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Post by mommc23 on Apr 19, 2019 2:39:13 GMT
Just wondering if anyone has experience with online high schools or hybrid high school programs? My son is a freshman this year and has really struggled. The majority of my friends with kids his age say the same thing...their kids went from seemingly well adjusted middle schoolers with good grades to nearly flunking out of school. My son will pass all of his classes, but barely and went from feeling confident about school and school sports to barely getting by and not participating in any extra curricular activities.
My niece does an online charter school curriculum and loves it. In talking with us, she put the idea of online school in his head and he really wants to try this. My husband is at home during the days, so he could monitor the work and the curriculum is accredited and requires the same work/testing as the brick and mortar schools.
Today we were talking about it and he said he feels happy when he thinks that he could get out of the school...that it feels like a huge burden is lifted. Although I’ve tried to find out, he won’t tell me if he has had social/emotional struggles at the school and I do wonder if that may be the biggest reason for him wanting to leave.
I go back and forth on what to do. I would hate for him to slip further behind because he lacks the discipline to stay on task. I’m afraid online school would be too socially isolating. I’m afraid it will drive an even bigger wedge between us regarding getting things turned in and grades.
Of course, the opposite may be true too. He may love it. He may thrive. It may be the best thing for him.
He turns 16 this summer and I feel like he should maybe be the one making the decision.
All of my college classes are online. I do think in the very near future, most students and college bound kids will do more and more of this kind of learning. So, I am trying to be open minded on the varying ways this can look.
Any advice would be appreciated!
TIA
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Post by Linda on Apr 19, 2019 2:55:50 GMT
Has he taken an online class before? Does his school/your state offer online courses during the summer that he could take one to see how he does with online learning? One of mine did a single online course in 7th grade and learnt that it wasn't a good fit for her and her style of learning. She did end up having to take one in high school to meet graduation requirements and she deliberately chose the easiest one-semester course that would meet the requirement and she still struggled with it. (and she was an excellent student in general).
If you do go with online schooling, I would urge you to make sure that he participates in something face-to-face - be it a church youth group, Boy Scouts, a sports team, a library club...something where he has some regularly scheduled interaction with others. And that he has opportunities to hang out with his friends.
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mlana
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,522
Jun 27, 2014 19:58:15 GMT
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Post by mlana on Apr 19, 2019 3:07:45 GMT
We homeschooled our DD but in 8th grade I had her take some online courses, mostly to get her used to how they were done. She did really well, so she did 9th and 10th online. She elected to go to a brick and mortar school for her last two years. Her first year she took Mandarin via an online class as the school didn’t offer a class and this was the language she had started in 9th grade. She was allowed to come home everyday at 2:00 and do her online class at her leisure.
This experience really paid off when she went to college and was able to do a lot of her summer classes online. She could be enrolled for the summer sessions, but coul come home and do the courses online. This saved us from having to pay for an apartment over the summer for 3 years, which was a big savings. Plus, it let her be home, which is where she wanted to spend her summer.
She did her jr year in China and she had to take some of her classes online with professors who were in the US. Again, her previous experience with online classes really paid off as she knew the process to follow when she had any problems accessing the portal or had internet issues during tests.
I really wish thiese options had been available when my DS was in school. He did not do well in a public school setting. He was very isolated even when he was in a classroom of other students. He thrived in the online community after we pulled him from school and started homeschooling.
If your DS lacks discipline, set him a schedule and insist he keep to it. As he adjusts and proves he can handle he, he can make his own schedule. I do caution you to consider letting him follow a schedule that starts later in the day, when teens’ brains work better. My DS had to start his work at 10 am. It was up to him whether he had eaten yet, but he had to be sitting at the table or computer by 10. Any earlier an he wasn’t Ide awake and any later and he wouldn’t be done in time to do his afternoon activities.
Marcy
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Post by cawoman on Apr 19, 2019 7:44:43 GMT
My 16 year old grandson goes to a charter school that is part of our local school district. He attends Mon thru Fri for a total of 9 hours. He is in class for each of his subjects and can get help if needed during those hours. They have their own sports teams. If a kid is not in sports, they can go to a gym to fulfill their requirements and the gym is paid for by the school.
Attending traditional high school was stressful for him. He’s much better attending this alternative school. I am really happy that this program exists. His coach did suggest he may want to go back to traditional high school to seriously pursue his sport but I don’t think that will happen.
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Post by Patter on Apr 19, 2019 9:51:33 GMT
I pulled my girls from public school after 7th grade. In 8th grade I piece-mealed curriculum and taught them but when it came to 9th-12th, I wanted an online school. I did NOT want the school district's online programs or K-12 because it was just more of the state mandated testing and stuff I did not want. My girls did Morning Star Academy. It served them extremely well! Two graduated college with two degrees and a minor in 4 and 5 years. They graduated manga cum laude and summa cum laude. One is working on her Master's now, and one is in medical school and just inducted into the honor's society. The third one will graduate in December with honor's in her degree field (she had medical issues and is behind). Anyway, finding what works best for your child is a great thing. I hope you find what works for him so he can thrive!
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Post by meridon on Apr 19, 2019 11:40:25 GMT
I teach for my state's online virtual high school and the quality of the courses really varies. Some of them have been great and others have required me to practically design my own curriculum to cover what students really needed to know. I tend to see two types of students. The first are the ones who are working ahead to graduate early or who want to take a course that's not offered at their home school. My state has lots of rural areas where schools can struggle to just offer what's required for graduation but not any honors or AP options. The other group are those who are working on credit recovery who really struggle and often don't do well as they are weak student to begin with and now have the additional struggle of being responsible for keeping themselves motivated.
I think you've gotten good advice to see if he can try out a course or two this summer to see how he likes it. If he decides to go that route, do be sure there are other ways for him to spend time with his peer group, as has already been mentioned.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Mar 28, 2024 18:57:30 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2019 13:12:36 GMT
Morning Star is a Christian based home school. I think that is has a couple of other names?
Homelink is school that is used a lot.
Just make sure that what ever you use it fulfills your state’s requirement for graduation.
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Post by gryroagain on Apr 19, 2019 15:02:01 GMT
I’ve used Keystone. My older daughter just a few classes, the rest were at a high school, a community college, or created by me. My younger daughter hates school so she is doing all keystone and then some at the high school. It’s accredited, boring, but does the job. Obviously not a highly positive review but it does what we need it too😂 One thing to realize is all work must be done- there is no passing without every test and paper submitted.
For us it’s been great for what we needed it for- older dd to get the credits for subjects she was not real into, younger dd to just get done with high school as is her wish.
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Post by marysue63 on Apr 19, 2019 16:29:47 GMT
My daughter also struggled in HS so for her senior year I reluctantly enrolled her in online school. She begged me to and assured me that she would be successful. For HER it was a big mistake! She did not have the discipline to do the work. I wished we would have done a summer course to get a feel for it. It was a whole semester wasted. Thankfully, even though she received no credits for that semester she'll be able to graduate on time from the regular high school.
I think online school can be a good thing for the right student. I liked how ours was set up (it's through our school district) and felt that the administrator and her teachers were all very involved and invested in her success.
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Post by mommc23 on Apr 20, 2019 2:18:17 GMT
Thank you for all of the information! I really appreciate it.
My son is doing an online math program currently to recover credit from his first semester. He has really liked it and is getting a B in the course. He said he has learned more doing this than sitting in a class for a semester. I will have him do another online class over the summer.
I feel that if I don’t let him try this then he will resent us for anything else we may ‘make’ him do. He is old enough to figure this out with our help. We told him that we will try it for one semester and that if it isn’t a good fit then we need to go back to a more traditional setting and he agreed to that.
I have a lot of fear wrapped up in letting him try it...fear that he won’t do the work and it will be a bigger strain on my husband and I...fear that he will feel isolated...fear the curriculum won’t be as challenging and he’ll fall behind his peers, etc. etc. However, I don’t want to make this decision based on fear, so why not give it a go? It could be the best thing for him too!
Thanks again for the input.
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Post by Patter on Apr 20, 2019 9:58:52 GMT
I have a lot of fear wrapped up in letting him try it...fear that he won’t do the work and it will be a bigger strain on my husband and I...fear that he will feel isolated...fear the curriculum won’t be as challenging and he’ll fall behind his peers, etc. etc. However, I don’t want to make this decision based on fear, so why not give it a go? It could be the best thing for him too! Thanks again for the input. I had a lot of those fears but it ended up being the absolute best decision for all of us. I would do it all over again, AND I would have started sooner had I known it would have been so amazing. And there certainly wasn't isolation. We were able to do a LOT during the afternoons when kids were still in school. They took ice skating lessons, were part of an orchestra, took horseback riding lessons, etc. They were always done with school by 1 p.m. and some days earlier. It was truly wonderful. Hope he finds he loves it and that it works for all of you!
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theshyone
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,396
Jun 26, 2014 12:50:12 GMT
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Post by theshyone on Apr 20, 2019 12:14:10 GMT
Due to medical reasons my daughter started online school in 8th grade 🇨🇦. It was the best thing ever for her. She is very disciplined.
It is isolating. She kept participating with girl guides and that helped some. But she is lonely.
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sweetpeasmom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,573
Jun 27, 2014 14:04:01 GMT
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Post by sweetpeasmom on Apr 20, 2019 12:18:28 GMT
Up until this year (ds is a Junior), he's always had good grades. This year has been a big struggle. Most of it was from something that happened early in the year. That issue bleed over into all areas this year. There was one option that I didn't want to try because it is a hybrid class (just one class). It's done online but in the classroom. Even at first he didn't want to try this option because he and I both felt he needed the actual traditional classroom instruction. At the beginning of March something had to be done. This option was presented to us and we tried it. It was the best thing we could have done for him. He is doing well in the class. Has made a statement that he actually likes the format. So if your son is already doing a class like this and doing well, I think that is a good sign. If your husband is home during the day and can sort of monitor it, sounds like it's a good option.
I can tell you nothing is worse than watching your child struggle academically, emotionally and mentally (because they will all feed into each other).
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Post by Belia on Apr 20, 2019 14:09:17 GMT
Your son is a freshman and about to turn 16? That seems old. Is there a reason he's so much older than his peers?
I, personally, would not look into full-time online school for a student that early in his HS career until I had an excellent handle on what went wrong with his schooling. There must be a reason why he went from being a solid student who was involved in activities to failing and isolated. Why was he failing classes? Not turning in work? Classes too difficult? Does he study? I have seen many freshmen used to being lazy and skating through middle school doing the absolute bare minimum and doing just fine, to falling flat on their face when those same strategies don't work in HS. Or are his issues more emotional- unmotivated? Depressed? Social problems? Anxious? What is your high school like? Super competitive or not? Big? Is he just a number in the crowd? Smaller and more supportive?
I would be afraid that pulling him from school would be putting a band-aid on the problem. If there is something deeper going on, it will keep coming up and sabotaging his schooling (no matter what form it takes) until it is addressed.
Three years of adolescence is a long time to be working in isolation.
Ugh. I just woke up and am not phrasing things well. Sorry. I would get him in therapy outside of school, I would have him at the doctor for a full physical and bloodwork making sure that these new symptoms have been brought up for discussion, I would reach out to the school counselor about what resources are available at the school. Can he be hooked up with a mentor? Do they have any groups that he could join? Does he need to be tested for special education for either emotional or academic reasons? Could he start attending an alternative school? It's hard to even make suggestions without knowing what the problems stem from.
Once you have a handle on the issue, pulling him to homeschool might be a great idea! But I wouldn't do it, especially with three years left, until I had a MUCH better understanding of what went wrong in the first place.
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Post by LisaDV on Apr 20, 2019 20:29:49 GMT
I homeschooled ds from 1st through 8th. I wanted him to get at accredited diploma and asked if he wanted a brick and mortar or online high school. He chose online. We chose a Christian based online program and I'm thrilled with the quality of education. That said, there have been classes that far exceeded my expectations and a couple that did not. I'm sure just like a brick and mortar school. With anything there was a bit of a learning curve. DS loves this option and does well.
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Post by mommc23 on Apr 20, 2019 22:05:59 GMT
Belia,
Such good information! Thank you. I am going to sit with him and talk about some of the questions you raised.
His birthday is at the end of June...we lived in Oklahoma at the time he started kindergarten. With a summer birthday, we could have started him at 4 and he would be the youngest in his class or we could keep him home another year and he would be the oldest in his class. We chose the latter based on a lot of different things. Mainly, we decided this because he seemed not ready to start at 4 and everyone else we knew with kids with summer birthdays kept them that extra year to mature.
However, now he seems much more mature than his cohorts. He doesn’t really engage in some of the stupid stuff high school kids do.
My guess is that much of it is social/emotional. His school is very very large, high middle class with a LOT of parent expectation and involvement. The school works very well for highly motivated, high flying kids. I have noticed that kids who don’t fit that mold are just left to figure things out in their own and have little support. I have talked to the school counselor and wasn’t given much more than ‘this happens to most freshman boys’ and ‘we don’t offer counseling at the school beyond academic and career supprts’.
I live in a city where the high schools are having epidemic record of suicides. My son’s 8th grade year, six high school students died by suicide...every six weeks another student was gone 😢. And there were many more in the combined school district. There have been 3 this year at the school district adjacent to ours. It was just awful and I’ve tried to watch very closely the emotional health of my kiddo through that time.
When I asked him what it would feel like to do online and not return, he got teary and said that he felt as if a huge burden was lifted and it was a huge relief. Then he said, ‘Mom, you have no idea how hard this year has been.’.
It is so hard to watch your child struggle in this way. I am just really feeling that, no matter what, the high school where he is currently, is not a good fit for him.
Thanks for letting me vent! And I am so encouraged by all of the positive experiences...
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Post by Patter on Apr 21, 2019 10:15:20 GMT
mommc23, I ache reading about the schools and suicides. And so glad you are giving him this option especially when he tells you he feels a huge burden has been lifted. Sounds like he might thrive in an online environment. Our online school was also accredited, and my girls received diplomas from them so it was very easy and accepted for college. My girls also never fit the mold with the social environment. I am SO thankful for that. They have turned into exceptional women. I know how scary it is in the beginning but to be able to look back now and KNOW it was the best and right thing has been such a blessing. My girls will also tell you they LOVED being at home. It was right for them and has not hurt them in anyway. In fact, it turned out to be an advantage among their peers. Praying your son thrives in whatever y'all choose to do!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Mar 28, 2024 18:57:30 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2019 23:54:18 GMT
My youngest did Texas' public online school. It was tedious, a lot of "busy work" and she was isolated from many kids her own age because she wasn't involved in any school activities so she lost that year of building friendships. Basically, she had way too much time on her hands. My sister's son is doing Texas online public school and it has been a good fit for him socially. He is as smart as they come and was bored with the classroom tedium that seems to hit pretty hard in high school. My nephew always said he felt like he didn't "fit" with the personality of the kids and school and was always being bullied in some shape or fashion. The first few years were great for him (he started in 7th grade with online school). However, going into year four my sister and her husband are having to ride his butt on EVERYTHING because he is slacking so much and his grades are failing because - he has too much time on his hands. The told him if he doesn't keep his act together this year he will ride out high school in the brick and mortar building. He doesn't have any friends, is very shy, and really has no interests outside of video games. Don't get me wrong my family are gamers but the kid is pasty white and can't carry on a conversation. My oldest did an alternative school for her senior year. It's not the alternative-type school for kids who are discipline problems. Our district has a campus, connected to our high school, for student who don't fit the standard mold, are having to support themselves, are close to finishing early, or at risk of dropping out. My oldest DD struggled with learning disabilities her entire public school life, but she was also able to accumulate a few extra credits along the way to help her graduate early. Instead of sitting in a classroom for 8 hours she went to school for 1/2 day, in a much smaller class setting, fewer students (115 versus 2000+) did a few courses online, and finished her high school requirements back in early March! She officially graduates in June. Socially, my oldest DD has been there and done that. She was part of the high school drill team for two years, decided she didn't want to deal with the drama that follows that along, ended up getting a job as a lifeguard, and increased her hours and made new friends. She found a new job and only after four weeks she is up for a new position that pays a higher wage that her boss says will fit her "bubbly, happy personality much better"! Net-net... - For my youngest DD online school was a bust - she needs the social aspect and routine of school. She has been happier with the typical environment. - For my nephew it is 50/50 - he needs a quick way to get the work done (because he is capable)rather than the 8 hour torture of sitting in a chair where he isn't challenged enough. He also needs the discipline of the school house, but the boy has ZERO social skills. - For my oldest DD the hybrid model was a God-send. Her happiest year in school was her senior year because she didn't feel like 80% of her work was busy work and she THRIVED. I wish we would have enrolled her earlier but drill team was her first love at the time. Each kid will be different. You can always do a test run for 1/2 of a semester and see how it goes. If he slacks or his grades are not what he is capable of achieving send him back to the traditional classroom. Make that part of the agreement. Good luck! I know it is hard to watch them struggle like this but it does make them so much stronger and much more confident when they turn it around themselves.
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