Things to Remember so that I Don't Freak Out

School officially starts for LaVCA students on Wednesday – this Wednesday. As of right now, none of my three K12 students have their classes loaded on the OLS (on-line school).  I wouldn’t be panicking (as much) if I didn’t know that quite a few other students had all their classes loaded almost 2 weeks ago. 

This is a case where on-line support groups are anti-helpful. We are all new. No one knows much more than anyone else. We have no helpful advice to give each-other. So when my stuff looks different from your stuff, I start to freak-out.

Certainly there must be a place I can go to calm my fears. I can’t keep calling the teachers every time something doesn’t seem just right. I don’t want to be one of those mothers! 

So I’m looking around at the K12 tools on the OLS and see theBigThinK12. It’s where all the K12 parents and older children from around the world hang-out on-line to get advice from each other. There are people there who’ve done this and been there and hopefully learned a thing or two.

I started poking around, found a bit of information that helped me compose myself and I thought I should share it in case anyone else is freaking out.

First 2 to 3 weeks: For everyone, no matter what K12 school you are in, be it LaVCA, CAVA, OHVA or any other state’s K12, the first few weeks are always a mess for many reasons.

1. Some folks decided at the last minute that this is for them, so they’re all registering at once.
2. There are perpetual teacher seminars to get teachers used to K12 or simply update them on new policies. 
3. Those roving bands of statewide orientations sent the teachers all across the state for two, or was it three, weeks. 
4. Then there are the technical glitches: students classes not loaded on the OLS, Study Island not working, attendance record not working or anything else you need on-line not working.

These things are all normal. Before the end of the first month, it all gets sorted out.

Worst case: School officially starts on the 17 ^th, and I still don’t have my books or classes. According to the old-timers, they pro-rate your start date and school for you doesn’t start until you get your stuff. Don’t panic that you’ll be behind.

I don’t get my child’s classes straightened out until after school starts: as soon as your advisor (usually the homeroom teacher) makes the changes, it takes up to 24 hours for the changes to go into effect. As soon as they go into effect, it’s processed at the warehouse and you should get your supplies within a week. Until then, your OLS should be correct and you can get a jump on doing the online stuff.

Study Island isn’t Working: Study Island does a big launch every year. K12 will kmail you the information to get you signed-in, but they have to wait until Study Island launches for it to start. From what I hear, it’s not subtle.

 

Things on my OLS aren’t working: It’s always bumpy that first week. The system rolls over from summer and there’s going to be a glitch or two. K12 will work the first week to get that sorted out.

I have all my books, but my OLS classes aren’t uploaded yet: Let your teacher know, and until then start in on the books and workbooks you have. It’s pretty much a lesson a day for most subjects. Sometimes they load things early, but quite a few people don’t get theirs loaded until day 1. It’s a pain in the tush as far as far as planning goes, but they’re not expecting us to jump in on day one with both feet if the OLS has just been loaded.  Also, from what I hear, the classes are often loaded at midnight – probably when they push updates through the system.

My child’s teacher is really busy and won’t call me back: The virtual schools are for the most part closed in the summer, just like a b&m school. When the teachers come back, there’s an overwhelming amount of stuff to do in a short time frame. The ILP (individual learning plans) for each student, scan tron tests for 3rd to 10^th graders, making changes to schedules, fixing glitches with their students’ classes and non-stop orientations and meetings.  Add to the list that this is the first year K12 is in Louisiana, so most of the teachers are new to K12. Training, training and more training. Most things will be fixed by the end of week one. Those that aren’t should be fixed by the end of week 2.

 

When you finally do get your teacher on the phone, be polite but firm. They weren’t avoiding you; they just have so much to do in very little time. Back up what you discussed with your teacher by taking notes during the conversation and sending it to them in a kmail. They are human, and we all often forget what we talked about two minutes ago. Think about it. They probably went from talking to you to talking to another parent with similar but different problems. Kmailing them a run-down on what you talked about is a polite thing, not a hassling thing.

So basically, be persistent with your communication, but keep calm. All of these things we are panicking about are normal. It's not a case of "our child's stuff is totally messed up."  It will get sorted out and you won't fall incredibly behind. Breathe in, breathe out (repeat).

K12 LAVCA Orientation

Has it been a month since I’ve written?! Man! I would say it’s because I’ve been extremely busy, but, despite being busy, I’ve just been putting off thinking about the whole thing. 

Friday was one of the mandatory parent orientation for all Louisiana K12 participants and it was a mess.

We started out bright and early. Bobo and I were carpooling with his friend Tyty, Tyty’s mom and his grandmother.  We all got a good start, heading out to Zachary, a nearby small town, where the letter I received in the mail and the flyer I received by e-mail stated that the orientation would be held at 9:00.

Arriving at 8:30, there were very few cars in the parking lot and no doors open. We made sure that this was the place, and it looked like the K12 people were running late. We loitered around. 9:00 came and went. Other parents started to call the Louisiana office, but all calls went straight to voicemail, which was full.

9:30 came around. More parents were there. We started talking to a few. Several parents had taken off of work and one parent had rescheduled her son’s chemo to be there. They were pretty peeved that K12 still was a no-show.  More phone calls – trying to reach anyone who knew what was going on. Of course we’re thinking that something horrible happened. We saw the K12 people in a accident from the commute from New Orleans. Our logic: if they changed the location, surely we would have gotten an e-mail, phone call or they would have left a note on the door of the original location letting us know.

Now it’s hot. If you have never been in Louisiana in July, you don’t know what hot is. By 10:00 it’s over 90 degrees, the sun is brutal, and the humidity makes your glasses perpetually fog up.  There is little shade, and even the shade is hot. We take our chances and run to the local convenience store for cold drinks. I brought snacks, but I assumed that we would have access to a water fountain shortly after arriving.

It was 10:30 when we got back to the parking lot. As soon as we pulled up, the group of parents in-mass walked away from the overhang and headed towards our van.

“They changed the location,” one of the moms said.  What nice people to stay for us to get back! One mom gave us the new address and said that the K12 people told them that we could attend the 1:00 session.

We were livid. Having just been watered and fed, we went straight to the new location, arriving at 11:00 quite peeved. The head of Arkansas’s K12 met us outside and apologized profusely. He explained that we could attend the 1:00 to 3:00 session. We explained that we’ve been on the road since 8:00, I had a babysitter who was only willing to keep my other kids until 1:00 and he needed to make special accommodations for us, like right now.

A couple of other families, who we recognized from the other parking lot, also showed up. I admit, the guy was more than accommodating. He had us register then and there and immediately brought us to get the vision and hearing screenings done. 

Then after the morning session was over, he had the main speaker give us a condensed version of the orientation so that we would all be out of there by 1:00.

I understand that mistakes can be made, miscommunication happens and K12 is just getting started in Louisiana this year. It’s not that one makes mistakes that counts, it’s how one handles the mistakes that matter. They handled it pretty well.

The speaker said that we should have gotten a k-mail (K12’s e-mail system) letting us know the correct location.  Some of the parents had not yet logged into their k-mail. I had, and I told her that I checked my k-mail that morning and there wasn’t an e-mail saying that they changed location.

“It was sent out several weeks ago,” she said.

“I didn’t get one saying that the location had changed,” I replied. Of course, when I got home, I rechecked my k-mail.  There was a k-mail about the orientation, but it had the same wording as the paper mail and personal e-mail I received. There was no mention of location change.

However, when I pulled up the attachment on the k-mail, it had the new location. I know the K12 people probably think “stupid parents – can’t even read an attachment properly!” How were we supposed to know that this one attachment, which we received around the same time we got the other two, would be different, especially if they don’t even mention in the k-mail’s body that “Hey! Locations may be different than what was written on all the other messages about orientation you received!”? Seriously!

Wow! That was a long rant. I think I got it out of my system.

Now for the good bits:

What I Learned from K12 Orientation

I knew most of the information from what I had gathered for the K12 and CA comparison (http://flyingmonkeyshomeschool.blogspot.com/2011/05/louisianas-virtual-charter-schools.html). A few new bits were gathered.

• Partner School: K12 is partnered with CSAL (Community School for Apprenticeship Learning) charter school, which ironically was where the meeting was moved to. 
• No 11^th or 12^th Grades: In case I hadn’t mentioned it in the comparison, K12 doesn’t have 11^th or 12^th grades this year. Next year they will add 11^th, and they will add 12^th the year after. 
• Core Subject: For Louisiana they have 6 core subjects that all children take:

o       Language Arts

o       Math

o       Science

o       History

o       Art

          o        Music 

• Foreign Language: For 4^th graders and above, you can sign up for a foreign language, but they don’t recommend it for the first semester of anyone just starting K12, but you can add it half-way through the year. The foreign language doesn’t cost anything since it’s included in the package for Louisiana students. They offer:

o       Spanish

o       French

o       German

o       Latin

• Secondary Sites: Some of the things offered through K12 are actually not part of K12 but secondary sites they highly recommend. An example is for typing. They encourage students to use Dance Mat (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/) which is sponsored by BBC for British schools. 
• Dates: School begins August 17, 2011 and ends May 11, 2012. 
• The total days a child has to attend is 177 

• ILP: Individualized Learning Plan. At the beginning of each year, your child’s teacher will create with you a learning plan based on your child’s needs and abilities. Every 9 weeks this ILP is reviewed and adjusted. I like this aspect. It means that if your child starts out behind but catches up quickly, then they aren’t held back for being initially behind. Goals are actually set, and your child tries to achieve them.
•   Mastery System for K-8: I did say this in my comparison, but I think it needs repeating. K12 is a mastery system – your child works on a concept until they have mastered it. It does not work by your child going over a unit, taking a test (assessment – they do not call them tests) and moving on unless they score at least 80% on the assessment. If they don’t, then the child keeps reviewing. On the other hand, if your child catches on very easily to that concept, they don’t have to spend copious amounts of time reviewing something they know.
• High School: is more like on-line college classes. If you have experience with these, you know what I mean. If not, I don’t know how to explain it.
•  Scan-tron Tests: For language arts and math for 3^rd to 10^th graders (maybe for 11^th & 12^th when K12 gets them, but I don’t know). These tests will help determine what level your child is working on in order to adjust their curricula up or down to meet their needs. Also a teacher can asses if they need one-on-one work with them in order to get back up to level.
•  Learning Coach Duties

o      Who: Most likely the learning coach is a parent or grandparent.

o       Work with the teacher. From what it sounds like, until high school, the learning coach is the one who interacts with the teacher. The student has very little actual interaction. Depending on the student’s needs, the parent may be in contact with the teacher often or only every now and then.

o       Logs Hours Daily: K12 made an agreement with Louisiana that K12 students would average 6 hours a day or 30 hours a week of educational time. Totaling 177 days or 1062 hours.

§   For the most part, these hours are logged in doing the core subjects. If your child spends 60 minutes on math, you log in those 60 minutes in the math column.

§   Education time is fairly subjective. There is a Supplemental Hours category to fit in non-core subject time. In other words if your child helps you cook dinner, it can be considered educational. After all they are learning fractions, measuring, and chemical reactions.

§   Fieldtrips count in this Supplemental Category, which does count towards the 1062 hours.

§   Daily: Hours should be logged in daily. K12 needs to be able to generate a report of student attendance for the state at any time. So if everyone logs their hours in only once a week, their report would be inaccurate. The reminders to do this are plenty.

§   At any time of night or day, you can log in your hours for the school day. For example, at 1:30 am on August 23^rd, you can log in your hours for August 22^nd.

§   Hours can not be logged in for dates that are school holidays, but you can enter the hours worked on that day for the next date. For example, school is closed for Labor Day, September 5. But if you and your child do schoolwork that day, you can log it in for the September 6^th slot.

o       Student Accounts: If the student is 3^rd grade or above, the learning coach should create a student account for their student to use. That way the student doesn’t have access to administrative features that they don’t need (like logging their hours).

o       Portfolio: The learning coach should keep samples of their student's work to submit to the teacher at least every 9 weeks. This work should show their best attempt as well as early attempts to show progress.

• Teacher’s Duties:

o       The teacher is considered a curriculum and assessment specialist. What does this mean? Assessment: you teacher figures out at what level your child can do. Curriculum: after figuring out what your child can do, they assign him work according to his ability and goals.

o       The teacher is your first point of contact within k12 about your student. In other words, whatever your questions or concerns may be, contact your child’s teacher first. Their contact information can be found when you log into your OLS (On-Line School) at www.k12.com.

o       Teacher should know about all special circumstances. If your child has special medical needs, your teacher should know. If your child has special educational needs, your teacher should know. If your child has behavioral, mental or emotional issues, your teacher should know.

• DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) Testing. If your child is going into K-3^rd grade, they will have a DIBELS test. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes and simply shows the teacher how well your child can read or, if they can’t, how many early literacy skills (like knowing the alphabet) they know.

o       DIBELS testing is going to happen August 24-26. The location is unknown yet.

• Louisiana LEAP Testing: For kids entering 4^th and 9^th grades, they have to take the Louisiana LEAP test with K12. They can not simply go to their local school to do it. K12 testing locations will be all over the state for accessibility. It is a multiple day test. 
•  Special Services: If your child has special needs, such as dyslexia, speech impairment or other disabilities, let your teacher know. In the 2^nd or 3^rd week after school starts, they will arrange for your child to be tested. If necessary, you child will then get help. This is a big deal for those of us going from homeschooling to using a state funded charter school. Things that we were denied by the school system, from speech therapy to reading help for our dyslexic children, will now be addressed.
•  Field Trips:

o       Always happen on Fridays

o       Will occur all over the state to give different families a chance to take part

o       May be limited to the number of children

o       Mostly it’s okay to bring non-K12 siblings, unless stated

o       Need to be registered for

o       Count as supplemental hours for the day/week

Some Useful Sites and Links:

• K12’s main site. Use to log on to your On-Line School (OLS): http://www.k12.com/
• Louisiana’s K12 main page (LAVCA): http://www.k12.com/lavca/ 
• LAVCA site for loads of help: http://lavca.k12start.com/ On this site you can find tutorials on getting started plus step-by-step instructions. Exploring this site has been way helpful. Especially look at these tabs:

o       Getting Started

o       Secrets of Success

• Facebook pages for K12 Louisiana (I wish I had known about these before the meeting location mix-up):

o       Louisiana’s official K12 Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Louisiana-Virtual-Charter-Academy-at-K12/158178810919178

o       Greater Baton Rouge Area LAVCA K12: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Greater-Baton-Rouge-area-Lavca/144331215647693

o       Central Louisiana Virtual Charter Academy (LAVCA is K12 in Louisiana): https://www.facebook.com/groups/234453036574490/?ap=1

o       K-12 LAVCA Families from Slidell to Baton Rouge: https://www.facebook.com/groups/janegordon/?ap=1

I think that’s it. The orientation overall was worth going to. Our questions were answered. The speaker made a distinction between the K-8 students and the high school students, letting us know that these grades act very differently within K12.

 

If you remember anything that I left out, please leave a comment.

Oh No! Not a Waiting List!

So we’ve hit a snag. Finally, after much additional paperwork was sent in to Connections Academy (CA), more than they originally asked for, Meme, and only Meme, is out of the application process. Here’s the snag: her grade level is full, so she’s on a waiting list until there is room for her.

So this whole story of there being 500 or 600 spots open to Louisiana students, and until those spots are full, there is space for all is not quite true. In reality there are only so many spots per grade, and once those spots are full, even if the 500 total spots aren’t filled, you are still put on a waiting list.

I know several other homeschool families are still trying to decide between CA & K12, so I suspect a spot will open up for her as they make their decisions and withdraw their kids from one or the other. We may not get much notice that she’s off the waiting list, but I’ll have to live with it.

I called CA to ask where on the waiting list Meme is. Remember that the other 2 kids haven’t even made it past the application part, and while the customer support person was muttering to himself, it sounds like many of the grade levels are full. The person I spoke with was helpful and said that Meme’s grade filled up recently. He did base this opinion on the fact that he hasn’t received any official notice that it is full, so the customer support people haven’t even been notified.

What did I find out then? That she may or may not be near the top of the list, which is what I already knew. At least they were helpful and polite in telling me that.

Hopefully she isn’t on the waiting list long for her grade with CA. K12 is trying to place her in a grade level above what I feel she should be in, and I really do want her to try CA. From the research I’ve done, I get the feeling that she would be a better fit for CA or that CA is a better fit for her.

Okay, so I looked at my enrollment page on CA’s website, and they only added 2 forms and a placement test from the original request.   She only took the on-line placement test yesterday. So that they placed her in the approved category a day later is actually pretty impressive. Delaying taking it was my fault.

The only other thing I was missing form-wise was the Homeschool Prior Academic History Form, which I sent in with the original packet of forms. The form didn’t have much room for writing details on the curricula we used last year, and so I filled it in as best as the space allowed. It took them forever to review it and let me know that they needed more information. I only realized within the last week or two that I needed to redo the whole form and resend it. I did that yesterday too.

One bad on my part and one bad on their part. The lesson learned is to fill out the forms better than “as best as possible” and take the placement tests in a timely manner.

Now to get on the phone with K12, with whom all three kids are accepted already, to see if I can get Meme placed in the appropriate grade level. Why am I writing this instead? I’m so hesitant to call them because every time I do I get a completely different answer from the time before.  I called yesterday to figure out what forms were received but not yet reviewed, since there are 6 or 7 for each child that are still marked “please submit,” and I’ve submitted most of them.  

Yesterday I was told that since the kids are accepted, I don’t have to submit any other forms.  I know that can’t be true since two of the forms still marked “please submit” are Bobo’s & Meme’s immunization records, forms which are required by the state of Louisiana in order to enter a state funded school. I did send the forms in . . . three times . . . at least a month ago, but they are still marked “please submit.” *sigh*

 

Time to bite the bullet and just call. I swear they must have a personal file on me marked “difficult parent” and that’s why I’m constantly given to helpdesk people who don’t know anything but are willing to tell me anything to get me off the phone.

K12 & Connections Academy Update

Okay. It may seem like we’ve done nothing for 2 weeks, but on top of going to Hogwarts everyday, we’ve been doing a bit of schoolwork on the side, preparing for the Louisiana LEAP and trying to stay sane.

K12 finally sent out information about the placement tests they are giving, and their e-mail did not inspire confidence. I knew that they still have job advertisements for local directors and teachers, and so I have no idea how they are doing structurally. When you send out a blanket e-mail to your potential parents saying that you have no facility to use as a testing center and asking if we had any leads . . . uh . . . well . . . I think maybe you don’t have all your ducks in a row or even all of your ducks present to line up in said row.

Nation-wide K12 seems to have their act together a bit better than Connections, but on a local level, I’ve been more impressed with Connections Academy as far as being professional, keeping in touch with the parent (a.k.a. me) and making sure that I get everything they need turned in.

Connections does placement tests too, but theirs are on-line, short and to the point. Of course it is Connections academy who are making Jojo take the Louisiana LEAP in a state provided testing environment, but I can’t really fault them there since the LEAP is required for all students entering 9^th grade.
 
And the forms! As soon as I think I have all the forms they need faxed in, they add one or two to the list. That’s true with both schools. Then it takes forever for them to acknowledge that I send them in.  Somehow we will make it through this process, and I still don’t know how we will end up.

A Very Painful Day

Once in my twenties while I was still nursing Meme, I had a cavity that needed filling.  As most nursing moms know, we generally don’t stop breastfeeding simply because some dentist tells us that breastfeeding and dental anesthesia don’t combine well. “Can’t the kid take a bottle?” is not acceptable.  I hated dental anesthesia anyway, so I decided that it would be fine to have the tooth drilling done without any pain meds. None at all. Not even a Tylenol. And yes, it did hurt. Quite a bit.

I would gladly take the pain from that day over the pain I felt yesterday afternoon trying to guide Jojo through the LEAP. It’s not that she can’t do the work. She is capable, but does she know that? I don’t know, but she acts like she doesn’t.

I thought after the success from the day before, Jojo would be less anxious. She should have felt more at ease from knowing that this test-taking stuff is within her realm of capability. The reading passages aren’t hard, and she had no problem understanding either the passages or the questions.  A greater familiarity with the test format should have made her more comfortable. I figured that we were ready to take a real life-sized language arts portion pretest and use the results to hone her skills.

Yet, she began with the attitude that she’s going to fail, and I don’t understand why she should feel that way. Test anxiety doesn’t sum it up, at least not fully.

Our work session yesterday didn’t start out well. I guess I forgot to tell her the day before, when explaining the LEAP and why she had to take it, that it wasn’t an on-line test that would take an hour or two.  I suppose I forgot to mention that it was a three day, written test she would have to take at a school in mid-city with a bunch of other kids.

“But it’s on-line!” she insisted.

“No hun, the Connections Academy’s assessment test is on-line.  The Louisiana LEAP is a state test; it has to be supervised by actual teachers and stuff.”

That look she gave me I mistakenly saw as sarcastic indignation.  You know, one of those looks of “Are you f***ing kidding me?”  But it turned out to be a look of pure panic and terror. My bad, but I won’t confuse the two looks again.

On a mildly related note, for the last three days while I’ve been working with Jojo, the boys have been exceptionally good. Maybe it’s the semi-clean state of the playroom, which is now messy enough that it should have caution tape around it.  Maybe it’s the extra sleep they are getting, but giving me 3 to 4 hour chunks to work with one of their sisters is a gift from them.

Back to yesterday: While the boys were occupied, I was puttering around the dining room just in case Jojo, who was at the dining room table, had a question. Just a little bit of light sewing so that I didn’t seem so engrossed in helping her, but it kept me near enough that she could feel comfortable asking me anything. Quietly she read the first passage.

“I don’t understand this question.” Now that look I should have recognized. Anger. Self-righteousness.  Sometimes my own naivety surprised me, but I thought she really didn’t understand the question.

“What’s the question?” I asked as I hopped up, possibly a bit too enthusiastically.

“What’s the point of this passage?” I was ready with my stock answer that the point of a passage is generally summed up in the first and last paragraphs, so let’s take a look at those.

“No mom,” she said with dead calm. “I understand the article. I just felt it was pointless.”

Okay.  There’s no stock answer for that. It didn’t get any prettier from there.

I just didn’t recognize all the signs of frustration and being overwhelmed.  We’ve had a weird view of schooling for the most part. I figure if the kids are really good readers and can do adequate math that they should be fine. After all, if you can read well then you can learn to do anything else. I push loads of good books at them and have them do their math work consistently. I have them write practical things like stories, letters and such.

Maybe I haven’t prepared them enough for standardized tests, but there wasn’t anything in these tests that she can’t do – except the test itself. 

Let’s just sum up the next hour with tears from us both, yelling from her, almost giving up (both of us again) and other unpleasant things. Towards the end, she was determined not to do the test for no other reason than the principle of it, but I was still determined that she does it.

If my children learn no other lesson from me I hope it’s that you don’t ever give up until you’ve really tried. 

I tried several tactics to convince her. She tried several tactics to convince me. Finally I reminded her that it’s only been a bit over 3 years since she started reading at all.

“No mom, it’s been 5.” Always the need to correct me. *sigh*

“No, I remember being pregnant with Ebby doing flash card with you in our old kitchen. I remember still doing the flash cards when he was a baby in the sling. And I remember you throwing a book across the room saying that you’ll never be able to read it, so why bother trying.  I remember the book.  It was the shorter, thinner Dick and Jane book with the brown cover. Do you remember that?”

I got a smile from her at least. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Can you read it now?”

“It’s way too easy to read now.”

“But you remember how that felt? And you remember we worked through it.” By then my bladder was screaming obscenities at. When I was washing my hands, I saw myself in the bathroom mirror, and I thought, “How did I come to this place? I’ve ruined my children’s lives by doing this, by homeschooling.”

By the time I got back to the dining room, she had finished writing the answers to that question and the next one. I looked over what she wrote, was satisfied and then went back to sewing.  I sat down with her several more times to explain things, look over her work and talk about stuff, but I’m hoping she worked a little more past her fear.

Today we took it easy and I gave her a bunch of workbook pages on punctuation and other grammar bits.  Of course she informed me that not only had she done these workbook pages before, but that she’s done much better ones. “You need the review,” I told her.

Tomorrow we start on the math portion. I still don’t know how we’re going to squeeze all this studying in and do everything else we have planned. Maybe some creative shuffling is in order.  

I haven’t even started the essay writing section, and I know she’ll freak out despite not being a bad writer. I figure the old 5-paragraph essay I learned in tenth grade English should do the trick. It will at least give her a concrete formula and framework to work with.

If I survive next month . . . I deserve a cookie!

More LEAP'ing

Day 1 of the really serious prep for the LEAP test. From Barnes & Nobles last night, I bought two seriously thick books - $26 bucks each!  One focuses on language arts and the other on math, and both are specifically for the Louisiana LEAP test.

I know that saying “Louisiana LEAP” is redundant in terms of the Louisiana part, but I utterly confused a Connections Academy customer service rep yesterday when asking if incoming freshman had to take the LEAP. You see, Connections Academy has its own LEAP test. So we went round and round for several minutes before we both figured out that we were talking about two different things.

Me: Just got a letter today for my daughter Jojo saying that she’ll have to take the LEAP in order to register as a freshman.

Her: Oh no, she doesn’t have to take the LEAP, but it does help us place her where she should be (don’t you love that phrase “where they should be”?). You can even take it on-line.

Me: Actually I looked it up on-line, and it’s only being offered once this summer, and there’s no make-up date. I don’t know how she would take it on-line. Do you proctor one specifically for Connection Academy’s student?

Her (sounding a bit indignant): Did you find that on our website?

Me: It’s not on your website. I found that on the Louisiana Department of Education’s website. I think they would have more current info on the LEAP.

Her: Give me a minute. . .

We eventually sorted it out and realized that Connections has an assessment test that they call LEAP. Confusing, isn’t it? So if I’m redundant in writing about Louisiana’s LEAP test, that’s why.

Calming Down: The LEAP’s Not So Bad

I found a ton of stuff on the LEAP test on Louisiana’s DOE site from a sample practice test to lesson plans to overviews. We started at the beginning with the practice test.

At first poor Jojo freaked out worse than I did. Let’s just say tears were involved.  So I walked her step by step through the first few reading comprehension problems. It was obvious that the anxiety was more from not knowing how to take a standardized test rather than not knowing the answers.

We spent about a half hour going over the first 5 questions. I talked her through things like process of elimination, educated guess, and figuring out what the question really wants to know. Then she breezed through the rest of the language arts part, minus the writing section.

She surprised me on the editing section where I thought she needed a bit more help. Nope, she talked herself through the entire section:

“No, that’s present tense and it should be past.”

“No comma needed there since they should be separate sentences.”

“Okay, that’s possessive when it shouldn’t be.”

And she got the entire section right. Of course her success only reinforces my theory that if you read enough good literature then you pick up on good grammar along the way, but that theory is for another post.

Math may be a bit trickier, but I think we can work through it. There were more problems that she didn’t know how to do. Then we had to stop because I couldn’t find a working calculator (my elves, aka Bobo & Ebby, have run off with all of them).

A couple of hours later at the library check-out, I was informed that all 8 of the LEAP test prep books I wanted to check out were reserved for the reference section and that they had none on the shelf for normal usage. At least I knew what was out there in regards to LEAP test prep, but good, goodly, moogly, are these books expensive.

One unexpected trip to Barnes & Nobles later, I found the two I needed but I had to look all over the education aisles to find them. I never figured why the test prep books were not in the test prep section.

Since the sample test from the DOE website was not the full length, we may start tomorrow going over another sample test in language arts. I’ll get Jojo comfortable first in what she feels that she’s good at and then work on math once we get a calculator.

8th Grade LEAP Test Freak-Out

Got a letter in the mail yesterday for Jojo from Connections Academy saying that she’ll have to take the 8^th grade LEAP test before she can start 9^th grade. Arghhh! I’m still on the fence as the whether or not to homeschool her for high school.

On my side for homeschooling, I think Algernon got a much deeper education in some area being at home. She certain read more classical literature (do you know of any other 21 year old who’s read The Brothers Karamazov twice?). She certainly did more writing than the average school student. Her math wasn’t too bad – she made it through advanced algebra with an okay understanding. She knows history better than a few people with history degrees.

On the side against homeschooling, I admit I was too light in science. Prepping them for standard type tests was nearly non-existent. Deadlines . . well, I need to figure those out myself.

I feel that I’ve made several mistakes in homeschool, and I don’t really know how to compensate for or correct them. Jojo is a special case: late reader due to dyslexia, about a year behind in math due to H. Katrina and many moves, but still very bright.

Having to take the LEAP throws a monkey wrench into the plans of her doing high school. Technically, she is old enough to be in 10^th grade, but we lost a great deal of time moving as often as we did after the hurricane. I’m more comfortable having her in 9^th grade next year, and she’s perfectly fine with the idea. 

All this LEAP stuff forces me to realize it’s my fear of failure, not hers.  I fear the LEAP because I don’t want to be seen as a failure of a homeschool mom. She’s certainly capable of passing, but she may need a bit of prep.  Writing can be honed a bit. She’s not a bad writer as far as concepts go, but grammar needs a bit of work. Her math skills aren’t bad, and she learns quickly.

OK, there’s no question on whether or not to LEAP. I just filled out the registration, and I’ll have it faxed tomorrow. So why all the worry? It’s in 4 weeks, and there is no make-up date.

There lies problem: time. We have two weeks of Hogwarts summercamp, and then she has a week long Girl Scout camp after that. The test is at the end of June, and most of June is eaten up with camps and other activities. This test must take priority though.

Terribly frustrated now! I asked both virtual schools about having to take the LEAP in order to start 9^th grade, and I was told no that she would not have to take it. They both said that they would do their own assessment tests in order to place the children where they need to be. So this notification is kind of last minute.

I understand that the virtual schools have not been doing it long in LA. I understand that their hands are tied as far Louisiana’s regulations are concerned. If I had known about this a month ago . . . what? Would I have backed out of Hogwarts? No. Not registered for Girl Scout camp? Probably.

Calming down a bit. They are only testing her in English and math, and she only needs to score Basic in one and Approaching Basic in the other. That’s like a C and a D. OK, I think she should be able to do that.

The question is what I do if she doesn’t pass. Then I guess we are back to where we are right now: a bit behind but catching up via homeschooling.  That’s not really all that bad I suppose.

Taking a deep breath now and letting Jojo know. Oh she won’t be pleased that her next few weeks will be filled with LEAP prep, she won’t be able to work at Hogwarts and Girl Scout camp might be canceled, but life is as life is and not as I will it to be.

Connections Academy vs K12: Virtual Charter Schools

How rude! I start a new blog on homeschooling, and the first real post I make is about an alternative to home-schooling: public virtual charter schools.

Well, it's a hot topic in our state right now, and many home-schooling families and families thinking about home-schooling are really confused. So, I thought I would give it a little review.

Louisiana is now offering an alternative to the normal brick and mortar public education on the form of virtual charter schools, and it’s giving parents a choice between 2 of them, both run by nation-wide companies. Louisiana Connections Academy is run by Connections Academy (www.connectionsacademy.com), and Louisiana Virtual Charter Academy is run by K12 (www.k12.com).

In practice this "too good to be true" answer to the school system is just that - many parents who pull their kids out of school thinking that they'll be doing "school on-line" are greatly disappointed.  In talking to the people at both K12 and CA, they aren't forthcoming with lots of specific answers, just reassurances - and reassurances make me nervous.

In my 14 years of home-schooling the 5 kids, we have tried the range of home-schooling methods, from the traditional all-in-one curricula to unschooling. We spent several years following Charlotte Mason’s ideas, and finally settled into the relaxed homeschooling we’ve been doing for a while.   

 I’ve been curious about the state sponsored charter schools since I’ve heard of them years ago, and I’m seriously considering doing one or both with the 3 kids I’m currently homeschooling.  I’m still not completely decided about what to do, but I wanted to be more informed nonetheless.

Part of what bothered me is that, although these two schools are often operating in the same states, on the surface they look the same. Next, I couldn’t find any true, semi-objective direct comparison of the two, despite that many people have used both. 

Both are free public schools. So yes, you are enrolling your child into the state provided education.

Both stick to the state required test schedules for L E AP, iLeap and G E E .

** side notes:

• K12 is a much larger school. More people who've used it = more feedback to pull from.  I'm not slanted, but that's why I've written more on it.
• Where did I find my info: I mainly looked for reviews written by families who actually used the schools (not just researched) and lots of personal blogs (gotta love these things!). I gave more credence to those who used it longer than a year and with multiple kids. I also called both schools several times each.
• I do not vouch that this information is 100% correct. Each time I called the different schools, I often get a different answer. So if a point is really important to you, call, verify, get it in writing, etc.
• If you have contradictory info, let me know and I'll check it out.

CA = Louisiana Connections Academy

K12 =  Louisiana Virtual Charter Academy

K12         

General Information            

• Starts Aug 17
• Couple weeks before school starts, teacher contact w/ dates & locations for tests
• Scan-tron type assessment (on-line) at beginning of school year
• Child can be promoted or retained based on scores – decision is up to teacher
• K-8 students assigned 1 teacher: s/t ratio 30-40/1 – most curricula done at home w/ learning coach.

Courses:

• 3 levels in each
• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced

            http://www.k12.com/courses/k-8-courses/     

            http://www.k12.com/courses/high-school-courses/high-school-course-list/   

Electives                     

            Middle School           

                        Spanish

                        French

                        German

                        Latin

                        Chinese

            High school    

                        a-lot

Curricula                    

            Most curricula is K12 specific (i.e. not like Saxon Math)

            Foreign Language

                        Power Glide

                        Con: no teacher

Communication:

• Contact trough e-mail and an occasional face to face meeting.
• Most communication is through learning coach, not student
• High school, students assigned a teacher for each subject.
• More virtual classroom stuff

Attendance                

• log daily: 6 hours / day
• flexible in hours you choose to school, but a minimum hours per, any day
• must be met    
• High school    
• 1 live lecture per week per class (NOT recorded & viewed later)
• Must attend the virtual classes
• a 2nd optional lecture if extra help is needed
• Computer Time          
• 20% lower grades
• 30-40% middle school
• 60% high school

General comments from users (can be either a pro or con)                     

• more advanced academics than CA  
• fast paced       
• need to be strong in basics to excel   
• a-lot of subjects          
• Not as much teacher interaction as CA         
• Less use of technology than CA - more work w/ at home books, no skyping or dvd-like tutorials  
• sequential       
• all curricula & supplies shipped to you
• daily agenda & prep list for teachers (but you don’t have access to this before school starts)
• required “meetings” with teachers
• Not much learning coach pre-time, but be prepared to spend a large portion of the day assisting
• Appeals to the kinesthetic learner through the use of manipulatives and flash media.
• Auditory learner through the use of reading room stories and CD's
• Allows a steady pace for reluctant learner
• Or skipping ahead for the motivated learner.
• A-lot of activities per lesson, but once the student has mastered the object, he can move ahead without doing all activities.
• As child gets used to it (may take a year or more), they become more independent

Pros               

• student can test out of lessons they know     
• If finishes a year's course early, can start on next grade level's course - maybe nly for paid curricula, not free public schools
• mastery based rather than letter based - 80% or higher on end of lesson eval to progress    
• lessons can be accessed through any internet connection on any computer  
• Optional activities for each lesson to help with mastery
• Gets the child ready for college like classes w/o the classroom environment (something I lacked before) – tests, deadlines, expectations (part of life)
• 8^th grade and below, you have more control over meeting objectives. The teacher is there to help, not dictate.
• Can view lesson plans a couple of weeks before school starts
• Has a Study Island your child works on for a few minutes each day to help prepare for state tests, which I like better than teaching everything for the test
• Found more positive on K12 than CA, but I think K12 is a bigger program (more people = more feedback)

                       

Cons              

• High School   
• schedule a little more rigid
• less flexibility
• Virtual classes have to be participated in at the time scheduled
• a bit difficult for students who are behind    
• may take longer than 6 hours a day for kids who are behind
• Would be very hard for a family who had no structure to their day
• Will need a computer for each child, even if the child is not on it all day. Otherwise multiple children have difficulty “scheduling” their school work
• Impossible for a single or working parent.

General thoughts                  

• Will be time consuming, rigorous and at time hard, but it will bring children up to speed for their age
• Better education
• If you starting out w/ a young child or pulling a child from school, K12 would work well and serve you better in the end than CA
• If your child is very self-motivated and works at an accelerated pace, K12 is better
• Very systematic in its approach. If you did well in regular school and think your child would do well in regular school, it’s not bad especially if you start them in K12 young
• You’ll be overwhelmed the first month. If you can stick it out, it’ll get better.
• Mixed reviews, either loved or hated, but I see a common thread.
• Those who love it
• Have self-motivated learners
• Learners that catch on fast and work at a fast pace
• Start out in K-3^rd grade or
• Pull their kids from school or have always used a traditional curricula for their kids (Classical hs’ing or prepackaged curricula)
• Those who hate it
• Have children “behind” for their age/grade level
• Children who have to be cajoled into schoolwork regardless of the source
• Children who have been homeschooled for several years with little or no traditional structure (un-schooling, relaxed home-schooling, Charlotte Mason approach or even unit-studies)

Connections Academy

General Info:

• School starts Aug 15
• Online placement tests for middle & high school kids to place them – about 30 min tests for each math & language arts
• Teacher will contact to figure out where the child should be placed and can have child work above or below grade level
• Student/teacher ratio under 30 to 1
• K-5 has one teacher
• Above 5^th one teacher for each subject
• To progress to the next lesson, they have to be passing 67% or higher (not mastery)

Courses                                                         

• doesn't look like it has extra curricular classes, but if doing well in core, after 30 days can enroll in extra curricular. Therefore it focuses first on the core subject.
• if finish one grade's curriculum, can move ahead into the next grade's
• Subjects

·         Math

o       Scott Foresman enVisionMATH to 5^th grade

o       Prentice Hall Math 6^th grade

·         Language Arts

o       Scott Foresman Reading to 5^th grade

o       Glencoe Literature 6th

·         Social Studies

o       Scott Foresman Social Studies to 5^th

o       Glencoe History 6^{th ,} 8th

o       Online 7th

·         Science

o       McGraw Hill Science to 5^th

o       Glencoe Science 6^th

Gifted

·         Gifted classes 3-8 in LA, Math & Science

·         High school: basic, standard, honors & AP

Communication                                

• homeroom teacher weekly talks and updates
• Contact by phone w/ students 1/week
• live classes - weekly (all ages, more often for high school kids)                   
• can have one-on-one live lessons if need extra help  

Attendance                            

• log daily: 5.9 hours /day
• Any time, any day of the week                     
• certain lectures that must be watched by the high schoolers; if they are unable to be logged in at the time of the lecture      
• Minimum time for each class but it is by the week and can be done at any time, even on week-ends
• Live lessons mandatory:
• 1 per week per subject – all depends on specific teacher
• Recorded, but want students to participate as much as possible (again depends on teacher you get)

Pros               

• Provides 1 computer / family
• more interaction w/ teachers & other students          
• teacher actually determines at what pace the student learns
• ability to work ahead, a 3^rd grader doing higher math
• if behind, can be at a lower in a course
• Virtual classes are recorded, and though encouraged to attend all, can be watched later

Cons              

• grade based rather than mastery based. Need a 67% to pass.           
• High School   
• schedule a little more rigid
• Sounds more like “school at home” than K12 w/ the on-line classrooms & required attendance
• Less flexible about days/times
• Assignments determined by individual teachers. So like with public school if you get a good, organized teacher, then YEAH. Otherwise, frustration.

General Thoughts:

• Easier than K12 for the child, but doesn’t teach as much
• If your child is behind for his/her age, is not used to a structured school day or is an older student, starting w/ CA wouldn’t be bad. You can always switch to K12 the next year

• Probably more like regular school at home.
• Several complaints that you can not move ahead grade levels in subjects or even work too much ahead of the rest of your cyber class. When I ask the help people, they say that you can, but it’s at the teacher’s discretion. That also may be different state by state.

If I had to sum up the differences, in a few short statements (and again, this is from no actual experience):

Lower Grades & Middle School

CA is more of an actual virtual school where the student interacts with a teacher on-line, and that teacher, like a public school teacher, has a great deal of decision power on how the student’s education goes. It’s a grade based system, just like a normal school. The student has the lesson which is mixed between parent taught, skype-like lectures and on-line activities, and then he takes a test. Pass or fail, he moves on (at least that’s my understanding).

Most complaints on CA seem to be because the teacher, who has a great deal of control, doesn’t do what the parent wants (move a child ahead, hold a child behind, isn’t terribly professional, waits until the last minute to give assignments, etc).  Some of these complaints are valid. The teachers are human and may be very competent and helpful or not.

K12 is more like the traditional all-in-one curricula where the parent is responsible for 90% of the education but reports back to an outside arbitrator.  The parent teaches the lessons either how it’s presented in the material or however else they see fit (and yes that is encouraged). All the arbitrator (aka teacher) needs is to know that you are covering the material adequately. They even tell you that the “hours you log” are subjective. As long as you claim to have worked 6 hours a day, they’re happy b/c the state is happy.  The student has some supplemental stuff on-line and tests. It’s a mastery system, so the student has to know 80% of the information before he can move on.

Most complaints on K12 have to do with the amount of the work presented. Parents are nearly always overwhelmed at first, and they do expect that. Because it’s a mastery system, the parent eventually figures out that the students don’t have to do all the work – just until they master it. Every student needs a different amount of practice & review, so they present the max they think you’ll need.

Despite that K12 isn't technically home-schooling, on a day to day basis it looks identical - at least 8th grade and below. The parent spends a great deal of time teaching, reviewing and testing.  You do get support though that an otherwise home-school family wouldn't get. In exchange for the support though you are held accountable for how much your children learn.  I found this interesting

High school:

Both schools are very similar once the kids reach 9^th grade. More and more classes are on-line. The teachers are more involved with the students on a day to day basis. The main difference at this level seems to boil down to the assessment system. CA is still a graded system. After a lesson, you take the test and get a grade. K12 is still a mastery system – you don’t advance until you know 80% of the material.