We were very excited to get our boxes of supplies in the mail. They shipped them quickly and neatly. We got textbooks, workbooks, art supplies, a jump rope, and even a yoga CD for the kids to do. I was optimistic and excited to have my kids home again. We had missed each other tremendously the few weeks they had gone to school at the local public school.
Before I say any more about this program, I need to say this. This is NOT a homeschool program. This is a public school program done at home. The work load my children had to complete each week was so much, we had a hard time keeping up each week. My son was in their gifted program for third grade, and there were days he worked 9 hours or more and still did not complete his day's work.
I had to take attendance every day, and their teachers had to touch base with them at least once every two weeks. If structure is what your child needs, and if they are independent workers, this program may work for you. My children though started to hate school, they complained when it was time to do school work. Piles of worksheets had taken the fun and enjoyment out of learning.
Just this passed week, I have sent in my notice of intent to the state. I'm pulling them out of their state funded program, and finishing the school year on my own with them. I've been eyeing the Oak Meadow curriculum for years, and purchased my son's curricula this passed week. He will finish out his third grade year with a slower pace. One that enables him to look deeper on his own, and hopefully will give him a love of learning.
For my daughter, I will be trying the Christopherus curricula. It's a heavy Waldorf inspired curricula. Hopefully her inner spirit will shine through with creativity and joy, instead of having to do hours of worksheets every day.
I'm relieved and happy with my choices of dropping them out of the Connections Academy. It wasn't an easy decision to come to. In the end, I didn't want them to hate learning. I want them to be lifelong learners. Before I was their mother, I was a teacher...and if something isn't working as it should, it needs to be fixed. I would love to hear if anyone has had any experiences like this, or if they've used these curricula before.
It's definitely given me some food for thought regarding Poot. He needs services, but the amount of work they are requiring him to do over and above the regular curriculum is daunting. They are making him do the first semester all over again simply because of how they test and the days he missed when we had to wait for them to get supplies to us (two and a half weeks in to the semester) and a few sick days that were made up on Saturdays. He has a 95% and has completed everything, but when I try to give them suggestions on how to word questions, etc. so they can get a better sense of what he knows, it falls on deaf ears. They aren't even willing for him to do the second semester over the summer so that he won't have to be even further behind. I now have to send in a daily "accountability" sheet of what we did and when and send in all of his work. His continuing the program is on a week to week basis. So, if he even misses one assignment or phone call, they will kick us out and notify the school district. They even wanted to put him on a strict schedule and only give him one 15 minute break and a 30 minute lunch for the entire school day. That just doesn't work for Poot. We are sort of between a rock and a hard place as he needs services I can't afford to pay for on my own and they provide them for him. I can't really buy curriculum either. He has an amazing speech therapist that they provide to us. We are definitely going to sit down this week and figure out what we can do. I checked in to the Calvert School and they look promising. They have curriculum specifically designed for kids with special needs. It's still a public online school, but they require less contact and babysitting of the parent. We know that a home environment is best for him, and I hope to continue it. I hope this works for your kiddos and perhaps we can set up some play dates and/or field trips. Hugs to all. :)
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to buy your curriculum. I home schooled Mickey in first grade with out a curricula. There are lots of resources online.
ReplyDeleteMy experience with the Calvert Academy is that they are similar to connections. I don't think the workload is as intense, but they still require attendance and weekly check ins with their teachers. I tried that last year with Erin, and then withdrew her.