Feeding Giants

Now that everyone has made it through the weird, frustrating, memorable covidschooling of 2020…it’s almost time to do it all over again! If you are in a state that is opening school back up in the fall, lucky you! For those of us that are facing more full-time distance learning, or a split-week on-campus/distance learning situation (and, honestly, it seems to change on a weekly basis around here), we have to look long and hard at what is going on and make some decisions.

First of all, however, I just want to give a shout-out to all of the kindergarten and first grade teachers out there who are preparing for the circus of 5 and 6 year olds who want to touch all the things and hug all the people and pick their noses and wear their masks on their eyes like superheroes and don’t wash their hands enough in the best of times…and have to stay 6 feet apart and not use the playground. This is cruel and unusual punishment for you AND the kids, so may your Lysol flow freely and may I suggest keeping a stash of chocolate in your mask for emergencies? Seriously. It’s going to be rough.

For us, the decision was pretty obvious after a couple weeks of distance learning wherein 1.) the entire experience was ALL of the things I hated about online school before but NONE of the things I liked (see this post), 2.) Individualized learning of any kind ceased and school became “one size fits some” (so I took over and we did our own thing anyway), 3.) Kids did not have adequate access to all of their teachers to go over problem areas (so I was doing that anyway), 4.) All other subjects besides Language Arts and Math were totally dropped for the elementary kids (so we were adding that in ourselves anyway), and 5.) The constant Zoom meetings were a nightmare. The teachers gave it a valiant effort, but it is FAR easier, more effective, and more efficient for me to just do it myself, using curriculum I know is tailored to what they need, covers ALL the subjects, and doesn’t have any busywork. So, yeah, we are homeschooling the elementary kids again next year. Not the online, distance-learning, covid kind…the “I’m choosing this on purpose, mom is the teacher, I’m buying my own curriculum” kind. The high schoolers will continue with whatever their school decides to do, and those of us in college will stay online as well.

With that said…I know we are not alone! Just in the past week, I have had 5 different moms ask me questions about homeschooling next year. It seems that many families are headed that direction until the schools can get back to normal. If you are in that boat, stick around – I will be posting lots of things to help you!!

Your very first step is to decide HOW you are going to do it. Legalities and offerings vary from state to state, but in general, your options are:

Independent Study through your local school district

Not all districts offer this, but if yours does…it is basically whatever they are doing in public school, but at home. Usually you periodically meet with a teacher to turn things in and get the next round of assignments. You still participate in state testing, get school credit, and graduate with a regular diploma. This is offered almost everywhere for kids who need to be home for health reasons, but more and more districts are offering it to anyone who wants to use it – just check with yours and see.

Pros:

• The school supplies textbooks and other materials that they would provide for an in-person student and provides a plan for completing assignments.
• As a parent, you don’t need to come up with curriculum, lesson plans, etc. and only provide supplies any other public school student needs to get (paper, pencils, etc.).
• You have a teacher to work with and help you, as well. Sometimes the teacher actually works directly with the student on content, sometimes they just make assignments.
• Easy to transition back to public school.

Cons:

• It is just public school at home…if the curriculum, pacing, content, even the teachers, were not working for you at school, it will likely not work at home, either.
• You can only individualize or choose curriculum within district allowance and have to stick to the pacing and deadlines you are given. As a parent, you have very limited control over anything.
• There will likely be assignments you think are a waste of time, or other topics that you don’t ever get to cover and you don’t really have the power to override the plan given to you.
• Your job as a parent is to just make your kids to their work…if that works for you, awesome, but if you’re like me – that makes for a rough day.

Online Public Charter

This is how we accessed Connections Academy a couple years ago – rather than district-sponsored independent study, Wyoming offers online school through a couple of public charter schools. We used both K-12 and Connections Academy at different times and found them to be fairly comparable…but pros and cons to each. Not all states offer this option, but its definitely worth checking out. Class credits and graduation work just like a regular high school. Again, please see this post for a complete review of Connections Academy.

Pros:

• Public school education with more flexibility.
• Materials provided for free (including computers, in many cases).
• Teachers are provided to help the parent trouble shoot and plan, and meet with the kids regularly.
• There are usually online, real-time classes with the teachers and other students.
• Freedom to work at the right pace and schedule for your student, lots of elective (and honors) options, and opportunities to go on school field trips and join clubs.
• Easy to transition back to public school.

Cons:

• Lots of screen time if your charter is largely online based.
• Parents have some control over timing, scheduling, and some content – but not over the curriculum.
• We found that there were a lot of busywork assignments (especially in the elementary) that we had to complete to move on, but were unnecessary -and made for some very long days.
• My high school kids (straight-A, honors students) easily spent 6-8 hours a day on schoolwork, while the elementary were fairly consistently 5-6.
• If it is an issue for you, consider that your child is still technically in public school and still has to do state testing, etc.

Homeschool Charter

These schools are paid for with public funds, but facilitate schooling at home. Sometimes, like here in CA, they offer the parents flexible spending with some of their students’ funds to purchase curriculum and materials of their choosing. Different charters may offer different options – online school, hybrid school (a couple days at a main campus with teachers, a couple days at home), planned curriculum, or free choice. The charters provide teachers to track kids and help parents.

Pros:

• The biggy is the money! Homeschooling can be done cheaply or free, but it sure does make it more interesting and fun when there is some money to spend on cool manipulatives, books, etc.
• Parents typically have almost total choice in curriculum, scheduling, etc. but still have a teacher to meet with and provide guidance.
• Public charters also give school credit and real diplomas.
• Many parents love hybrid schooling to get the best of both worlds – a couple days of socializing for kids and days off for parents, and a couple days of homeschooling however you want.

Cons:

• There are some “rules” to follow. Namely, the charters will not pay for anything with religious content, and may have other rules about spending funds.
• Students may still be required to take standardized tests and follow any other rules that public school kids do (vaccinations, etc.).
• You are required to frequently meet with a teacher (in CA, this has to be in person every 4 weeks…which may require significant travel if your teacher doesn’t live near you) and provide work samples, and may be paired with a teacher who doesn’t agree with your philosophy or choices.
• You are still technically part of the public school system, although if you are in CA, there is significant opposition to that right now…
• May be harder to transition back to public school if you don’t follow the local grade level expectations.

Private School or Tutoring

I don’t know much about this, so I won’t linger too long here…but if you have the funds to pay for it, there are lots of options for private homeschools and online schools, or private tutors, that may be available to you. I am including online classes that you pay for yourself – like BYU Independent Study – in this category, even if used in combination with other options.

Do it yourself

This one is probably the most common, but also the one that requires the most due diligence. If you homeschool on your own, you will be responsible for everything – choosing curriculum, funding your homeschool, teaching the kids, maintaining records, etc. It varies from state to state, but it is important that you find out what your state requires to homeschool legally. In Wyoming, we did eventually switch from online to DIY with our elementary kids and loved it (read about it here). We were required to write a letter of intent and turn in our curriculum plan to the local school district (if you live in WY, please check on this in case things have changed – I don’t want anyone to get in trouble by listening to me!). Here in CA, you either need to be a licensed teacher or file a private school affidavit with the state each fall.

Pros:

• You can literally do whatever you want (within your state laws) – use whatever curriculum, schedule, materials, etc. you want to.
• You are not beholden to somebody else’s assignments, you don’t have to do state testing (unless required in your state), you don’t have to report to anyone – you do what you think is best.
• Total freedom to travel or go on field trips, set up school around work or sports schedules, and take school wherever you go.
• No obligation to stick to typical learning timelines or curriculum mandates.
• Maximum flexibility for kids whose abilities lie outside the norm – either need extra help or need acceleration. Kids are not obligated to follow the typical grade levels. Want to start taking college classes at age 12? Go for it!

Cons:

• You are responsible for whatever you choose to do…you pay for the materials, you must deal with the consequences of whatever you do, and you don’t have an assigned teacher to troubleshoot with.
• For some people, homeschooling with zero oversight can be a massive catastrophe for the whole family (I’m sure everyone knows at least one family that fits that bill…they are rare but tend to be the ones that create most people’s stereotype of “homeschoolers”).
• You really have to be committed to what you are doing because nobody is making you do it.
• May be harder to transition back to public school if you don’t follow the local grade level expectations.
• No official transcripts, transferable credit, or diplomas given unless you enroll in an accredited class that specifically offers that…see “private school” above.

Just wait and see…everybody might be at home again anyway…

Let’s be honest, depending on where you live, covidschooling might be happening again in the fall and everybody might be at home again anyway! If you feel like your school’s distance learning plan is acceptable (as we did for our high schoolers), that may be easier than messing with any of the other homeschool options.

Pros

• The school provides materials, coursework, teachers, and Zoom lessons for you.

Cons

• The school provides materials, coursework, teachers, and Zoom lessons for you.

(I guess its all in your perspective!!)

So there you go! ALL of the options work really well for some people and not for others – check with your state’s Department of Education website and your local school district to find out what options are available to you – you might be pleasantly surprised!

So what are we gonna do?

As for us? We have applied to a couple of homeschool charters, but don’t know if we will be able to get in or not. If not, we will do a private school affidavit and do it ourselves. My school plan doesn’t change either way, and I have already started ordering most of our basic curriculum, but if we get into the charter, we will definitely enjoy having some extra funds to spend on lessons and supplies!

So, for you new homeschoolers…what option is looking best for you? What are you most looking forward to (or worried about) in your upcoming homeschool adventure?

Stay tuned for more info about what our homeschool room looks like, how we are scheduling things, and which curriculum we are using!