Posted on 03/04/2020 5:26:04 PM PST by Ansela
I'm thinking of pulling my child out of the public school system and enrolling her in an online private school, at least until this virus threat is over. We're in Virginia. Does anyone here have any experience or advice to offer about the process? I'm not finding much info online.
I homeschooled both kids through high school, now college grads. Got my masters in education after - master’s thesis was digital vs print comprehension. I second the HSLDA suggestion. A note:
Children learn about 10% less online but think they’ve learned 10% more - a 20% difference between thought and reality.
Writing (cursive recommended!) and reading with real pen, paper, and books is best for learning. Reading aloud - kids still love it.
So much to suggest, but minimize electronics and you’d be amazed at what happens!! Blessings!!!
Look for a local charter homeschool. What you will do is enroll, and then tell your public school district you are leaving and they will send all the records to that other school. I would not do this for two months. Your kid will be fine. No one has reported a small child dying. If the virus gets bad in your area, they will close the schools.
It’s not killing kids.
Only this - I tutor kids 1:1. I have a student in Stanford’s online middle/ high school. She started in 7th grade. It is a terrific program. I think you’ll find a span of quality, depending on the teachers and the program. Have you considered homeschooling?
Yes, any parent who went through K-12 knows that stuff better than any student. You have years of life. Get the workbooks - Spectrum Math is good. You just need straightforward stuff. You do not have to match what the public schools are doing to homeschool.
I was kind of thinking about ‘around the house’ stuff, which can always be turned into mathematical, scientific, historical, or literary lessons.
(In recent decades, public education hasn’t seemed to be doing much to make kids really ready for practical life; but parents can do that.)
We moved away from VA several years ago, but I homeschooled both my children in Loudoun County, when they were in the K-5th grade range. Feel free to send me a PM if you want any specific information.
As a general matter, I always tell people to check out Susan Wise Bauer (a fellow Virginian) and her Well Trained Mind books and online academy. Most libraries carry her books so you can at least take a look.
Note that your state may require you to file a home school instruction plan. Go talk to the home school coordinator in your district. My wife and I filled out the paperwork and when we dropped it off, we met with the coordinator. We had done due diligence and had no problems.
Like others mentioned, we found a home school group that did group lessons. The students could work together on group projects that also taught cooperation.
From the beginning we taught our two children that they could play when they had finished their work. They learned to do homework promptly because it was all homework... This also gave us flexibility to take vacations to visit grandparents and fun places on off-peak dates.
Because we knew the kids were capable of college work - and both desired to keep learning, we made the decision to have them go to a public high school. The idea was to discuss what they learned and realize that everybody makes assumptions and to think critically about what they were taught. We would discuss their experiences at dinner. My daughter is especially gifted in math and took Calculus-II in high school via independent study. That really taught her to be self-directed with a bit of coaching from a teacher.
Both were well prepared for college. Both got STEM degrees, my daughter studied meteorology. She now teaches earth science and physics to high school students. My son studied chemistry and then went to law school and is now a Major in the Army as a JAG Lawyer. All the lawyers at his level are also admitted to the bar for the Supreme Court. The Army wants multiple choices for Attorneys to argue their cases when time is critical. I am convinced that the work ethic that homeschooling taught contributed to their success.
Best wishes as you start this journey.
My two youngest are doing that. One we pulled out of school for bullying (victim), and the other for behavioral issues. So far, it’s been great.
First thing he noticed was the drama in his household ceased. Girls grades excelled. He actually transformed a spare room into their school room, painted as they wanted, two office desks, bulletin and chalk board. Nothing fancy but it was separate from their rooms. They loved it!
There is SO much out there for home-schoolers, unlike when I home-schooled my kids over 25 years ago. I used to sit every night and make up lesson after lesson.
Now I am helping my daughter home-school her 3 (girl 10, boy 8, girl 5) and the resources, online assistance, groups and activities abound.
Honestly, you can do in 3 hours a day, 4 days a week, much more than the system can do, and avoid all of the problems. Go for it - it’s VERY satisfying, fun to watch them learn, and you rest easier knowing what is going into their precious little heads and hearts.
To me, this virus is the least of what one needs to worry about in the public school system....at least here in Canada.
Check out HSLDA.org to find out your state laws and what forms you will need. There are a lot of good online schools
I don’t know why parents think it is a good thing to send their child/ren to public schools.
I guess if you want them indoctrinated in liberal ideas it could be the right choice.
BTW - Gunfree zones are soft targets
That stupid tax - but no reason to not give your kids the best education - not government schools - and homeschooling is shown to be the best alternative, if you can do it or get in a group.
She is almost at the end of elementary school, and I can commit to this for as long as I have to. I just don’t know how it works with pulling her out of public school.
There is an online academy in VA that a few conservative friends have reported great things about!
They can carry it. I’m in a high risk category due to my asthma, so I’m concerned about catching it from her.
I want to enroll her in an online private school. I just don’t know what the process entails.
What worries me is that she and have both been really sick with a respiratory virus that she picked up at school, and I’m still sick from it, and yet they insisted that I send her back to school today. They have no way of knowing whether I have coronavirus, and I have no way of knowing that she won’t pick it up at school and give it to me in my already weakened condition. Since we have no idea how many actual cases of the disease is out there, it seems risky to me not to relax school attendance rules at this time.
It seems the only way I can keep my family safe is to take her out of the public school. I won’t homeschool since Virginia required advance notice of that by early August. I just want her to switch schools, from public to private online.
However, you are thinking of doing it for the wrong reasons...
The virus from communist china is not as bad, long-term, as the immense danger your child has already been exposed to: America-hating communist ideology...
in the next couple of days, will send you mail with information on the outstanding online home-schooling opportunities from our first-hand experience...
Go to the Khan academy. It’s free, and they offer online courses in every subject from K-grad school. Check it out. Most people have never heard of it or bothered to look into it. It takes effort and discipline on the part of parent and student.
Anyone who sends their kids to public school should be strung from a lamppost. As well as the teachers and administrators and politicians who participate and support this hideous system.
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