she had a question about her online coursework, (as I mentioned, there are extra tabs with videos, notes or other information that were not immediately obvious). She is really loving her language class the most at this point, but has already said she is very happy with the classes.
My youngest child needs a bit more assistance. Sometimes she needed a bit of redirection if she was simply skimming the material to get to the test. Often, she needed more assistance navigating the few lessons that were online as she is not as familiar with the Internet. All in all, it really was not overwhelming for any of us. I did not feel torn between helping one child or the other. There were no instances where they both were finished at the same time, so I was able to go over things with each child individually for a few minutes without interruption.
Having said all of this. We did postpone one of the lessons for my youngest child. She and I decided it would be better for us to do her science lessons together on Friday as her first lesson is to create an ecosystem, learn about it and answer questions. Since it required much more hands on from both of us, we decided it would be okay to let that be a "second day" project. Besides, we can do all three ecosystem lessons at once on Friday while the other child finishes her History unit.
There was also a bit of awkwardness with matching up the textbook, workbook sheets and the online activity. It was not stressful, just a bit awkward for a few moments while we put things together. I am certain this will be easy by next week as we will be more familiar with each book.
So... I have to say, I still have not found the monster under the bed, so to speak. All of the awkward moments today would be considered completely normal. After all, none of us has done this before. I think that we will instinctively be reaching for the correct books, workbooks and watching for the extra tabs and icons within a very short period of time.
There was a bit more printing than I expected. I think I will keep a tally of this, as paper waste frustrates me. Today I printed 4 sheets total. So there.
Just to let you know.. I have already simplified things for tomorrow and have items together for each lesson. I am ready. This is something that I love. I have already jotted an approximate order for the lessons for each child. I anticipate adjustment, especially for my younger child. It may simply be better for her to have PE before lunch... or to have Math later in the day. But, I can continue to fine tune things, because we are in control... As long as it is all completed, it really does not matter the order. We can designate a day per subject and do an entire weeks worth of lessons in one day for English if we like. It is up to us and what is the best fit for us. Maybe we need to have shorter lessons each day rather than having 3 science lessons in one day... No big deal. It is flexible, but like anything else, not to be abused. I do not dare let us get behind in lessons... We have had more than our fair share of life interruptions... One daughter had mono once and slept for about 3 weeks... No, I think I will use the flexibility to our advantage and get ahead when we can so that we can take an extra field trip now and then.
Can you imagine each student at a regular school doing subjects at varying times? Some children are at their best in the morning.. I have one of those. Some children may be up, walking and talking, but they are still in the process of waking up until around 11:00 am. I have one of each of these. So, one can tackle her more challenging subjects in the morning and save her reading for the late afternoon while the other can plan math and science for after lunch, so as not to interrupt the morning fog. I have actually read about some virtual students who do not even start lessons until after noon. That would not work for me. I like to have the work done so we can do other things together when we are truly free and not worried about getting behind.
A reminder about another bonus: No homework.. Once the lessons are complete, that's it.. Homework would be ridiculous. So, even though it may seem like a long list each day when you view it, (I will post a sample of our list later) once it is done, you can simply stop.. If that is 1:00 in the afternoon or 3:30 p.m.... That does not matter, my children are no longer going to have 2 hours of homework to complete in addition to that 6.5 hour school day.
So, perhaps this is how you should view the "shorter day" concept some profess. Some traditional home school moms have told me that they are done with their "schoolwork" by lunch time. OK, if this is your perspective, this virtual school may seem like more work. If your child has been to a traditional school, whether public or private, and was above 2nd grade, they were probably in class all day and then had homework at least three nights per week. So, if this is your perspective, I think you will see the difference in your home life quickly.
I am new to this. I may am still adjusting and still in a learning curve myself. I do believe my initial fears have been calmed. I was never worried about social skills. My children are around other people often. The virtual school offers field trips every month and have compiled a database of families that can be sorted by distance, age, grade, interests, etc for virtual families to connect and join together for more outings or get-togethers if they like. (It is not required to make your information available to the other families)
If you are interested, it takes just a few minutes on the internet to find resources for children educated at home. There are groups for every possible subject, every sport, music or other interest that can be tapped into.
I was worried that I would feel overwhelmed, helpless and trapped. I am no longer concerned about this. There are plenty of tools for success. The teachers are readily available for myself and for my children.
I was worried that the curriculum might be too weak, that since it was paid for by my failing public school system, that it would be as 'standardized test driven' as the local school. There is a local public school district that actually bragged about teaching for the test on the local news the other day... Someday I will be able to write a rational blog about that. Those tests do not sample a well rounded education. They are a test of reading and math for the most part... Ugh.. no time to get me started on that one tonight. Another day, 'sigh'.
I can honestly say that the curriculum appears to have been very carefully selected to accommodate both the children who need a "bridge" if they are behind as well as the children who have been under challenged. As I have mentioned in another post, if your child is excelling and is not being challenged, it is not so difficult to get them moved up in a particular subject, or more subjects. It is truly about educating the children.
Well, I must stop this now. I would like to explain the mastery system in another post soon also.
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