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k12/Virtual Academy Winter 2009

12K views 215 replies 25 participants last post by  elanorh 
#1 ·
Since the Fall thread was getting quite long, I thought we should start a new thread for the winter season.


I'm wondering how those of us who are doing k12 for the first time, are feeling about next year? Are you going to stick with k12, do you think?

We have talked about continuing, or transitioning to full-on homeschooling. We've also talked about whether, if we have another child in the next year or two (something currently being debated in our house) -- would we want to put Ina in public school that year, assuming that keeping up with k12's expectations for attendance etc. would be too much bother with a newborn in the house.....

We are liking k12, we like our 'teacher,' the things we have not liked are phonics (but resolved via starfall), and music .... I'm not a huge fan of the art program, which seems very structured to me, but we're working around that.
 
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#177 ·
I've had all 4 in at once before with the ped, they know I'm good when it comes to keeping appointments. I'm thankful to have a ped that lets me do that, when I got 4 kids hacking and choking and needing meds for the same thing it makes it soooooo easy to run in with them all to get an accurate diagnosis and the right dosages and meds for them all in one shot. Our original ped would do all the kids at once too, we left him when I was pregnant with #4 so that we had someone that was more familiar with Melissa's SNs and Lydia's motor delays as a general rule with experience (our old doctor hadn't dealt much with kids with special needs and developmental delays so he was constantly looking up information and my appointments took soooooooooo long)
 
#178 ·
Yes, it's the one thing I dislike about our Ped. Otherwise, she's amazing. She's very pro-bf (helped me through a TED with my multi-allergic, 'worst reflux she'd ever seen' dd1, on top of supply issues on my part) -- anti-circ (she told us that when we met with her to decide which Ped we wanted, upfront, when we told her we didn't know what we wanted to do if we had a boy). Her politics sync up with ours, too. She doesn't patronize me and generally is just great. This is my one little quibble, and I do understand why she wants to do it that way -- hopefully she's more flexible with larger families (and it's only for the well child visits, she's had both girls in for the same cold at the same time).

Today, Ina is SO not into school. But SJ had an all-night party fest here, which impacted Ina (she kept waking her up), and me (because I was up with her) - SJ has the cold (no fever), is breaking her last molar through, skipping naps and taking them late in the day, then up all night. Tugged on her ear last night quite a bit too - so maybe she has an ear infection? Anyway. No one is on their most focused behavior today. I'm trying to give Ina breaks more frequently, and hope to get SJ down for a NAP in a little bit so maybe she will catch up a little on her sleep, but still go to bed tonight. Here's hoping. Ugh.
 
#179 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Smithie View Post
Rhynna, how on earth did you get Bean to write "one" "two" "three" "four" etc in the Math 1 assessments right at the beginning of his K year? James is doing it, but it's not pretty, and that's after MONTHS of working on handwriting...
I kind of cheated for that one. I wrote the number words, out of order, on a sheet of loose-leaf paper for him and let him choose and copy the correct ones. The idea is to make sure that the child knows that "eleven" and "11" and "***********" all refer to the same concept, and despite the fact that Bean "couldn't read" he knew all of these things. I did write them out of order just to be certain that he wasn't counting down the list, and I probably made three different lists for him, but he never had a problem. And yes, it was quite messy. Bean's handwriting was simply awful... all-caps and it still looked like he'd tied pencils to a chicken and had it run across a page.
It was enough, though.
 
#180 ·
I did something similar with my dd (also did math 1 in K). I wrote down a list sometimes, and othertimes I just counted it as correct if she got an approximation of the word she was going for. I figured it was math and not being able to write/spell the numbers correctly wasn't preventing her from understandin the concepts in any way. She was able to read the number words, and I thought that was enough for her.
 
#181 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by eclipse View Post
... and othertimes I just counted it as correct if she got an approximation of the word she was going for. I figured it was math and not being able to write/spell the numbers correctly wasn't preventing her from understandin the concepts in any way. She was able to read the number words, and I thought that was enough for her.
Our DD is 5 doing 1st grade math as well. We've encountered this a few times (it's in the 1st grade semester assessment as well). I spoke with our teacher about it and she said it was perfectly fine to count 'sevin' and 'ate' as correct answers because it was a math lesson and not a LA arts lesson. She said it would all be reviewed in LA anyway so all we should look for is a mathematically and age appropriate answer when doing math. She didn't care if letters were backwards or whatnot, only that DD knew what the number word was. HTH!
 
#182 ·
Just totally random. Does it ever bother you when other hs'ers look at you when you tell then you use a k12 school and say snotty-like "well your not really homeschooling, your kids are in ps" I had this come up over the weekend when I was chatting with a lady I met randomly at the store (we were both in the craft aisle picking up supplies lol) and for some reason it really bugged me. Like, just because we chose to go with a state-funded program that has regulations and reporting and testing that makes ME not as good a hs'er as her? I've had it come up a couple times at our hs group too, almost 1/3 of the moms are OHVA or Connections or one of the other dozen VA's available in the state and somehow I managed to get those people who treat me like a second-class hs'er because I chose a method that works really well for us this year, God forbid I choose something that allows the state to dictate what I teach and how to do it and such (ever think I may actually NEED that kind of guidance? I've seen how I am without being told what to do and when, my kids would be those unschooled kids that never do anything that isn't watch tv or play video/ computer games and never learn to read or add)

Sorry, just needed to ask about that. Maybe I'm just touchy because of my eternal PMS thanks to the IUD lol
 
#183 ·
I haven't run into it much but that's because I don't do things with the local homeschool groups (yet). I suspect I'll run into it though.

There are homeschoolers who are very rigid about the curriculum they follow - they use grade books, etc. themselves within the curriculum they're following (not all homeschoolers, but some) - IMO we're not that different from those homeschoolers, in the end. And in fact, many of us are quite flexible about the components of our curriculum (the example of me doing Christmas music for the music lessons springs to my mind) .... it is true that once they're a certain age, they'll be taking the state tests etc. If we're still doing k12 at that point, and I feel like their "Study Islands" are taking too much time away from actual learning, then I may reposition myself. But, right now, I've got a pretty flexible curriculum which came FREE, including the computer and much of the extras we use (ie tempera paints etc.) --- so I'm happy with it.

I suppose it's not that different from the Mommy Wars we encounter in other areas -- the whole judgmentalism about whether or not mom works at home or outside the home, or eats organic (or not), or whatever.

ETA: I do think that there is a concern that these virtual schools were established as a way to control homeschooling more (that is, to get public schooling into the 'homeschool' business, and begin the argument that THAT is what homeschooling should be, rather than parentally driven homeschooling). And also as a way to siphon homeschoolers back into the public school system. However, I think that virtual academies appeal to a different type of homeschool parent -- there are plenty of mothers here who started with a virtual academy and switched to straight homeschooling. It's as likely that parents who might not have considered homeschooling, would try a VA, and then decide that they could do full-on homeschooling. It could go both directions (and I suspect would lead to more moving to full homeschooling than not, in the end; I like k12 right now but am not convinced that I will still be using it in 3-4 years, at least not with Ina?! We'll see....)
 
#184 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by kittie313 View Post
Just totally random. Does it ever bother you when other hs'ers look at you when you tell then you use a k12 school and say snotty-like "well your not really homeschooling, your kids are in ps" I had this come up over the weekend when I was chatting with a lady I met randomly at the store (we were both in the craft aisle picking up supplies lol) and for some reason it really bugged me. Like, just because we chose to go with a state-funded program that has regulations and reporting and testing that makes ME not as good a hs'er as her?
I usually just kill this by saying, "Yes, my kids are in public school, but they're still at home during the day and therefore they're doing school at home. It's not at all different from what many highly structured homeschoolers do-- in fact, there are structured homeschoolers who purchase this curriculum independently. So what's your point?" Then, if I'm feeling energetic, I dispel myths while trying not to laugh at their tense self-righteousness. It's pretty much the same thing I do when other mothers make stupid comments about any other aspect of child-raising or my lifestyle.
If I'm feeling nasty, I'm likely to snicker and say, "Thanks, I'll give your opinion all due consideration" or some such. Some people think that it's a moral imperative to comment on any lifestyle choice that is different from their own. I've got a moral imperative to tell most of them where to shove it.


Quote:

Originally Posted by elanorh View Post
I suppose it's not that different from the Mommy Wars we encounter in other areas -- the whole judgmentalism about whether or not mom works at home or outside the home, or eats organic (or not), or whatever.
Just try being anything but Christian along with it. Not only am I failing to actually homeschool my kids, I'm sending them straight to hell in a minivan to hear some of them talk.
Ugh.

Quote:
ETA: I do think that there is a concern that these virtual schools were established as a way to control homeschooling more (that is, to get public schooling into the 'homeschool' business, and begin the argument that THAT is what homeschooling should be, rather than parentally driven homeschooling). And also as a way to siphon homeschoolers back into the public school system. However, I think that virtual academies appeal to a different type of homeschool parent -- there are plenty of mothers here who started with a virtual academy and switched to straight homeschooling. It's as likely that parents who might not have considered homeschooling, would try a VA, and then decide that they could do full-on homeschooling. It could go both directions (and I suspect would lead to more moving to full homeschooling than not, in the end; I like k12 right now but am not convinced that I will still be using it in 3-4 years, at least not with Ina?! We'll see....)
Except that while that may have been the intent in some cases, in practice it hasn't really worked out that way. That argument doesn't fly well around here, as local school districts are LOUD about how they "lose money" to the virtual academies.
 
#185 ·
I have a 5yo DS in K who just started math 2. For the number words I just kinda fudged them with him. He can do some but not all. We just are not that far in phonics. Plus I figure him not being able to spell eleven had no effect on his ability to add.

We are one of the homeschoolers who bought k12 privatly. I think in fact I may be the only one on this thread LOL. We had always planned to homeschool and I was leaning more twords unschooling. The closer and closer we got the more DH freaked and wanted something more structured. Of couse he decides this just weeks before we were planning on starting. So I went into panic mode trying to piece things together. Woried I would mess up, or forget something, or just pick the wrong thing. Then I found k12. I think it is GREAT for beginners. It helps you realize you CAN do this. It has everything there for you and helps you figure out what kind of homeschooler you are. Granted I am not sure how much I would love it if I had to report to someone but I have not been there so I can not comment on it. I think the important thing is we are all doing this for our kids and I think so many times that gets lost. So many people are hung up on their right way to HS that they forget everyone is different.
 
#186 ·
My kids got their PE for the week (for the second time since soccer ended for the fall back in October) They did one of my Jillian Michaels dvd's after watching me try to kill myself doing just the first 10min or so of it. lol They did the entire 40min workout and then Melissa asked to do more.............. We're going to be buying some kid-friendly workout dvd's for them to do on days that the weather just isn't acceptable for outdoor playing (and I consider cold and snow to not be acceptable outdoor play weather because I'm never wam at this time of year LOL) But I need to log their PE before I forget................ lol

And as far as my last question, I'm just irritated is all lately by it. Here locally my girls have lost friends because the kids' parents didn't want their kids around "that weird homeschool family" despite my explaining that technically its ps at home since we're enrolled in OHVA, and hs'ers around here sometimes get snotty about it because we're "not real hs'ers" So I'm just feeling frustrated by the fact that my family falls in that grey area of hsing and ps, and its just annoying that they would act like that to me. A lot of our parenting falls in that area so we're just oddballs. Your either a total crunchy AP family, permissive to an extreme, or strict as heck. We are none of those, we follow that little thing called an INSTINCT. And instinct led us to ohva and k12 instead of straight-up hs'ing or ps. It works, why can't other just respect that in my family and see my kids are thriving in our environment and doing really well? Its not like I lock them in a closet and force them to stare at a computer screen all day, or I have our teacher standing over us cracking a whip over every little thing we do differently. lol They'd DIE if they knew how much of the k12 materials I'm substituting other stuff for (like right now with math, we're just going over the stuff briefly and hand-holding through the assessments since its time and money for both kids, they'll pick it up over the course of this year with us working on it daily)
 
#187 ·
Just introducing myself
I'm a 3rd year homeschooler and have just enrolled my kids in a virtual academy. I'm nervous but tentatively excited. We both work (and I have 2 jobs) and we've really been working on a homemade/DIY lifestyle. Which means we simply don't have enough time for everything. So...I'm letting someone else handle the curriculum, supplies, lesson plans, testing, etc. All I have left is the teaching, which is the part I like


We're waiting for the computer to arrive for DS and we need to get one more piece of paper for DD's registration, then we'll get her books.

I'm a little nervous. Okay, so maybe a lot nervous...
 
#188 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by ALittleBitCrunchy View Post
Just introducing myself
I'm a 3rd year homeschooler and have just enrolled my kids in a virtual academy. I'm nervous but tentatively excited. We both work (and I have 2 jobs) and we've really been working on a homemade/DIY lifestyle. Which means we simply don't have enough time for everything. So...I'm letting someone else handle the curriculum, supplies, lesson plans, testing, etc. All I have left is the teaching, which is the part I like


We're waiting for the computer to arrive for DS and we need to get one more piece of paper for DD's registration, then we'll get her books.

I'm a little nervous. Okay, so maybe a lot nervous...

Welcome! I really love our VA and the lack of creating and prep time involved with it lol It has been a real godsend for us, and I'm hoping that it works great for us as we enter our super hectic time that we're about to enter because I'm about to take on a FT college courseload via online school myself. Hope your remainder of this year is as successful as our year is going, it has really made working with dd1 and her learning challenges much easier.
 
#189 ·
Welcome!

I've been thinking we ought to put together a post of all the items that k12 just assumes we have in our houses, for those who are just starting out with the program.

Off the top of my head, things I've had to purchase are:
hole punch
note cards
pipe cleaners
TONS of construction paper, of various sizes including 12x18
Sketch paper (art paper)
Glue sticks
String (I've just been using yarn)

(I already had watercolors, glue, pencils, erasers, crayons, my own tempera paints, and scissors) I suspect that at the rate we're going through it, I will need to buy a lot more tempera paint too (or do they send you more of that stuff every year?).
 
#190 ·
There's really random stuff they consider "household items." Some that boggle the mind, because they are NOT things we have around - especially for science. They do sent more tempra paints, clay, brushes, every year, though.

We had our quarterly meeting yesterday. It was supposed to be last week, but my 4 year old started throwing up the night before (a couple of days after my 6 year old finished her week long battle with the stomach flu!) DS has started 5th grade Science and History. We're enjoying history a lot, even though it's totally different than the K-4 History. It's not on the computer anymore - it's US History using the "The History of US." I was worried ds would be upset by the change, but he's not. We've only done two lessons in Science, so I'm not sure how that will go. I'm a little annoyed because in California, apparently, 5th grade math has 18 or so extra lessons that are not in the OLS just tacked in between unit 7 and 8 because of California testing requirements. It's pre-algebra, which my son will probably enjoy, but we were on track to finish within a week of the end of the year, and now we have almost a month of added non-optional lessons. Not to mention that he won't even be tested on it this year, because he's only a 4th grader. Oh well.
 
#191 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by elanorh View Post
Welcome!

I've been thinking we ought to put together a post of all the items that k12 just assumes we have in our houses, for those who are just starting out with the program.

Off the top of my head, things I've had to purchase are:
hole punch
note cards
pipe cleaners
TONS of construction paper, of various sizes including 12x18
Sketch paper (art paper)
Glue sticks
String (I've just been using yarn)

(I already had watercolors, glue, pencils, erasers, crayons, my own tempera paints, and scissors) I suspect that at the rate we're going through it, I will need to buy a lot more tempera paint too (or do they send you more of that stuff every year?).
We've got way more tempera paint than we'll ever use. Everything else, though, we totally had in the house... and we're not terrifically artistic around here.
 
#192 ·
OK can I bang my head on the wall now? I'm working through that time unit in math 1 with Melissa and she is NOT getting it. She didn't get any of time and money when they covered it with her at ps last school year, and this year she's still just BS'ing her way through this unit with a lot of hand-holding from me. I'm just doing the lessons and not assessments right now and when we hit the unit test I'll consider how she's gotten it as to whether I completely halt on math until she gets it or we move on and just keep reviewing. I'm beyond frustrated right now. She can read a digital clock just fine, but God help her if she has to do any time counting ahead or read an analog clock.................. I'm getting frustrated with her here in this.

ok back to it, I just had to take a break long enough to complain.
 
#193 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by elanorh View Post
Welcome!

I've been thinking we ought to put together a post of all the items that k12 just assumes we have in our houses, for those who are just starting out with the program.

Off the top of my head, things I've had to purchase are:
hole punch
note cards
pipe cleaners
TONS of construction paper, of various sizes including 12x18
Sketch paper (art paper)
Glue sticks
String (I've just been using yarn)

(I already had watercolors, glue, pencils, erasers, crayons, my own tempera paints, and scissors) I suspect that at the rate we're going through it, I will need to buy a lot more tempera paint too (or do they send you more of that stuff every year?).
That's the kind of stuff we bought too as well as poster board. But we've spent a lot on "household items" for science lessons/experiments for my 3rd grader.
 
#194 ·
My 3rd grader is a pretty smart lil cookie but quite unmotivated and he cuts as many corners as he can. It's so frustrating that he will only give a full effort once in a while and usually just writes the bare minimum.

We're almost done with the 3rd grade LA/Lit/Spelling curriculum for the year and I decided to cut the aggravation of getting him to read and remember and respond to a book that's on his level. Instead I chose Sarah, Plain and Tall and we've combined it with the section in composition for writing a book report. We're doing every chapter together, then taking notes for the questions. We've reviewed and completed the assessment and began and completed to lesson 3 in that composition unit. I want to show him the process from beginning to end for each part. I don't know if it's going in one ear and out the other...
 
#196 ·
I'm having the opposite problem with the reading list. Bean is reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe right now. I wish there were more choices on the list which take into account the fact that a very advanced reader might get to the most advanced books on the list before the end of LA3.
 
#197 ·
Rynna, there were new selections with 5th grade LA - maybe a few with 4th grade, too. Liam just finished War of the Worlds and Johnny Tremain. Of course, you'd have to evaluate the content of those for him - Johnny Tremain is Revolutionary War (with some of the violence that goes along with it) and of course WOTW is a violent alien invasion. Liam was okay with them, but he's a little older than Bean and not really bothered by that sort of thing. Lord of the Rings is another one I noticed that I don't think was on earlier list. I don't know if Bean has read The Book of Three, but if he's enjoying The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe , he might enjoy that. I can't remember if it was a choice for 3rd grade LA, or if it showed up in 4th.
 
#198 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by amis2girls View Post
We just got word today that my oldest has been approved for 2nd grade on k12 starting Monday, so I officially belong here.

Welcome!!!!! Let me know how 2nd grade is, we're closing in on finishing some of our 1st grade stuff with Melissa this month (math and hopefully science and *possibly* history) and I can't wait to see what we've got going on when that happens.
 
#200 ·
Is there any difference in the format from 1st to second? I am watching to see when it transitions to more independent work so that I have a better idea of it all, and am actually looking forward to Melissa starting to get a little more independent.
 
#201 ·
It's been awhile since I've checked in ... we are putting along. We've had to stop doing Math assessments for a little while, while we went through the money lessons (we usually pay with our debit cards, she hasn't really dealt with change much, especially since when we do have change, it goes straight into their college fund piggy bank). Money lessons were the most difficult to do with SJ 'helping,' too. Shiny coins!! Mom and sister organizing things in piles and counting!! Wow! How can we insert ourselves into this process and do what WE want to do?!


We are on track to be done with K math well before April though, so I think we will be able to get the first grade math that we can work on over the summer. My plan is to probably do math every 2-3 days during the summer, not 5 days/week. And to mostly do unit studies of our own during the summer just to keep skills up (in a perfect world we'd get first grade phonics before summer too but I don't think we'll be able to do that especially if it's linked to the LA stuff) .... I especially want to do the butterfly project where you watch the chrysallis and then release the butterflies. I think both girls would really enjoy that - just need to research it a little more; I want to make sure whatever we get is indigenous to our area etc. so it will survive after being released. And so it doesn't become an invasive species where it doesn't belong! Although I think the first option is the most likely "oops."

There's a science program here for kids, too, a summer camp type experience (without sleeping over) - I need to look into the costs and see whether we want to sign her up for some of it. Since I've not done anything to get to know a homeschooling group here, I do need to do some more socializing things for her than just art class and swim lessons!
 
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