choirfarm Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I was wondering if this exists, but I don't think it does. Is there a class your high schoolers could take like Spanish or computer programming or upper level science that is independent/ taught by someone else but is flexible in dates? For example, we are taking a 2 week trip to Alaska in September ( 12th-35th) so i'm thinking Potter's school or Veritas Press wouldn't work. One of the reasons my dh agreed to homeschooling 5 years ago was for the flexibility of schedule. We normally take a big vacation like this a couple of times a year and then a smaller one week one a couple of other times. Basically, my dh takes a vacation a quarter. He is a surgeon and leaves at 6am to return at 8pm or later and is gone many weekends, so he really needs and wants these vacations to connect with the kids. I told him that this coming year when our oldest is 9th will probably be the last year he can do this. My oldest is advanced and NEEDS some advanced courses, either as dual credit or online or something and we won't be able to be as flexible, unless you guys can share with me some other options. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 If you are wanting a 'live' teacher then you might look around for online tutors. I tutor/teach Math online and most of my students have individual sessions. This morning my 10am session was cancelled due to the student being ill. I'll just reschedule her later in the week. There are many good video programs out that allow you to be flexible--some even have phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses for extra help. For foreign language Oklahoma State University has Spanish and German (SpanishOnline and GermanOnline) courses for high school students. Their fee includes a weekly phone session with an instructor--the rest of the program uses a student text and computer lesson (listening and other activities) support. Students work at their own pace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moni Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 http://www.AmericanSchoolofCorr.com http://www.SetonHome.org Are two that come to mind. :seeya: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCMom Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Can you not bring a laptop, stay somewhere with broadband and just have the child do the class meetings while on vacation? I mean 2 hours a week or so isn't that intrusive to my way of thinking, then the homework could be done in the evenings, maybe?? Georgia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Florida Virtual School is available to students outside of Florida for a fee. It's a bit steep, but it's an accredited school that has 2 floating weeks of vacation per semester. The pace can also be adjusted to work ahead if you need extra time off. HTH, Lisa http://www.flvs.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Can you not bring a laptop, stay somewhere with broadband and just have the child do the class meetings while on vacation? I mean 2 hours a week or so isn't that intrusive to my way of thinking, then the homework could be done in the evenings, maybe?? Georgia Well, I'm still working on our Alaska schedule, but here is what I am thinking. I'm not sure where schoolwork would fit: Saturday, Sept. 12th-Arrive in Anchorage 7:40 Alaska Time RV place picks us up and we spend the night in the RV Sunday, Sept. 13th RV Orientation Drive to Denali Riley Campground Sign up for Discovery Hike, take a hike if time Monday Sept. 14th-Sept 17th Savage Campground Take bus to Wonder Lake Discovery Hike or other Ranger programs Eielson visitor center Thursday Sept. 17th Drive to Anchorage with lots of stops ( 5 hours no stops) Friday, September 18th Drive to Seward 127 miles from Anchorage to Seward 3 -4 hours straight through On the way take a stop at Portage Glacier and the Begich Boggs Visitor Center Saturday, September 19th-20th Take 26 glacier tour or Kenai Fjords tour ( 6- 10 hours) Exit Glacier- explore, junior ranger programs, etc. Sea Life Center September 21st This is the section I'm not sure where we are staying. These four towns are possibilities: Drive to Homer (173 miles) Ninilchick ( 135 miles) Kenai ( 106 miles) Soldotna (95 miles) September 22-24 Fishing, hiking, etc. September 24 Drive back to Anchorage September 25th Rv return early morning Explore Anchorage- Luggage????? Flight is at 8:55 pm Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaJuana Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 ...for a text-based class is that even if a student has to be gone and will miss an online class, the log of everything that was said in the class can be read whenever the student has the chance to get online during periods of vacation or family emergency. When my children have taken Scholars Online classes, we have let the teachers know in advance when we would be gone for a class, and they have been very flexible with us. It's always better to be in class to participate in the discussion, but there have been times when our family has had to be away, and the SO teachers understood this. Because all the discussion is recorded in a log stored on the school server, my child could access the log to read all the discussion. All he or she had to do was to keep up with reading and assignments. I also really like their text-based classes because the logs make excellent study material. The most important thing to do when a student has to miss a Scholars Online class is to communicate with the teacher so he or she knows why the student is not in class. http://www.scholarsonline.org/Info/index.php hth Btw, I am a former Alaskan, and I think you've chosen a marvelous trip. I hope you see lots of wildlife. I know you'll see panoramas of breath-taking beauty. Alaska is still deep in my soul, and I'll always love her mountains and glaciers and valleys and waters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 ...for a text-based class is that even if a student has to be gone and will miss an online class, the log of everything that was said in the class can be read whenever the student has the chance to get online during periods of vacation or family emergency. When my children have taken Scholars Online classes, we have let the teachers know in advance when we would be gone for a class, and they have been very flexible with us. It's always better to be in class to participate in the discussion, but there have been times when our family has had to be away, and the SO teachers understood this. Because all the discussion is recorded in a log stored on the school server, my child could access the log to read all the discussion. All he or she had to do was to keep up with reading and assignments. I also really like their text-based classes because the logs make excellent study material. The most important thing to do when a student has to miss a Scholars Online class is to communicate with the teacher so he or she knows why the student is not in class. http://www.scholarsonline.org/Info/index.php hth Btw, I am a former Alaskan, and I think you've chosen a marvelous trip. I hope you see lots of wildlife. I know you'll see panoramas of breath-taking beauty. Alaska is still deep in my soul, and I'll always love her mountains and glaciers and valleys and waters. I am confused, is Veritas Press connected to scholarsonline, or are they two different schools? For OP K12 doesnt have start dates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outtamyshell Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 BYU offers highschool classes that are independent study and independently paced. I don't know anything about the quality though. We originally thought of homeschooling as an option for additional flexibility on our calendar. However, we use so many outside sources for classes we have actually found the calendar more difficult to juggle. It's still the best option for us, but DD has 4 different course calendars that we follow. This year the bulk of her courses have the same Spring Break. Hooray! One week off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I am confused, is Veritas Press connected to scholarsonline, or are they two different schools? I investigated online latin classes fairly thoroughly, and this is from my notes: There is confusion because Veritas Press online is called Scholar’s Online which is different from Scholar’s Online. This makes for a headache when searching as Scholar’s Online may be through VP or not. Scholar's Online vs. Veritas Press Scholar's Online Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth in Canada Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Hippocampus and University of California, among others, have open course material out on the web. I'm thinking of using one of these to structure dd's AP level physics class next year. Of course, this doesn't give you an outside credit, and it doesn't provide a teacher, but it does give you a flexible schedule. One of our Ontario on-line high school options would work around a vacation--you'd just have to negotiate ahead of time. (There are rules about "appearing" on-line once/week, but the due dates are flexible enough that you could easily take a vacation with advance notice.) Some university correspondance courses may also be like that. I'd ask what accomodations can be made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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