My 13 year old son is begging me to not enroll him in co-op classes even though he did so well in his writing composition class last year and even though his teacher allowed the accommodation (his iPhone) for typing his answers to the essay questions on the end of semester test. She also let me take notes for him in class so he could finish writing his in-class writing assignments. I was the parent volunteer for the class and had to be there anyway so the note-taking wasn't a problem for me.
He thinks a self-paced online class would be much easier because there would be no need for taking notes and it would be easier to keep his mind on the lesson. He said it was hard to pay attention for more than 15 minutes when the teacher went over grammar rules that he found boring. He already knew most of the grammar rules before taking the class and he had to turn in lots of grammar worksheets on these rules. He found it stressful trying to finish them all before the next weekly class. He also found it stressful trying to get to the class on time and he could tell I was stressed because as the parent volunteer it was important that I be there on time as well. The scoliosis brace pain that some kids are able to get used to but he never did along with his headaches made it hard for him to get ready quickly and to sit through the classes. He started hating Sundays because he had to go to class the next day. But he always finished his writing assignments before the next class and he wrote really good short stories and poems and essays and made a 98 for the class. I didn't know he could write that well. I didn't teach him how to write because I didn't know how to teach him and the dysgraphia made it more difficult before he learned to type well. He needed this class and I am glad he took it, but now I am wondering if would be better for both of us if he took all online classes next year.
We met a middle science teacher at an early 4th of July celebration that told us that in her opinion kids needed to learn in a class with other kids. One of her former students saw her talking to us and told us that she was the best teacher she ever had and that they did a lot of fun experiments. I started feeling bad, thinking that my son was maybe missing out on fun learning and that he wasn't learning as much as he should for science. I told her that we did most of our learning online and that I learned along with him and I didn't need to know everything in order for him to learn science because we had the internet, but as I was saying it I still felt unsure about my ability to make sure my son was learning everything he needed to know--until my husband started talking to her and her former student. My husband told the little girl that it was good to ask a lot of questions and to even question her teachers because there are new discoveries all the time and asking lots of questions and looking for answers is important. The teacher looked like she didn't like what he was telling the little girl. As an example he talked about the two new elements that were added to the periodic table. The teacher hadn't heard about them. My son quickly looked them up on his iPhone for her. My husband also talked about some of the science related shows we had watched together recently and some of the interesting things we learned. We told her that we read sciencedaily.com to try to keep up with the latest science news and we read about a new element from the iPad ap every night even though it is summer break. My son enjoys learning. He just doesn't feel like he needs to be with other kids in order to learn. But I still wonder if musical theater provides enough interaction with other kids. Is he missing something if he does all online classes this year? He is the only child at home.
If we do decide to do all online classes I think we might use studyisland.com for language arts and biology and U.S. history. The price is reasonable and the classes are aligned with state standards.
My son wants to learn Japanese with Rocket Japanese and is saving his money to buy it. It is expensive and I wonder if it is worth the money. My son watches a lot of Japanese anime and would like to learn the language. Has anyone else tried Rocket Japanese?
Doctors appointments and brace time and exercise is a lot easier to manage if my son does online classes, but it makes me sad when my son says our lives have almost a Twilight Zone quality. No matter how hard we try to make things better bad things beyond our control keep happening. We are still on call for taking care of my disabled mother any time my dad has to leave his house or needs help. My mother's disability is so severe that it would be hard to find a nursing home that could handle her yet my 70 something year old dad does the best he can and we are doing the best we can to support him in taking care of her. I feel like our executive function and time management skills are constantly being tested and it just keeps getting harder. There is no end in sight but I need to somehow focus on planning for next year.
On a more positive note my son got the part of Prince Dauntless (Once Upon a Mattress) in a month long 5 day a week musical theater camp. It starts in a few days and I think it will be a lot of fun for him. He also auditioned for a part in a feature film and they might use him as an extra.
