Do you participate in a school program?

[annethcz]

I've seen mention here before of homeschooling programs through public and charter schools. If you participate in a program like this, could you tell me about it?

What does it look like? How many days/week does your child attend school? How long do they stay? What classes do they take? What do you like about it? How could the program be improved?

I've been talking with the director of a local charter school about starting some sort of HS program, and I'm interested in what other programs look like and how they work. Any info you can share would be much appreciated. Thank you!

[ocelotmom]

DS attends an independent study school run through the school district. He has a once a week hour-long teacher meeting (mandatory, though missing on occasion isn't an issue) and three hour-long workshops (one hour one day, two another). At his grade level (1st), these are math/language arts and another that rotates topics (he's been doing science). Older elementary kids have more workshop options. In addition to the workshops, we're required to turn in a weekly assignment log and work samples a few times a semester. They provide textbooks and other resources, but we aren't obligated to use what they provide.

What do I like: Our assigned teacher is very supportive and able to work with families with very different homeschooling styles and reasons for homeschooling. My son enjoys the workshops, and it takes some of the pressure off me in terms of things like art and science projects, which aren't my forte. I have access to a real school district if I need testing or anything.

Neutral: I don't enjoy the assignment record, but it does provide motivation to actually do stuff, which can be a problem for me.

What I don't like: The short duration of the workshops is a problem for us, with a younger sibling, DH working from home, and me being gone on workshop days. DH has problems with how the workshops are run (running late, that sort of thing). The curriculum provided is IMO absolutely horrible and useless (standard public school textbooks), though they do have some other resources available for checkout which are somewhat more reasonable.

The charter schools in the area provide money for materials and activities, and we'll probably jump ship for that next year. We love our teacher (families stay with the same teacher year to year), but not being able to afford to do what we want while being stuck in a system that provides limited benefit is getting old.

[madis81]

My DC attends a part-time homeschool program at a local charter school. She attends two 1/2 days each week. They do the usual things at arrival (circle time, calendar, Pledge of Allegiance), and they do work on phonics, then they read-aloud, learn Spanish on both days, and once a week they have music and art. I really like the music, art, and Spanish. These are subjects I felt less able to teach at home, which is why we chose this program (all the other stuff is just fluff to us). That, and she really wanted to make friends, but it turns our she is one of four girls in her class, and the other girls include a set of twins and a friend they go to church with, so I think that while she likes attending and adores the teachers, she feels a little left out.

Overall, I think the program is great. The only issue I've had is that sometimes we feel like they forget that we are MAIN educators, not them. Though, that is more the administration at the school and not the teachers. The teachers have been fabulous! I just think the administration is more focused on head count, because they do receive extra funding through the program.

[artgoddess]

We do independent study through a charter school. I love it. Our school is brand new, only it's second year running and this is the first year of independent study so they are just figuring out how they want to run things. This gives the parents the lead. I lean a little more toward unschooling my son at home. Our schooling involves a lot of being outside and exploring. Or just reading books. Talking about math, when he brings it up. That sort of thing. But once a week he has a 70 minutes class at the charter school. A math and language arts class. The class is timed to finish just when the first graders are going to lunch. So we pack and bring lunch and he has lunch with and plays with the school kids after class. I do have to check in every 20 school days with a log of what we have been doing. That's where i get to spell out that say, our discussion about homonyms and coming up with words that sound alike but mean different things was actually a language arts and spelling lesson.

[phathui5]

We don't do anything with a school, but if I could get some art and music classes (especially where the kids could learn an instrument), we might consider it.

[atreyyena]

up here in Alaska there are a lot of homeschool charter schools. Most of them follow a pretty similar format: they give out so much money depending on grade level to each kid to spend on homeschooling, and then have teachers (in some programs you're required to have a sponsor teacher, in others they are optional) and classes as resources. They all have their own diploma, and proms and other 'schooly' options.

Also you can sign up for school up to half time and still be part of the program, all your choice. But AK is probably the most relaxed state in the whole US. (which is has it's good and bad points).

[darcytrue]

My DD is taking an art class through a local private school in the area this year. She loves it but only goes for 45 minutes a week. I mainly enrolled her so she could mingle with others her own age since we don't do girl scouts or aren't part of a real homeschool group (those don't work for us ). My kids also have been taking a PE at a local rec center for the past two years that is set up for homeschooled kids and they love it!

[MamaMonica]

Charter schools are not legal in this state, but we have hybrid programs for home schoolers through the public school district.

The one we are in now offers a selection of classes- art, science, languages, math, music, drama, history, PE, band, etc. like college in a way because you pick from the schedule and show up for just those classes. You need an overall learning plan and have to update it to get funds through the school district (the school gives parents a percentage of the money they get from the state for enrolling a student). The teachers keep attendance for the classes and mark progress as satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Some of the teachers are paid, some are parent volunteers.

Students are officially public school students, not home schoolers if they attend full time. You can also attend part-time and remain under the homeschool laws (but receive no funds).

Parents determine how many hours kids spend on the campus. We go twice a week for a half day each time.

ETA- what I don't like: the complex array of rules and regulations and needless paperwork. And that parents need to be on campus. I would prefer a drop-off program for a few hours.

What I like: the quality of most classes and teaching is good. It's a great opportunity for the kids to be with other kids and they let them talk to each other in class and do many hands on projects.

[AAK]

I currently homeschool my two oldest (Yea! DH finally agreed to keeping our first grader at home now). My oldest is enrolled in the public schools thing for homeschoolers. However, we are maintaining our homeschooling status. She is enrolled as a 1/2 student through that and they give us half the dollars that the full time student gets. She is also enrolled one day a week in the gifted and talented program. I love the gifted program. The other is ok too now that we made it work for us. DD goes one afternoon and receives spanish, art, science, and PE. We do science at home and couldn't care less about that class. We also do art at home, but the school has a kiln and does a lot of projects with that. Also, the teacher is awesome for art and teaches her stuff beyond me. Spanish is the reason she is signed up at all. She loves languages and I don't speak spanish. PE is a nice bonus, because while she stays active at home, this class involves all the grades in the program and they play lots of fun games that need a group, they also do relays, play with scooters, etc. That teacher is great too. Actually, all the teachers are fabulous and the classes are small 12 is the max. They combine K and 1st, then 2nd and 3rd, 4th-6th is together. The only thing I don't really like is logging in and submitting "progress" each month. Sometimes it is hard to do since I try not to rely on workbooks, etc. They also want you to list some sort of measurement of progress. I don't do this for all subjects and they haven't ever had an issue with me, but it is the idea that they could that bothers me. I also have to certify that we worked a certain number of hours on coursework. I like to be honest, but the expectations are unreal as listed. Therefore, my learning plan for her includes a class called "life skills" and is kind of a blanket--sewing, crafting, cooking, shop, budgets, household organization is all under that topic. I also have PE/health also listed. I wanted to be able to count all the hours that she spends doing things that I feel are valuable, but aren't under typical coursework.

Amy

[briansmama]

We have several charters to choose from here in So California. We chose the one with no learning center or resource library because it passes the most ed funds onto each student that can be used towards any educational activity and resources chosen by the parents (as long as they are secular).

Our charter supports parental choice so everything we use for education is up to us (no textbooks, worksheets, or standardized curriculum if we don't want to).

We meet with an educational specialist from the school for 1 hour per month so she can record what ds is studying and chart his progress for his records.

Cons: Beginning in 2nd grade, ds will be required by the state (not the charter) to take a standardized test every year.

I also don't like having to take pictures and/or document learning because it happens all the time. But, sample requirements are very minimal and worth it for us because ds has access to lots of fun classes using the ed funds we wouldn't otherwise do.

The charter doesn't offer any classes or days in class, which is exactly why we chose this program. I'd rather find little cottage classes with other homeschoolers facilitated by passionate experts than general ed teachers, so this gives us the freedom to do that.

HTH!

[yllek]

My son attends a private school that is structured as a classical education classroom/homeschool hybrid program. (Did you get that? Because I always feel like it's such a mouthful to say! ) Even though it's a private school, it was initially based on a similar program that is publicly funded charter school, so maybe something here will give you an idea or two.

Students attend class on campus at least two days a week and homeschool the other three. Classes are multi-age (except for kindy). The "primary" level covers grades 1-3, "intermediate" covers grades 4-6, and the middle school level combines grades 7 and 8. The school determines the curricula in some subject areas, while the parents choose curricula in others. Everyone uses the same math program, one that I detest, at least for my son’s grade level (kindy). Perhaps it is better for older students. In kindergarten, classroom instruction covers some math and science, a bit of phonics and writing, some art, and mostly follows the approach of FIAR (literature-based program with lots of extension activities in the other subject areas). In the other grades, the school uses a history spine (a la SOTW and The Well-Trained Mind). Classroom teachers do some math and science instruction, some reading, some writing, some art and group projects, but mostly they seem to do a whole lot of history-based activities.

Students also have the option of taking additional “enrichment” classes. The school offers a TON of choices here: art, music, choir, hands-on science, robotics, computers, fencing, yoga, crafts, language, culture (studying a region or country), etc.

For homeschool, parents do some assigned activities related to classroom instruction, but mostly they handle the skill areas — math practice, reading, phonics, writing, grammar, spelling, copywork/dictation — and extra-curricular stuff — art, music, physical education, health, keyboarding, etc.

There are no grades. All assessments are descriptive and portfolio-based. Class sizes are small (capped at 12 per class). The school sponsors lots of parent-education workshops, seminars, and meetings to help parents with the homeschooling process.

My son *LOVES* going to campus. He loves his teacher, his classmates, recess, lunchtime, the field trips, the “schooly-ness” of it all. He also really loves staying at home for homeschool. He is such an eager little guy for every homeschool session. Most mornings, he is usually sitting at the desk waiting for his homeschool teacher to get started. Seriously.

I think that it’s awesome that he gets to see other kids regularly and do some academic work together, but he totally gets to go at his own pace and have individually tailored instruction for things like reading, writing and math.

I’m not sure that I really like everything about this school, but I’m a hard woman to please. I really can't stand the FIAR activities. While it's fine for literature study, when FIAR takes the place of a more systematic approach to history, geography, social studies and science, all the concepts are just a jumbled mess. The school in general spends so much time on writing, classic literature and cute little history activities that I don’t think the school does justice to math and science (one of the problems that I'm having with the "spine" approach to organizing scope and sequence). I'm not a big fan of some of the assigned work. There has been too much busywork, imo, and some of the classical education stuff doesn't seem to be jive with research in cognitive development. There is also quite a pronounced religious (Christian) flavor to the school culture, although it claims to be non-religious. Still, the classroom/homeschool hybrid thing has been a wonderful kindergarten experience for ds, so I can’t complain too much.

[annettemarie]

Kind of. In PA, schools must, by law, allow homeschool kids to participate in extra-curricular activites. This is not defined as only activities that take place after school, but also includes non-graded school time activities which, in our case, means the music program. I have two kids now in elementary orchestra-- my oldest is in his third year of playing cello and my daughter is in her first year of playing violin. They do it at two different elementary schools, so every other week we're taking one or the other for a half an hour. DH just takes his lunch over orchestra time and takes the kids. Our school district has a nationally know music program, so even though the set up is a pain, we feel like we'd be foolish not to take advantage of it since (a) it's free and (b) we're paying into the system anyway.

It's been a great experience, all told.

[vbactivist]

I homeschool my kids, and my 10 year old has participated in the band program through our local public school for the last 2 years. He goes for individual lessons for 1/2 hour during the day (the kdis that attend school are pulled out of class) and goes to band practice afterschool (all students in the 5th grade go afterschool). If we continue on for 6th grade, he would have to go for one hour a day m-f. Someone in town has already paved the way though, so it's pretty easy to do. We don't pay anything extra, just a small fee, but even the enrolled students hae to pay it. I'ts around 60 dollars per year.

[Bird Girl]

We're in a homeschool charter in no. California. Our charter does offer classes on some Wednesdays, and DD goes to those. They are very open-ended, and, in my view, mostly a vehicle for socialization. They also sponsor activity days which I make it a point to attend, again, for social reasons. We meet with our educational consultant, whom I love, every month, and she not only charts our progress, but will recommend materials or activities for certain topics. We can check out materials from them, like our math textbook and our handwriting book, but we are free to choose any other material we are willing to pay for. It's a good balance that works for us. DD will also be taking the standardized tests this year for the first time, but that's a non-issue for me, as she doesn't suffer any testing anxiety and I'm sure she will do very well.