Would K12 be a good fit?

[blessed2fosteradopt]

So, here I am again trying to cover all our options for next year and in my search have come across K12. Could this be it? Planned out, somewhat computer based (which my son loves) and thorough? As much as I would love to think, we are just not on par here with many who are following a more rigorous classical approach. I would LOVE to go that route but it is not right for my DS (10, ADHD, hard time focusing, completing tasks, etc.) and I really don't feel equipped to implement it fully. My son is just not a reader (although we are trying and that is what I fear when I review Winterpromise, MFW, Sonlight, etc.) and I would say he is an average student. I have the option of a virtual school (we are in FL) but don't know if I want to be tied to a specific schedule and independent study. Anybody care to chime in with opinions and/or experience?

 

I really want to keep him home with me. I feel he needs it. He needs work on organizational skills and character training along with discipline and attention to detail. He struggled last year in his private school because of accountability issues. On top of it, that is our only option and it is a 45 minute drive every day and $8K+ per year. :ohmy:

 

So, any thoughts or opinions?

 

Thank you for putting up with me!

 

Blessings, Lisa

[clarkacademy]

My children are doing this now Well 2 of them and I do not feel comfortable posting my thoughts so publicly. If you would like you may PM me and I will give you my expierences and thoughts on it.

[Veritaserum]

My sister is using K12. I asked her about it this morning. She said the teacher books/schedule could be greatly improved. Overall she likes it pretty well. She is only homeschooling for this year and gets the k12 stuff at no charge through the local school district.

[blessed2fosteradopt]

Are there any comprehension questions, work, etc. with MFW or similar programs? The reason I ask is because my son is ADHD and often times just zones out. He is just like my husband and things don't stick for him when they are just read out of a book. For instance, my DH is a firefighter/medic for 26 years. There is nobody in his department that is better at hands on skills (IV's, intubation, etc.) but when it comes to testing, reading manuals....it is a struggle. That is my son. His mind is always racing and he has a very hard time staying tuned in. I am not confident enough in my abilities nor do I have the time to formulate comprehension questions, do literary analysis *yikes*, etc. Thoughts?

[YHZNS]

We used K12 (consumer direct) for 5 K level courses. It is a very complete program but it is very much like school. I had the feeling that we were just doing school at home. There are lots of activities for each lesson. I think if you want to survive K12, you have to cull the material and pick which activities best suit your child. It may just be in the early levels, but I found that there was a lot of busywork. We finished about 60-70% of the K program and ended up switching to MBTP. We still kept the K level history course though. Feel free to msg me if you want to ask me more questions. One suggestion, I would speak to a K12 star about getting a demo account. The sample lessons online are helpful but you really get a feel from the program by using the demo account.

Rebecca

p.s. One positive thing about K12 is that you can pick different levels for different subjects. For example, you could be doing grade 3 math but only grade 2 language arts.

[EKS]

K12 is a great program. I've been using pieces of it with both of my children for a year now. They give you *a lot* to do. When I started I thought it was important to complete every worksheet and activity and I quickly drove myself and my children crazy. Now I do a lot of the worksheets orally with them (like *all* of them, except the assessments the writing assignments). As for things like science activities, I try to do them but if I don't, that's ok too.

 

My older son has dyslexia, and though he enjoys reading, he gets bogged down very quickly in lengthy reading assignments. We recently switched to K12 for literature and composition for him and it seems to be a perfect fit. The assignments aren't so long that he shuts down, but he still is getting the benefit of studying literature.