K12/Virtual Academy Fall 2009 - Page 2

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by EXOLAX

Rynna, I have to say info I've heard from you helped us make the decision to do K12 for YDD. So, thanks!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by eclipse

For LA, we didn't do many of the little projects - like I know there was a color book, etc.

Yeah, this is my second time not doing those.

As it was, she finished 1st grade math in about March of last year (her k year) and we decided not to order 2nd grade math until this school year because I didn't want to be starting 3rd grade math this school year with a 6 year old who doesn't like to write - it was hard enough last year doing it with my 7 year old. (There's a lot more writing in 3rd grade math, because there's no work book provided.)

I can respect that; I'm doing math 4 this year with a six year old who doesn't like to write. Fun times, fun times. That said, he's starting OT this year and hopefully if handwriting is less painful and more productive, he'll be more willing to do it. :

[Smithie]

I think I will ask our teacher if we can just do the assessments instead of drudging through the math work and phonics work. James doesn't mind, but it is driving me bonkers. Thanks for the idea, Rynna!

And best of luck to Bean with OT! James has been helped hugely by OT, and I swear it gets even more effective as they get older. Certainly their patience levels and attention span improve!

[EXOLAX]

Originally Posted by eclipse

She probably would have been placed in 1st grade math to start with, but she refused to cooperate with the placement assessment and told me "I don't know" for every question on it.

I thought they did placement testing and was told by k12 that it would be initiated by the teacher. I first spoke with the teacher the 2nd day of school last week and she asked if k12 had initiated one. It would seem in our state with this teacher it is not standard practice. The only thing they do is a standard readiness test which is a state requirement for all schools and she said it was the first course in testing. Her concern is that because we don't know exactly where DD is that she will have some gaps in her learning so it was her suggestion just to do the assessments and test out of lessons while she researchers options. In the meantime we are actually doing the assessments and I did learn that they cover some things in K which DD had not done before (tallying and graphing so far) so I'm going along with it.

This teacher said she had someone start K immediately with 1st grade LA and math last year and it didn't go well because they discovered he was missing some basics which wasn't included in the testing.

Originally Posted by eclipse

As it was, she finished 1st grade math in about March of last year (her k year) and we decided not to order 2nd grade math until this school year because I didn't want to be starting 3rd grade math this school year with a 6 year old who doesn't like to write - it was hard enough last year doing it with my 7 year old. (There's a lot more writing in 3rd grade math, because there's no work book provided.)

It would seem DD will move quickly and I'm glad to hear you can progress through K and 1st still in one year. I was concerned that she might get through K and start 1st and not finish it before the school year was out. I did just look and she is 40% complete with math and 23% complete with phonics and we've only been in school for 7 full days.

I thought we had to turn in physical copies of the assessments. I know DD knows the sounds to all UC/LC letters, common blends, vowels, and basic rules (silent e, vowel combination's etc.). I have been running her through the actual phonics assessments assuming someone would ask me to produce them. She really does not like them though so it's slower going.

Thanks for the BTDT sharing! It's been very helpful. I'm pleased I happened upon this thread.

[eclipse]

I'm not sure what state you're with, but with CAVA, we have only had to turn in one assigned piece of work per subject per quarter (or however often they do the face to face meetings). Sometimes my teacher has asked for extra assessments or assignments just to see how they're doing on certain things, and before moving up to the next class the teacher has to do an assessment. When dd was done with K math, we turned in the second semester assessment and the teached just chatted with her and asked a few questions to let her know that dd really got it.

As for assessment test, when we started with CAVA last year, they did online assessments for placement in Math and LA. Since then, CAVA (and maybe other VAs) stopped doing those placement tests and decided that every child would start at grade level and the teachers would assess any placement changes. My teacher seemed really annoyed by this, and pointed out how much time some kids would have lost to this system.

[Marlet]

Can someone tell me how the kindergarten works? I've been tempted to do this with DD1 for alot of the same reasons others have posted (free and transitioning into homeschooling). When I looked into it before it seemed my state (Idaho) required end of year testing for ALL grades. I don't want to do it if there is going to be an emphasis on testing. If I decide I don't like this system/set up can I just stop or am I required to finish out the year? Do I have to have contact with a teacher? I prefer not to and if I have to I'd prefer to do it through email. I DO NOT want to have to talk to someone over the phone if I don't have to. I guess what I'm asking is, is it easy to use this without having to interact with the school system much? Can I be as independant with it as I want?

[elanorh]

Marlet,

This is just my first year, and I'm learning on the fly here - but I think that the teacher contact varies from state to state, in terms of how frequently, whether it's face-to-face, or etc. Here in WY, we apparently have to talk to her once a week (on her dime, not mine ). She scheduled a time with me. Then in October, we go to every other week for our phone calls. So far I've had two calls (one 'get to know you' call, and then another two days later on our scheduled call time). She wanted to talk to Ina too - it sounded like she and Ina had a good conversation, and she wasn't weird about how softly Ina talks on the phone. Wanted to know if our boxes had arrived yet, urged me to work ahead on the online orientation course, asked what we were doing for PE, etc. We ended up having a very pleasant conversation and she seems to be pretty much in the mindset that this program is so kids can do less make-work and progess at their own speed, have more time outside or etc. rather than having to be "in school" all the time. That attitude may vary with other teachers though!

I think all Virtual Academies, since it's 'public school,' are required to take the same standardized tests as the brick and mortar students. So, if ID starts testing in K, then your child would need to do the tests too. They require the standardized tests here .... We just take her in to a school that they've arranged for Ina to test at.

You may want to look into (if you can afford it) getting their non-affiliated program. We looked into it, because we thought the teacher etc. was more intrusive than we wanted [before we talked to her, she seems OK so far to us]. But the cost is nearly $5,000/year. We decided we could make this work for this year. I don't know, but I suspect that families who have done this for multiple years probably don't have to be 'checked in on' as much by the teacher?? Maybe that's wishful thinking on my part.

ETA:
I didn't ask about what happens if we stop out of it midyear. I would assume, if you put a child into public or private school, you'd be able to just 'transfer records' to that school. I think when I was first researching k12 here, there was a mom who said she'd pulled her kid out of k12 midyear and just done her own curriculum. I don't know what was involved.

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by EXOLAX

This teacher said she had someone start K immediately with 1st grade LA and math last year and it didn't go well because they discovered he was missing some basics which wasn't included in the testing.

I know a lot of kids who started with first grade math and/or LA and only one of them was unhappy about the placement. I do know of other kids who placed higher in their initial assessments (they used to be standard but now they aren't anymore) but their parents decided to hold them back and enroll them in the grade-appropriate courses; Most were happy with that decision as well.

As for me, Bean started kindergarten with Math 1 and looking at the kindergarten curriculum, I'm so glad he did. The only thing that they cover in the kindergarten math curriculum of which Bean was not capable (and truth be told, he's barely capable of it now) was actually writing the numbers and number words. He recognized the number words, but he had/has a very hard time with the physical act of writing by hand.

I thought we had to turn in physical copies of the assessments.

This will vary not only with your VA but occasionally with your situation. Because of the rate at which Bean devoured curriculum, we had to send more work samples and hard copies of all kinds of things. I chose to mail work samples to the teacher rather than scanning & sending them as attachments to kmail, because kmail only allowed(s?) one attachment per message and I had 30 pages or so of work samples each month. This year our VA will be collecting work samples differently; Instead of each month they'll be quarterly, and kindergarten samples will be collected when the kids have AIMSWeb screenings. I'm not sure how this will work with Bean, though. We'll see!

Originally Posted by Marlet

I don't want to do it if there is going to be an emphasis on testing.

Unless Idaho starts testing students in kindergarten, there won't be an 'emphasis on testing.' In Pennsylvania, students in grades three, five, eight and eleven are required to take standardized tests. Most students in kindergarten and first grade (at least) in public schools have some kind of screening for basic literacy and numeracy. Agora does AIMSWeb for students in grades K-2.

If I decide I don't like this system/set up can I just stop or am I required to finish out the year?

The process you'd go through would be just like withdrawing from any public school. I'm not familiar with the procedure for Idaho, but another homeschooler from your state should be able to tell you.

Do I have to have contact with a teacher? I prefer not to and if I have to I'd prefer to do it through email. I DO NOT want to have to talk to someone over the phone if I don't have to. I guess what I'm asking is, is it easy to use this without having to interact with the school system much?

It will depend on your VA, but regular contact with the teacher will probably be required; At least weekly via Kmail, probably monthly or so by phone and they'll probably want some kind of face-to-face contact once or twice a year.

Can I be as independant with it as I want?

You can purchase K12 independently, but if you work through a VA your child will be a public school student who works at home, rather than a homeschooler.

[elanorh]

Did anyone have to 'attend' (virtually) a "Welcome Session"? I have one scheduled for tomorrow at 9am. Just wondering what to expect ... it sounds like an online presentation followed by a Q&A.

[eilonwy]

I've been through at least five of them. After the second, I just minimized the window and listened to the audio. K12 has them and I'd be willing to bet that all of the virtual academies have them too.

[Autumn Breeze]

Wow! Lots of posts.

Today is going well so far we are on our 'lunch break' though I have yet to make lunch. They're having a snack and watching something on PBS until 12:30 then it's time for Language Arts.

I was told before signing him up that we'd have to do the Scantron testing to see where he would be placed in his subjects, and that they would tailor the system to him. Apparently in Georgia they're only doing this for 3rd grade and up. Which really sucks, my son is bored with the math. He got a perfect score on the CRCT in the Math section. We are skipping any 'extras' and just going along. We just finished Unit 1 today, I think.

I am not loving these Elluminate sessions. Though I have also MISSED each of them and had to listen to the recording. I don' tknow which is worse, sitting through one live, or pausing one and knowing I have to come back to it. :yawn:

And my questions NEVER get answered. So, anyone doing 2nd grade with GVA, WHEN did you start handwriting? Our L.A. lessons (the last 3) have had a page that says "pick up with handwriting where you left off" but we've never had a "get started" lesson, so it's annoying. For now, we're skipping it. He can write. I also bough 'regular' paper, not the 'learning' paper he had for the last 2 years. So he's getting aquainted with that and learning to write smaller and neater out of necessity. I'm thinking that's probably good enough for us.

We're enjoying History, and made a memory box. It was supposed to be like a 10 minute lesson (ok so the OLS says 60) and we spent like 3 hours going through all these old pictures and things. It was great. I logged attendance for 3 hours for that class. hahaha.

[eclipse]

In theory, you're supposed to just read the HWOT teacher manual and have him just start doing the pages. In practice, uh, my kids hate handwriting practice and we don't usually do it. I try to just work handwriting into other subjects (like if dd is going strong on a math lesson, but consistantly writing her 3 backwards, I'll gently point it out to her and get her writing them the other way.)

[eclipse]

oh, and do you guys HAVE to do the elluminates? I think they're all pretty much optional here. I listened to a few archived ones, and I think a welcome/getting started one last year before school started, but I otherwise ignored them.

[Satori]

Originally Posted by eclipse

oh, and do you guys HAVE to do the elluminates? I think they're all pretty much optional here. I listened to a few archived ones, and I think a welcome/getting started one last year before school started, but I otherwise ignored them.

we've never done a single one.

[Autumn Breeze]

Are you doing a 'public school' virtual academy?

I haven't quite figured everything out. I wasn't planning on relying on anyone else to teach my son, so I was a little disappointed in having a teacher that would have 'a class' each week or whatever it is. I still haven't really talked to his teacher.

If I could opt out of the 'help' but still have all of this for free I would.

[eclipse]

Originally Posted by Autumn Breeze

Are you doing a 'public school' virtual academy?

Yeah, we're with CAVA. My teacher last year would send out a schedule of elluminates that she or other teachers were holding, but they weren't mandatory. If your child needed help with, say, long division and they were holding one about long division, then you could go and listen/participate (or have your child participate), but they were optional. I think she also had elluminate "office hours" where we could go ask for extra help on whatever, but we never used those.

Do you have contact information for your dd's "teacher" ? You might want to call to see what is required and what is optional. If you don't know what teacher is assigned to you, check in at https://totalviewschool.k12.com/cgi-...ViewFamily.woa , click on your student's name, then on the "courses and classroom" tab. That should show a name and phone number (at least mine does!). I haven't heard from our new teacher this year yet, either, but school doesn't officially start for us until 9/8. Since your school year has started, and especially since this is your first year, you might want to be proactive about teacher contact so you don't end up doing a bunch of optional things that you don't really feel like doing.

[Smithie]

Yay and hurray! The teacher said we could buzz through the assessments until he started scoring less than 80%. We got through the first three units and then hit the "tally mark" concept in Unit Four, so I'll teach that tomorrow. I'm going to keep doing the lesson assessments, rather than just the unit level, because I suspect we'll find other places where he's missing a piece and needs to be taught a concept. But all in all, I hope to start Math 1 in January.

[EXOLAX]

Originally Posted by Smithie

Yay and hurray! The teacher said we could buzz through the assessments until he started scoring less than 80%. We got through the first three units and then hit the "tally mark" concept in Unit Four, so I'll teach that tomorrow. I'm going to keep doing the lesson assessments, rather than just the unit level, because I suspect we'll find other places where he's missing a piece and needs to be taught a concept. But all in all, I hope to start Math 1 in January.

Hey! That's the same place we first stopped! Our second stop happened at planes and solids in the geometry unit. I wonder where you'll stop next. You might find yourself in the same situation we are in. DD really enjoys the "math worksheets" (ie, assessments) and wants to spend all her school time doing them. I told her we should do one of the phonics assessments and she started negotiating, "How about after every sentence I read I do a math sheet?". It's some kind of freaky reward system.

I get it though. Both of our kids find some kind of catharsis in doing math worksheets (and I can't stand them). ODD goes to an institutionalized school and they are trying to pull her away from worksheets and numbers work to broaden her view of math. I think it's how their brains are wired. It's something they can figure out how to do relatively intuitively and they can get an immediate satisfaction from it. YDD does not like the phonics assessments at all and I am assuming now it's just because she is not reading stories, she's reading random unrelated sentences. It probably feels more pointless to her and much less rewarding. We're a couple lessons away from the dictation portion someone else mentioned and that might slow her down. We may have to stop and put some focus on handwriting.

So far I like it. I'm actually surprised at how academic it is in some parts (history) and especially in comparison to the Everyday Math curriculum YDD uses at her school.

[EXOLAX]

Originally Posted by Marlet

Do I have to have contact with a teacher? I prefer not to and if I have to I'd prefer to do it through email. I DO NOT want to have to talk to someone over the phone if I don't have to. I guess what I'm asking is, is it easy to use this without having to interact with the school system much? Can I be as independant with it as I want?

I think so much of it depends on the teacher and your state requirements. We have a required 4 conferences with the teacher in a year. We've talked once on the phone and that was to confirm phone number/address and to answer any questions I had. Our teacher setup another conference for end of sept. and it is a phone one. I'm ok with that though, it's easier then going somewhere to meet in person.

I think it's easy to do w/o interaction from the teacher. Ours prefers the internal e-mailing system for communication. She was the one who told me that we didn't have to do the lessons, and to make sure I counted unschooling activities as attendance time. She may be a little more relaxed then most though, I don't know.

[eilonwy]

We started with Math 1, but I too remember thinking that Bean had never seen a tally mark before and we'd have to slow down there. As it turned out, I was wrong-- he knew exactly what they were and how to count with them. In fact, he was terribly excited by tally marks because he was able to write them legibly without any help and without doing it over and over again. Of course, this is the same child who cried when I told him he couldn't write all of his assessment answers in Roman Numerals.

[EXOLAX]

Originally Posted by eilonwy

We started with Math 1, but I too remember thinking that Bean had never seen a tally mark before and we'd have to slow down there. As it turned out, I was wrong-- he knew exactly what they were and how to count with them.

This is what I like about the program. They have the built in lessons but even if you get stopped somewhere you still aren't required to do the actual lesson itself. We had plans the day we got to tallying to meet some friends at a local bagel shop and go to the park. DD decided she wanted to take a poll about which was the most popular favorite color amongst a random sample of people. I was ordering our lunch and she ran off going from table to table. She went around and asked almost 100 different people throughout the day what their favorite color was with her little clipboard. She's precocious but it sure was cute. I enjoyed it when people asked her if she was doing that for school and she said "No, just for fun, I'm practicing". I counted that as the lesson and moved on to the assessment.

Yes, there are lots of assessments, but for us it is helping us to understand where YDD is. I really like that we can go wider with certain things if we want. I had been worried we'd be stuck to their built in lessons doing the activities and worksheets but that isn't the case. We can either use the ones they've set up or create our own. I like that flexibility.