Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Online K12 programs anyone?

Does anyone have any advice-good or bad-on this type of school? It sounds appealing as I am so overwhelmed with curriculum and what to teach and when to teach it...etc. My son LOVES the computer (limited pencil and paper, lots of visuals). I would love any input.

I know Questions is very happy with it.

I think the big question to ask is if you can use it independently in your area--and thus adapt it to your child's needs just like any other curriculum--or if you must be associated with the public schools. The latter is much more restrictive from what I understand. (I'm soooooo not an expert on this, however!)

May I also be so bold as to suggest that you don't have to be overwhelmed. Honest. <reassuring pats on the back>

Check out "What Your Xth Grader Needs to Know" by Hirsch and/or "Home Learning Year By Year" by Rupp, follow your child's interests, make sure you do some work on all the required subjects (math, language arts, writing, science, health & safety, music, art, P.E., history, social studies...I don't think I missed any, did I?), and then just relax.

I PROMISE you that it is NOT as hard as you think it is. There are plenty of things about homeschooling that are a serious challenge. But what to teach does not have to be one of them. I think you're making WAAAAAAY more out of the coverage issue than is really required.

Curriculum is just another way of saying "what he should learn." With some help from books like Hirsch's and Rupp's, I'm pretty sure you have a better sense than you think you do about what he should learn.

Hang in there!

We will be starting an online K12 at the end of this month. I'm trying it out for 2 months (taking DS out of public school) to see how it goes. I'm still learning about HS'ing and didn't feel confident enough to do it on my own, so we'll start out with this while I do some more research!

Kriston, Thanks for your reassurance with the homeschooling. I love some aspects of it but really hate not knowing what if any progress we are making. I have the Hirsch book and flipped through it. The LA is very vague and that is DS6s weak spot. I looked into the Michael Clay Thompson series for that, Singapore for math, and the rest from the library. But I spend a lot of time trying to figure it out. DS6 loves the computer so naturally that would be a good avenue. How do you tell the difference between "public school online" and "independent work"?

Testing can help you gauge progress. Even if your state doesn't require it, it's not a bad idea to do your first year (at least) so that you know how *you're* doing. (Not really so much about your child's performance!)

If it helps, DS7 is 2 subtests away from finishing the Iowa Test of Basic Skills at (not above) his age level--I'm administering it and it cost me $40. Assuming that I'm not missing any questions myself (LOL!), he's missed no more than one question in any subtest. Granted, an age-level test is really easy for him, but still, if it's coverage we're talking, then I think this shows that its coverage we're getting! This despite the fact that he read Alice in Wonderland and CyberEd earth science rather than anything age-appropriate and we had no set math to do this year beyond what we felt like doing. Yet he seems to have mastered 2nd grade quite well without ever really doing any second grade work this year.

I promise you, I am just about the most laidback homeschooler you'd ever want to meet! I am practically allergic to curricula of all sorts! If MY child is doing fine on coverage, it's *really* not that hard!

One of the reasons the LA in these books is vague is because it's very open to adaptation. There's no one thing that kids ought to read, no list of books they can't miss, you know? Not really. I can assure you that Dickens is not on the normal 2nd grade reading list, but so what? My son was interested in the story, it was at an appropriate reading level for him, and he got a lot out of it. So that's what we read for a big chunk of the year. <shrug> Follow their interests!

I'm telling you, coverage is overrated. Your jobs as a homeschooler are to 1) teach your child how to learn, 2) teach your child where to find materials to answer questions (dictionary, Google, source material, etc.), and 3) teach your child to love learning.

That's it. Everything else is really just opinions about what an educated person in 21st C. America needs to know. The secret you're not supposed to figure out: There is no right answer. I can assure you that what **I** think one should know is very different from what his 1st grade teacher thought. I like my way better, and apparently so does the ITBS! But your way isn't wrong. Hirsch is handy, but his way is just another opinion, really. A more educated opinion, sure, but just an opinion. So is the curriculum that your public school is using.

Especially with a GT child, coverage just really happens on its own if you try to keep them learning something all the time.

Make sure your child has a well-rounded education that covers all the basics. If you do that and the 3 things I listed above as your job, you're doing absolutely great!

I promise!

I'll totally back your play on that one, CFK! I think it becomes necessary to be more systematic and documented when it comes to college prep. Good point. (Though even then it's about documenting what's been learned, and is still not really about coverage per se.)

I was pretty sure I remembered that hkc had a child fairly close in age to mine, but maybe I'm wrong and I should have asked. Oops! Sorry, and thanks, CFK!

Hi hkc - i briefly talked with some folks with the MNVA (the district in MN that uses K12 curriculum) last year about how it works with HG kids. I think you first do an assessment and your child starts at his/her readiness level, and then no matter how quickly they finish a course, they move to the next level. I believe the kids take the state tests according to designated grade, but the curriculum moves at the child's pace.

Since it's free in MN, it can't hurt to call them. MN virtual academy I think there was some discussion on the MCGT yahoo group about this too.

Thanks SPG. I did hear that MNVA is a little less flexible than Connections academy. I was looking at Cyber Village Academy. It is all online and I loved the topics covered. She said there are no timed tests, no pencil and paper so that we could do on our own at a very limited pace. Are you contemplating this route SPG?

Yes Kriston our little guys are close in age. My son will be 7 this summer. He placed in first grade for LA on timed testing and pencil and paper. Won't just plain reading bring that up by itself? And I agree with you 100% that kids need to be taught that learning is fun and this is where you find what you need. The teacher who administered his reading test told him he needed to speed up. When my son said he liked to go slow and enjoy the story, picturing it in his head, she said "There is a time and place for that. Not at school." Still not able to wrap my mind around that comment. I will keep everything you said about homeschooling in mind. You are very convincing.

Thanks CFK too for the heads up down the road.

LOL about my being convincing! I DID teach argumentative writing, after all.

Yes, just reading and talking/writing about what he's read will absolutely help him with LA! Yes!

I'm kind of shocked at the teacher's comment, actually. I mean, it's nice to be able to read quickly, but if he's *choosing* to read more slowly because he's enjoying it, then I have a hard time thinking that's an honest-to-goodness problem.

I'll accept that he needs to *start talking* about the fact that there are different types of reading that we use in different situations. But seriously, he's 7! A little perspective there, you know! You LEARN that sometimes you read fast and sometimes you read slowly, for pleasure. I don't think you have to have that down already at age 7!

My best advice about LA is to have him read every day from a variety of sources and styles of writing (directions, poetry, fun kids books, harder chapter books, nonfiction, magazines, etc.), read things that are hard and things that are fun and easy, and to make sure that he isn't just reading the sounds, but that he's comprehending what he's reading.

To check comprehension, you can really just ask questions about what he's read, both to see if he's picking up detail and to see if he's understanding subtlties like character's intentions and feelings, even if those are not explicitly stated. If it strikes you as important when you read it, then it's fair game for a question.

At 7, kids should be starting to ID setting, character, and plot. They should be able to retell stories they've read in an order that is more or less chronological and that hits the main points.

They should be improving their vocabulary, practicing spelling--though this doesn't have to mean spelling tests!--learning the basic parts of speech (noun and verb as well as subject and predicate), and how to divide words into syllables.

We hit most of that through reading and writing. We just talk about things as they come up. I do very little formal work on spelling, vocab or grammar. The less comfortable you are with this aspect of LA, however, the more formality might help you. But don't get overwhelmed. He's 7! You can teach him these basics! Because they are just basics!

Okay, I'm posting way more than I should. Sorry! I promise I'm trying to be helpful, not merely the annoying former English teacher who won't shut up!

First off he's only 6 so that teacher's comment really bothered me. He has great comprehension but that is because he pauses to "picture" the story in his head. He actually told the tester when she was asking him questions about what he had read, "How can I even remember the story when you kept interrupting me and telling me to read faster." Have to sympathize with DS6 here. He knows the parts of speech too. He tests into 3rd grade on their norms. He just doesn't read fast enough which sounds like a fairly common thread here. *sigh* So back to the homeschooling drawing board. Thanks.