Posted in Current News

 

 

Among other pieces of junk mail to hit our post office box recently, one in particular caught my attention as a homeschooling parent.

 

It was an invitation to an “Education xPo” at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis regarding a new educational option to Indiana students – the K12 Indiana Virtual Charter School (INVCS).

 

Instruction in a virtual charter school takes place in the home via the computer and using text books provided by the company. On the surface, this new educational option sounds like a delightful blend between homeschooling and public school – and it’s free!

 

Books, materials, and a computer (on loan) are provided by INVCS through the K12 company (located in Herndon, VA).   Indeed, based upon the K12 website, these are the same resources that I buy to use with my own student, but with this program I could receive them for free. 

 

But, how does a virtual charter school compare to “traditional” homeschooling in Indiana?

 

First, it is helpful to understand the position of a homeschool in our state.  Indiana’s law views a homeschool as “a school that is non-public, non-accredited, and not otherwise approved by the Indiana Board of Education.”

 

Thus homeschoolers are required to provide instruction for the same number of days as the public school system, generally 180 days per year.   Also, because a homeschool is “non-accredited,” homeschool students are not required to administer standardized tests, including the ISTEP.

 

In comparison, the Indiana Virtual Charter School is a form of public school.  It is accredited, it is open to anyone, and is approved by the Indiana Board of Education.  As such, INVCS will require students to take the ISTEP exam.  Additionally, it will require an annual Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) exam and, for children K-3, it will require a Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) test for pre-reading and early reading skills.

 

This form of public school will double the amount of standardized testing required in grades 2-10 and triple it for third graders.

 

Let’s revisit that idea of “free” textbooks again.  As a homeschooling teacher, I have available to me an array of resources for teaching the basic subjects as well as history, science, art, languages, and physical education.  The virtual charter school will make these choices for me, using materials I already know and like. 

 

But, what if these materials now, or in the future, fail to engage my student?  What if they present ideas of which I, as a parent, disapprove?  What if the style of learning used by the program doesn’t suit my child? There are no options or choices in the INVCS on this issue, unless I wish to disenroll my student from the program (and give back the loaned computer and books). 

 

Homeschool students traditionally work at their own pace, sometimes working grades ahead in some areas, while being at grade level in others.  Such students typically love to learn and excel at their studies. 

 

Though the INVCS claims to be “self-paced and flexible,” this pacing comes with a timeline “within the parameters specified by state law.”  In addition, through the INVCS, a teacher is assigned to groups of 45-50 families.  INVCS requires a teachers conference with parents and students twice every month during the school year.

 

Of course, nothing is truly free.  Virtual charter schools are another form of public school and, as such, are supported by our tax dollars. 

 

However, is the amount of control given to schools such as the INVCS worth the price of a computer and textbooks? 

 

By enrolling in an INVCS, parents lose their ability to have a say in local issues regarding education.  Those issues will now be resolved by the state.  INVCS will choose the textbooks, the coursework, and the pace at which your child will move through these materials.

 

The advantage to the state is tremendous as many districts face overcrowding, relatively high student-teacher ratios, and increased incidents of student violence resulting in suspensions or expulsion.  These same concerns may recommend the INVCS to parents who would rather choose public-school-at-home over a brick-and-mortar school.

 

In the end, the primary issue is parental choice.  The many options we have for educating our children was determined by the generations that went before us.  How we exercise that choice is up to us. 

 

But, to make such a choice, we must be informed, and this just might require educating the parents.           

Posted in Current News

Well, our summer plans took some major shifts in the past couple of weeks - that in itself was a learning process.

 

I'd posted that we'd be "finishing" our school year at the end of May.  Prior to this, I'd asked Kate a few things about what she liked and didn't like about the school year.  Fortunately, she gave useful feedback and there were no real surprises. 

 

My initial plan had been to "lighten up" over the summer.  I'd though we'd do a bit of math each week, either MUS or Living Math.  We'd continue reading via various reading programs such as our library's "Have Books Will Travel" program, Target/RIF, and Barnes & Noble.  Maybe pull out First Language Lessons occasionally, to keep things fresh.   Practice handwriting as occasion merited.   Definitely finish Galloping the Globe.  But, I wasn't planning to do each thing everyday.  And, I still don't. 

 

Kate, however, expressed an interest in learning a foreign language.  This wasn't the first time, but lately she's been asking probing questions about language, like "how did people decide that the word 'stop' mean what we take it to mean?"   We've done some "easy etymology" in the past and she's really enjoyed this.  I finally decided to take her seriously when she started making up words and calling it a language.

 

There are so many language programs out there.  And, much like math options, you can work toward immersion, mastery, or exposure depending on which program you choose.  I decided that what we needed for now wasn't a complete program of study, but exposure to a few different languages. 

 

I've got some proficiency in French, so that was a given.  I've wanted to learn Spanish, so that was added.  And, oddly, we ended up with German as the "most easy to find" third option. 

 

Scratch the low-activity part of the original plan; add fun new language to the mix.

 

The other thing Kate wanted to do over the summer was study astronomy.  This nagged at me for several days.  I'd planned to start Biology.  It's the first science in the classical continuum.  It's summer and so many biology things just go (and grow) well in the summer - birds, butterflies, insects, trees. 

 

I was being hard-headed. 

 

Thinking it over, I realized that I needed to capitalize on what Kate was really interested in.  Just because it wasn't "easy" didn't mean I shouldn't consider it.  And she is excited about our history studies that we'll start in the fall, but seems content to wait until then.

 

So, another search was instituted, though it took less time than the language question.  We'll start Apologia Elementary Astronomy tomorrow - now I'm actually excited!

 

And, we'll still do some biology this summer.  The Antworks are going strong.  We'll raise some caterpillars into butterflies.  For our birds study, we'll dissect an owl pellet.  Kate's eyes lit up when I mentioned this last one recently. 

 

So, Kate will learn some language bits, astronomy, and maintain her basic skills.

 

Meanwhile, I learned about flexibility and going with a child's interest when it really matters.  This might not work every time, but for this summer it should be great fun!

Posted in Current News

I've been involved in several discussions lately regarding how to "celebrate" the end of the school year.  As a student of the public school system, I remember that the celebration was simply that summer was starting!

 

When I was a kindergarten student in a Christian private school, we had a kindergarten graduation.  Each student had to memorize a verse and speak it at the ceremony.  We wore white robes and mortar boards with tassles.  We got little diplomas.  It was very standard stuff, but a "real" graduation nonetheless.

 

I've heard a variety of ideas about ending the school year.  Some homeschool groups have parties or outings.  Some even have graduation ceremonies for kindergarteners! 

 

Some parents have little parties with the student's work on display, maybe a short presentation by the student, a cake, and such.  This is really nice, but probably works best if the family members one invites tend to be generally supportive of your homeschooling efforts. 

 

We finally settled on letting Kate choose the menu for our evening meal - especially dessert!  I'm going to find a card and have both Steve and I write her a special note.  Maybe we'll go through her notebooks from the previous year, though we've been doing this fairly regularly.  Possibly a small gift will be involved.  A photograph is a must! 

 

Additionally, at some time either the last day or shortly thereafter, I will finish writing my homeschool journal for the year.  I've kept this as a record of major accomplishments and primary concerns and it's been interesting to review. 

 

Finally, I'll take time to ask Kate some questions about what she liked and disliked about our year, and what she might be interested in studying next year.

 

Obviously, as the parent and primary teacher, I still have to make the curriculum choices and such.  But I think there is value to finding out what your child's perception is about what they have accomplished.  These notes will be both useful and cherished as we progress on our homeschool journey.

 

I like this plan as it focuses on family traditions.  It's something we can to every year to convey to our daughter that we are proud of her and the work she's done in the previous year. 

 

Posted in Current News

We homeschool year round, mostly because learning is a lifelong process and summer breaks just don't happen "in real life."  Actually, for our agrarian forefathers, summer wasn't a break at all, but the busiest time of the year. 

 

Also, it seems a shame that field trips, science experiments, and the like can be considered school hours in the fall, winter, and spring, but when they are the easiest to do (in the summer....), they don't count.  So, we school year round.

 

Our daughter is finishing kindergarten and it's been a huge learning curve for both of us.  Milestones have included her first introduction to formal math (intially a disaster, later redeemed), learning to read, and copywork.  My milestones included learning how to schedule our materials and creating my own lesson plans that work.

 

Some of the materials we've used include (the titles are clickable links):

• Galloping the Globe - we used this for our "spine" for kindergarten.  Select countries from each continent are studied and resource materials are listed.  We've had to branch-out a lot to use this as our library had many great resources that corresponded to our studies, but not a lot of the listed materials.  It's been a great gallop!
• First Language Lessons - We're somewhere around lesson 40 in this book, having started in February.  If your child is language oriented, you could certainly start this book in kindergarten.  Copywork (with varying levels) begins about half-way through the first year (lesson 42 or so).  My daughter will definitely have a better grounding in grammar than I ever had!
• Phonics Pathways - There are about as many ways to teach reading as there are ways to teach math.  Somehow, this was an easy choice for us.  This program follows a natural phonics progression, and focuses on word lists and review lists that reinforce the lessons.  Though my daughter is a proficient reader, we are still working through this for the spelling assistance that it provides.  Takes about 5-10 minutes a day. 
• Math-U-See - This program was a God-send.  We'd been using Horizons K, which I do not doubt is a good program, but it was a poor fit for my daughter.   It's strengths are that it's hands-on concrete math and that it provides clear teacher guidance (via DVD) that teaches you how to teach the concept.  I definitely felt I needed that.  I understand math, but I don't have creative ways up my sleeve to teach an idea if my daughter doesn't understand.  If you aren't familiar with MUS, order their free DVD that explains the program - I learned a few math things while watching it. 

These are the primary programs that we are using.  Supplemental items that I feel are worth mentioning include:

• Pfieffer House Music - Having had a strong musical upbringing, I wanted to be sure to cover music well with my daughter.  I like this program and it's gentle, yet practical, approach to teaching musical skills.  We didn't begin it until after the holidays and, in reviewing it, decided to start with Grade 1.
• Draw Write Now - I'm not artistically gifted in art, but I make-up for it by being into crafts.  However, I wanted my daughter to learn to draw.  I've got several books on teaching art to children, but this is what we pull out most often.  More importantly, this is the set of books my daughter pulls out on her own to work with. 
• Science options - We've had a fun year with science, but have used an eclectic mix of things.  These have included Magic School Bus books and their activities, Sonlight Science K, and other fact books from the library. 

While kindergarten will officially end May 31st, we're not finished Galloping the Globe yet.  So, we'll be continuing with our primary materials until we finish them, probably around August.

 

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