Hmmm...

    The fifth grade math curriculum arrived Tuesday night for my younger child.   She had finished with the 4th grade curriculum and was ready to move on.  It is now Thursday night and she has finished almost two weeks lessons in Math, in addition to finishing her first quarter work for Spelling. She is about a week to two weeks ahead in each subject. 

    She was also invited to participate in ALP.  I'm not entirely sure of all of the details yet, as today was a virtual orientation meeting.  It is a program by invitation for additional enrichment.  It seems that the children meet regularly in the virtual classroom to do extra projects and share them with each other.  The first project is a LEGO project. (I do not own a single Lego. Hmmm....)

     From what little I know about local public schools, it appears to be similar to their gifted and talented programs.  The kids get credit for attending these classes, but they get to do extra things.  When I was a kid, I thought the gifted and talented programs were some sort of super geek lab where you just worked complicated math problems continuously so I refused to meet the teacher. Now that I am an adult, it looks a bit more like directed goofing off, but I can see its merits.  By building, cooking, designing and drawing they are able to express themselves and discover more that they might enjoy.  I get it. 

    The leader did express that participation is voluntary.  They could join this group and complete the projects or not.  They could attend the classes or not. It is completely their choice. 

    I still have a few questions about this rapid acceleration for my younger child.  What will happen if she has not completed the 5th grade on May 25?  How will she be graded?  If she is halfway through one grade level, do we just pick up where we left on when school begins?  Does she work through the summer?  I will await the email with those answers.  Yes, I could have called her teacher, but it is September, I think those answers can wait another day.  Since it is September, it would be silly to make decisions based on the what ifs in May.  Right at this moment, it does not look like it is going to be an issue.  She will probably be caught up with the other 5th grade math students by the end of this quarter.  As for English... we have time...

     My older student is in a different situation.  She is in the 7th grade.  As most of you know, 7th grade can be a major transition. There is more homework, usually, more independence expected and the classwork begins to get a little more challenging.  My 7th grade student is exactly where she needs to be. She is currently about a week ahead in her assignments.  That is a nice comfort zone for her.  She has medical issues at times and being ahead makes her worry less about the inevitable illness that will cause her to fall behind.  She is not racing through her work.  She is often challenged and has to take a little extra time to study.  This is new for her. She really has never had to work to understand a concept.  She is not to the point of frustration, or feeling lost, it is just enough of a challenge for her to feel more of a sense of accomplishment.

    She recently spoke with friends who were in her class last year.  After hearing how much homework they had, and how much pressure they felt to keep up, she felt much more confident.  She is able to do her lesson in whatever time she needs. She is not rushing to keep up with someone else, nor waiting for someone else to finish.  She is also very grateful that at the end of the school day, her books are on the shelf until the next day. She has no homework.  Occasionally, she will take out her Latin notes and review them, but she really has not needed to review any of the other materials.

    I do not know how this could be accomplished in a group setting but it would be nice if each child were able to work within their potential.  I wonder how many children would benefit from simply being able to concentrate on their own lesson without worrying about what the other kids are doing or if it seemed the teacher was trying to move on to the next lesson even though they did not yet understand.  I wonder how much more some children could do if they were not spending so much time trying to be quiet while others finished. 

    There are very specific goals with the virtual school.  In order to make A's on their report cards, the children must have completed a certain percentage of the coursework by the end of each quarter. They must have earned a certain number of "medals" in the study program and they must have submitted satisfactory work samples.   Within these goals, each child can begin to see the areas where they may need to work harder, or areas that are easier for them to accomplish. I will admit, this actually concerned me. One of my children has had a history of turning in assignments 5 minutes after they were due.  I was concerned that if she were able to see the entire path, that she would use it to attain yet another level of procrastination.  Instead, thankfully, she has found a positive way to take control of her own educational path.

    It is my job to remind them to do the lessons they do not enjoy as much as well as the ones they love.  I have found the slimy spinach approach works best.  One of my children chose to put off a lesson they did not like until last.  She found that she was thinking about it and dreading it all day. It was like watching a child push slimy spinach around and around on a plate.  When I pointed this out to her, she decided that she would master it early in the day in the future so that she could enjoy the rest without the sense of dread. 

    I cannot tell you if this is the norm.  I cannot tell you if virtual school has somehow masterfully created a way to make children more responsible.  I can tell you that my children take ownership of their educational path in a positive way.  They are both very proud of their accomplishments each day.  As soon as a lesson is completed, the "grade" is posted.   They do not have to wait to know where they stand and I think this helps them to move forward with confidence.

     For my part in this adventure.  I know some complain about entering attendance.  That has become almost automatic for me.  That is actually the easiest for me.  The thing I struggled with in the beginning was keeping up with the amount of work being completed.  Since many of the lessons have semester tests, which are cumulative, I created a filing box for them to put their completed assignments in. They still have them if they need to review something, but they are out of the way as they continue to do more assignments. Another thing I would like to simplify is my planning.  I can print out assignments a week or a day at a time on the website, but as I have one child racing through things, one week can be accomplished in one or two days.  I am doing my best to anticipate how much she will complete in a given week and have everything prepared in advance, but often, we are stumbling through that a bit.  Really, all that I mean by this is that occasionally we will put of a science lesson for a day so that I can gather the necessary supplies as I did not realize she would move so quickly through the previous assignments.  It's not such a big deal, more of an annoyance to me, as I like to be prepared.

    This learning coach gig is not for the weak.  I wish I were a full time, stay at home mom as some days are a bit overwhelming. Trying to do my job to the best of my ability does occasionally mean that I must say, "I'm sorry, move on to a different subject until "X" time, when I can focus on your lesson with you."  We are working it out and it is a miracle.  It is a gift. 

     I have asked my children if it makes things complicated for them since I see every single assignment they do. They cannot stuff a failing paper into their desk and hope the grades average that bad one out before I find out.  Their response surprised me.  "Mom, it's actually a relief because you can explain where we need to change something to do it better."   Not that their teachers couldn't, but again, it is different. They have immediate feedback and are able to tackle the misunderstood material while it is still fresh.  Often it is simply a case of turning back a few pages and realize that one child skipped over the word NOT somewhere. I also have the luxury of being able to explain each and every missed question.  I cannot imagine a teacher would have time to do that for each student and each missed answer.  When my daughter was doing 'mental math' to complete more complex equations, it was nice to sit down with her and have her show me step by step on a white board what she did in her head.  I was able to see that she was doing the problems correctly, not just guessing correctly.  I was also able to show her how writing it down could be a big help with more complex problems, just in case a number wandered off in her head.

    Ahhh.. the conversations I have had with my children these last few weeks.  I was afraid that this would be psychologically strange for them. I was afraid that they would resent me for this.  I had my fears.  I must say that I think this has brought us even closer.  We have the opportunity to have discussions about history and art and science in a way that is just more fulfilling for all of us.  It is like the difference between B&W television vs Blue Ray.  I love this.