Online/Virtual High School Recommendations with daily class attendance

[stacyh270]

I feel like I'm at my wit's end with my DS15 (9th grade).  We moved recently from an urban area with lots of outside homeschool opportunities (tutorials, friends, etc.) to a rural area where DS is doing most of his classes online through Homeschool Connections with weekly class meetings.  Honestly, I don't feel like enough work is being required in most classes. I'm particularly frustrated that the grades are coming from online quizzes that allow multiple attempts and are open book/open note.  I've even posted before on how to handle grades like this when I don't necessarily feel like his grades showing accurately reflect his true knowledge and retention.  He maybe, MAYBE spends one hour a week outside of his class on his assignments (except for Derek Owens Geometry, which he does daily).  The rest of the time, he dilly dallies around claiming to be reading through his books, notes, etc. but he drags everything out and at the end of the day, doesn't have all his assignments I planned out for him done.  I'm ready to send him to public school but DH is adamant about not doing so because the local school system sucks and there are terrible influences (drugs, sex, bullying, etc.) that we hear our friends and family talk about.  It's also a lower socio-economic status area so there's not as much motivation among his peers for higher education.  

I hate feeling like I have to sit on top of DS allllll day loooooonnnngggg for him to get his work done, done well, and with diligence.  It's been affecting our relationship for a long time and I feel angry all the time, which spills over into homeschooling my daughters (5th grade). I also feel like DS needs more social interaction because he's pretty introverted naturally.  I know he misses his friends that he left, too, so that plays a part in it all.  And it's not like this is the first time I've had issues with homeschooling him because even when he did go to tutorials, it was a daily battle for him to work hard and get it done. 

That being said, I'm wanting to look at online resources for next semester/next year that is basically an online public/private high school that requires him to "attend" classes every day, not just one day per week.  Basically, I'm need him to be busy during the day and not messing around picking at his sisters, trying to sneak and play video games, and being taught by someone other than myself.  I want/need to be more hands off to foster more independence and hopefully, self motivation.  I can't coddle him any longer, both for my own sanity and for our relationship.  I need the joy back in our house and I need him to be required to be busy.  I'm not sure I can accomplish all this and still keep him at home, though.  

I'm open to any and all suggestions regarding online high school and about structure/discipline for him in particular so that our day isn't so disruptive. 

Thanks!

[Lanny]

You must be aware of the differences between Synchronous and Asynchronous "Online" courses".  Your description fits Synchronous, but I don't know where you are going to find daily classes your DS will attend online.  Asynchronous requires more self-discipline.

[stacyh270]

31 minutes ago, Lanny said:

You must be aware of the differences between Synchronous and Asynchronous "Online" courses".  Your description fits Synchronous, but I don't know where you are going to find daily classes your DS will attend online.  Asynchronous requires more self-discipline.

Well, I wasn't sure what they were called but after googling those terms, then, yes, Synchronous is what I would desire for him or at least something more than a once weekly class.  Maybe I just need to find better providers 😕 

[freesia]

Is he doing the recorded classes or the live ones at Homeschool Connections?

My ds is doing some of the recorded and I agree that there is not a ton of work assigned.

I had a ninth grader a few years ago who had a hard time keeping focused.  I put him in several online classes with weekly homework assignments due to a live teacher and weekly live classes.  For the first year I still checked in with him daily to make sure he was getting things done and checked the grade book regularly to make sure his work was turned in.  The consequence was the loss of internet time.

For getting distracted online our rule became all computer work in living room with screen facing me and consequences.  Yes, I lived in my living room for two years until he developed self-control and a work ethic. But it did come.  We also got a router to turn off the internet to each device seperately and only turned it on when it was needed.

Homeschool Spanish Academy has twice a week classes and you do homework the other days.  My dd's French through Aim Academy has daily assignments that don't have to be turned in until the end of the week. So did ds's science classes through Aim.  You could have a rule that one has to be turned in each day and you check before any free time. Aim has math, science, english, foreign language.

[stacyh270]

3 minutes ago, freesia said:

Is he doing the recorded classes or the live ones at Homeschool Connections?

Both.  He is doing Spanish, Biology and lab, Theology, and Writing live and History recorded.  

My ds is doing some of the recorded and I agree that there is not a ton of work assigned.  Yes, that part is frustrating.  He actually likes to watch his history videos but immediately goes and takes the weekly quiz with the material fresh on his mind so he scores really well on it.  I've started making him go through the PowerPoint again, take notes, and write a 1-2 paragraph summary of what was discussed and then take the quiz the next day. 

I had a ninth grader a few years ago who had a hard time keeping focused.  I put him in several online classes with weekly homework assignments due to a live teacher and weekly live classes.  For the first year I still checked in with him daily to make sure he was getting things done and checked the grade book regularly to make sure his work was turned in.  The consequence was the loss of internet time.  

For getting distracted online our rule became all computer work in living room with screen facing me and consequences.  Yes, I lived in my living room for two years until he developed self-control and a work ethic. But it did come.  We also got a router to turn off the internet to each device seperately and only turned it on when it was needed. What router did you get?  Ours is very hard to control and somehow all my devices keep getting new IP addresses that end up letting devices connect that shouldn't be.  It's frustrating.  We are in tight quarters right now so DS's computer is in his room, which I'd rather it not be but we have nowhere else to put it so that I can do lessons with my girls and still have him somewhat nearby. He's still sneaky, though.  Hopefully, our remodel/addition will get started later in the spring so that next school year, I can get the PC out of his room.  I feel like I need to install cameras everywhere...lol.

Homeschool Spanish Academy has twice a week classes and you do homework the other days.  My dd's French through Aim Academy has daily assignments that don't have to be turned in until the end of the week. So did ds's science classes through Aim.  You could have a rule that one has to be turned in each day and you check before any free time. Aim has math, science, english, foreign language. 

 I'll check Aim out and Homeschool Spanish Academy.  Thanks!

 

[freesia]

This is the name copied from Amazon:

TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 Wireless Router

 

Yeah, do all you can to get it out of his room. 

[stacyh270]

10 minutes ago, Plum Crazy said:

Sounds frustrating.

Gently, I'm not sure the school requiring attendance will be enough to straighten him out. Online schools in general are not a good match for unmotivated teens.  

I agree.  I'm not sure what is going to motivate him.  It's not for lack of trying on my part, that's for sure. I wish I could figure out what makes him tick. 

Can you enroll him part time in some extra-curricular classes at the local ps? Our school system doesn't allow homeschoolers to do extra-curriculars once in high school and there are no nearby rec leagues once in middle school and above.  My 5th grade daughters are doing the swim team but their league is a private league coached by the same coaches at the middle and high teams.  They won't be able to swim competitively with the same group once they get into late middle/high school. 

Sign him up for lessons or find something he really wants to do? He loves to hunt and fish.  Part of our most recent struggles have been because deer season was in for 3 weeks and he was getting up early every morning = sleepy and cranky mid-morning with no motivation.  

Can he find a job? We have a cattle farm so he does help my husband do that fairly often (still reluctantly, though).  I'd like for him to work outside our house/farm but we live 20 minutes out from the local town and with no license yet = mom has to drive to/fro.  DH would rather pay him to help him than send him off to somewhere else.  I'm keeping that door open, though, once he gets his license and can drive himself.  I think it would help him to get away from us fairly often 😉 

Sometimes a busy schedule is enough motivation to be more efficient with their time. If he drags his feet too long at school and then has to go to work, he has no down time. It would get him out of the house for some time and give him a chance to be social.  Good points.

 

 

[freesia]

If you get the router, I would also have assigned times for computer work where you check on him regularly.  Like he can only access the online classes from 10-11 while your girls are doing some independent work and you can pop in regularly or something.  I would seriously consider how much time he has to have the computer on.  The moodle pages can be opened to the assignment as can any link to a pdf and then you put the computer off line.

Also, limiting non school online access to one hour a day made a HUGE impact on attitude around here.

Also, I re-read your first post.  What are your consequences for not having the work done?  If he is not getting it done, there needs to be a consequence. If your dh wants him to be homeschooled, maybe he can help here.  If my oldest gave me grief/didn't get work done, he had to go to work with dh. This worked for us bc dh works at a church next door.

(And to encourage you, ds great up *alot* between 9th and 10th grade. He is now doing awesome in his freshmen year in an honors program.)

[stacyh270]

2 minutes ago, freesia said:

If you get the router, I would also have assigned times for computer work where you check on him regularly.  Like he can only access the online classes from 10-11 while your girls are doing some independent work and you can pop in regularly or something.  I would seriously consider how much time he has to have the computer on.  The moodle pages can be opened to the assignment as can any link to a pdf and then you put the computer off line. Good to know because I always hear, "But I need internet so I can do my work... ".  I'm checking with local peeps to see what they've used that works with our internet company's router which is a proprietary router. 

Also, limiting non school online access to one hour a day made a HUGE impact on attitude around here. 

Also, I re-read your first post.  What are your consequences for not having the work done?  If he is not getting it done, there needs to be a consequence. If your dh wants him to be homeschooled, maybe he can help here.  Yes, I agree with all that and it IS something DH and I both need to work on.  Like last night, DS hadn't finished all his work but their favorite football team was playing and DH and DS watched that game.  Ugh.   If my oldest gave me grief/didn't get work done, he had to go to work with dh. This worked for us bc dh works at a church next door.

(And to encourage you, ds great up *alot* between 9th and 10th grade. He is now doing awesome in his freshmen year in an honors program.)  That's my prayer for our son that one day, it'll just *click* that hey, I need to man up, do my work, and get some ambition 🙏

 

[Lanny]

"What router did you get?  Ours is very hard to control and somehow all my devices keep getting new IP addresses that end up letting devices connect that shouldn't be.  It's frustrating.  "

The Dynamic IP addresses you see are coming from the DHCP Server in the Router. 

What you need to do is find the MAC address for the Networking in each device he uses to connect to the Internet.  And, then, in the Router, be able to turn off access to those MAC addresses when you want to cut his Internet access.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address

https://kb.netgear.com/1005/How-do-I-find-my-device-s-MAC-address

The MAC address  is unique for each hardware networking chip. 12 alphanumeric characters. Each pair of characters separated by a hyphen.  

[Roadrunner]

Wilson Hill Academy has synchronous classes, but they are expensive.

[RootAnn]

10 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

Wilson Hill Academy has synchronous classes, but they are expensive.

But they don't meet daily- only twice per week. There is a significantly higher level of work to them (compared to HC), depending on the class and teacher. However, the homework is not turned in for math (at least at the higher levels). It is self-graded. The kid needs to be on top of the work (or have a parent on their tail everyday).

OP- I think you are going to run into problems no matter what you do online because you'll still have to nag so he gets the work done and stays offline. (It might be the same for in person classes as there is homework to be completed.)

I watched all three of my brothers go through high school doing the minimum possible to pass. (Well, two of them as one went to an all-boys boarding school.)  One shaped up in The Marines. One failed out of his first college before he found academic motivation. The third did the minimum in college & graduated with a double major.

I hope my boys got more of dh's genes than from my side of the family. I figure I'll have to push and pull and drag them through high school. Maybe they'll find their motivation before college . . . 

[MamaSprout]

Another option would be all off-line classes. A friend of mine went this route with her teen boy. Teaching Textbooks, Oak Meadow, maybe some PACs, I think? Resources mostly written to the student. I know Derek Owens will send you a flash drive with videos if you request it. Her son having a part-time job made a big difference, too. ETA: Roman Roads has disks that would cover your history and they are on sale this week. Not Catholic, though.

Edited November 28, 2018 by MamaSprout

[stacyh270]

14 hours ago, MamaSprout said:

Another option would be all off-line classes. A friend of mine went this route with her teen boy. Teaching Textbooks, Oak Meadow, maybe some PACs, I think? Resources mostly written to the student. I know Derek Owens will send you a flash drive with videos if you request it. Her son having a part-time job made a big difference, too. ETA: Roman Roads has disks that would cover your history and they are on sale this week. Not Catholic, though.

 

I will check on the DO flash drive for classes.  I just looked and was surprised/excited to see that the Roman Roads history curriculum is by Dave Raymond.  He was my son's live Latin teacher a couple of years ago at a tutorial my son was in before we moved. Great guy! I'll definitely check it out further. 

[RootAnn]

Re: DO flash drive

I had these for DO physics a couple years back so my dd could do the videos without internet access. It was great. Just ask for them and they should ship them within a week.

[ScoutTN]

On 11/28/2018 at 10:09 AM, stacyh270 said:

 

I will check on the DO flash drive for classes.  I just looked and was surprised/excited to see that the Roman Roads history curriculum is by Dave Raymond.  He was my son's live Latin teacher a couple of years ago at a tutorial my son was in before we moved. Great guy! I'll definitely check it out further. 

Roman Roads sells Dave Raymond's American History and Modernity. Compass Classroom produced them. Wes Callihan is the teacher for the RR History/Great Books courses , which are their main thing. He is excellent too, though not as funny as DR and his assignments aren't as creative. 

I hope you find some good solutions for your son. 

Memoria Press has registration open for Spring semester classes. They will only meet 1-2x a week, but are unlikely to be too easy or not enough work.

 

Edited November 30, 2018 by ScoutTN

[stacyh270]

Thanks, everyone!  I think we have figured out the plan for the rest of the school year and I'll re-evaluate course providers in the spring for next school year.  I've learned the hard way that "homegrown courses" like history and literature do NOT work well for my son and certainly not for our relationship.  While I think the American Literature course I had put together is superior to what I've seen in online providers, the reality of him doing the work and doing it well for me is non-existent so I'm enrolling him in an another lit course to finish the year.  I'm also enrolling him in another Theology course in addition to the one he's doing because it's not requiring enough work to be considered a full credit, IMO. For history, HSC has multiple options (live and recorded) for American History with one class being considered a full semester credit; however, the class only has 12 sessions per class and the only work required is a quiz over each session.  I'm going to require that he take 3 sections (recorded) as one year of American History instead of two and require a short writing assignment for each session.  He's already doing the first one now (1492-1763), so, basically, he'll do three sessions every two weeks to finish 1763-1865 and 1865-2000 by the end of the school year.  We may push into the summer a little bit 😉 That should keep him fairly busy.  

For technology, I just ordered the Disney Circle router to help better monitor and manage online accessibility.  Our current router and process for controls is tedious and not necessarily fool-proof because it blocks by IP and not MAC address.  Therefore, when devices get assigned a new IP (I'm not even sure how that's happening), they suddenly have access when they didn't before.  One scenario is when a device connects to a wireless adapter versus a wired connection or when it attempts to connect to the booster.  Again, not exactly certain how all that is happening but I know that despite my best attempts to strictly regulate, limits are being pushed and circumvented which is bringing down a whole new slew of tougher consequences for ALL my kids. 

Thanks again!

[Lanny]

@stacyh270 You cannot block via IP addresses unless the IP Addresses are Static to that particular device (phone, Laptop, Desktop, etc.).  If the IP addresses are Dynamic (issued by the DHCP Server in the Router, as they are in your case and you cannot block via MAC addresses, then it is impossible to block them. Good luck with the new Router and with the courses!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

On 11/27/2018 at 11:28 AM, stacyh270 said:

 

Could his computer be in a more public area such that the screen is visible, but he uses headphones to shut out distractions? 

It was not a winning combo for one of my sons to spend lots of time online as a freshman.