Can anyone tell me about K12?

[Tarreymere]

I have been looking at cyber charter schools and it seems that K12 has curriculum that is compatible with WTM. Has anyone had any experience with K12? We would be using Agora in Pennsylvania if anyone has enrolled in K12 through a public cyber school.

 

Thanks in advance, oh great hive!

[kbpaulie]

:001_smile:

[Smithie]

There is a poster on mothering.com who uses Agora and loves it AFAIK. She is a classically inclined homeschooler. You might want to look around a bit over there and see if you can find some old K12 threads, or just start a new thread in the "Learning at Home" forum and title it "Hey Rynna! Smithie said you could tell me about Agora!" :D

[Samiam]

There's been a ton of posts here about K12. You might find your answer by doing a search of K12 on the Search tab near the top of this page. I think people aren't responding too much here because that horse has been beat to death :).

[LisaKinVA]

Each VA is a bit different.

 

We started off as K12 independent users... first it was a few classes for my oldest son, then the whole curriculum, then we started my dd in 1st grade, then we signed up for the VAVA in 2009.

 

The history curriculum covers world history (ancients to modern times) in 4 years (SWB wrote the curriculum for 1st & 2nd), followed by two years of US history using the History of US. We have enjoyed most of this (US history has been a bit lackluster).

 

The art curriculum is tailored to the history curriculum which is really nice.

 

The LA curriculum is a mixed bag. Grammar and spelling is pretty much meh... we really like the literature curriculum. The writing curriculum is pretty agressive, which is why I usually tell people not to advance their child more than one year in LA until they see how it all "fits."

 

The math curriculum...well, if you had asked me a year ago, I would have said it was "good." Now, I'm not so sold on it. I have 3 children in K12VAVA, one is in Math+ Red, one in Yellow and one in MS Pre-Algebra (Pre-Algebra B). The Math+ curriculum is new. There is a lot more on-line, which can be good and bad. The on-line "instructor" can be nice, but the long-drawn out sessions that are impossible to really "break up." It is not unusual for a lesson to take my son and I two hours. The on-line try its can be 15 problems (you can only see one problem at a time, and print one problem at a time). The on-line checkpoints are an additional 5-10 problems. You can't print out the check points, do them offline and go back -- you have to sit through each problem. Don't get me started on the unit checkpoints. We have some issues with the way the math is introduced as well... but some of my issues may get worked out as they spend more time with the new math course.

 

We have really enjoyed the science curriculum. You do a little bit of different subjects in K-5, but you work on a different anatomical system -- and do go in a bit more depth. In this sense, it's not unlike many other curriculums. The experiments are easy to accomplish, use mostly materials that you can readilly find, and you have a science kit that comes with the program that contains everything else. Beginning in 6th grade you start "specializing" in subjects with Earth Science, then Life Science, and then Physical Science. Some people don't care for the science, but we have really enjoyed it.

 

The music curriculum uses solfege and ear training, do-re-mi (not note names), listening for patterns in classical music -- no theory like you'd see in piano or other instrumental instruction -- in grades K-3. Beginning in 4th grade, they introduce notes with the recorder. In 6th grade they begin using the Music Ace CD.

 

Foreign Language is Powerspeak...

 

Each VA is different. Mostly now (from what I've heard), you are placed in the subjects based upon your grade. Most of the VA have abandoned the placement tests (unfortunately). They also want you to use the curriculum for a couple of months, because it gets "more difficult." This means, it can take several months to get a curriculum that "fits."

 

K12 is objective-based. If your student masters the objective, you can mark off the assignment as complete (whether or not they have to do the work to master the objective).

 

There is a good deal of support, it is a pretty solid curriculum -- but there are hoops to jump through. What those hoops look like will depend upon your VA. Ours started off being pretty accomodating, but is now a lot more demanding. We will be leaving VAVA at the end of the year -- mainly because I cannot stand the thought of another year in the math courses, and because it is becoming increasingly difficult to accomodate the ever-changing needs of my 3 children. The VA is supposed to be more flexible than "normal" PS, but this year it has been anything but.

 

I do like K12, and if we could afford to use the parts we liked independently, I would go back to that.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

What grade levels are you considering? I think I would consider PAVCS over Agora possibly (we tried both). I would ask tons of questions about testing, flexibility (especially with the new math), portfolio assignments, mandatory online sessions, testing locations, outings, etc I have heard a lot of complaints about the new math at K12. We only used the old math which was good. The other thing is that K12 has tons of activities for each lesson but it is not necessary to do all except possibly for the new math if your child understands and masters the objectives. Currently, ds is at a private school and next year we hope to do traditional homeschooling without cyber schools. I do like K12 Language Arts, History, Science, Art, and Foreign Language. We only experienced K-3:)

[susankenny]

There is a poster on mothering.com who uses Agora and loves it AFAIK. She is a classically inclined homeschooler. You might want to look around a bit over there and see if you can find some old K12 threads, or just start a new thread in the "Learning at Home" forum and title it "Hey Rynna! Smithie said you could tell me about Agora!" :D

 

Yes, the Learning at Home forum at MDC has a ton of K12 threads. Just do an advanced search there. They also have a support thread for K12 users usually going on. Additionally, there is a K12 yahoo group, and the posters there are very helpful in weighing the pros & cons. If you decide to try it, you can always withdraw if it is a bad fit. We've never used K12, but I admit the free curriculum has tempted me in the past.

 

 

Susan

[Nelko26]

My two boys are currently enrolled in K12 in SC and I am seriously considering pulling them out - more for the politics than curriculum. There are a lot of hoops to jump through to meet state requirements. There is very little flexibility here, if you don't move at the expected pace - your grade drops. Grades are based on completion and study island grades. Online classes are required twice a week at specific times. Attendance of 6 hours per day must be reported daily. It is very stressful to say the least. After homeschooling on my own for 5 years, its very hard to beat to the drum of another :-) Please keep in mind, all these technicalities depend on the state.