Up til last year for my oldest and this year for my two other kids, we've been independent. Due to various reasons I decided to enroll in the local Charter school. In some ways, they have been pretty good and have exceeded my expectations. In other ways, they have LAME rules that we have to go along with. YES I know its my choice to have them enrolled to begin with, but that's why this thread is titled "VENT". Lame Rule #1....Since my younger two do not have previous state test results, they have to submit to testing in reading and math every month, as well as semester "benchmarks" in addition to the STAR testing in the spring. Even though they scored at grade level or a little above, they must still take the tests every month. Just annoying. Lame Rule #2.....The test that my son takes monthly is Algebra 1. My son is not studying Algebra 1 but Pre-Algebra sooooooo guess what? He fails every month as well as the semester benchmark test. Yet, he got an A on his report card last semester (for Pre-Algebra). Why don't they test him on Pre-Algebra? Or at least wait to test him on the Algebra 1 until he's actually studying it? Does not make sense. Lame Rule #3.....My high schoolers were given HUGE, 31 chapter textbooks and are expected to complete every. single. chapter in the book. The textbooks have 3-5 sections in each chapter with 31 chapters. That is hardly enough time to think about what their reading or commit much of it to memory. Just do the paperwork and turn it in. I complained that even the Public school teacher does not do every single chapter in the book and that they really can't retain anything at that pace (since they have actually 7 classes). The school's answer? Add another WORKBOOK to their already full schedule. That will surely help them! NOT! Just adds more stress. I'm irritated because at this pace, my high schoolers are simply skimming the surface of what could be some really interesting subjects. They definately prefer being independent and don't like the routine of the Charter. I guess my point of this thread is, besides the vent, is to let other potential and new homeschoolers know that Charter school is school at home. There is little flexability, little time to explore new things. It's schedules and rushing to get paperwork done. It's not "Homeschooling" in the true sense of the word. It saps the joy of discovering out of learning. I have heard myself tell my youngest that we don't have time to do an experiment or project that she's interested in because we're "behind" and the school rep will be coming soon and we need to be at page XX. I promise that we'll do it "Next time" but so far this year, next time has not come. I am just too busy tied to the textbook. It may be necessary for my older two to continue with the Charter next year, but not my youngest. We're going back to freedom!
I am sorry your frustrated with your charter school. I would be frustrated too if my kids had to deal with all those rules. Have you asked why your ds has to take the algebra test when he is doing pre-algebra?? That would bug the crap out of me!! However, every Charter school and every state are different for their homeschooling programs. I used one last year with my dd and I got to pick all the curriculum and do everything at home. She was only required to take the end of year state test. I had to report each week what we had done so they could track it but it was pretty easy. There is another charter school in the area that gives $400 a year per student plus $125 per core class for curriculum. You do all the Core work at home and then they offer fun classes, like cooking, sewing, lego building, nature walks, some tech class, and others. The kids have to do state testing and parents have to report all work done once a month. It is very hard to get into this school because all the homeschoolers want to do this. I think the waiting list is like a year to a year and a half long. Not all Charters are bad or hard to work with. I would look into other Charters in your area if you aren't happy with yours. I know I would be finding another one if those were the rules for my kids. As a side thought: I went to school in CA and I was "homeschooled" for my sophomore year, but it was through the ps and was called independent study. I met with a teacher once a week for an hour so she could go over my work and grade it and talk with me and hand me my assignments for the next week. It was VERY easy and I only had to go to the school for the state tests at the end of the year. It might be something you could look into as an alternative to charter school.
