Why I chose K12 and the process so far

So as I said before in the last post we chose k12 online public school for both our children for this upcoming school year. I did this for a few reasons. I was so sick of the days my daughter coming home from school in tears because of some new drama that had developed on the playground and that she was losing friends so fast. And she was starting to get bullied. I said nope not going to happen. Now I could have went to the school and tried to duke it would with the school system but this was not the first time this had happened. So I said that is it I am DONE!

Now that was the social part of just my daughter. My son never seemed to have problems making friends in NY. But I should also say I have a son that marches to the beat of his own drum in the way out left field. And he has a great look on people not wanting to be his friend... Oh well that is their loss. Now when you hear that from a 7 year old it just melts your heart. And it also tells me that my husband and I must be doing something right for him to have a level head on his shoulders.

But for my son we had a problem finding things that would hold his attention. he is a learner that learns it fast only needs to see it a few times and has it mastered. So he was above his age group in school. And there was nothing to enrich him and I did not have the resources to help him at home. (or so I thought)

So we picked the k12 online learning for both of them and here is why...

My daughter will not be rushed. And she will not get bored like she was in school. And my son can move at a faster pase that he likes to learn at and not have to wait for the rest of he class to catch up to him.

How I went about everything.

Over the weekend I called for some information because I was looking for a free curriculum and I saw that k12 has an at home curriculum that is not religion based. I wanted to keep them separate. That is just a personal choice I had and wanted to stick to. But I found out that to do that choice it would not only hurt our wallets but it was just not do able at the time. So I went back to trying to make my own homeschool. And I had it all set up for a day and it just seem to fall apart at the seams. Because I just did not have the energy to do the entire lessons of the day then try to find and gather all the next days lessons. And getting those box homeschool curriculum was just not in the cards for me right now.

So after a few days of more research I called k12 back and said ok give me some info on your online school. 

I learned a few things. For the k-8 it is not all on the computer they send you hard copy text books, science lab materials, a computer a printer, art supplies for art class. even math manipulative. And that would mean I would be doing the teaching not a teacher in other town in the state via the Internet. That right there was just about where they got me. So I said ok how much is this going to cost me.... The lovely lady I spoke to Kim said nothing it is all free. I said ok what is the catch. The only catch I have seen so far is they still have to take the state tests at the end of the year but Hey anyone that has been in public school had to do it. And it is not the NY Common Core test so I said that is it? She followed with yup that is it.

So I said ok sign us up! She gave me all the information I needed to get them enrolled for the 2014-15 school year.

And here was my adventure with that.

Now I should start off this story with I am a clutts in a lot of ways in my walk of life. I fall walking up stairs, I walk into walls because I am not paying attention to what is around me. And this enrollment was all online I did have the choice to snail mail the info or fax it but being that I have a lovely scanner/printer partner sitting on my desk I said that is what I shall use.

So just getting into the system I had issues but not because of their system but because of user error. It was not giving me a school to chose and for the life of me I could not figure out why. So I called back and Kim said looks like you just need to start over. And it still would not let me. So I called back again and was connected with a very nice man his name escapes me right now and he said I did not know that there was an El Paso county in NY. It was at that point I had a face palm moment and forgot that I need to update my auto fill in. So after that was taken care of I could get the ball rolling for real.

Then after I there first part of enrollment which was just demographic and personal info that was needed. I needed to submit records for each student and do the beginning of the year paper work. And I hit yet another road block. I guess in the state of CO they use a lease as a last resort for proof of where you live. So I explained to them that it was my last resort we just moved here no bills have come rolling in yet. ( I know they are coming but I am enjoying not seeing them right now).

That was the first thing then I found out Emma's digital paperwork was riddled with typos. (see clutts and no spell check.) So that needed to be redone after another face palm. Then there was a little more info that was needed from me and that was not a problem. And the school enrollment team was so helpful and stuck by me every step of the way. So now we are waiting on the phone call to tell us officially we are in and what the next step is.

On a side note we have been watching a lot of YouTube clips about k12 and my son cannot wait to get started. My daughter was at a friends house last night so we did not get to show her when she comes home we will do that with her.

I am very excited to start this because I have a more hands on approach to teach the kids. And being well pretty much a home hermit I favor being home more then running all over town. But luckily I am surrounded by people who drag me out and about and I have a good time with family.

And that is so far my k12 adventure we are going on until next time this is the unpublic school adventure mom saying toodles!

Getting the Ball Rolling...

So let me give you a little bit of background on the entire story...

One day this past April my daughter had to take the new Common Core test in New York. And after just one day of it she said that nothing we studied the entire year was on the test mommy. She said it was like reading something fromm outter space! 

Now I should also say that I was not too keen on this new standardized test to begin with and then when she came home in tears that day just sent up all sorts or alarms buzzers and bright flashing lights that I needed to step in. But how? That was my main issue. How do I make sure my children get a good education?

Here is the thought process that I went through.

1. HOMESCHOOL

2.TUTOR

3.ONLINE

4. CALL THE TEACHER AND RIP HIM A NEW ONE

So I sat down and did a list of research and pros and cons of each and this was what i came up with.

1. Homeschool. I Need to learn the laws and how to do it for just about no money at all.

Now while all this common core testing was going on we were also in the process of moving from NY to CO. But that is an entire other story for a different time. So once we got unpacked and settled it was time to check out schools. And I was not a true fan of the local free public schools so homeschool research started.

2. Tutor... Yea money I dont have to spend right now. And for my son he needed to be more enriched. The poor child was bored to tears because he already knew what was being taught. So that was a no go. 2 tutors and supplies thanks but no thanks.

Now I am not going to sit here and dog on the Colorado school system because that would be wrong of me. We have never been in it. But one red flag that did pop up is that the district we live in is so small that all the kids from k-12 are bused. And in my personal opinion I do not think that little first graders should be with the highschoolers because well some kids are just mean and prey on the younger and weaker. So I was not even going to go down that route.

So I checked out the CO state laws for homeschooling and the are really lax in my opinion. But I am also coming from NY where things are not as easy. And there are a ton more hoops to jump through. Then I started to research how to set up a homeschool and the different types of homeschooling there is as to style of teaching. Then how to go about setting up my own curriculum for free or next to nothing. And i was having a hell of a time trying to just find an outline for free of what each grade needs to know and so on. 

3. Online there there are a plethora of online k-12 school but public and private both free to OMG you want home much money? But really other then the common core math, I do not have a problem with the curriculum of a public school. So I put that in the "lets do some more research" pile. 

4. I really do not think it was the teacher who was to blame in NY. Both my kids loved their teachers and so did I. So screaming at a poor teacher for just doing his job was so uncalled for.

So after gathering as much information as I could I came to the conclusion that it was either homeschool by the seat of my pants and try to stay above water or check out the free online public schools. 

I tried the homeschool without any real curriculum and used just goals I set up for the summer setting everything up everyday, and grading after they went to bed for me there was just too much prep with no real outline to follow. So I went to a bunch of online public schools and did research looked over the curriculum and really did my homework the best I could. And I learned a ton in the process. 

And this is what we are now doing.

K12 online public school. I have seen a ton of good reviews from teachers student and parent. I fell in love with their curriculum and my favorite part was being that my kids are in the grades 2 and 5. I will be doing most of the teaching. Yes they will still have an online part. But everything is set up for me. I no longer have to make the lesson plans, but at the same time the kids do not have to follow the 9 to 330 set up they did in NY for 5 days a week. We can do school in the evening one day is things are a bit crazy here. So there is that flexibility that I wanted. 

The next post will be on how I went about getting them set up in the enrollment process thus far.

Until next time this is the unpublic school adventure mom saying toodles!