Michelle My Bell Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 We have never used online charter school, but I really want something that will keep my last child, my son, accountable for his 9th grade year. I will be working full-time, I am separated from my husband and I am really over home educating having done it since 1999. If life wasn't so intense right now, I might consider doing regular home education as in the past. I am still considering sending him to our local public, but as I said in a previous post, he was bullied there in 7th grade and he has zero desire to go back. So I am thinking about Connections or K12. I would love opinions, experiences, and what does the day look like for someone in 9th grade. Also, if you DO NOT recommend online charter and I should just pull something together for him, I'd like to know that as well. Thank You! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 I don't know his learning style - some kids do well with K12 or CA. But more kids don't do great with them. There's not a great teacher-student connection in the set up in a lot of states. And there is a lot of busy work without a lot of deeper thinking or creativity. If you can swing it financially, I would put something together with core online outside classes instead of doing an online charter. Some of the great providers are pretty full like WTMA. But many are not full yet at all. You get a better connection, more flexibility, typically less busy work, and you can choose the classes that are right for him. Of course, it really depends on your student, his learning style, your budget, etc. Putting something together can require some extra outside organization. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 A friend of mine had a bad experience with CA in Ohio but her kids both had learning challenges. I would avoid it if you are in that situation. Is K12 free? Are there any university model schools near you? They meet twice a week and do the grading, etc. but you have to make sure work is done at home. The negative is of course that you have to pay for it. I hate to muddy the waters for you, but if you set up some kind of parenting agreement make sure that your educational choices will be honored. I have seen some really ugly stuff recently related to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City Mouse Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 (edited) Not in Ohio, but I have extensive experience with CA, some with Edginuity platform, and just reports about K12. One big difference between K12 and CA is that CA has a stand alone platform with all required resources, outside websites, etc linked directly from the main platform (there may be some exceptions for individual state differences). K12 has a main platform but students can be required to log in on their own to other outside resources for assignments which requires keeping track of multiple log in credentials. CA has lots of learning activities in the lessons which are not graded and are their to provide a variety to meet different learning styles. In many states, students/parents have some leeway as to how and when these types of activities are completed. For example, the lesson might say to write down the answers to questions in textbook; however, if the activity is not graded the family may choose to complete that activity orally. If an assignment is given for problems out of the math book, the parent may decided to do only the odd or even numbers, or stop the student when master is shown. This of course will vary based on each course subject and state requirements. I don’t know if K12 is the same. The actual lessons in Edgenuity were more engaging to my DS- more audio and video rather than reading out of textbook, but there were not any “optional” activities. The system requires that every item on every slide be completed which frustrated my DS. When I worked at CA schools, I would counsel new parents that the first 3-4 weeks are horrible for everyone, and it doesn’t seem to matter what the age of the student is. It was the same with elementary all the way to high school. The first few weeks will seem like you are doing school 12+hours a day. There is a lot to learn in just navigating the platform and learning where to click. After a couple of weeks,it does get better, but many people choose to leave the school rather than suffer through those first few weeks. I will warn you that many parents who come to online charter schools from homeschooling are not happy with the restrictions and requirements of the public schools. However, it can be a good option for parents who are looking for a public school diploma with a little more flexibility (very little in some states) Edited July 8, 2021 by City Mouse 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 (edited) I think @Scarlettson use K12. A friend’s child use K12 for a year as a stop gap for high school bullying. Her district wasn’t able to provide a safe environment and she actually had a school psychologist assigned to her. They did accept her credits for the public K12 school since it was agreed upon. Due to COVID, my district now has an independent study program for high school. Does your district have something like that? Edited July 9, 2021 by Arcadia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 22 hours ago, Michelle My Bell said: We have never used online charter school, but I really want something that will keep my last child, my son, accountable for his 9th grade year. I will be working full-time, I am separated from my husband and I am really over home educating having done it since 1999. If life wasn't so intense right now, I might consider doing regular home education as in the past. I am still considering sending him to our local public, but as I said in a previous post, he was bullied there in 7th grade and he has zero desire to go back. So I am thinking about Connections or K12. I would love opinions, experiences, and what does the day look like for someone in 9th grade. Also, if you DO NOT recommend online charter and I should just pull something together for him, I'd like to know that as well. Thank You! I assume when you say on line charter you mean through the state. K12 curriculum is solid. Ds used it 1-12 grades in two states. my complaints were about the micromanaging..,,ds despised class connect where he was in a virtual class with other kids. But he has an extremely low tolerance, so not sure his opinion is useful. Overall his teachers were flexible and reasonable. If you couldn’t be there for a class you could listen to a recording…which ds did almost 100% of the time. he is currently about to begin his 4 th year of engineering school…so I think it was ok overall. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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