This is huge and amazing news for me. She doesn't feel like she is scholastic enough to homeschool but I know she can do it. She wants rely on an online program to school her kids but still wants the ability for book work. I want everyone to spam me with the best of the best online schools. (Except Grace Academy and all it's hoopla!) She's not interested in the way I do school. She needs easy and not super expensive. Her boys are going into the 5th grade next year. Both have ADD.
Yay! Sounds like you are excited. It's fun to have family that homeschools too...my 2 SILs do. I don't have personal experience with any, but hear alot of people talking about k12.com and Connections Academy. Of course, she'd need to research them first. Not that you asked, but just a note from a mom of a ADHD teen. If her boys have ADD, she might find an online school extremely difficult for them, and as a result, for her. I understand the thought process that online school takes alot of the planning burden off her and I don't blame her. It's a big undertaking. However, is there anyway you can encourage her to maybe try a more traditional "boxed" curriculum? The planning is done, but at least that way she'll have a little more control over their assignments and can modify for them if she needs to (not assigning ALL the math problems if they understand the concept, more touchy-feely projects, ect.) Whatever she chooses, best wishes to her and her family!
I do not recommend K12, especially for ADD. Workload would be daunting-too heavy. Online I would suggest looking into Time4Learning. I just signed my son up (8th grade) and he is using Language Arts, Science and History. I've looked through his lessons and there are experiments to do, as well as worksheets to print, essays, and questions to answer off-line. He's just started it this week and likes it so far. This is the kid who needs more pazzazz or else he's bored to tears. Maybe this would work for an ADD kid because of how its presented.
Thanks for responding Jill. I am excited about it and feel the same way you do. I don't think that an online school will work the way she wants it to but I still need to find a good one for her. I showed her what we do and I think she felt a little overwhelmed.
I agree an online school might be tough for ADD kiddos but Time4learning could work because of how it's presented. Another one is Progress Academy, My sister uses it and loves it. You have an online text book but she also buys an actual text book. You print of worksheets and quizzes. On the online math book the have videos of teachers explaining the lesson. (at least in Algebra 1+, I'm not 100% sure about the younger grades)
Very exciting I only hear dreadful things about k12 so I would definitely tell her to keep away from that one. That's all I can offer as we've not used anything online like that.
I schooled my son through Connection's Academy for 2 1/2 years. I used the public school (free) version...not the paid private academy version. Connections uses a lot of bookwork with some videos thrown in. They have live online lessons...but they tend to have a lot of technical issues...so, it's not as cool as you would think. The public school version can be overwhelming if you do ALL the stuff listed per subject. You cannot go at your own pace or take longer in a certain area...you have to keep up. If you miss lessons, it is so difficult to catch up...especially in the middle and upper grades. It is nice that all the tests are online and the grading is done and recorded for you. BUT...as nice as that is, there is no "wiggle room" for kids who can't keep up. Just like PS. You can't tailor the lessons to your child's learning style. We liked CA the first year, tolerated it the second year, and hated this year...only got through 1/2 a year with it this year before I pulled my son out to homeschool him the traditional way. CA rushes through things so quickly that my ds was having trouble keeping up. Plus, he didn't like the all textbook style curriculum...he was bored and tuned out. CA and K12 are great for kids who like to work independently using textbooks and who catch on quickly and can keep up. Although some stuff IS online, most of it is in textbook form.
