Our First Official Day of School

     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. 

    

Schedules Schedules

     I can tell you I have attended several of the Coaching /Mentoring  workshops online and I repeatedly asked the same questions.. Okay, I may have changed the words around a bit, but I was starting to feel a terror grow within me about the scheduling.. If you read very much online there is one great divide... There seem to be reviews from those who have found it to be wonderful experience due to the flexibility and those who feel they cannot possibly do that much schoolwork in a day.  Now, aside from noticing that several in the second category seemed to mention returning to homeschool roots where they could complete all classwork in approximately 2 hours per day, I could really not comment on what causes that divide.
     Not all children are alike.  We talk about this at the Thanksgiving table when we are talking about Uncle so and so's behavior versus that of his sister, Aunt What's her name.  Somehow, we just seem to ignore that in a traditional school setting, all of the children are given the exact same activity and the exact same instructions to complete this activity.  Some are more advanced in their fine motor skills or cognitive skills and race through. Some are merely disinterested.  There can be as many reactions to that activity as there are students.  Why do we expect these children to thrive in this environment?  Why are we surprised when only a handful are mastering their education?  How is it okay that only one or two are at the top of the class?  Why is it okay that many of these students did not learn all of the objectives from the assignment?  There simply is not enough of one teacher to individualize the assignment.  She cannot give the speedy children another assignment while still giving the extra assistance to those that need more help or more time. It is not possible.
     As my children complete each assignment, I marvel in amazement at the absolute simplicity of the virtual school idea.  Each assignment has objectives to make note of.. Did the child grasp that there was tension between the characters of the book?  Did the child notice the change in the science experiment?  Can the child restate the information in their own words?  etc...etc... etc...  How you get there is actually pretty flexible. There are guidelines for each activity as well as optional activities to either reinforce the concept, try it from another perspective or both.  Some children learn better by writing things down. Some learn by repetitively hearing information. Some learn better by placing their hands on something.  There are a variety of ways to learn, and with K12 I have seen a variety of ways to explain, teach and reinforce.  I am pretty impressed with the amount of hands on activities, expecially in science and art. 
     If you have a mental picture of your child spending all of their time in front of a computer screen, erase it.  Older children have more time online...  Let me try to guess for you.  My youngest child is doing 4th grade work.  (I will revisit this later as she is an example of the flexibilty we have with K12.)   Now, she currently spends an average of 30 minutes - 1 hour per day on the computer. She logs in to her account, she can see the lessons to complete and she has some tests online, but most are assessments or worksheets that she completes and I look over.   The oldest child is doing 7th grade work. She is probably spending about 45- 50% of her time online since she has a language course. (Language courses are 100% online.  No workbooks or textbooks to keep track of.)  I will wait a bit longer before I estimate the total time per day we are using for lessons.  My youngest child's teacher recommended that we allow for 30 hours per week total.  Remember, this includes your PE time and field trips.  Yes, we have school field trips once per month, in fact our "Meet and Greet" was at an indoor inflatable play area.. It was lot's of fun for the kids and gave the parents a chance to ask questions and sign up for books clubs or volunteer opportunities.
    

        Also, I will mention that it appears the older child really does much more independent work.  Most of her lessons incorporate online research, work or videos and she really does not seem to need much from me. The younger child needs a bit more guideance.  I can see that if your younger child is struggling with a concept, that it could become very time consuming for the adult.  Keep this in mind if you have younger children.  You may find yourself needing to be right there at the table or desk with them most of the time.

       As for me and my own personal schedule... I make a note of the time a lesson is started on my white board and make a note of when it ended.  I check over work for my younger child and sometimes help her if she has a question. I am very fortunate that both of my children love academics and work well independently.    I will allow time for someone to need much more assistance with a lesson just in case we come across something that is not clear.

     My youngest child may be advancing through the course work more quickly than I had planned.   There are already plans for a special parent teacher conference to address this later, when I am ready. 

    I have had positive interaction with both teachers.  I am pleased with their responses to my questions.  I am also pleased with their attitudes, positivity and encouragement from both of the teachers, our PAL as well as the technical support staff.

   Yes, for those of you who already know me.. I have asked MANY  MANY questions.

Let me know if you have questions about our virtual school experience. 

School Supplies Shopping

   Yes, every year, whether in private school or public school, we have had a list.  Sometimes this list has been depressingly long and expensive. 

    This seems to be an area that K12 is rather vague on, so I thought I would take a moment to jot down our experiences. 

    First, let me clarify. I do not know if there is a recommended school supply list. I can simply say that if one does exist, I never was able to find it.

     Now, I have a 4th/5th grade student, and a 7th grade student. I have reviewed many of the lessons and can see that there are a few that require a printed worksheet.  Only for that reason, I am recommending that you start with a ream of paper.  Several of the worksheets that do have the "print" icon are identical to workbook pages, so for now, I only purchased one.  I cannot imagine we would actually be printing so much each day.  Also, they recommend printing the goals for the day as well as necessary supplies.  I have not found it too difficult to simply glance at the list online and pull items from the shelf, rather than print out a list to carry around each day. Maybe you need the printed list, if so, your ream will not last as long.

     I recommend a 3 hole punch.. As a lesson is completed, I am placing the completed work in a three pronged folder.  I have assigned colors for each subject.  Each child has Blue for Science, Green for History/Geography, Pink for Literature, Red for math... You get the idea... Each of my children has their own shelves so that they do not get confused with each other, but when I am looking to go over the math pages, I can just reach for the red folders on each shelf.

   K12 sent plenty of paints and other art supplies, however, I did purchase colored pencils, markers and crayons.  K12 sent a math kit, with a protractor, compass eraser, etc...  None of that needed to be purchased.

   One of my children works better when taking notes in a three ring binder on looseleaf paper, the other likes individual spiral notebooks. I accomodated them.   I already have glue, glue sticks, rulers, pencils, etc...

   So, in summary, for the children taking similar classes to my children, here is the list I would recommend.

• (1) one ream of printer paper
• (1) package of crayons  (even if you have multiple children, they can share)
• (1) package of markers *
• (6-7) per child colored  three prong folders with pockets  (paper ones are fine as your child will not have to carry them in backpacks, etc)
• (6-7) per child Spiral notebooks or (1) 3 ring binder with looseleaf paper
• (1) Pair of scissors per child.
• (1) package of refillable mechanical pencils. (regular pencils are fine..)
• (1) ruler per child

   As you can see, it really is not a huge investment.  One of the things that just feels different, is there is no need for every single child to have the exact same school supplies.  That means it really does not matter if one child prefers a 3 ring binder and one prefers spirals.  It means if I want to buy folders with religious symbols or pop star photos, I can.  It means that one child can have a fabric pencil case on her shelf, while the other can have a plastic box.  We were able to individualize.  I did not buy a case of anything.  Technically, tissues, toilet paper, paper towels, disinfectant and sanitizer should all be added to this list, as we will use them all, but I'm not an accountant nor a financial analyst and I will not spend one single moment of my life trying to figure out the cost per child of toilet paper, tissue or any of the other items on the list.

      If there is something I have left out, I will update later.  I did purchase a white board and dry erase markers in case I would like to try to demonstrate something... Honestly, at home in the past, I have simply sat down and used extra paper so it is not necessary. I justified it as a "green" expense.  We would use less paper, and because I had really gotten used to using one when I was helping to teach at their school.  I did not add the glue or glue sticks to the list as we have not had a need for them with K12.. I will recommend them, because it really is fun to do extra art projects.  

    So, maybe this helped.. maybe it did not.. One of the most challenging things about converting to this new method is its flexibility... What works for us, may sound completely insane to you.  I also made individual clipboards covered in whiteboard paper to use instead of scrap paper for math problems at the computer.  (I'm very proud of these.)



           It's also nice that we do not have a list with specific brand names. I can shop the sales and get only what I know we need.   I do not have to buy a case of tissues in August with every other family, I can do what I would normally do and watch for a sale with a coupon...  After all, we are using a box occassionally, not going through 2 boxes per week.  It's more fluid.  I know that I will probably need a second or maybe a third package of markers, so I stocked up on those items.  When the spiral notebooks were one sale, I bought several in a variety of colors.  When they were 10 cents each, I purchased about 20 of them..  So, just the items I recommended, for two children, I spent around $20 on school supplies this year.. I could have spent more if we went for special character notebooks or whatever, but the girls decided they didn't really care and with the plain ones, they would have room to decorate them with colored permanent markers.   I spent about $20 getting our white board and dry erase markers, but, like I said, it was an extra.. Do what works for you.

     Any teacher will tell you, if you have children who like to do their schoolwork, or complete things quickly, you will have some down time.  I have always kept an art cabinet filled with snow day goodies, so I will continue that. It is filled with things like air dry clay, construction paper, water balloons and tissue paper to make snowballs with in winter.  We have extra watercolor paints as well as recycled printer paper.   You may not need these items. You may live in a climate more suitable for playing outside all year.  Since not only do we live in an area with both dangerous heat in the summer and cold in the winter, we have Wii for indoor PE, we have extra science goodies and extra art goodies. We also have a good collection of books.  Again, you may not need any of these things..

   If you are new, I would not immediately redesign your entire home and purchase an entire school room filled with supplies.  You will find things that work and do not work as you go through the first few weeks.  Those things may change as your child matures, the subject material changes, etc.  The greatest and most terrifying thing about this for me is the flexibility.  I like concrete rules... This has a few, but within those rules, we each have the ability to make adjustments... Do we want to do PE first thing in the morning or after lunch?  Would we like to sprinkle science throughout the week or cover the entire lesson on Monday?  We are still making these decisions.  They are no longer scary decisions. I am beginning to embrace this individualization as well as the flexibility. 

    

Amendment:

    Occassionally, there will be a few extras needed.  For instance, the other day my daughter needed a 2 liter bottle for science and a comic from the Sunday paper.  I have reviewed several lessons and have seen a few odds and ends like

• masking tape
• rubber bands
• brown paper bags
• balloons
• sponge

There are a few other things.. I would not recommend starting another cabinet with odd supplies. I especially would not recommend that you stay up endlessly going through each lesson months ahead so that you are not surprised.  I would recommend that at the end of each week, just print the 'materials needed' list. (Click on the week so that you can see an entire week ahead.)  Look over the list and take it with you when you are at the store if you just do not happen to have masking tape.  It will also give you a head's up if you need to save the egg carton when you use the last egg.
    Another savings that I found:  for PreAlgebra and Algebra, the school does list a Scientific Calculator on the school list, however in parentheses, they let you know that it is optional as an online version will be available..  More savings for us.

Confidence.....

     Confidence... Yes, it is quite a mighty word.  I like to feel confident.  I like to feel accomplished.  This is not such a genius concept.  If you really think about it, when was the last time you felt overjoyed by your own failures or insecurities..

   How do I get confidence?  I research and prepare. I have to say this K12 experience so far is much like any other unknown territory. Yes, the day the school supplies arrived in their many boxes, I was definitely overwhelmed. The reality of what I was undertaking sort of...overtook me.  I realized that day that I really did not have any idea how this was going to play out in real life.

   Since then, I have used the K12 to research and prepare.  There are so many resources for coaches. (K12 parents are called 'learning coaches')  There are step by step tutorials for logging in, checking the lessons for the day or week as well as tutorials for how to make sure that your computer is compatible with everything your child will need to do on K12 websites.  There are samples of lessons to view, step by step instructions on how to log attendance, how to adjust the schedule, and how to check to see if everything is complete.

    Just a few days ago, the lessons were loaded into our account, and even though school does not technically start until this Thursday we have had full access.  I have been able to do things in the accounts in real time.  My children have already completed their assessment testing as well as several lessons and tests.  We have dabbled enough in the materials to get an idea of how this will work for us. 

     Basically, instead of feeling overwhelmed, I now see how the flexibility will actually work for us.  I can see how the children will complete a lesson.  I can see now that this is not really scary at all.  It is exactly what I was hoping for.  Today, I called one of my children's teachers to go over some of today's events. She has already suggested that one of my children may need new coursework within a few weeks.  I told her that we could postpone that conversation for now, as I really wanted to get through some more of the classwork before we made that decision.  I did not feel pressured at all. It was exactly the way it should be. The idea is there, but it is too early to make that decision at this time.  

    We have sampled a variety of the lessons.  Each works a little differently, just as they would in a regular classroom.  Some lessons require more reading, some require a workbook or notebook and some are entirely online. It seems to make for a nice balance.

    Now I feel confident. I feel empowered that we will be able to do what is best for each of the children. It really is geared to play to their strengths and assist with their weaknesses.  Some of it is just genius. The language course my oldest daughter chose is Latin.. Latin?  Seriously?  Yes, she chose it and has done several of her Latin lessons already.  The online program that K12 uses for children is definitely more fun than any other language course I have seen.  It's almost addictive.  I will explain that at a later date.  My children feel more confident now that they see the expectations are not at all unreasonable. I think they were secretly afraid that they would become little education drones. Not at all... the material is well within their abilities while constantly building on their skills. It progresses more quickly than they realize because they are enjoying it more. 

     My oldest child even stated it was definitely easier to get the coursework completed without other people trying to have conversations with her or waiting for someone else to ask a question.  I guess these were distractions for her that we did not realize. 

     Yes, I am now ready.  I feel stronger than ever. We are ready to conquer this new frontier.  The only thing I would change would be how the help is offered.  I would like to have a recommended list for coaches.  I found everything I needed, but it would have been nice if there had been a list, in order.

1. Go to coaches mentoring site and begin with the first video.
2. Set up online accounts.
3. Watch videos in order and stop in between each one to locate that subject on the actual K12 site.

  This list is a little oversimplified as there were dozens of things I did to prepare.  I have already sent an email to K12 recommending this.  It may or may not have alleviated some of my anxiety. Who knows?

Anyway, confidence is a big word, but I am feeling it. I am ready. The children are ready. We are so excited to see where this leads us.

Yet Another Sign

      Today offered yet another sign that we are making the right choice for our children. 

      K12 is a curriculum offered to students not just in the USA.  I moved a lot as a child. There was always a learning curve at each new school as the curriculum materials were never the same from one school to the next. I was always able to keep up and even excel, particularly in Math and English, but I do have the perspective of a military family moving from state to state or even to different countries.   Military families are able to take advantage of K12 and I an only imagine how wonderful that would have been for my parents who often made choices about assignments based on the local schools.

      Today, I received a phone call from our PAL to let us know about a special situation offered to K12 middle school students in Oklahoma.  Since the K12 curriculum tends to be about a year ahead of the Oklahoma Public School system, K12 is offering us the opportunity for my 7th grade student to complete the K12 6th grade coursework. I was assured that she would be able to promote to 8th grade no matter her choice but that we should look over both the K12 6th and 7th grade materials and decided what is best for her.  (K12 6th grade coursework meets the PASS skills for the state of Oklahoma 7th grade.)
       I have very mixed feelings about this.  First of all, SHAME on Oklahoma for allowing for a full grade level difference in education. (This weekend, we will go through a few chapters of both the literature and the language textbooks to see which we prefer.)  Second, I congratulate K12 for recognizing this difference and giving middle school students a 'bridge'.  Clearly they researched and found that OKVA students may have additional needs. They must also have gotten this approved by the powers that be in the state of Oklahoma education departments. Their goal is to get all of the middle school students up to speed before 9th grade, when the classes begin to count as credit on transcripts. 
      Yes, now I have more to do. Yes, I am now having that icky feeling in the pit of my stomach that I get when I am making decisions that affect the education of my children. 
        Unfortunately, the gap in education is large. It is not my imagination.  It is vulgar.  Until the state of Oklahoma can bring its brick and mortar schools up to speed, I will gladly allow them to pay for the K12 curriculum for my children.
       K12 has already offered several choices to us for flexibility.  My 7th grader can also do a 'bridge' math course to catch her up to the Pre-Algebra K12 offers if necessary.  They offer many ways to catch our children up to their standards.
       I have read some reviews that said the K12 standards are too high.  Maybe those families would be more comfortable in Oklahoma Public Schools. I don't know.  Since we are not talking about kids glued to school work 12 hours per day, and the K12 school day means that all coursework is completed during the school day, (no homework time added), I think K12 appears to be very efficient.  I have reviewed most of the coursework myself already, and can honestly say, it is not "fluffy'.  They cover the subject, review, test and move on. 
      I still do not know what our actual school day will look like.  I can see that there is a possibility that my youngest may finish her classroom work in four hours.  She does not daydream.  Without time to wait on others, lining up for other classes, and other typical classroom issues, she may have quite a bit of free time for activities at the end of her day.  Or, she may need more time than I anticipate. Either way, I am planning on approximately six hours per day for classroom work with 30 minutes each day for PE... Just as recommended.
     I will have to write about PE another day, but I like it!

Forest for the Trees

In my last post, I mentioned the quantity of materials that arrived for the children.  I realized that I have any unique opportunities now.  The children have  their own assigned teachers so I have two children to 'supervise'.   I do not have to go over dozens of papers each night.  I should be able to check them as we go, or maybe have a few papers to look over in the evening.  Something that I saw instantly as something I would like to change is paper usage.
One of the most difficult things to overcome with children is paper usage. We go through so much paper teaching one child. There are countless textbooks, worksheets, and notebooks for them to "show their work", never mind the countless art projects.

We are going to embark on a new journey. My children will be part of this online education system. Now, it may be a 'virtual school' and they will not go to a typical brick and mortar school building, but they will not spend all of their time in front of a computer. One of my initial fears was that my children would become the drones from a bad futuristic movie. Quite the contrary. There are classes and research and tests completed online, however, there are plenty of worksheets, workbooks and even notebooks.

I am determined to reduce the amount of forest destruction that my family is responsible for, so I came up with an idea.    I can ask them to 'show their work' without needing to save the work. Yes, for now, there is no way to get around using notebooks at times, but I created dry erase boards to use as often as possible. This both gave me a momentary creative outlet and hopefully will give me more peace of mind as I continue to try to find more ways to reduce our waste.

I plan to shop for brighter ribbon to personalize them for each child tomorrow, but here is an example:

Yes, there is a balance. Children simply do need to have hands-on projects for art. They also need to be comfortable using a computer. There are some fantastic art projects that we can do together that will be of benefit, rather than ending up in an attic or a landfill. (Yes, I do throw away some lovely macaroni art, paintings and general crayon projects.  I cannot store everything they produce.  That is exactly my point, how many toilet paper tube angels do I need?  How many times do I want to see a crayon drawing of our dogs?) Life is an ever changing opportunity so we will learn to alter clothing, create a display for their medals and many other projects. I have made a list on my laptop of things that we can create, learn from and use. I am so grateful that my children are now old enough to do these types of projects more.  One more paper with glued cotton balls and bits of noodles and I would lose my mind.  Those projects have a place in childhood development, and it has passed.  I have saved a few that were particularly memorable and now we will move on to the next stage. 

     One of my children is taking an art class as her elective.  She will have assigned art projects and gratefully, I saw no noodles! I have always 'added' to my children's education, so I have my own agenda for extras this year.

    

And So It Begins.... A New Journey....

     We began this journey in October of 2010.  Things had changed at our previous school. There was not going to be a seventh grade so my daughter would 'age out' of her school and go where? Public school? That would be great if we had not already had such a bad experience with the school in our district.  I don't mean just a bad experience, I mean, from the day we enrolled her, to the school nurse, the school counsellor, the school board and the two teachers she had. Neither wanted to be there. One was on her way out and the teacher who replaced her took the job while she was waiting to be offered a job as a professor of a local university. It was the worst.
    We decided that we would not drive 45 minutes per day to take children to separate schools, so that severely narrowed our search. We only found one fully accredited school within a reasonable distance that we both liked. The problem? It was almost double the price we had been paying for tuition in years past. 
    I researched homeschooling as a last resort.  I did not like the labels that came with homeschooling and I definitely did not like that there was simply no oversight.  I could simply keep my children home and never teach them a thing. I would never get into trouble. ~ Not a great plan.  But, I tried to keep an open mind and went on a mission to find curriculum and materials. 
     I wish I could get those two weeks of my life back. That was a nightmare that simply would not end. I spoke to other homeschool moms and was told, "Yes, there are things you purchase that you never use." or "We purchased 'X' curriculum one year and it was too frustrating. It was wasted and we purchased a different one the following year."
    I reviewed several math and science textbooks before I realized that I was indeed seeing a theme. Marketing. Once I got past the 'promise' of a solid Christian curriculum, I often found that the texts were far too watered down.  (Think of how you would explain murder to a four year old.)  It was so fluffy and gentle so as not to offend any particular group that most lacked any real substance.  Some of the textbooks were absolutely insulting.  I had to double check the grade level several times as many seemed to be written on a second or third grade reading and comprehension level.
    So... after speaking to a few degree toting teachers, I realized homeschooling was not going to be our best fit. I had heard of virtual education before, and have taken many classes online in the past, but I was skeptical that this could be effective for younger children.
    After I had resolved myself to paying more than I could easily afford to the private school, I ordered information from a virtual school.  I checked the reviews from parents who had been using the virtual program and read as many articles as I could find on the subject. I read the most angry and disappointed parental reviews and researched testing scores. 
   I spoke to the K12 staff a few times and I really started to consider this as a possibility.  I researched the curriculum K12 used and felt it was bold and specific. It seemed to be just what I was looking for.  I still had concerns.
     What about PE? How I have counted on allowing my kids to burn off energy in the gym during the harsh winter days. What about the great taboo? Socialization?  Will this change my outgoing, confident children into the shy, withdrawn children who save their smiles only for their safe home? Will they be able to accomodate my youngest child? She races through curriculum and completed two grade levels worth of work last year. 
     K12 said call any time if I had questions.  I have spent hours on the phone with their staff requesting more and more information.  I will say, they are very ready to answer even my most bizarre concerns. It seems they have really "heard it all before."  
    You may be interested in hearing the answers about my youngest child.  I have reservations about labeling her as a 5th grade student, or moving her up again to 6th grade.  She is smaller than other children her age and is "younger".  After discussing my concerns and asking if she would get too bored, I was told that she can advance a grade level in individual subjects, OR we can evaluate with her teacher and myself if it is time to move her up an entire grade level, OR if we feel that is not the right decision, she can add an elective class.
     That one answer may have actually 'sealed the deal'.  Her cognitive and emotional development are not on the same page. I needed to know that she could be herself and still feed her incredible intellectual needs.  I needed to know that there were choices and she would not simply be "stuck".
      As far as then enrollment process...it is not for the weak.  There are a lot of documents to send in.  Also,if your district really does not like to lose students (federal funding), you will need to know the 'open transfer' date and take it very seriously.  Our district does not let go of students willingly after this date.  Ask about it, know it, get your documents in.  Also, just because this is the 21st century, realize that human beings will review each of your documents and then they will be entered into the computer.  This took about a week to complete.

So... here we are.. we began the enrollement process on February 1st. Sometime in June, my children had their website profiles ready. Today, the books and materials arrived for the school year. There was over 100lbs stuffed into five large boxes, including a microscope. It is all very impressive and overwhelming right now. I looked at a few of the workbooks as I put things on the shelf, and I really am impressed with the depth. This is not fluff, this is very specific education. There was an entirely separate set of books for each semester.

The left is a photo of some of the science items that have arrived. Goggles, graduated cylinders, test tubes, petri

The right is a photo of about 60% of the books for ONE child. Notice the inflatable globe and map. That child also received white board as well as 10 bottles of 8oz paints, fabric, canvas, artists paper and brushes and even oil pastels. This all arrived at NO COST to me. Yes, I am impressed. Even the assigned reading for each child was taken care of. The books they were assigned to read arrived with the boxes. Shakespeare, Secret Garden, Pollyanna, and several others.

So.. how is this different than homeschooling? Well, first of all, I am the "coach", not the teacher. The children will be assigned a teacher and will have phone, email and interactive virtual access to their teacher from 7am to 7pm Monday through Friday. If they need help or have a question, they contact their teacher. I am basically the attendance monitor and the person in charge of organization. Talk about back up. I can "teach" the material, or if it is something that I am not familiar with, or just do not have the energy or patience, I can defer to a real teacher. This gives me peace of mind. Both of the children are taking History and Geography. I am great with Geography, but am not nearly as strong in US History, so I was worried.. Then I saw the curriculum. My children will be learning WORLD history and geography! I am thrilled!

So, to sum up. I am overwhelmed by the responsibility of scheduling time effectively for two very different children. Our counsellor has already advised that especially for the younger child, it may take her 4 hours or it may take her 7 hours to complete her work. It is completely dependent on the individual and their learning "style". I can only imagine what the first few weeks will be like. I am sure we will make a few adjustments, but this is the beauty of it all... We can cover all of the subjects in short bursts of time each day, or we can schedule Fridays as Science days if it works best for us. The counsellor strongly recommended that language arts be done daily. But Tuesdays could be Geography and History day... or maybe one child will do better with smaller blocks and the other would prefer the dedicated days. Either way, we will figure it out. My children may not be doctors before they drive, but they are intelligent and love to learn more and more.

I think this may be our greatest adventure yet. So far, the only limitation I see is me, so I will do my best not to fail.

School begins August 18th... So I will post again sometime after that date, just to be accountable. In the meantime, I would appreciate any and all words of encouragement as this is by far the most important challenge in my life now.