We need to homeschool our ds(11). PS isn't cutting it anymore. So, we need to work with him ourselves. We don't feel confident to just leap into a true homeschool experience and as such want to start out with Connections Academy.

We are curious if any one has experience with Connections Academy and especially so with a 2E.

thanks,
Willa

HI Willa Gayle!!!!! Welcome home!!!!

The website is very interesting. A friend of mine used K-12 online for her gifted son, then 8, and they thought very highly of it.

Good Luck. Seems like a very nice package!
Love and More Love,
Grinity (was Trinity)

I have no experience with Connections. I can tell you that some of these programs are less flexible about how they can be used than others. More flexibility tends to be preferred than less, but really, that's specific to your family and your needs.

From what I've heard from homeschooling friends who have used these sorts of packages, I'd avoid a program that requires you to log-in at a set time each day. That can be hard to make work around field trips and other lessons.

I'd also look for flexibility in terms of material. Can a GT child work on, say 5th grade math and 8th grade English? Or do you have to use/pay for each entire grade level before you can move on to the next? That can be a serious hassle.

None of these comments are specific to Connections, but they're things to watch for in general.

I hope it might help, even though it's not what you asked for...

I don't have any experience with Connections and never really considered a full time online program because my 11-year-old son with motor dyspraxia and dysgraphia needs more flexibility than I think a program like this would allow.

My son doesn't need to spend as much time as other kids on things like vocabulary or reading or spelling or history because he is at a much higher level for those subjects and he learns them on his own. He needs to spend more time on things like writing (because of the dygraphia) and math and with homeschooling we can use books that he likes and teach to his learning style. If at some point these books are no longer working for him we can change to something else, even in the middle of the school year.

If my son has a migraine or needs to take the day off for any reason, it isn't a problem so there is less stress. He learns more when there is less stress.

We'll be starting Connections this fall. We were with a cyberschool that used K12 which had way too much writing and busy work for DS(8). We received our Connections books and our classes have been loaded and I'm really excited for him to start. I think Connections will be a much better fit for him.

He had to take placement tests and was put in the Gifted/Talented classes that they offer. I was told by another parent that since they are a public school, that they have to recognize GIEP's? This is something I'm looking into and will bring up with his teacher.

I also like the many activities Connections offers. DS is excited to join the Chess club and the First in Math club.

Wish I could provide more insight, but we're kind of in the same boat!

We'll be starting Connections this fall as well. My son took a bunch of test placements as well. He was put in the GT program and we will be working very closely with a teacher. I myself am very unorganized and hate routine as does my DS7. I spoke with our principal several times about the right placement, my concerns with the above-mentioned "weakness" and she assured me that we would be spending a great deal of time "tweaking" the curriculum to fit his needs. I spoke with several other families who have done this with their 2E/PG/HG etc kids and they have all loved it until their children topped out. We will be starting in 3rd grade but the principal said she was almost certain we would be finishing 4th or 5th grade by the end of the year. So, we'll see. I just know PS is not an option nor is me trying to create my own version of homeschool. I love to play way too much. Hehehe Good luck with your decision.

I realizing I'm re-raising this topic after a long time-- I finally got around to registering.

We've been with Connections for a number of years now-- I'm happy to answer questions that anyone has about the program-- good, bad, or otherwise. Given our advocacy role with our state's program, we've seen some insider stuff.

My child has been one of their "poster children" (literally) for 2E/HG-to-PG education.

Some of their rhetoric or advertising is wishful thinking, and some of it is real.

My child started with Connections after being eclectically homeschooled for about 18 months. We were able to place her in 3rd grade without any problems at 6yo-- though do be aware that this particular loophole has been (kind of) closed by the national powers-that-be. There is still considerable flexibility in academic placement for K-8, though they are pretty rigid about no early enrollment and radical acceleration is often at the discretion of state school administration.

My DD11 is now an 8th grader, but she's doing a full slate of HS coursework. There wasn't really another option that was suitable, since the GT program is really only a language arts pullout course for middle schoolers, and 'differentiated' courses that are actually just subsections of the 'regular' courses for each grade. In other words-- it's still very much public school.

Connections offers AP coursework and has (nominally) got "honors" coursework. I have my own opinions about that, but anyway. It's not differentiated much.

The program at the MS and HS levels is VERY demanding. The average expectations of students are an order of magnitude higher than at our district's public schools-- and we're in a university town. The writing expectations are tremendous, quite frankly. Most of the curriculum is bundled with language arts, too, so this is a terrible problem for kids that are asynchronous with a weakness in writing skills. (Not that unusual for HG and PG kids.)

On the plus side, the Special Ed staff is terrific-- including at the national level, and my daughter loves the interaction with other students (who don't all know how young she is via virtual interaction... and certainly don't know about her disability).

The biggest downside to these programs (K12 is another) is that the parent is there as an "enforcer," which can be problematic depending on personality issues. We sometimes struggle with that. You can tell my daughter; just not much. LOL. The program is highly flexible in terms of pacing and scheduling up to about 6th grade, and less so from there, though there are still ways of working around that.

The biggest PLUS to the program is the obvious-- that once the schoolwork is done, everyone's time is his/her own. For my child, on a "good" day, that can be as little as an hour or two. At that point, she is free to pursue other interests. On a "bad" day, however... (ugh) see above-- this can turn into a power struggle of epic proportions and wind up with my DH and I feeling as though we're being held hostage by our adolescent child.

The other thing to know about this program is that there is little feedback offered on daily work. That is both good and bad. It means that capable students are not forced to do drill-and-kill, which is fabulous. The bad news is that parents get stuck doing much of the correcting of daily work, and that the assessments are *disproportionately* high-stakes from a far-too-early age. Also, most assessment tools are multiple choice quizzes and tests, and they are not all well-written, to put it kindly.


In a state without any real gifted education outside of the major metropolitan areas, though, this program is the best option around by far. IMO, anyway. It's also terrific for kids with professional/artistic obligations and scheduling difficulties, and 2E kids, especially those with a chronic medical condition or ASD.

HTH--

~The Karmic Howler Monkey <shout-out to CathyA-- you knew I'd get here eventually, right??>