k12+/Virtual Schools Fall 2010 - Page 3

[kittie313]

Originally Posted by p1gg1e

Funny sounds like we had similar childhoods! We are in a rural area also. Wonder if we are close LOL

I was in one of the "best" districts also. My parents pulled me in 7th grade and they wish they had done it sooner.

Ive grown up in a musical family. So I will likely be bothered also. So I just tell them we are supplementing then if you don't like it?

ODD is really excited to get the supplies out ( I raided Staples yesterday!)

We may be close, I live east of Columbus (about halfway between C-bus and Zanesville). As far as the music, as soon as you get your teacher assignment contact the teacher and ask for paperwork to be filed to get you approved to go attendance-only, that you want to do private instrumental lessons instead (I told the teacher we were doing violin with dd1 last year and got it approved in less than 2 days, a week later I had my return label) I really need to do this again for dd2, but am a little too lazy. I'm also thinking of dropping dd2's art class and just doing dd1's program for art (or maybe dropping it too, I haven't decided yet really)

[kittie313]

Well, I just spoke with dd1's teacher for this year. We spent about 20min on the phone discussing her and her current level and learning needs, and getting some things scheduled. I'm feeling really good right now about it all. Her teacher is going to assess her right after Labor Day and then we're going to see if she qualifies for title 1 services with the school, and then we are waiting on the testing for her learning issues to be done so that we can get a 504 or IEP in place ASAP to better help her succeed. She also approved my putting off history and science for dd1 until after dd2 finishes her 1st grade science/history so they can do it together, and just asked that we have her join in on the lessons with dd2 so that she's getting hours for it and we keep up with her math and lang arts so she's not behind at all there. Not a problem, so now I'm going to rework my schedule to give us 2 grade levels of those subjects over the year. I'm really pumped now..........

[LilMamiBella]

I have the calendar scheduled to where Wednesdays and Fridays hardly have anything going on. Is it ok when I put that they only work less than 5 hours those days?

[Love_My_Babies]

What do your weekly schedules look like? Our plans haven't been loaded on OLS, and we are newbies. So, I was just wondering how everyone else plans their subjects and days. DS will have K science, art, music and history and 1st math and LA.

[p1gg1e]

Originally Posted by Love_My_Babies

What do your weekly schedules look like? Our plans haven't been loaded on OLS, and we are newbies. So, I was just wondering how everyone else plans their subjects and days. DS will have K science, art, music and history and 1st math and LA.

Ditto!

We finally after resending our paper work are able to view the system! Hopefully our stuff with come next week!

[kittie313]

Well I'm off to a productive start already for the day. DD1 did her phonics lesson this morning before her other sisters woke up, then shortly after we had breakfast dd2 did her phonics and handwriting practice. Here soon my h will call on his morning break to remind me to do history, and once we get off the phone I'll do history. Then after lunch I'll do math with the big girls, and at some point today I'll do a reading lesson with dd3. Oh, and I promised the girls we'd get out the pastels today and do self-portraits............... *sigh* lol so that's where we stand for today, I am hoping this weekend that among all our other stuff (I have a leadership meeting tomorrow at 11am and then we promised my cousin that this week we'd come check out his church on sunday) I can manage to finish that last 3 college assignments. They are just simple stuff, but time consuming, so I'm going to need to spend some time really working on those this weekend.

Whew, I'm already tired just thinking about all that.

[LilMamiBella]

We were able to do school Wed, Thurs, and today. Both kids ages 8 and 11 want me to sit next to them the whole time! Not to mention I have two younger ones who want to climb on me or sit on my lap and nurse. I feel like the 11yo can easily do this on his own. The problem is he doesn't read directions and flies through everything. He told me 30 mins after we started that he was done doing 4 lessons! He skipped through without reading everything and then did the little quizzes at the end (and getting it wrong!). Dd age 8 needs me to constantly direct her through the whole thing. After each question I have to tell her what to do even through she can read it herself. I'm so frustrated! For physical education, I'm doing the active lifestyle. They both do 2 hours of dance each week and dd will be doing an hour of gymnastics so I thinks its doable. Its just that dance doesn't start till next month though and so I need to come up with things for them to do.

[elanorh]

Originally Posted by Love_My_Babies

What do your weekly schedules look like? Our plans haven't been loaded on OLS, and we are newbies. So, I was just wondering how everyone else plans their subjects and days. DS will have K science, art, music and history and 1st math and LA.

We followed their default schedule last year -- for K, it was:
Monday: Math, Language, Phonics,
Tuesday: Math, Language, Phonics, Science, Music
Wednesday: Math, Language, Phonics, History, Art
Thursday: Math, Language, Phonics, Science, Music
Friday: Math, Language, Phonics, History, Art

.... Talk with your teachers about moving things around and whether they want you to do 5 hours/day even then .... Frankly, our teacher told us that "They expect students to do about five hours a day," because of attendance things from the public school system. I read between the lines (as I suspect she wanted me to do) -- what we did was entered the full estimated time for each course every day -- even when we finished much quicker. And, remember, you can enter time for any of the subject areas BEYOND what they expect. So, days we were traveling and spent the morning at a history museum, we would enter 3-4 hours of history that day even though we didn't complete a history lesson on the k12 curriculum that day. So the teachers may be OK with you doing that if you're subbing something like that those days.

In all honesty there were many days where I entered full attendance without entering any assessments -- and other days where I entered assessments and attendance for work Ina had completed over the weekend or etc. I know our teacher knew what we were doing but didn't care because Ina was doing well .... I think some teachers are far more strict about this than others though.

[phatchristy]

Hi ladies!

I used to be a rather active mdc'er however the last year or so have not been around so much! We just recently started the enrollment in our state's virtual school...we did have the public school experience for a few years and it was a mixed experience. I personally always had leaning towards homeschooling, but felt at the time that I lacked the knowledge about setting up an elementary curriculums, etc (though I used to teach secondary math and science). Working with the girls and finding out about this program which was just expanded this year in our state made me take the plunge. Though, by golly I admit I'm nervous!!! I know my girls with thrive and my oldest daughter especially has always had a strong desire to homeschool.

I have read little on the whole homeschooling concept, mainly as I thought that my dh was not supportive of the idea. But, especially after last year and our experience with the schools not supporting my daughter's needs to read at her own level instead of being held back to those of the others in her class made it especially frustrating. I think I posted about that a while back here on mothering!

So, we will be taking the plunge! Trying not to be nervous, it sounds great from what I've read!

[p1gg1e]

Originally Posted by elanorh

In all honesty there were many days where I entered full attendance without entering any assessments -- and other days where I entered assessments and attendance for work Ina had completed over the weekend or etc. I know our teacher knew what we were doing but didn't care because Ina was doing well .... I think some teachers are far more strict about this than others though.

A friend of mine told me the SAME thing. Its an estimated time with each lesson so say they are to do 1 lesson and its says estimated 30 min. then you log 30min.

Now I'm a newbie so I'm just going by what my friend told me.

I'm hoping to focus on a subject a day rather then 5 a day...we will see...

[kittie313]

Originally Posted by p1gg1e

A friend of mine told me the SAME thing. Its an estimated time with each lesson so say they are to do 1 lesson and its says estimated 30 min. then you log 30min.

Now I'm a newbie so I'm just going by what my friend told me.

I'm hoping to focus on a subject a day rather then 5 a day...we will see...

I did the same thing last school year that your friend said. Especially with my second girl. We'll do a history lesson as an example. History says to take 45 minutes, but if dd2 spent only 15-20 minutes on history before passing the test then I logged the full 45min unless she really really wanted to keep going, then I did another lesson or we dug deeper. Same with math. I had days where dd2 would test out of a unit completely, taking 10 minutes to do it, so I would mark the full hour anyway. And on days she actually DID the lesson I think I spent less than 20min again on the material before she had it down. Yet I would still log the full hour because honestly, we did an hour of work even though it took us almost no time at all.

Although, this year since we're combining the girls for history, science, and probably art (haven't decided yet though) we are actually attempting to spend the scheduled amount of time on all subjects. Meaning, that 60min it says I should spend on a math lesson will happen, just that dd2 will probably do 3-5 days of math each day. She'll pass up dd1 in math in NO TIME flat at that pace, but I know she'll be fine as long as I keep math as a separate subject like I am doing now. She'll probably also pass dd1 in phonics as well, which is mildly unsettling.

Hmmmmmm I have a discussion I'm going to take over the the learning at school forum, if you can sneak over and reply on it I'd appreciate it. It really is a situation I feel would be better to get input from the at-school crowd too so I can see different angles.

[mattemma04]

I have not done online school since dd was is K,but I still look into posts on it.I would focus on the work and not stress so much over how long it took to do something with dd.

If they ever get back into online schooling I plan to do the same and mark off the recommended times whether we spend 10 mintues or 2 hours on a task. My focus will be they learn it and retain the info.The whole 187 days or 900 hours of schooling required yearly was always a bit generic to me.

Hope everyone has a great year!

[p1gg1e]

Originally Posted by mattemma04

The whole 187 days or 900 hours of schooling required yearly was always a bit generic to me.

Hope everyone has a great year!

YES! and we aren't herding 30 kids from one activity to the next say that in public school they are in the school for 5 hours but they will likely only do 2.5 hours of real work and learning if that because of the setting up and down and settling kids from one thing to the next.

I see it as this activity = equivalent to 1 hour. If your child gets done in a public school setting or is way ahead then they don't get more work. They have to go at the pace of the class and the max time allowed to everyone.

[kittie313]

OK tell me if this idea sounds even remotely possible for dd1.

Our first unit of math+ orange is counting to 500. She needs to say, read, and write the numbers plus some other things involving place value and adding/subracting and such. I was thinking, her BIGGEST struggle is with place value. So I am considering taking the lesson in unit 1 for place value and doing it, while incorporating the lessons for counting, reading, and writing up to 500 at the same time. Does this sound even REMOTELY possible to do effectively with her? I sent off a k-mail a few minutes ago to her teacher to see if she thinks it would be effective and if she was ok with it as an *alternative* lesson (I'm still using the materials, but I have to completely rewrite things for dd1 often to get the concept to stick with her, particularly when it comes to math). This came as a total ah-HA moment with her while my h was working with her on counting to 500 and he managed to get her going up somewhere into the 200's before she got too frustrated to keep going. If I can catch her not frustrated I think she could pass the assessment for lesson 1 with a little patience but she gets flustered so easily and hates being helped when she struggles and doesn't test well in general, so I usually take more of an observation approach for assessments in some things (particularly math, we will work on a concept and during the practice when she starts to click I'll add in the assessment problems as part of practice, and if she nails them then I mark it passed and she doesn't even know she was being tested).

[Hopefulmama]

PA Cyber Weekly Schedule

We are doing K-5 Little Lincoln w/PA Cyber. If you are or have been doing their LL curriculum, what was your schedule like? DD will be attending one of their "learning centers" for classes one morning a week. By the time we get home from there, I don't see her wanting to give attention to school work. So we are going to have to figure that out. Do you do the lessons at the same time each day or whenever it fits into your day? I would love to establish a routine. I kind of feel like doing it first thing in the morning would be best so that it is done and accomplished before we get involved in other things. What have you found to work for your family? Does anyone know if the classes that they take at the learning centers count for school for that day ( I know dance counts as p.e.) or if you have to do the LL curriculum for the day as well?

[Love_My_Babies]

Still totally frustrated with the disconnect between K12 and our virtual school. The problem seems to be a lack of organization and communication within the school, not so much with K12. We had our orientation on Friday, which was a total waste of time. No one seems to know what to do and I am on the verge of just sending everything back and homeschooling without the virtual school.

Ok, just had to rant. Very upset about all of this.

Originally Posted by Hopefulmama

We are doing K-5 Little Lincoln w/PA Cyber. If you are or have been doing their LL curriculum, what was your schedule like? DD will be attending one of their "learning centers" for classes one morning a week. By the time we get home from there, I don't see her wanting to give attention to school work. So we are going to have to figure that out. Do you do the lessons at the same time each day or whenever it fits into your day? I would love to establish a routine. I kind of feel like doing it first thing in the morning would be best so that it is done and accomplished before we get involved in other things. What have you found to work for your family? Does anyone know if the classes that they take at the learning centers count for school for that day ( I know dance counts as p.e.) or if you have to do the LL curriculum for the day as well?

I can't answer your question, but I know that our virtual school just added Little Lincoln as a curriculum option. It has been discussed on the school Facebook page, and I will let you know if I hear anything from other parents.

[kittie313]

What is Little Lincoln? I'm going to have to go look into this and see what it is.................

[elanorh]

Cat, your plan sounds workable to me. Let us know whether you do decide to do it that way, and how it goes.

LMB, I think whatever works for each family (in terms of scheduling). In an ideal world, I would prefer to take my walk/shower while the girls play and gradually get going for the day; then do 3 lessons in the morning, take a break/lunch, then do a couple lessons after that (most days it's 4/5 lessons). And then some activities (like swim lessons) later in the day.

In my *real* world -- the schedule is pretty fluid. Days go better when I can do it that way, but for instance, Thursday is story day at the library. That means that I don't do any school Thursday 'til after lunch. Wednesday is Ina's weekly art class, and our 'awful' day, with lots going on - we usually bring school and do 2-3 lessons between the art class and swim lessons that day and for whatever reason, that's usually the first school I get in that day (after 3pm).

I am not a regimented, scheduled person. Large to-do lists, we get things done, but 'routine' would be a loose description of how our days go. I do try but I don't worry about it.

**
Talked with our new teacher on the phone today. She seems nice. We will have *THREE* weekly elluminate sessions - two are "all the first graders" together in a classroom setting, and one is a weekly 1:1 with the teacher. No parent/teacher calls except 1/semester (this may be because I'm a returning learning coach?). I am really not excited about the two 'class' elluminate sessions. Color me scrooge, but it'll be 45 minutes out of those days which will NOT be completing any school work per se (time in school, but not completing any coursework, per the teacher). She says it will be mostly 'fun learning games and interactive time.' So I'll spend that time trying to make sure Ina's participating and trying to keep SJ from being too loud or trying to join in. Yes, I have a bad attitude on this. I'm trying to work on it as I want Ina to have a positive attitude about these sessions but so far I'm not feeling too positive myself. At least we don't start 'til mid-September; and she did say that they aren't "mandatory," and it will be OK to miss when we're traveling.

We are ordering the new math curriculum, she said we should just take unit assessments until we find one she doesn't pass, and then start the new curriculum there. So that's good.

Anyway, school starts "officially" here tomorrow morning. SJ is really excited, she's planning to start school tomorrow too (!). So -- we've got some activities for her. Parents with littles: in my experience, the language, history, science, art, and music will all work with younger siblings joining in (Susan turned 3 last year, and turns 4 this fall).

[kittie313]

Well, Missa's teacher thinks that it may be very effective since Missa's more of a "big picture" kind of kid. I got the go-ahead on it, so today we're going to rewrite the whole unit and rearrange it so it is more effective for Missa. The teacher knows that I'll likely spend a few days working with no progress to show, then have 3-5 lessons of assessment scores plugged in at one time. So we're going to see how it goes, I have a feeling that the way I'm going to teach the material is going to be more effective for her style.

So we starting logging attendance tomorrow, so today I'm starting our full swing schedule. Right now Missa is doing some copywork that I gave her, while Lydia is pouting and crying because she's not really ready to be awake yet but refuses to admit it. Yep, it will be a good routine once we all get used to it I think.

[mykdsmomy]

Cat, we've been using K12 (in Ca.) for several years off and on. The one thing I've heard over and over again is "teach to the objective". The curriculum is like a buffet and they offer a lot of different activities. Don't worry so much on how it's set up....just look at the objective for that chapter or unit and as long as your dd is getting it, mark it complete That's what we've been told anyway. hth