It’s great she’s so motivated. My advice is to get out of her way and let her figure it out. Kids can be a lot smarter than their parents if their parents let them.
You can take public school online, they will even send the materials and computer to your home and give you a discount on internet connection.
It is kind of crazy but it exists or did exist.
If it’s “public” does that mean it’s Common Core inspired?
What you are writing about is called HomeSchool.
I urge you to find and link up with a co-op or local group of folks who also HomeSchool. You will discover wonderful synergy and support in such a group.
Also, I urge you to find and attend a local HomeSchool convention/meeting/curriculum event. You will be astounded at the marvelous resources that are available.
My youngest dsu daughter placed her three school age children 13, 12, and 9 in online home school. It did not work well for two a girl 12 and boy 9. Neither had the the displine or motovation. The older excelled and is going to a school for the performing arts this year.
My nice and nephews, three, completed this type of education and two now attend Texas A&M.
It all depends on the parental influence and the child’s dedication.
My granddaughter, who just became a freshman, hates high school and is trying to talk her mom into this.
I hope she succeeds.
thanks for the link!
We have been using K12 International Academy for 2 years now and this looks very similar, but has some language courses we might be able to use
She will probably far exceed the academic background of her peers since so much school time is wasted on adolescent angst about social standing and activities- I have a DD who is in HS and going through this
The thing to remember is making sure your teen has social outlets, like church youth group, Scouts, sports team, dance/music groups, theater groups, and volunteer work. There are active networks of homeschoolers in most areas that provide field trips and social gatherings but it can be a bit tougher for teens
I encountered an alternative school that uses one of these programs in supervised settings, with teachers there to assist students with guidance where they need it. I thought that the curriculum is superior. Another advantage is that it doesn't cut corners, leave topics out, or let students progress until they master material.
Let me know how your daughter does.
We used Colorado Connections last year for our 2 Sons. Started out okay, but they didn’t really keep on the ball with the IEPs they needed. We’re going solo this year.
Yes, but —— sorry ——— we did not like connections at all. Not for the classes but the structure.
I think it’s important to tell your daughter that there are lots of online schools, and you guys are trying this one. They are all a little different. This way, if the structure of connections doesn’t suit you guys, it won’t turn her off of other online schooling for the next year. Just tell her, hey, we are (as a family) new at this, so this sounds great, let’s try this school, but we can remember that there are others too.
Here is what we liked about connections: the teachers and his advisor were great people. It is free.
Here is what we didn’t like:
First and foremost, they communicate only by their own system. SUCKAGE!!!!! To us it was like smoke signals. We operate on tablets. Their web mail system doesn’t work on tablets. So that made it extremely hard for us. He couldn’t always reach people to help when he needed it.
Second they have a structure that is very negative - he would log on and the first thing he saw was the number of incomplete assignments. We were told there wasn’t much “busywork” but for him it piled up and up. He was a competitive athlete without much time for school, so this was a real bummer start of his day. You have 17 assignments undone. You have 24 assignments undone. During his travel season he fell behind and seeing all the assignments undone each day made him not want to even log on.
I am a longtime homeschooler and I felt the books used for his classes were the boring, uninspired texts you find in public schools.
We left and were not at all impressed. But the people who recommended the school to us had enjoyed it. And their son had graduated from connections.
Anyway, hope you love it. And if you don’t, there are other great online schools, and even if they cost money, it will be MUCH cheaper than parochial or private schools near you.
And yes, she can go at her own pace, so she will jump ahead of her peers like nothing else. She also will be able to spend a lot of time on what she loves most to do among her other pursuits (sports, art, etc.). Happy homeschooling!
My son has been part of the K12 community since January of 2013, and he loves it. He’s doing MUCH better in school, with none of the crap that goes on in high school. This year he will be a junior and is actually looking FORWARD to some of his classes. The best thing about it is they send you all the course material for FREE, and even send you a pre-paid UPS label to ship them back at the end of the semester. What I like about it is: no new school clothes, backpacks, supplies, ASB cards, gym suits, stupid assemblies that waste everyone’s time, etc. He attends daily ‘class connects’ on line where you can see what the teacher is doing on the blackboard just as if you were sitting in class. He can attend ANYWHERE, which means we can go on vacation in the middle of the school year and he doesn’t have to make up a bunch of stuff when we get back. I plan to buy him a laptop soon so he doesn’t have to use his brothers computer, and can be truly mobile. If she’s motivated to do this, she’ll probably do just great!
Called Florida Virtual School, here's their URL if you'd like to sample their wares:
http://www.flvs.net/Parents/Pages/getting-started.aspx
My daughters are enrolled in CAVA (California Virtual Acadamy). This is our second year. We like it.
Ping.
There’s also Alpha and Omega Switched on Schoolhouse.
In addition to the academic, social, and moral/religious benefits, there is the additional benefit of spending a lot of time with your children, who won't see you as "uncool."
texas....my son pulled his three daughters out of public school at the ages of 14, 15 and 17, in order to lessen the drama and have peace on their home front. The school system, though excellent in the area, the environement was horrible and not conduciuve to learning.
He took a basement room with windows and made it into a school room at very meager expense. Used “office” desks, office bookcases, painted and carpeted with a great piece of remnant carpet..... along with wipe boards and such. So the girls learned in an educational environment at home.
They chose a charter school program suitable to their daughters interests. He was astounded at the differences in the girls....so worth the change. One has graduated now and the other will be doing so this year. The youngest was accepted into a performing arts school last year and loves it there. (also very much better environment).
So I for one am all for taking students out of pucblic schools...the difference in my sons girls was marked...and they loved being home. They still participated in various school events, as well as planned trips through the charter school as well. Which they had far more outings then when in the school system.
So all in all a good thing I suspect you will not have any regrets either. Though the first year is a time of adjustment...it really went quite well.
How excellent for your daughter! She will go far, being so interested in learning!
My son failed every class except English in Freshman year at the local, highly rated High School. Teachers would not communicate with me at all
He spent the next 4 years doing online high school.
Pennsylvania based, called 21st Century Cyber Charter School. Mac computer and all books were provided by the school. They paid partially for my internet also.
The curriculum was appropriate and challenging. The teachers were great, available at most any time. Social activities were planned regionally once or twice a month. I believe that the school would also pay for you to attend Advanced classes (if you qualified) at the local Community College.
It was still a struggle getting my son to do his school work but he did do it. Two to three hours a day of intense work was really all that was needed most times.
My son would never have gotten a High School Diploma without the cyber school.