Homeschool.
When that word comes up, parents who snub their noses at public school kids come to mind. And I'm here to tell you that stigma is...
So true!
My teen was not home schooled. She went the Head Start route, entered public school with an IEP speech issue, but yet went on to end up on her middle school's honor roll, and become a very gifted violinist.
Then, high school hit. And let's just say that she is now finishing school abroad at her father's in another state.
So, when it was time for me to think about preschool for my youngest, I was thinking about nixing that idea altogether. It was at that time, I was approached with a pastor's invite for my daughter to start preschool at the age of 3. From then on, she continued through another year, and is now going to start kindergarten this fall.
With the private preschool experience, I noticed a big difference. Unlike the running around (with the exception of snack time) that my oldest did, private preschool offered a smaller class setting (8 students), and lots of structure that public-funded preschool seemed to lack. Because of this, my youngest had the opportunity to acquire social skills like manners, morals, and the discipline, as well as opening her eyes to the fact that learning is fun.
So of course, I could not fathom tossing my second into the blender of the public school system. (After all, despite my occasional channeling of a sailor at times, my youngest will not blurt the words "stupid" or "dumb", because to her, they are right up there with the words that clearly reflect the fact that I did not attend preschool at all!) No. I had to fix this-- and fast!
First stop-- private school. Seeing that some of the moms in my daughter's preschool were talking montessori, I too, had to check this avenue out, because gawd-forbid should my daughter be anything less than these kids. After speaking to an enrollment representative, I was presented with an application with a list of fees.
Um. $7,500!
NEXT!
I frantically went online, searching for these things that I heard of, called charter schools. I was running out of options though, as I was finding these schools had already reached their cap, and were only accepting applications for their lottery pool.
Not good enough. Already, the haunts of impending teenagedom and boys, and secret emails and skipping school started to swirl around me.
It was then, that I was looking through the comments of a news article, when I saw someone mention an online school called Connections Academy. (http://www.connnectionsacademy.com/) A fully-accredited public school at home for free? (Not to mention not having to school shop, and on top of that, cutting the risk of lice, scabies and the flu by 99%?) Hell yeah! Right away, I signed my kiddo up.
Signing up was easy. Afterward, you fax in all of your registration into their main office (as you would a public school). Once you are accepted, a UPS man knocks on your door with an enormous box of the year's lessons and supplies. Going over it, you realize that your new position (other than being the parent), is that of the "learning coach".
At first, I wondered what I was getting into. (After all, I just noticed that the real Todd Manning just returned to Llanview, revealing that his twin brother had been assuming his identity all these years on One Life To Live.) But in order to make my little prodigy flourish, I suppose I have to play the role of parent, and get involved.
How reliable is this virtual school? I went to an orientation last night, and heard the testimony of a few parents who have had their children enrolled in it for several years. They spoke of having children who placed higher in their grades than students attending (what they referred to as) brick and mortar schools. Their children were able to go on field trips, and do their lessons according to their body's clock, which enabled them to be more alert and complete their work on time. A downside though, is the fact that not all districts accomodate virtual schools' orchestra/band electives, and have to be addressed through private means. However, electives such as French and even Chinese are offered as early as kindergarten!
With that said, we'll have to see how this adventure goes.
