k12/Virtual Academy Thread, Fall 2011 - Page 7

[1jooj]

Satori, thanks for the feedback. I guess I can relax a bit over it now. I hope to have some time between receiving the materials and traveling so we can go to stores/order online for supplemental materials and school supplies we may not have an easy time finding (or which are outrageously priced) over here. And then, decide what goes into carryon and what is risked in checked baggage.

5th grader started American history this year, so I think I'd rather supplement than replace. We'll need to keep on with Islamic Studies and Arabic language, and that would all be our own supplemental curricula, and dd recently took up an interest in French, so we'll add that, too. That said, we have opportunities in comparative religions and Middle Eastern and Asian history we'd never have back home. I feel like I need to focus hard with them on LA, math and science.

I know you all have BTDT for a while, but I am really nervous about jumping into this. We're moving to a different city, one with a strong and diverse HS group that I plan to get involved in for extracurricular/social opportunities, and I know my kids will be great. But still nervous about taking on such a huge responsibility.

[Satori]

Originally Posted by cbyrum 

Originally Posted by Satori 

She said that came straight from admin:( We school year round since my 11 yr is one of those kids that does horribly when you break her school routine, takes several weeks to get her back on track after just a few days off. A weekend is the longest I dare take off with her, I'll cut some stuff over summer but Math and LA we keep doing, this summer she will be doing History as well. Especially seeing as I will be paying for K12 out of pocket lol:)

I would definitely go above your teacher at this point. There is no way they shouldn't order 1st grade math for her. We've never had a problem getting courses ordered with CAVA - especially math/la. the deadline is coming up though so if she is at 90% push hard to get the class ordered for her. You can call CAVA administration yourself (I believe you can find the number in My Info) and let them know this may make you not continue next year if it's not ordered.

I basically gave up on using the CAVA stuff and am just marking off the lessons and using other stuff. We won't be back next year since were already running into this garbage 6 weeks in. I'm debating on leaving her in for the rest of the year just so we have kindy documented but Its a pain to remember to log in every day and mark stuff.

[thefragile7393]

I've been looking at K12 for my son who will be in 1st grade in the fall. I'm getting burnt out on constantly having to find sources for social studies and science for him. I've talked to others and looked at lessons with him...it seems like the curriculum is kind of dry in some areas but thats going to happen with any curriculum.

I am wary of getting eveything done with limited time and days..i work full time 3.5 days a week.  There are days that his moods just don't allow us to  get much done. He also starting over in math because singapore earlybird bombed badly, and two phonics programs have been disasters.  Part of me would like to try this out through AZVA.  They mention field trips and the like on the website...which would appeal to me a lot.  The homeschool groups here are small....one that accepts all people does not have much for socializing for my son....they are mostly much older kids, and the others are religious but want you to sign a declaration of faith, which to me says that you agree with everything in the statement, which i don't.

Anyway......those are some of the reasons why i'd like to try k12 but i can't sem to make up my mind.

[Satori]

I'll have a first grader next year and I'm seriously debating not going with CAVA again because I hate the phonics program and the math makes no sense to me for 1st (not to mention in 6 weeks she finished their K math and they refused to send 1st grade which annoys me). Google math+ and k12 its just ridiculous. As it is I'm already subbing phonics and math and the only reason I haven't pulled her is because of the computer (lame I know but its the best machine in the house lol) The only benefit would be the rest of the LA program goodies.
 

Originally Posted by thefragile7393 

I've been looking at K12 for my son who will be in 1st grade in the fall. I'm getting burnt out on constantly having to find sources for social studies and science for him. I've talked to others and looked at lessons with him...it seems like the curriculum is kind of dry in some areas but thats going to happen with any curriculum.

I am wary of getting eveything done with limited time and days..i work full time 3.5 days a week.  There are days that his moods just don't allow us to  get much done. He also starting over in math because singapore earlybird bombed badly, and two phonics programs have been disasters.  Part of me would like to try this out through AZVA.  They mention field trips and the like on the website...which would appeal to me a lot.  The homeschool groups here are small....one that accepts all people does not have much for socializing for my son....they are mostly much older kids, and the others are religious but want you to sign a declaration of faith, which to me says that you agree with everything in the statement, which i don't.

Anyway......those are some of the reasons why i'd like to try k12 but i can't sem to make up my mind.

[tnmom66]

OH my, what a long thread...I hope I can read through all of it soon.  

My problem is that my little girl's dad does not want me to keep her at home when she is old enough to go to kindergarten in fall of 2014.

We were never married nor lived together. I am the primary custodial parent, but we have no legal contracts other than what establishes child support and him having 180 days and me having 185.  The current schedule is that he has her in a private preschool on Tuesday and Thursday, he picks her up around 6 and I pick her up around 8:45 the next morning.  She spends the night on Friday with him and I pick her up anywhere from lunchtime to bedtime, depending upon whether he has a soccer game on Saturday. I have her all the rest of the time.  I do not work outside the home.  I am on disability and I was working part-time till I had her, then her father started paying child support which more than covered what I was making working part time.

I do not know what his objections are.  I do not know what he has in mind. How can he stop me from homeschooling or K12 virtual schooling? 

I am actually homeschooling her on a preschool level.  My passion is parenting and I tried to homeschool my 2 older kids at the same time, but by the time they were school age, I was divorced and trying to work part-time and I just couldn't do it.  It was my decision to put them in public school for the "free babysitting". I sent them to school reading on a 5th grade level. They are in 7th and 9th grades now and they are both honor students and have consistently tested in or around the 98th percentile. My son in 7th grade is taking high school algebra and is at an academic magnet school. My daughter is at a private college preparatory school.  I really believe that I am entitled to partial credit for nurturing a love for learning in my children and preparing them so well for academics. They study well independently. I have never had to sit down over them as they do their homework. 

Anyway, my preschooler's dad has NO other kids and we don't have much of a relationship. He dumped me almost 4 years ago. He treats me well, but I feel like we should discuss things like her education and he has not done so other than saying that he wants her to go to school in a neighboring county. I have a list as long as my arm as to why I should keep her at home. At least for the first few years.

I would like to know how many hours a day it takes to do the K12 virtual schooling. I am in Tennessee and only 4 hours of "class time" is required.  

[Satori]

It depends on your child, were done in about an hour but I also don't use the math or phonics program they provide, I can see those adding a lot of time. The default time for attendance is like 4 hours and I just mark it off. I don't have to deal with father issues so no advice there.
 

Originally Posted by tnmom66 

OH my, what a long thread...I hope I can read through all of it soon.  

My problem is that my little girl's dad does not want me to keep her at home when she is old enough to go to kindergarten in fall of 2014.

We were never married nor lived together. I am the primary custodial parent, but we have no legal contracts other than what establishes child support and him having 180 days and me having 185.  The current schedule is that he has her in a private preschool on Tuesday and Thursday, he picks her up around 6 and I pick her up around 8:45 the next morning.  She spends the night on Friday with him and I pick her up anywhere from lunchtime to bedtime, depending upon whether he has a soccer game on Saturday. I have her all the rest of the time.  I do not work outside the home.  I am on disability and I was working part-time till I had her, then her father started paying child support which more than covered what I was making working part time.

I do not know what his objections are.  I do not know what he has in mind. How can he stop me from homeschooling or K12 virtual schooling? 

I am actually homeschooling her on a preschool level.  My passion is parenting and I tried to homeschool my 2 older kids at the same time, but by the time they were school age, I was divorced and trying to work part-time and I just couldn't do it.  It was my decision to put them in public school for the "free babysitting". I sent them to school reading on a 5th grade level. They are in 7th and 9th grades now and they are both honor students and have consistently tested in or around the 98th percentile. My son in 7th grade is taking high school algebra and is at an academic magnet school. My daughter is at a private college preparatory school.  I really believe that I am entitled to partial credit for nurturing a love for learning in my children and preparing them so well for academics. They study well independently. I have never had to sit down over them as they do their homework. 

Anyway, my preschooler's dad has NO other kids and we don't have much of a relationship. He dumped me almost 4 years ago. He treats me well, but I feel like we should discuss things like her education and he has not done so other than saying that he wants her to go to school in a neighboring county. I have a list as long as my arm as to why I should keep her at home. At least for the first few years.

I would like to know how many hours a day it takes to do the K12 virtual schooling. I am in Tennessee and only 4 hours of "class time" is required.  

[tnmom66]

Wow.  I know there is SO MUCH wasted time at "school", classroom management, etc. I had much rather have my children be able to make better use of the limited number of hours in the day.

[thefragile7393]

Tnmom, do you have joint legal custody or sole legal custody? That is the starting point. if nothing legal custody wise is established then i'd enroll her whwn the time comes. Its public school and they provide field trips and a lot of opportunities to socialize. he hasa couple years to get used to it lol

[tnmom66]

We have joint legal custody, but I am the primary residential parent. It makes sense to me that if I am the primary residential parent and if I am at home anyway, I should be the one making the decision. He says he is open to discussing it. His main concern seems to be "friends" "socializing".  He doesn't seem to pay attention to all the socializing she is already doing.  I make sure she has plenty of time to play with close friends and other kids.

I think I will just make the decision myself. I would like to have him on board.

[1jooj]

So, I took the advice on this thread quite seriously and dug deeper into my options for the coming school year, and just had a chat with dh about approaching K12's international academy, rather than going with NaCA.

It comes down to several reasons:

1. I feel better about the curriculum. I don't think I will have trouble challenging my kids using k12, whereas I saw less flexibility and fewer opportunities to pursue challenge with NaCA. It also looks like subjects are built to relate to each other and encourage academic synergy. Plus, it offers the foreign languages that both kids want to learn.

2. I can really get behind the mastery vs. passing grade concept. It's only here and there I see either kid struggle with a new concept, but I like the idea that they're working toward real competency.

3. It is an international academy, making it simpler to get tuition approval through expat compensation.

4. There's a regional office not terribly far away, and certainly within our same time zone. I was having concerns about how my kids would attend NaCA's live lessons, if all the teachers' schedules are built solely around US time zones.

5. Rolling enrollment give us the flexibility to start when it makes sense. This will enable me to work with the kids stateside for a month before moving back abroad. Plus, in addition to US holidays observed (i.e., teachers have off), the school expressly states that families can inform teachers of other holidays being observed.

I have more research to do, but I am pretty sold. I'm really glad I came here and took the time to read the experiences of others before signing any contracts or committing time and money.