anyone do AZVA??

[sandyG]

HI AGAIN!! another question if you dont mind me asking. thanks for all the replies on the right start vs MUS thread. :
nooow!!! do you like the program?? i would be doing it for K btw. give me the adv and disadv of it? i know you only have to be enrolled one semester, if i dont like it i can just quit and i get some 'goodies' . but im not sure...
just wanted to see what are the disadv (if any) do you have with this program. thanks!!

[sandyG]

oh no! noone???

[Kleine Hexe]

I don't know the program you're talking about

[sandyG]

is for arizona. www.azva.org. its virtual academy in arizona.

[kitty waltz]

while I have never used AZVA myself, many of the other moms in the hs group I am in have. Not very good reviews. Most families seemed to feel it wanted more 'busywork' type of stuff than necessary, and made hsing time not fun anymore. Ive even heard the same type of complaint from very structured families, not just unschoolers.

do you mind me asking where you are at in az? our group is in maricopa.

[aslyn]

These virtual charters are all over the country here in Ohio there are 7 of them. On the positive side you are given a computer, cirriculum, supplies, teacher support, field trips, special needs and gifted services all free..on the negative side you are bound by state and federal guidelines as your kids are enrolled in a public school. The flexibility of your own schedule is there but you have to have some structure to get the required work done. If your state requires testing you must comply.

So it really comes down to what your family needs and if the free stuff is worth the intervention. We are considering this as well since our dd is already homeschooling and our ds is coming of age in the new year to start school in the fall and the family finances are stretched to the limit with dd, We are thinking we might try a virtual school for the rest of the school year to see if its a good fit for us.

[TwylaBug]

Is anyone using this program now? I am in Casa Grande and I have had a very hard time with the public school my daughter is attending. She has been labeled as the bad kid and that is just how they treat her. It is making her self esteem drop. She is only a first grader. And she is starting to hate school and think she is dumb. All the school wants is for me to have her tested for add and be medicated. They are not helping at all. And they talk down to me when I tell them I am trying. But my insurance only allows me to use in network Dr.'s to have her tested all of them 30+ miles away, no evening appointments, and no openings for a few months. The principal is really good at trying to make me feel like a horrible mom because I am not getting stuff done. I want my happy go lucky kid back. I have never home schooled and was told this might be the easiest for me to do. Since I also have a two yr old and am pregnant with #3. Plus financially this works for us. Do you think this is the program for us? Or should I be looking into other options?

[quaz]

under FAQ
Enrollment

It states that k students are not eligible to enroll unless there is a sibling attending. I assume that is there to prevent people from enrolling to skip public k and move to public 1rst the following year.

Regardless...I don't think you can do this program for your k student.
Tammy

[TwylaBug]

She is a first grader.

[ikesmom]

I met one person who used it before and she only did it for a very short time..ended up putting her girls back in ps and taking on a full time job. She said it was good but her kids were older 6th and 8th grade and used to structure from ps.
I considered using it when I first thought about homeschooling.
I decided that it wasn't a good fit for my ds.. and that we didn't want to hassle with it especially being our first year of hs. My ds has a lot of catching up to do and I am so glad we can go at our own pace.

[quaz]

The OP is looking for K, though. Comment was directed towards her.
Tammy

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by quaz

under FAQ
Enrollment

It states that k students are not eligible to enroll unless there is a sibling attending. I assume that is there to prevent people from enrolling to skip public k and move to public 1rst the following year.

Regardless...I don't think you can do this program for your k student.
Tammy

Except that doesn't make sense, as the kindergarten cutoff for AZ is 31 December. AZVA is one of the schools which only offers half-day kindergarten, so I'm more inclined to think that it's a budget issue. Regardless, you are correct-- it's very difficult to enroll a kindergartener in AZVA (I looked over the requirements for my niece last year).

There *are* virtual charters all over the country (PA has 12, I believe). AZVA is one of the K12 virtual academies; My son is enrolled in Agora (PA). For us, the program is working very well but I can't say that the same would necessarily be true in AZ. For example, Agora allows children to progress at their own rate in all subjects, while some of the other VA only allow children to be promoted in language arts and math. Different schools have different requirements for work assignments and levels of teacher involvement, and states all have their own testing requirements. The main disadvantage for us is that we have to log attendance every day that school is in session (not a huge deal). For us, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.