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Home schooling

Posted: May 5, 2010

I was wondering if anyone has any experiences they would like to share about home schooling in Florida and the Florida Virtual School program, good or bad, or how this process works. I went into the virtual school program website and came out just the same way I went in, clueless.

;

We are "unschoolers", but not "radical" like on TV - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
We also homeschool and though I can't offer any information about FVS, I just wanted to say Hi. It's always nice to meet another fellow homeschooler. We are secular, eclectic homeschoolers in our 4th year.

I have 3....11, 13 and 16 and unschool. NOT radical unschoolers though where the kids just sit around all day and do nothing. Ours is more interest and child-led. My daughter is doing business math at the senior high level (she's 13) takes a class online from HippoCampus and VLACS and has a huge interest in animals right now, so that's what she is studing. My eldest is into gaming and computers, so he is learning all of the platforms (Java, C#, etc.) and has 3 credits left before graduating from NAHRS in Maine. My youngest is into something different each day it seems, so he studies whatever he wants to. They all do a structured math program (MEP and Aleks). How old are your children?

homeschooling - Tara

[ In Reply To ..]
My daughter is homeschooled through a virtual school program and the one we go through is also available in Florida. It is connectionsacademy.com

It is absolutely amazing - ours is based out of MN, but they all go through the same program, books, etc. Take a look at the site and if you have any questions about it please feel free to ask. I like it so much that I am now signing up my two younger children to do it in the fall.

Online schooling - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
We actually considered this for our son, who will be in 6th grade next school year. Our only drawback was the social interaction aspect of "homeschooling." How do you deal with that? I'm just not so sure he's gonna make it in middle school. He has ADD, which is somewhat controlled with his medication, but also he's a very sweet and kindhearted boy, and I worry more about the bullies and mean kids in middle school. I'd love to know more about how you do it...the logistics of it I guess I'm saying, as far as managing time, working (you), and helping your daughter out, plus making sure she has proper social interaction. Thanks :))

Home schooling - Wondering

[ In Reply To ..]
My son is 11 yrs old. He is very kind, sweet, and respectful of others. He started a new school about 2 weeks ago due to us moving, and from day 1 he was being verbally abused and bullied by this little group of 4 kids that are known bullies in his class. This has been taken care of with the school after a big stink. Someone mentioned to me that with this virtual school program, it is only 2 hours per day online with teachers, and the home-schooled kids meet 2 or 3 times during the month for extracurricular activities such as dance lessons, going to the mall, etc. They don't offer a diploma or anything of the sort, but the child can take the GED at age 16. I read that the district school board here has to approve home schooling and that you need to have "written proof" of the work the child is doing at home, worksheets, etc., at any time to provide the school board within 15 days, if they so request. I guess where I get "lost in translation" is, would I become the "teacher" at home, making the day's lessons, planning, etc., or is this a program where he sits at his PC with a teacher on a webcam on the other side doing work online and not on paper worksheets? I hate to sound naive, but I was taught that if I don't ask, I will be ignorant forever, and if I do ask I will only be ignorant for 5 minutes. I graduated from college over 30 years ago, and I don't remember anything about algebra, chemistry, geometry, trig, or calculus, and from what I see of his homework now, all the things they do now and how they teach are not like we used to do *cough* way back when.

homeschooling - Tara

[ In Reply To ..]
The way the virtual school works is amazing. The one we go through has what is called "live lessons." Each teacher has one scheduled once a week and the kids are to sign in to this live lesson where they can hear the instructor speak and most give a powerpoint presentation of some sort showing the kids how to do their work or discussing the lesson. The students are allowed to "chat" with each other and the teacher during this time, asking questions, etc. of things they don't understand. There is a daily planner in the student's log-in areas where each of their assignments for each class are listed and when clicked on their assignments come up for the day. The one we go through provides a computer and a printer and all the textbooks needed. Most of the courses have what is called a "tutorial" in each lesson where it is an actual video with pictures and examples teaching the material. The great part about this is that if kids don't understand it they can go back and watch it again. The live lessons are also recorded and so those can be watched again also - another advantage of doing this at home because you can't exactly rewind your teacher! As the work is completed, the student needs to check it off and then it goes to the parent for approval. This is how parents can keep track to make sure their student is doing the work. The assignments cannot be checked off as completed unless they are actually completed which is another nice feature because students can't just say they finished it when they didn't. Also, they cannot skip assignments which is something that is commonly done in the school setting. They have to do each assignment in order to be able to get to the next one. The teachers are always available by phone and e-mail and are more accessible than a teacher in the regular school setting which I like. Also, for the foreign language classes, there are recordings in their assignments where they actually hear the language being spoken and for each unit test, the teacher calls the students individually to have a "conversation" with them in the respective language to make sure they are getting it and that is how they are graded on their unit tests. For the younger grades, workbooks are given along with the textbooks and this is where the work is completed, along with what is to be done online. A lot of the worksheets are to be saved in word so that they can be typed on and then they are uploaded into what is called a dropbox or they are sent as an attachment from an e-mail. It is way easier than I ever expected it to be and so much more convenient for my daughter. Her grades are better now than they have been in the last three years she attended high school. She is motivated to do her work and does it without prompting because she is not forced to sit in school for 7 1/2 hours and then come home at the end of the day and do more homework. She is also not involved in all the daily drama of high school and that has helped tremendously. As far as me working, I do work inside the home, but she very rarely asks for help. I know when my younger child does it next year I will have to guide him more, but the way the program is laid out, it is pretty self-explanatory and very easy for the kids to figure out on their own and I don't foresee that I will have to be the "teacher." I think that I will only have to help him as much as I do now with the homework he brings home. You keep track of the time they spend on their school work and "take attendance" within the website. I absolutely love it and can't wait until next year when the rest of my kids are home with me!

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