Anyone here use Georgia Virtual Academy?

[Gamom3]

I know this is not considered "homeschooling", and that I would be limited to what I would use.

I was talking to a friend today and she uses this with her kids. It sounded great!

She received EVERYTHING that she needed for the year, except for a few novels.

[Tia in Wa]

I don't but Washington has the same thing. It is K12 if that helps. I know someone who does it and she loves it. I personaly like more control, but that's just me.:D

[Sue G in PA]

for the first 2 years after bringing all my dc home from ps, it was a nice, gradual intro. to the world of homeschooling (I know it's not real homeschooling!). I believe GA uses the K12 curriculum which is a good one. I wanted something more Christian for History and Science and so K12 wasn't a good fit. A plus...SWB did write some or all of the 1st grade and perhaps 2nd grade (don't quote me, I could be wrong) History for K12! At the end of our 2nd year, I needed more freedom to do my own thing. Teach what I wanted, when I wanted. Plusses: all curriculum free, K12 supplies computers and printers, teacher support if you need it, rich curriculum, lessons all laid out for you on K12's online school. Negatives: not a lot of flexibility in terms of when you school (they follow a ps schedule...at least the one we used did), work samples to be sent in every month to assess dc's progress...it was a pain for us, no flexibility in curriculum choice if you are not happy with it (GA could be different so check it out), to much like ps for us.

 

Anyway, check it out and also check out if they have a Yahoo group. THey should.

[Night Elf]

My friend signed up for it because she was already a K12 customer, as was I, and she liked the idea of getting everything for free and having someone hold her accountable. She lasted longer than I thought she would. *grin* She lasted 3 months. She disliked the emails she constantly received telling her at what percentage her son was at in each of the subjects and the nit-picking of things she (the mom) wouldn't have normally cared about. She decided it wasmuch better and easier to use K12 as a direct consumer.

 

I knew I wouldn't like my son enrolled as a ps student and working at home. Although I don't have a huge problem with ps, I definitely believe that I homeschool so I can make the decisions. I use K12 as a starting point for my ds11. He loves it. However, I modify it to meet his needs. It is quite pricey though. :)

 

The pros and cons of K12 with GVA are very similar to Sue's list. They do operate on a school year. They do have to send in work. The teacher does like to talk about the student's work. No flexibility, i.e. if something isn't working you can't just replace it easily.

[Pensguys]

There is a mom/child in our co-op who use this. Our co-op is on Fri every other week. She said that it isn't a "free day" for them. They still have to go home and get their work done. I can call co-op a school day in my required 180 and spread our bookwork out over the other days of the week so we can do both and be free on Fri afternoons after co-op.