K12/Virtual Academy Fall 2009 - Page 9

[GinaRae]

Subbing!

We decided this morning to enroll my 3rd grader into K12 and pull him from school. The deadline for enrollment unless we want to wait until March is the 29th, so this was a bit rushed for hubby since I JUST discussed homeschooling with him MONDAY. This isn't a new thought for me (a few years in the running) but it's not something I'd really discussed much with hubby (except to mention I might homeschool our youngest).

He's not a happy camper, but K12 helps us financially and with the transition to homeschool from public school and it is a compromise for hubby who doesn't know if homeschooling is the best idea yet.

I am REALLY hoping for the best here! Looking forward to reading everything on this thread...

[GinaRae]

Has anyone else pulled their child mid-school year from a brick & mortar school to start this? I have a few concerns about how easy or hard this will be. I'm so afraid we're going to start this, the teacher will hear about it and we'll be stuck in this paperwork hell for weeks while Jack is just waiting to exit school.

Originally Posted by faerierose

My dd is going to try k-12 through the Oklahoma virtual academy this year. She will be in second grade.
I've been having the worst time getting her enrolled because the paperwork I send seems to go strait to oblivion. I've sent this stuff almost a dozen times in half a dozen different formats and it either disappears or isn't in the right format, it's been incredibly frustrating. The "Personal Admissions Liaison" has finally got the last piece of paperwork needed this morning: I'm so glad not to have to deal with that any more.

Yikes! Has anyone else had this issue? Forgive me if this has been covered -- I am making my way through the thread!

[elanorh]

Welcome, Gina Rae!

I think that the enrollment will vary from state to state. It's a good idea to get the name of whoever you're working with so you can refer back to it if you need to ("Jane D. said I should submit the form this way, was that incorrect?").

Our enrollment went very easily I think. The most difficult was probably just figuring out where we were in the process; we submitted everything on the same day, but it was in August and I know it has to be their busiest time of the year. It just takes the system awhile to 'know' that you're 'in.'

We're doing k12 this year for the same reason - get our feet wet, get used to it, before we jump whole-hog into homeschooling on our own. I know I really need the structure of k12; I'm a procrastinator and if I were not answering to anyone (really) then I would be very likely to put things off.

[lovinlife1219]

The fairy tales truly frighten my DS! We got about halfway through Jack and the Beanstalk when he started crying and said to "throw the book away!"

I felt so bad! I talked with his teacher, she said to try the library for more mild versions, and if they don't have it...just skip it and read something else. Which is no problem, of course, we have a gazillion books! I think I will just have to read through each story the night before and plan something different, just in case.

We got our box a couple of weeks late, but we are closer to catching up now. We are going to do tally marks today for math because I don't know if he knows how to do that yet.

[GinaRae]

I enrolled him yesterday but won't submit all the papers until probably next week (we need doc's appointment and the school receptionist's cooperation to get everything in).

I'm wondering how long it will take and when I should pull Jack from school. I'm actually really nervous about this today. I have a lot sitting on my shoulders and a lot of unknown ahead

[EXOLAX]

GinaRae - we did not have any issues with the paperwork. I faxed it all in together with the name of the name of the person who was assigned to our registration as well as our DD's school id. There is a tracking page you can use online to see your status as well once you get a login and what they have recived.

[EXOLAX]

Consider k12 for 8 year old ODD now too....

Can anyone give me some insight into the older grades?

We are doing K12 for K right now. The hour requirements are incredibly minimal, I love that I can look at lesson objectives and choose to either come up with a lesson on my own or use the one they have. I love that DD can assess out of things she already knows to avoid too much repetition of things she has mastered already. We decided to do K12 for K for YDD for a few reasons. 1) we wanted to check it out and see what it was like. 2) we wanted to buy ourselves another year before putting her in the expensive private school her sister goes too. 3) so we could get a much better idea of where YDD was academically before considering putting her in an institutionalized school.

It is going so well that we are seriously considering having ODD (8, 3rd grade) do K12 next year. I have the usual/normal HS'ing concerns, the transition issues etc. but I'm fairly confident we can work through those. DH is in full support of this saying, "I always felt you could educate our kids better then anyone else ever could, I was just waiting for you to figure that out and gain more confidence". YDD has already expressed interest (HS'ing has always been an option we've discussed so it's not a new concept). YDD is a little jealous when she sees ODD 'skip' lessons because she showed mastery and likes the idea of being able to focus on her interests more. She also likes the idea of the community classes YDD is taking to help fill that social need and let her explore other interests. She loves the fact that her 5 year old K sister is now being sent 1st grade math....

What I'd like to know is if K is really giving me a good insight into what the program is like. Both of our girls are advanced. ODD's goals for this school year which we shared with her teacher was a list of things she will most likely not get even in her private school; chemistry in science, working more on algebra, studying religions, developing independent healthy eating habits to help her with her migraines, learning to play the cello well. We supplement her at home with chemistry, religious ed. and math, she will take cello in school but nothing too in depth I fear and if she is passionate about it we can't afford for her to take more classes outside of school (we could if she wasn't going there). I feel like we already supplement her out the wazoo....

Odd says she wants to try virtual school for 4th. I'm nervous, we will have to make the decision by Jan so we are ahead of the game, but I'm really leaning toward it. I'm not sure ODD is sold on it yet, but we do have time. We thought the private school would be a great fit, but 4 years into it we have learned that the academics don't really kick in till HS, maybe middle school. Funny, because I hand picked this school for that reason, not wanting a highly academic environment, wanting a reggio style, project based school that would foster her love of learning. ODD loves school, but wants challenge and academics and they aren't giving it to her. It's a bit ironic.

Do you think k12 would be a good fit for an advanced, driven, passionate about education 9 year old girl who still wants flexibility? Is K giving me a good insight into the older years as well?

Thanks!

[eclipse]

Gina, you don;t actually have to do the physical if that's holding you up. On the form for the medical check up, there's a spot for an exemption.

[eilonwy]

Gina, that will really vary a lot by state... and I've never pulled a kid out of school mid-year, so I have no advice there.

Exo-- I think your older daughter would have a blast with K12. Things don't change too much until around eighth grade (I think), and K12 is doing a lot of work on their high school program right now. Kindergarten is somewhat unique, but 1-4 are all very similar from what I can see, just more depth/detail and higher expectations with each progressive grade level. I would love to see more chemistry in science class, but ...well, I'm a chemist. Bean's really enjoying Science 3, though, and I think it's a blast. Science 4 will probably be a lot of fun for us, too.

[GinaRae]

I'm wondering if they send us all the art supplies we need for Art3 or if we should start putting some supplies together. We're pretty depleted here lately and I haven't restocked since the boys are so focused on other things now. I miss little artsy fartsy boys! Can't wait to do projects again

[eclipse]

Gina, you can see the materials they send you here http://d2.parature.com/ics/support/d...sp?deptID=8179 . You will get some art supples - paint, brushes, pastels, clay . You'll need to get your own paper.

[GinaRae]

Thanks for the support everyone!

Originally Posted by eclipse

Gina, you can see the materials they send you here http://d2.parature.com/ics/support/d...sp?deptID=8179 . You will get some art supples - paint, brushes, pastels, clay . You'll need to get your own paper.

Thanks! I missed that I guess

Originally Posted by eclipse

Gina, you don;t actually have to do the physical if that's holding you up. On the form for the medical check up, there's a spot for an exemption.

We figured that out today. The original PDF packet didn't mention this and I was clueless as to why we would have to do it. Though they're asking for a vax sheet too.

Originally Posted by EXOLAX

I have the usual/normal HS'ing concerns, the transition issues etc. but I'm fairly confident we can work through those. DH is in full support of this saying, "I always felt you could educate our kids better then anyone else ever could, I was just waiting for you to figure that out and gain more confidence".

Heaven! My hubby does NOT share those views. I tell ya, he's a great guy, and he swears he doesn't think I am an idiot, but he elludes to my not being able to do this. It's heartbreaking. I just need to show him he's being ridiculous

[GinaRae]

Originally Posted by eclipse

Yeah, most of third (and fourth) grade LA is in the Classics for Young Readers books. You probably noticed already, but there are also four novel choices sprinkled throughout the year that you need to get on your own (because you and your dd choose from a list of about 20 books). One thing I really don't like about 3rd grade plus in LA is that the reading materials are so. . .blah, I guess. It's not a big deal for ds, but I worry that it will be more of a struggle when DD finishes 2nd grade LA. She still really loves to look at beautiful things, and I think the boring look of the materials will be a problem for her.

If we're picking our own, does anyone have any recommendations for a 3rd grade (8yo) boy who loves music and Legos and Pokemon and writing stories and playing computer games? I know we have to get into the classics, but I want to find what might appeal most to an 8yo boy....you know, since I've never been one of those

Originally Posted by elanorh

Is is me ... or are some of the LA reading things for K a bit ... gendered? We read "Lazy Mary" (poem) today, where Mary wouldn't get out of bed for toast and tea but would for a handsome boy with red cheeks?! Not exactly the tone I'd like to set with my dd, KWIM? I might be overthinking things a bit though eh? I had a similar reaction to the Princess and the Frog (as in, why feature a story with a girl who lies to get what she wants, and treats someone she thinks is ugly in an unkind way ... not to mention that I actually like frogs and so does dd ... then also wondering what it is about telling a girl to put up with something she really dislikes in hopes that the frog will turn into a prince). I feel like the story's subtext is that girls don't like wet/dirty/frog type things, and that girls have to put up with things they don't like from others [frog] and maybe will end up with a prince out of it.

I know I must be overthinking it. We've had some productive discussions while reading and rereading it and I think I've gently covered some of these issues with open-ended questions on my part ....

Has anyone substituted other short stories for the ones they've assigned (after reading ahead)? And I'm already feeling a little bit like I'm inserting myself and my philosophies a little too much into her education if I'm doing this, or am I???

I totally understand this. For my kids I use it as a teachable moment and discuss it all. They pick up on that really well and I hear them mirroring my philosophies in their lives. I don't really think there's anything wrong with outright telling my kids how I feel and how I expect them to handle something if it's a particular kind of issue.

I mean, I have two older boys we've discussed harder issues like sexual harassment with (the schools discuss it too) and I tell them how I feel and what I expect. No flexibility there. But I do also tell them I understand how a young boy might feel when his peers are laughing about breasts, etc.. We understand they might find it funny, but we let them know we expect better and why. Maybe I am overthinking your post though,

Originally Posted by elanorh

Has anyone substituted other short stories for the ones they've assigned (after reading ahead)? And I'm already feeling a little bit like I'm inserting myself and my philosophies a little too much into her education if I'm doing this, or am I???

I think all teachers do that and especially parents. I think it's okay too. They need a place to jump off from and form their own ideas... so long as we're still open to things, I think.

[eclipse]

DS enjoyed "A Wrinkle in Time" (one of my faves from, childhood, too!) and "The Book of Three" (one of a series, the series that the Black Couldron is from).

[eilonwy]

Bean selected Pippi Longstocking for his first Literature choice. He'll probably love it, but we haven't gotten that far yet.

I'm seriously thinking that we should just blow through the literature, GUM, and classics sections so that we can devote the rest of our time to spelling and composition unhindered. Bean's actually really decent with composition, but he hates handwriting (understandably as it's very difficult for him). He's also not a big fan of spelling, and in fact his spelling is pretty awful considering how much he reads and how secure he is in his reading skills. I've always been confused by people who read well and often but who can't spell... but I know that Bean isn't all that strange in this particular respect. I'm willing to deal with it, but I think that finishing everything else will really give us a lot more time to focus on the spelling, at least enough to get him through.

[eclipse]

Rynna, that's why I really, really, really wish they would destrand earlier. 6yo DD is in 2nd grade LA and really could use more focused work on writing and spelling, but with it all being mushed together like it is, it's really hard to separate out.

[eilonwy]

In third grade the curriculum is far more destranded than it is in K/1/2. Spelling, for example, consists of two student books and two teacher's guides which are separate from the literature, language skills and composition books (and teacher's guides). They're still "one grade" but it's a series of different books, so it's a lot easier to separate things.

[kittie313]

Well, Lydia has requested that we do history every day that we do schoolwork. lol I don't mind, we'll just do that and when she finishes K history we'll move on to 1st grade. Hopefully she can finish history K and 1 both this school year, then next school year they can both do history 2 together (although I teach them separately even where they are working together, I prefer doing that so they aren't competing because of their different strengths) At least, I'd like to do this, I don't know if ohva will let us do history 1 with a K'er the second half of the school year.

[eilonwy]

Ask about it, definitely. And keep in mind that the history and art sequences are meant to line up. It's hard to tell in kindergarten, but by the time you get to second grade the art projects and history projects all line up very neatly. You might have to keep up on both of them in order to get the next level of coursework.

[kittie313]

Well, Lydia is already doing art lessons with Melissa, and our teacher knows it. I do art, phonics, lang. arts, and music together and they sit in on each other's history lessons. Next year I plan to ask the teacher to put her in art and history 2 if I can do history 1 this year. If not, then I will just do whatever we're dealt. Of course, that's NEXT school year so I'm not going to think about it until spring, we are committed to what we are doing for this year and I refuse to think about next year when we haven't even finished the first quarter for lessons LOL (although I did ask on the Sonlight choosing forum earlier this week what core would be best for the two if we leave ohva for next school year, just to file in my mind just in case we decide not to use ohva when April hits and we are willing to start discussing next school year's decisions)