"Online public schools" Anyone doing this?? Have experience?? I'm in OH and need some help!!

[doulas3babes]

I guess I should give a little background about us.... We have 3 kids... ages 8 (in 2nd grade), almost 6 (in kindergarten) and 3 yrs old. The 2 oldest in school are straight A students. Our oldest is in the TAG program and on a 4th, almost 5th grade reading level. Ever since the oldest was about 4, we have tossed around the idea of homeschooling. I've done alot of research and talked with a lot of ppl and to me, it just seemed VERY involved. At least to me, it seemed very involved.

About a month ago, I got a brochure in the mail for "ECOT" - the state of Ohio's ONLINE K-12 public school. You can find more info at ECOT. It grabbed my interest, as it appears that this is public schooling that is strictly online.

The only reason I am even giving this a second glance is the fact that I am facing some medical issues (possibly systemic lupus) and physically I am struggling just to get my kids out the door and on the bus. There have been a few times that they have been late b/c of me, or twice they were simply unable to attend b/c I physically could not get up and out of bed to get them off and I have no help what-so-ever. Dh is gone hrs before they get up and doesn't come back after 6pm each evening.

I am also looking more into this b/c of the way this world is unfortunately going and the fact that we want to incorporate and mold our children around our Christian faith and views and feel that they are being heavily influenced by other children at school in ways that we don't want them behaving. As well as the fact that from a medical standpoint, w/my immune system being knocked down by whatever is going on inside of me from a chronic illness, they are constantly bringing crap in here to me and well, it's really getting tough to try to deal w/all the sicknesses all the time.

Has anyone here ever had experience with this? Have kids who are strictly attending an online public school? Can to share anything with me? Give any insight? The good, the bad, the ugly? Particularly is anyone here living in OH and have kids that are participating in this here in our state?

I really appreciate any input that anyone has!! I've requested the packet of info and have been going over the ECOT site w/a fine-toothed comb trying to learn as much as I can and find out what the faults are with doing online public schooling.

TIA for any help!!!
Linda

[TheWoman]

My kids did the Oregon Connections Academy for the 2007-2008 school year in grades K and 2. While I don't want to do it again, I dont regret it either.

The things I liked first:
1. It was completely free. Nearly everything was provided, I only had to supply regular school supplies.
2. It was not all on the computer as you might suspect. They sent regular textbooks--we just communicated with the school online. Only a small percentage of the school work was actually done on the computer.
3. There is acountablility. You can't get away with just skipping school this week because you don't feel like it. If you need that it is a plus, if not see the entry under things I don't like.
4. You don't have to make any decisions. They send the curriculum, you follow it, and that is that. It makes things simple as long as you don't mind being told what to do.

Things I didn't like:
1. Because it is a public school we had to follow the laws created for public school. For example, we had to do school at least 4.5 hours a day (for 2nd grade) and had to follow the school calendar. It didn't matter if we were done in 2 hours, we still had to do 4.5 hours.
2. The school was 100% on the model of recreating school at home. There was little flexability to do what I wanted to do because we had to follow the curriculum provided.
3. While they claimed to be flexable in allowing your child to go at their own pace, it didn't really work that way. They had a certain amount of stuff to get done by the end of the year. If you worked too slowly you wouldn't get finished. If you worked too quickly you didn't just get to stop because the laws for public schools are more concerned with how many hours the kids spend in the classroom than with how much they learn. You would simply have to do extra work if you worked hard and got the stuff done early. Way to teach a work ethic, huh?

We did connections because we had a brand new baby and I was afraid that the school work would not get done if I didn't have to be accountable to anyone. It did the job well. However, we got really tired of the program after a few months but didn't have the flexability to change it. I must say that if I had more time to add to it and do the fun optional parts we might have liked it more, but the demanding baby got in the way of that. While it required a lot of my time teaching it did not require me to put forth any creativity or actual thought so it was nice for my sleep deprived brain.

I don't think my kids retained what they learned nearly as well as with other homeschool curriculums. It was a lot of learning some information, taking a test, and then forgetting like we all did so much of in school. A lot of times we were racing through the work just so we could mark it done and get on with the activities where the real learning was happening, such as cooking or going to the science museum.

Just to be clear: if this school is anything like Connections Academy you still have to do a lot of work to teach your children. It isn't something where you plop them in front of the computer and have the work all done for you.

[pyxiedust]

We are a part of a virtual public school through another city in our state. We're eligible because we live in Kansas. The curiculum is called K12 and you can check it out at their website, k12.com. Like thewoman said, it's not all online, it's mostly that you're communicating online, or over the phone with a teacher to make sure you're on track.

We choose this route, because we too had a new baby this year and I wanted my 8th grader to get a good start on High School. We have actually skipped a few weeks here and there, because the state counts the lessons, not the time. So for us it's been a lot more flexible. And once we're done, that's it. The math unit she's working on is Percentages. We did the first few lessons and she aced them. I let her take the unit assessment and she aced that. So she's done. Why do 13 lessons, if she already knows the stuff? That is how the school feels about it and I agree.

There are lessons that take a lot longer to go over and she might take longer to get through those units. So far we're running right on schedule.

If she was younger she could also do year round school, but there are different requirements for High School so all her 8th grade work must be completed by June.

It's very parent intensive, I feel, and it absolutely should be. I can't just say, here read this and it's over. We do a lot of talking and reading. There are things that she excels at and does on her own though, like writing. I just go over her work and grade it based on specifics given to me by the school.

My favorite part of this school is how active it is. We are very active in the extra curricular activities they provide, like a theater group, and lots of field trips. She's made a lot of friends and even my new little guy has friends he loves to see.

My biggest complaint is that there is no opportunity to record time spent on studying for state assessments. If she was in a bricks and mortar school and they spent the day on test prep, it would be counted as a day in school.

I would look for any homeschooling groups in your area. They probably have people who do work with this school and can tell you if there are any issues with it. The city I live in has an e-school, but it is so horrible that even retired teachers are totally lost! So not all e-schools/virtual schools are the same. The biggest difference is that the local e-school doesn't give you a teacher's manual. So there's no way to know if what you're coming up with is right or wrong. K-12 gives you textbooks, workbooks, teacher's manuals, maps, science kits, a computer, and just about anything else you might need. Just some things to ask about and keep in mind. Good luck!

[shetlandponyluvr]

We've homeschooled our eldest before, and this fall we're going to be homeschooling our youngest. I looked into ECOT & some other online curriculums and we've decided just to do things the old fashioned way. One of the reasons why is while it is technically "homeschooling" you're still part of the public school system. So, we're going to purchase our curriculum from www.homeschoolingbooks.com There's a homeschooling group here at HCW so you might want to ask your question there as well.

[tmsmalley]

Honestly, if you've got medical issues that make it hard to get your kids off to school, you're not going to be able to homeschool them. If you're doing it properly, it is a full time job.

I'd see if you can get a high school or college aged "babysitter" type to come over and help you out a few hours every school morning so that getting them out the door isn't such a burden.

Tess

[doulas3babes]

My understanding from reading the ECOT site is that my kids will have teachers that will teach them, I won't. I won't be doing any of that. It would be like taking an online college class. I wouldn't be teaching myself, I would be taught by a professor. Same principle. That is why I was looking into that instead of homeschooling where I would be the teacher. I would LOVE to be able to truly homeschool, but given my medical probs it isn't possible, that is why I was looking at online public schooling.

Here's the info that I c/p directly from their site:

ECOT (Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow) is the first and most popular tuition-free online public school in Ohio educating over 9,000 students in grades K-12.

At no cost to families, ECOT provides students with:

One-on-one attention from 100% certified and highly qualified teachers.
Computer and printer/scanner/copier, as needed.
Broadband Internet connection, provided to students at no cost in most areas.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, ECOT has provided students throughout the state with a high quality, online public education since the 2000-2001 school year. Thousands of graduates have earned their high school diplomas at ECOT, and many more will follow in their footsteps.

As an online public school, ECOT provides its students with a flexible, tuition-free alternative to traditional "brick and mortar" public education.

ECOT is fully accredited by the Commission on International Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA) and the North Central Association (NCA), and is certified by the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools (OAPCS).

ECOT is sponsored by the Lucas County (Ohio) Educational Service Center (LCESC).


ECOT students learn from the comfort and safety of home.

Just like other public school students, ECOT students have great teachers, counselors, class discussions, report cards and out-of-class field trip opportunities.

Unlike other public school students, ECOT students use computer and Internet technology to access their lessons from home, do not interact with their classmates face-to-face each day, and are not subject to a dress code!

ECOT's teachers provide quality instruction online and actively engage each student to offer assistance and guidance. Parents have the freedom to directly support their children's education, while letting ECOT teachers do what they do best: teach.

In this section, you will learn more about working with ECOT teachers, ECOT's flexible schedule, parental involvement, and ECOT's computers and technology.





Thank you all for the info about your state!!! It really seems that it does vary greatly from state to state.

Anyone else had any experience with this?

[tinabohio]

I am looking into the Ohio Virtual Academy. It looks interesting too. Good luck!

[ShoppingCartDiva]

Wow, I had no idea that type of program existed!