Mothering Forum banner

Choosing a Cyber School

724 views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  Linda on the move 
#1 ·
My dh is committed to homeschooling but NOT to unschooling. He has particular concerns about Desta, who joined us 3.5 months ago at the age of 11 (she's 12 now) from Ethiopia. He worries that I will not be able to "teach her everything she needs to know," and he is unmoved by my arguments that NO ONE can teach her "everything she needs to know," there is no set body of "everything she needs to know," and it's too soon to put a lot of academic pressure on her. He firmly believes that she should be ready for college at age 18, regardless of the fact that she was in 3rd grade in Ethiopia.

Anyway, I know that, if I wanted to, I could just tell my dh that "This is what we are doing, like it or lump it," and he'd go along, but for obvious reasons I don't want to do that.

Dh wants me to look into cyber schools. This is not what I would choose, but I told him that I would look into it. There are several in my state (Ohio). What types of things should I be thinking about as I look at the various programs?

Thanks!

Namaste!
 
#2 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by dharmamama
Dh wants me to look into cyber schools. This is not what I would choose, but I told him that I would look into it. There are several in my state (Ohio). What types of things should I be thinking about as I look at the various programs?
You might look into Clonlara - they have some sort of high school program online, and they're unschooling friendly. They can also give her a diploma at such time as she's ready. Be sure you find out everything they'll do, though, because I've heard complaints that they didn't do enough for some people's taste. Clonlara

Good luck! Lillian
 
#3 ·
Well, in my rather eclectic reading on homeschooling these days, I came across the Oak Meadow curriculum (www.oakmeadow.com) - they have an online "cyberschool" option. It's a Waldorf inspired curriculum, so very gentle, very outdoors focused, very experiential - might be a little less culture shocking for Desta? It's also very flexible as far as curricula go...

It's also accredited, which may please your DH, and you can do it for $35 a month, I think, without a long term commitment, so you could see how it is working for you and your daughter. And I'll bet if you contacted them that they would be flexible in what grades they gave you access to, so you can see where best to start with Desta and perhaps be able to move her through some of the material a little more quickly than you might with an 8 year old 3rd grader? You might also be able to find this curriculum through one of your state virtual schools, I know some states do use it.

Good luck!!
 
#4 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by mamafish9
Well, in my rather eclectic reading on homeschooling these days, I came across the Oak Meadow curriculum (www.oakmeadow.com) - they have an online "cyberschool" option. It's a Waldorf inspired curriculum, so very gentle, very outdoors focused, very experiential - might be a little less culture shocking for Desta? It's also very flexible as far as curricula go...
Oak Meadow would have been my suggestion as well - except that I've heard they use Saxon math in the older grades, which could be pretty dreary for the wrong person - I've seen it make some kids (who were good at math) hate math study. I think it would be worth checking into it though!
Lillian
 
#5 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Lillian J

Oak Meadow would have been my suggestion as well - except that I've heard they use Saxon math in the older grades, which could be pretty dreary for the wrong person - I've seen it make some kids (who were good at math) hate math study. I think it would be worth checking into it though!
Lillian
Well, most of what I looked at was K/1st grade, and at that level they're baking bread in the shape of letters and using folding socks to talk about math
.
 
#6 ·
Pennsylvania has *seven* cyberschool options.


When deciding on one for the girls, I looked at the various curricula, mission statements, and flexibility levels of the schools. I made phone calls, visited websites, looked over sample lessons and sent emails asking for clarification before I decided that Agora would be the best fit. It uses the K12 curriculum, which is rigorous and systematic (things I like and which I thought would benefit the girls, especially BizzyBug) but as a new school it is emminantly flexible. They're willing to work *with* parents, rather than against us. All in all, this is a far less expensive version of that I'd have done with the girls anyway had they simply been removed from the system entirely.
 
#7 ·
Here's my hint--and this is from someone who actually signed up for one school, signed up the opening day, cried, and transferred her daughter out less than three hours later.

1. See actual lessons.
2. Don't believe them if they say anything is going to be changed. Assume that what you see is what you get.
3. Ask about teacher certification (here in PA only 70% of the teachers in a cyberschool need to be certified)
4. I was working under the assumption that a slick, prepackaged curriculum was bad and a homegrown curriculum was good. I was very, very wrong.
5. Do they herd the kids through or let them work at their own pace?
6. How easy is the site to navigate? Is it overly busy and crowded?
7. If you have red flags, follow your gut.
 
#8 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by mamafish9
Well, most of what I looked at was K/1st grade, and at that level they're baking bread in the shape of letters and using folding socks to talk about math
.
Yeah, I think the elementary grades look pretty cool! And the high school may be too - I don't know.
Lillian
 
#9 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Lillian J

Yeah, I think the elementary grades look pretty cool! And the high school may be too - I don't know.
Lillian
No, the highschool appears to SUCK...
: . They basically use textbook pages with BORING assigments, at least that is what I saw in sample lessons and a few reviews. It's something I've noticed about a lot of Waldorf approaches - they kick anything that is "inconvenient" to Waldorf (like computers) into high school, but don't actually figure out how to teach highschool!
 
#10 ·
BOSS is an Ohio cyber school many teens are being signed up for.It seems to have more of a course selection.You can read through posts at the boss elist at yahoogroups.

If your child is happy with it then that is what is important,so try them out and find what she likes.If she prefers to homeschool then it is something she will need to discuss with you and dad,and take the steps to be ready for college.There are so many articles out there on the concern of ps kids(not all ofcourse) lacking basic skills/knowledge necessary for college,hence all the remedial english/math college courses.
 
#11 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by dharmamama
Dh wants me to look into cyber schools. This is not what I would choose, but I told him that I would look into it. There are several in my state (Ohio). What types of things should I be thinking about as I look at the various programs?

Thanks!

Namaste!
I would look at the www.k12.com cyber school in OH, I think it is OHVA. The curriculum is comprehensive and engaging. Whether it would work for your situation depends entirely upon the virtual school rather than the curriculum though. It depends on how flexible they will be with you. Some of the schools are very flexible and only require a few work samples. Some of the teachers are great at brainstorming out of the box solutions for children in unusual circumstances. Therefore you can use the curriculum as a nice spine and divert to any other thing that catches your fancy, and turning in the periodic work sample. If however, you get a school that is very rigid, must have continual progress showing and will hound you if you get behind - that would be more stressful than it is worth.

I would go to the k12 site and look under community. There will be a user board specific to OHVA and they can give you the inside scoop. You might also just search yahoo groups for k12users/OHVA. If nothing comes up go to the main k12users yahoo group and ask for the link for the OH school and they'll point you in the right direction. Also, if you try it and it doesn't work, you can always drop back to homeschooling - at least you would know!

Good luck!
 
#12 ·
Thanks for all your replies, everyone. I looked into a few cyberschool programs (including OHVA and Oak Meadow), made a few notes, and gave dh my presentation last night. I tried not to slant it too much toward how *I* felt.

Dh decided that he is not really interested in cyberschools after all and says that if I spend 1/2 an hour a day working with Desta on phonics and reading, he will be satisfied (for now).

Namaste!
 
#14 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by dharmamama
Dh decided that he is not really interested in cyberschools after all and says that if I spend 1/2 an hour a day working with Desta on phonics and reading, he will be satisfied (for now).

Namaste!



cool! I couldn't figure out what grade you'd put her in or how it could be a good fit.

How is Desta doing? I've been following your journey since before she joined your family and would LOVE an update!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top