hippiemamato3 Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Hello! DD10 enrolled in online public charter school this fall. She's in 7th grade (two years skipped) and does like the work, etc, as well as her teachers. However, getting her to do the work is a fight. I miss homeschooling. I miss the flexibility. Online schooling is a little flexible, but if you don't hand in a certain number of assignments each week you are in a yellow *or red* zone which stresses me out. DD has been diagnosed with anxiety and we are going to be starting meds soon if she doesn't feel better. She is seeing a counselor. I feel like we could use the chance to homeschool again for this year and maybe next, and then do online high school if that's what she prefers. Thoughts? Am I wrong to want to pull her? We argued a fair amount when we were homeschooling, but I think it's worse now...and I MISS schooling with her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 I’d pull her from the online program. She doesn’t sound like she’s developmental ready for an online program, even if, she can do the work. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippiemamato3 Posted December 9, 2019 Author Share Posted December 9, 2019 3 minutes ago, May said: I’d pull her from the online program. She doesn’t sound like she’s developmental ready for an online program, even if, she can do the work. She has 100% in all her classes, but while she says she loves it...she doesn't want to do the work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 DS15 did online public charter when he was 6.5 to 9.5 years old (2nd to 4th grade) because he prefers outside accountability. He was in brick and mortar public school before that. Then he did almost nothing for 5th grade (9.5 to 10.5 years old) when we started homeschooling. After that he has all his classes outsourced and did well. When my kid was in online public charter, he didn’t do most of the busywork. He did do all the quizzes, tests and exams, as well as submitted work samples every quarter. His teachers were okay with that. How does your daughter feel about being a 10 year old 7th grader? DS15 didn’t want to grade skip so he did his first AP course and two AP exams in 7th grade (11.5 to 12.5 years old). DS14 did his first AP course and exam in 6th grade (10.5 to 11.5 years old). In my case, my kids wants me to be mom and their teachers to be the “bad guys” with homework, tests, exams and deadlines. So we homeschool by outsourcing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 (edited) I put my kids in an online cyber school this year. There were many good reasons to do so and it’s been a great choice for us. It’s too long to type out all the reasons here (I’ve been trying and it’s just too complicated and distracting.) My 12th grader works almost entirely alone. I check in with him each week to help him plan his week and I look over his writing to see if he needs to edit anything before he turns it in, and that’s about it. For the youngest, though, I sit side-by-side with him for 4 of his 6 classes. And for the remaining 2, I stay on call to help if he needs help. For me, using the cyber school wasn’t about me stepping away from their education. It wasn’t about me getting free time or going back to work. It was about making the best choice to educate the kids. And for “reasons” it is the best choice. And for us, that means that my 9th grader uses the cyber school, but I sit next to him engaging him with the material and learning alongside him. For example, I know that math is his weakness. And I further know that I’m a bad Algebra I teacher: I earned that with the oldest (who is strong in math, so I didn’t entirely mess him up.) But it was a rough year and I quickly outsourced math the next year. So, for my 9th grader, we sit together and watch the teacher’s lessons and then we both work through the problems and see if we come up with the same answer. And when I see my son not understanding something, we review and we practice. For history, there is a lot of reading. So we sit side by side and read silently together and then talk about what we’ve read every few paragraphs. For English, I read the books he reads for school and we talk about what we read. For his Spanish, I know nothing about Spanish, but I help him remember what his teacher said, and I help him keep moving forward when he’s getting confused or overwhelmed (so many moving parts in learning a language.). Etc, etc. I spend as much time side by side with him this year at the cyber school as I did last year in a pure homeschool setting. I don’t help him a lot with 2 of his classes because he finds those very engaging on his own and as a 9th grader, I want him to be learning independence. I could sit by him with those, but I chose not to for 9th grade. Next year, I’ll back off form a couple more classes. By 12th grade, the plan is for him to be working almost completely independently, like his older brother does, so he’s ready for college. You might want to consider whether you need to do that with your daughter as well: Do her school day with her. Do’t take the full lead, but come alongside for support and questions and interaction. Edited: for clarification Edited December 9, 2019 by Garga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippiemamato3 Posted December 9, 2019 Author Share Posted December 9, 2019 31 minutes ago, Arcadia said: DS15 did online public charter when he was 6.5 to 9.5 years old (2nd to 4th grade) because he prefers outside accountability. He was in brick and mortar public school before that. Then he did almost nothing for 5th grade (9.5 to 10.5 years old) when we started homeschooling. After that he has all his classes outsourced and did well. When my kid was in online public charter, he didn’t do most of the busywork. He did do all the quizzes, tests and exams, as well as submitted work samples every quarter. His teachers were okay with that. How does your daughter feel about being a 10 year old 7th grader? DS15 didn’t want to grade skip so he did his first AP course and two AP exams in 7th grade (11.5 to 12.5 years old). DS14 did his first AP course and exam in 6th grade (10.5 to 11.5 years old). In my case, my kids wants me to be mom and their teachers to be the “bad guys” with homework, tests, exams and deadlines. So we homeschool by outsourcing. She loves being a 10 year old 7th grader and is proud of it...but she'd still be a 10 year old 7th grader homeschooling too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 K12, has an option, that if paid for by a school district, you had to do all the work. However, if you bought the classes yourself, the grades were yours and you had the flexibility to do as much or as little, as you did not have to submit grades to anyone. We only did 1 or 2 subjects at a time and that worked for us. Do you have this kind of option with your program? Of course, if you need a person on the other end to help your child remain accountable, I can understand this. Or maybe shop around to find the kind of program that could fit your child's needs. Yes, it may be a maturity issue that your child may not be ready to be expected to do so much work. You will not want to squelch her desire for learning, so I can see this is a dilemma, hope you can find some kind of compromise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted December 10, 2019 Share Posted December 10, 2019 If her anxiety has any perfectionism to it — here is my opinion. Get rid of the grades. Getting 100% is not healthy for an advanced, anxious child. Find something ungraded or where — in some way — she doesn’t get 100%. This might be with adjusting assignments or with giving comments instead of a grade. Get rid of the grade level. Do something unleveled. My opinion about anxiety is — either it’s getting worse or it’s getting better. She is only 10. Something has to change for things to seem better or they probably will get worse as she gets older. She can like getting 100% and being a 7th grader at her age — it doesn’t mean it is good for her. I think you don’t have to take it away, you can just make changes where there are not grade levels or grades in the same way. But whatever the counselor suggests is probably the best thing! I think look big picture at changes you could make where maybe she is doing things with various age groups and there is less focus on her age and her performance level. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted December 10, 2019 Share Posted December 10, 2019 (edited) Anxiety can be a big reason for work avoidance. It might not be the reason — but it can be a reason. Can you look for another online program that maybe grades differently and has kids her age? It sounds like the online provider part is good for her — but not this provider. She might be doing a lower level of work even though it’s for an older age, you know? There is a wide, wide range of performance that kids have in different grades. I have seen average 7th grade work in public school to be less than advanced 5th grade work, you know? And that is fine — but maybe not the best for your daughter. Edited December 10, 2019 by Lecka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted December 10, 2019 Share Posted December 10, 2019 This is the reason I know most people pulled from an online charter. Can be ok for an older self motivated kid, but seems like actually more effort in many cases for parents than the flexibility of straight up homeschooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted December 10, 2019 Share Posted December 10, 2019 (edited) Ok, I just caught up on reading the whole thread. If anxiety is an issue, I absolutely think you should take away the grade level and shooting for 100% on assignments. I have an advanced kid I launched to college at the age appropriate time. I have no regrets about that. It can depend on your kid, your local resources. But I certainly wouldn't make a decision about pushing your child to adulthood earlier than puberty. What you are making a decision about is when you child is going to be ready to "launch". It has to do with a minimal academic level. But it also has to do with maturity, confidence, poise, etc. A child that is struggling with anxiety at age 10 may be ready later rather than earlier. That DOES NOT mean hold her back academically or not find appropriate resources to engage her. That means find a way to spark the love of actual learning and not the love of jumping hoops and getting 100% on what are likely shallow assignments for a gifted learner. Not focusing on the numbers on the books you buy. Focus on creating an educational environment that won't provoke anxiety. Gifted kids can thrive on having time and space to dig into interest areas. My kid tested college ready in middle school. This isn't as unusual as you might imagine. My kid went to school for 2 years. His first grade class had kids who were emergent readers to kids reading high school level. Edited December 10, 2019 by FuzzyCatz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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