Connections Academy, anyone?

I want to homeschool, but I want it structured and planned for me, so Connections Academy seems to be a great compromise. It's not technically homeschooling because it's considered an online public charter school, but it's free and would allow me to teach Hayley at home. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with it.

I looked into & planned on doing it if we moved to Punxatawnee (sp?) PA some months ago before my SO went to the Rez -- because the school disctrict there uses the paddle! (Even signing the waiver not to allow them to assault my child, I do not want her being exposed to knowing that her friends are suffering battery)

If you want more info about it - there is a great website called homeschoolreviews.com. The ladies over there are a wealth of knowledge!
(And actually there was a question about CA not to long ago if you search)

I checked into Connections Academy ( and also WIVA - the wisconsin virtual academy) both online charter schools, before deciding to homeschool the 'traditional' way.

One thing to be aware of...you may be an 'outcast' if you use a virtual charter school.
Our local homeschool group does not allow virtual schoolers to join ( because they are, in fact public school students) AND our state teacher union sued the virtual charter schools because they said that they were a 'front' for homeschooling.
You will be 'in limbo.'

If you use one, make sure that there is a big group of people nearby using it, or you will not have a good support network. Also, since there are not a lot of people in my area using it, I know that the members are required to drive some distances to attend certain 'manditory' field trips.

You lose a lot of freedoms using one of these that 'traditional' homeschoolers have. First and formost you are stuck with only ONE curriculum choice. I would have been in SO much trouble this year if that had been the case!
We went throught 3 different math programs this year before we found one that specifically fit my daughter's learning style. Had I forced her to do one she hated - she would have dreaded math. Now, she loves it.

I know that CA uses the Calvert curriculum. As far as curriculums go, it's not bad. Very rigorous, but academically sound. (I think their language arts program is 'dry', though) It is also secular. If you want any religious aspect, you have to teach it in addition to your CA program, adding hours to your homeschooling day. BUT, being secular, they also include a lot of 'mythology' in their lessons - something that many conservitive Christians do not want in their child's curriculum.

If you do go to HSR ( homeschoolreviews.com) you can look up Calvert in the reviews section!

Hope that helps!
Michi

I also wanted to add, that there are several other 'structured' curriculums out there that have the daily lessons all planned for you. Also, there are several private ' umbrella school' programs that give you more freedom choosing curriculum that works best for your child. They will also keep transcripts and records for your child.

If you like more 'creative' curriculums, there are several unit study type ones available that also have daily lesson plans all laid out for you!

You can PM me if you want more info!

Thanks so much! Good stuff to know. I hadn't considered manditory field trips or things like that; we live in the boonies, 2 hours from any major city. I don't really care about being a part of a homeschooling group, I'm really an introvert and don't care to socialize much. For Hayley, I planned on getting her into dance or swim lessons for some socializing.

I love the idea of doing it myself, but it's so overwhelming to consider, and the "free" aspect of Connections is so appealing.

Don't let price be the only determining factor...there are several FREE on-line curriculums, that utilize books from the library.
http://amblesideonline.org/
http://oldfashionededucation.com/

Also, you can join groups like this one, where people just want to 'clear out' there old curriculum...all you have to do is pay postage!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreeHomeschool/

I have bought the majority of my curriculum off of e-bay, and I think I paid less than $200 per child. Homeschooling doesn't have to be expensive!

Thank you!! I just joined the Yahoo group and bookmarked all three sites. I guess I just don't trust myself to teach well, making it up as I go along. I have ADD and having a set schedule/routine/lesson plan is comforting to me. I really want to do this, though. I honestly think it will be best for our family.

It is the best decision we ever made for our family!

Everyone always says...you have 4 kids, it must be so stressful!
But actually the opposite was true. I was stressed when I had to have the kids up and fed and dressed, homework done, gymshoes packed, fieldtrip forms signed, lunches and snacks packed, etc...THAT was stressful!
Now, my kids sleep in until around 8:30. They eat a GOOD breakfast instead of ...HURRY UP or you'll be late - just grab a granola bar!) School only takes about 3-4 hours total because they get personal attention, they don't have to raise their hands, wait in lines, ask permission to go to the bathroom, etc.

There is NO homework, because since I work individually with the kids I KNOW if they 'get' a concept or not, and we work on it until they do instead of giving them meaningless busy work.

And as far as socialization and being able to cope in the 'real world' -
Where else do you know of ( besides schools) where you are shut in a room with up to 25 people who are exactly the same age as you?

I don't know of one 'real world' place like that? Not a job, not church, not anywhere! Homeschool kids are some of the BEST 'socialized' kids because they learn how to relate to people of all different ages...not JUST kids their own age. My kids are just as comfortable in a room full of adult or playing with the neighbor's 2 year old, as they are playing with kid's their own ages.

(Gee - can you tell I LOVE homeschooling!)

pablomichi said:

(Gee - can you tell I LOVE homeschooling!)

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I'm glad you like it!

I'm not sure I could home school. I think I would be okay until my kids were in high school. Then it would get dicey. Of course I would be fine with English (I am an English teacher, after all!! ) and history, but subjects like chemistry, physics, Algebra II, trig, and calculus would be very difficult for me to teach. Perhaps I would then send them to a public or private high school.

I'm glad it is working out for your family!

I've never worried about the socialization factor much, I always figured it was much more "real life" for a kid to be exposed to people of all different ages and abilities. But since I'm such an anxious introvert I worry that I can't/won't provide her enough social experiences.

Great idea, Jenny We also want to homeschool and are part of two local homeschool groups. Both are eclectic and don't care how you homeschool...

As for worrying about how well you can teach, just take it one step at a time. From what I've read and heard from others who homeschool is that children are natural learners and will "teach" themselves, especially in areas that interest them alot. Alot of folks we know started out with a curriculum because they felt like they needed one, but then ended up discarding it in favor of a less structured approach that is more child-led. You can always do that - whatever approach you start out with doesn't necessarily have to be the one you stick with

The way that a friend of ours does it with her 4.5 yr old and 6 yr old (while the 1 yr old tags along with another one due in September...!) is to do themes. They talked about America for several months and she read the Little House series to them at night. Then when they were in the car, she'd ask how would they get there if they were Laura Ingalls? What would they see if they looked around them instead of the traffic lights, etc.? Then they try to cook some of the foods they ate, etc, from scratch to see how long it would have taken to prepare just one meal if you lived back then. Then they moved on to the industrial age, etc. Now they've moved on to Fantasy. She just read them the whole Harry Potter series - they even got the audio CDs from the library and listened to it in the car. I'm not that organized, but it sounds pretty cool the way they do things...!

There are alot of good books but most are common sensical. The best thing we've read is the Home Education Magazine that we subscribe to (homeedmag.com).

We have alot of reasons for wanting to homeschool, but the biggest ones are letting kids be kids longer, allowing a child to explore their own interests more in-depth, and not being cooped up inside for 8hrs a day with 20 minutes recess time IF the weather is nice. We try to go outside every day, regardless of the weather: there is no bad weather, only bad dressing (someone famous said that but I can't remember who... ).

My FIL works for NEA (nat'l educ assoc) so DH is very well versed in the goodness of the public school system. However, DH knows how I feel about just wanting to try it for awhile. So he's fine with us trying it for K and 1st grade and taking it from there. If we ever feel like it's not working out for our family, for me, or for Nolan, then we'll re-adjust.

Good luck with your decision regarding homeschooling, curriculum, etc - ! I think you'll make a great teacher - seems like you and Hayley have a good relationship already and that's a good place to start

You'll do just fine!
Kids at that age need their parent's guidance MUCH more than they need the (often negative) influences of their peers!
.....and this comes from a former preschool/kindergarten teacher with a B.A. degree in Child Dev!

AdventureMom said:

My FIL works for NEA (nat'l educ assoc) so DH is very well versed in the goodness of the public school system.

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Cool! I am a member of NEA/VEA/FEA and love it! They are great!

scatterbunny said:

I've never worried about the socialization factor much, I always figured it was much more "real life" for a kid to be exposed to people of all different ages and abilities. But since I'm such an anxious introvert I worry that I can't/won't provide her enough social experiences.

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I worry about the same thing. Only recently have I forced myself to take Nolan to more playdates, have kids over, go to homeschool park days, etc. It's been tough on me, but I want to make sure he gets what he needs - which at this age seems to be alot of socialization. However, I like that he has friends of all ages. He'll talk to our neighbors like they are peers. One of the coolest things was at a homeschool park day a month or so ago. There were some older kids playing in an open field. He wanted to go over there so I walked over there with him. By the time we got there, they had decided to head back to the playground. He walked right up to a boy who was about 10yrs old and said, "Do you want to go throw your ball with me in that field?" I was wincing, waiting for the boy to ignore Nolan or brush him off. But the boy surprised me by saying, "Oh... sure! Let's go!" They must've played for 30-45 minutes! Then when they came back, Nolan went to the sandbox and played with a toddler who was about 2 yrs old... Now that's real socialization!

I SO appreciate all your thoughts, everyone! I am convinced to do it. Now I just need to figure out if I'm pulling her out of school now or at the end of the term or the end of the year. My dh is totally on-board with homeschooling, so that's a good thing.

I like the idea of unit studies, but I guess I've been so trained in the "regular" ways of schooling that part of me feels like we need a set structure of what topics to cover and when, similar to the public school way. I worry with unit studies we'll focus too much on what's interesting and miss important stuff that she'll need to know for testing.

I know I'm probably overanalyzing like I do about EVERYTHING, so I'll just stop now.

Jenny,

Get a list of what your state requires for testing - what standards need to be met, etc. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to meet those standards.

In Virginia it's pretty easy - we just have to provide some sort of assessment that shows they are making progress and are in the 4th stanine for their grade (anybody remember stanines from way back when? Hardly ever used anymore (except military) but there are 9 stanines).

We do not have to prove that we school for X number of hours, etc., but my brother and SIL homeschool in Georgia and they have to keep up with daily attendance and how many hours were spent in school so that they meet some minimum number of hours per year. Joining your state homeschool association really helps you sort out all of that stuff and get good tips...

Well you all have me almost convinced of the merits of home-schooling, and I have honestly never ever considered it (despite being a trained primary/junior teacher)...it sounds like you are doing great things!!

we are going to start doing home/unschooling. my oldest is almost 4, so i don't teach as much as just answer questions and explain when things come up. my mom was a teacher and is actually cool with the hs idea! i don't approve of how schools are being run and i don't want my children being a part of that. we have a great homeschool network where i live. there is a book-i learn better when i teach myself-or something of the like that i a great story of one families journey.

We looked at a couple of different curriculums (calvert, sonlight) but ultimately decided to piece something together ourselves.

One thing to keep in mind is that all children go at their own pace... my ds is 2 yrs ahead in math, but right on target for reading. So if we had bought a curriculum, or gone with a charter (which aren't legal in our state anyway), he would be bored out of his mind w/ math. LOL I don't want to spend that much time doing that much busy work, anyway. For kindergarten, we do maybe 30 minutes to an hour each day.

Trust in yourself. You can do it!

See, I thought I heard that with Connections Academy a child could "test" to be in a higher level for math or reading, which is a big reason why I was considering it. But I haven't been able to verify this for a fact, and I'm not sure I want to have so much accountability (to a teacher--the parents are only considered learning coaches) on day-to-day/week-to-week work.

And we really don't have the funds for a curriculum like Sonlight, even though I REALLY like the sounds of some of the programs.