Whats your take on this?

[suthrnmomto3]

Virtual school for kids? In light of recent events such as the shootings, bullying, kidnapping, molestations...I've been thinking hard on this. Plus where my kids go they are hard on the kid if you aren't of a certain name, family or money. I have one girl in her ...2nd 4th grade year, one in her 2nd 2nd grade year, one in 1st grade and one I held back and will start kindergarten at age 6...then I have an 11 month old. I don't know if my state offers this yet but I'd love an insight on this if anyone has any experience. I looked and love the look of the Virginia virtual school but no clue about where I live...Mississippi. We did just have charter school thing signed into law. Please any advice? We don't have a lot of money but I'm terrified for my kids...

[bluecandi]

Try k12.com

[Kiliki]

Google "Mississippi virtual public school" and see what you find


we did Florida virtual school for the first half of this school year. It wasn't a good fit for us, so we just went to traditional homeschooling, which is working far better.

I didn't think the amount of work was appropriate for the age. They had us doing 20 hrs per week MINIMUM with my kindergartner. We were also doing lots of lessons that were redundant and useless. there is no reason a 5 y/o needs to do keyboarding on a computer for 30 mins straight three times a week. The subjects that were most important - lang arts, math, science - were all not challenging for my Dd. Things like identifying numbers/letters, practicing making vertical lines, talking about seasons. She was already writing in full sentences and reading aloud.

They did an eval and determined that she was at a 1st grade level for math, and 2nd grade for lang arts, but their solution was to give her MORE work, rather than replacing her current workload with more appropriate material. I declined and that is when we pulled her out. I was really frustrated by the whole experience.

[MothyrGrimm]

My sil is 15 and if she fails a class she takes it online to make up for it. The classes seem fine, but now she fails on purpose so she can do everything at home and socialize at school....

[iris0110]

I looked at it early on for my oldest but at the time it was only available 3rd-8th here and he was only entering 1st so it wouldn't have worked for us. Ultimately I decided I didn't really want to go that way anyway because I don't want to do state testing and all that busy work plus one of the reasons I wanted to homeschool was to avoid state curriculum (it is abysmal). We traditional homeschool with a Waldorf influence but homeschooling laws are very relaxed in TX so I don't have to worry about too much. I would certainly look into the laws and the virtual charters if you are at all nervous about it. Come on over to the homeschooling board if you would like some support and advice.

[tallanvor]

I have known several families to use it and almost all of them do it for a year, maybe two, and then decide it's too much busy work, not age appropriate work, the testing is a pain, they can't take vacations when they want to, they don't get along with the inspector (or whatever they are called), and they drop it. 99% of them switch to traditional homeschooling.

[jessicanashville]

My son goes to Connections Academy. It's an online charter school. We love it!

He has live lessons with other kids his age and it's 100% free. We do have a 25 hr week requirement that has to be logged.

[NotLad]

Virtual and homeschooling is a great way to educate your children. But doing it out of fear is not a good thing. You may want to speak to your doctor about the anxiety you're experiencing.

[erin_c_odonnell]

homeschooling and virtual schools are a great option. I say go for it!

[mommyto3sweeties]

I think homeschooling and online schools are a great way to go. We do traditional homeschooling and are involved in a co-op, but I've heard k12 is good.