Florida virtual school experiences

[aekmom]

Please share any feedback/experiences you have had with flvs....thanks

[wendybern]

My 3 daughters have all taken FLVS classes. Many were great, a few were not. We've loved English, Leadership, Photography, and some middle school science. Those courses were well put-together and the instructors we had were wonderful. On the other hand, we've dropped a few that were so weirdly organized they didn't facilitate learning (biology) or so full of busy-work they just weren't worth it (world history).

 

You have 14 days to drop any class, so I'd say try it, but do as much as you can in the first 14 days to be sure it's a keeper.

[mom2att]

My oldest took her high school math and foreign language courses through FLVS.  It was a great (free for Floridians) way to earn those credits, though she was very over computer-based learning when all was said and done.  The teachers she had were decent, like any educational setting some were better than others.

 

The positive for us was that one of the colleges dd applied to required homeschoolers to have credits for certain subjects either from FLVS, dual enrollment, some other "certified" source, or submit SAT2 tests in that subject.  Since dd's math and language were from FLVS, and she had plenty of social studies-type classes from DE, she only had to take the subject test for science.  And she got accepted to the school (UF).  So I was glad we had done those classes with FLVS.

 

[aekmom]

Thanks for the reviews...it is very helpful!

[Beth78]

Thanks for the question.  I was considering signing my freshman up for drivers ed and photography. Any experience with either of those?? We have never used FLVS either.

[Melissa B]

Drivers Ed is an easy six-week course to provide the mandatory Drug, Alcohol, Traffic Awareness (DATA) certificate needed to get a learner's permit in FL. The videos are graphic, but it's a no fuss class that serves its purpose. My second dd is finishing up the class now.

[littlemommy]

Has anyone taken HOPE through FLVS? It's a PE credit.

[FloridaLisa]

My oldest five have done the following FLVS courses between them:

 

AP Biology

AP Macroeconomics

AP English Comp

Latin I, II and III (honors)

Chemistry (honors)

World History (honors)

Physics (honors)

 

Like Barbie said earlier, FLVS classes served a purpose for us. We chose them because they needed the accredited course and/or because we couldn't find a local option. I'm glad we have FLVS as an option, but more and more I've found that it's not the best option for my dc.  The classes are pretty dry and it's wasn't stimulating enough to really motivate my boys. My oldest did APs because he needed the challenge.  His AP through PAH was definitely more stimulating and interesting, but it didn't provide accredited credits. Latin is not offered at our local uni, so that wasn't an option.  The  Latin teachers are all good, they certainly know the material, but over the years their workload has increased significantly making the classes even less personal.  It's a monthly check-in and out and it's getting more difficult to call them or set up a conference on the fly. The AP classes did seem to adequately prepare my dc for the exams, though I always *felt* like private providers like PAH are better with that. 

 

The only bad experience we had was with a physics class my oldest accidentally took through our county charter. He had a local teacher, not a FLVS teacher (these courses are the exact same material as FLVS but franchised out to counties so that they can keep more of the money). The teacher taught during the day and then spent early evening with his family, so he wasn't even available until around 8:00 p.m. every evening.  And he was completely unfamiliar with the technology so there were several negative tech issues. 

 

World history was *never again* because it was an inch deep and a mile wide. I knew we could much better at home, but oldest ds was a guinea pig and we were trying our hand with FLVS for his 9th grade year and had had a good experience with Latin I.

 

Oh yes, that is one advantage of FLVS. My dc all began Latin I in 8th grade. 

 

Lisa