BJ asked
“Will Noah get a say about whether he continues the program?”
Yes and no. Because if he had more of a say, he would have quit after the first month.
If he did like it, we’d stick with it but instead it’s making Brett crazy to not only have the bother of the program bureaucracy, which is considerable, but also have to harass Noah to do the work.
They’ve figured it out though. Brett cut way back on the busy work and Noah quit complaining (as much). He likes to do Study Island because he likes to get things right and see that he got them right so Brett will just say, “Do X amount of Study Island today” and Noah will do it. That’s how they work other things pretty much, too. And since he likes Study Island we could always get quiz programs to supplement. Heck, you can get the practice proficiency tests from the library so he can evaluate his little heart out next year if it pleases him.
Next year Brett is thinking he’ll keep the formal math and continue to ask Noah to do stuff but he won’t have to worry about filling out the attendance and hours spent in school and marking work done. That’s the big headache about it, especially since we’re not doing the work as assigned so it demands some creative thinking on Brett’s part to record it all.
Yesterday at homeschool gym I sat with three other moms who use or have used K12 and we bonded over how much we hate it. Apparently the curriculum has gotten less flexible because of No Child Left Behind (I’ll be very interested to see what the new administration does with that, lemme tell you). They are very much teaching to the test — they told us this early on — and we think the reason our supervising teacher hasn’t harassed us about Noah’s busy work is that he does Study Island all of the time. (Plus he kicks ass in his virtual conferences with her.*) Because if Noah flunks out it doesn’t matter to their funding as long as he does well on the 5th grade proficiency test. And if he DID flunk (because of work), he could still do sixth grade there next year as long as he tested into it. Which just goes to show you that even to the k12 people, the busy work is bunk.
* This has been a new thing this year for Noah. He has never known where he is in relation to other kids — except that he knows he’s a good reader since he reads more and more quickly than his friends — and never seemed to care. But now because of the k12 conferences and the email reports they send out, he has a better idea that he’s bright and he’s gotten pretty smug about it. It’s not that he never worked with other kids and doesn’t know that some don’t read as well and others do math better or whatever, it’s just that in the homeschooling activities we’ve done the kids all take it for granted that you are where you are and no worries. So in his book discussion group some of the kids have trouble reading and it doesn’t matter because the emphasis is on the discussion. It’s mixed age anyway so the kids expect to be at different levels. But now he’s getting on the purple star chart or whatever and he’s also sitting in on these conferences where he consistently gets praised and the other kids get corrected.
I think NCLB has negatively affected most homeschool umbrella schools and charters. Even before that though, the charter we were with got stricter and more test-driven over the years as the state tried to maintain control over what we taught. Even so, we had a hard time NOT going through the charter. It made us - my husband, especially - feel like if the charter gave us a pass, we were doing okay. Our kids would be okay. There’s definitely an emotional side to home education. Nobody wants to screw up their kids, and common knowledge says we will if we homeschool. Having big brother covering our butts was a tiny bit of comfort - until it got to be too much of a PITA. When we moved we opted out. No tests, no requirements. Let me tell you. It is SUCH a relief! Some days I wonder if my kids are getting everything they need, but mostly I think they are doing just fine and they are happy and want to learn (on their terms, of course).
It sounds as though Noah and Brett are really good at making it work for them. I’ll be curious to hear what you do following this year!
This is only tangentially related but there was a very interesting article in New York Magazine (not the New Yorker, but New York Magazine) about 6 months ago talking about how to help smart kids live up to their potential. Because it is very common for kids who get praised for being smart to become more risk-averse, to avoid the potential for failure, to only do the things they are naturally good at. (Rings tons of bells for me personally.) So the research the article cited (I have no idea if it is any good or not) showed how much better smart kids (and other kids, too) did (at both what they are naturally good at and at other subjects/topics) when praised for making a good effort and persevering even when they failed.
I’m not sure exactly how this relates to your post but I thought you might want to read the article. I thought of the article when reading your discussion of Noah’s schooling this year. I’m sure in regular school there is a lot of praising of kids just for being “smart” which leads to a fear of failure and not trying new things. I wonder if this comes about in homeschooling?
Carla, have you read any of Alfie Kohn’s stuff? I think just about anything can come about in homeschooling, especially because people HS for all sorts of reasons driven by all sorts of philosophies. There is definitely a contingent of people who homeschool ‘cuz they’re stage-managing their kids to be academic powerhouses. There’s some of the same push-push-push you’d see in a high-pressure school.
I’m always interested to hear about people’s experiences with virtual charters. I know several people who LOVE LOVE LOVE k12, but they want a very structured approach. We’re basically unschooling at this point– I tihnk making a switch to a virtual charter would be an awfully drastic lifestyle change.
I was surprised to read that the kids are assessed virtually in front of other students. Do the students know each other in real life at all? It makes me uncomfortable to think of a kid being criticized in front of strangers.
I’m glad it’s working out well for your family!
What happened? Our k-12 bubble has burst! It seemed like such a good idea! The busy work sunk that ship. Along with the fact that even K-12 doesn’t care what you do. Just log the hours and do well on those OAT in the spring so we keep our funding. They come right out and strongly imply how to “get through it.” What is that teaching our kids? School and learing aren’t really important. Logging hours and clicking through tests and lessons just to get it done–for The Man. BS Unschooling is the way to go!! I hope.