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Old 17-03-2011, 07:30   #16
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

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Hmm, College comes to mind... With Calverts and K12 you end up with a well respected diploma... with Capcook School for Boaters.. not so much...

Perhaps the Ks would make their way into a College anyway, but competition is very tough for the good schools... I would think not having a well respected High School diploma is a step in the wrong direction...

cheers
Good question! This has been a concern of mine as well. It is my understanding that an acredited High School diploma, (public or private), is a prerequisite for acceptance into a major college.

I also know that many public school, "graduates", are forced to take remedial courses, due to the poor quality of the instruction they received in major public schools.

I am satisfied with the education my children have received so far, (mostly in private schools). The oldest, even though I had hoped he would go to college to learn a profession, has chosen to join the military. But he will be doing so with a good educational background, that has hopefully taught him the kind of critical thinking that will allow him to succeed.

The youngest, has spent all but the last few years in private school, but now is in public school. I personally talk with his teachers, and principal about what they are planning to teach him, (they do have him in an accelerated curiculum). He is in the 7th grade now, but I don't think the public school will met his needs for more than 1 more year.

The cost of satelite internet is less than the cost of private school, (especially considering I'm paying for his school twice).

I am really interested in a home school, especially if I can get a certificate that will get him admitted into an ivy league college, (with scholerships, etc...).
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Old 17-03-2011, 09:56   #17
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

I myself was homeschooled, and lacking any agency to accredit our work, my parents sent me to a private school for the final year, so I graduated normally with a diploma, as did all my siblings. They all went on to higher education with no difficulties; I went cruising. Is the GED not an option any more? I'd rather have done that than waste a year in classrooms.
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Old 17-03-2011, 10:21   #18
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

The perception I have of GED, (right or wrong), is that the majority of those who have one are "dropouts" who for whatever reason were unable to get a "real" diploma.
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Old 17-03-2011, 10:36   #19
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

Not being a cruiser but having just had a bright kid go through the normal college application process, I can add these points: HS record, then test scores, recommendations, essays, then activities. An interesting background can certainly help but if the kid doesn't get sufficient standardised test scores, an elite school is unlikely to look twice at the kid. For a state school, it isn't nearly as competitive but for the top schools, you need all of these items and you need to be able convince the school that you are going to add something interesting to their class.

There are plenty of sites out there that will show you how a given school will weigh these factors when evaluating a kid. Some home schooled kids do get into good universities and some don't. If the kid is home schooled, then he or she better have outstanding test scores as well as recommendations, essays, and activities.

The number of kids trying to get into US universities is huge right now compared with the number of seats and now reduced funding. As a result, it is very, very competitive for the top schools and not particularly easy to get into lower tiered schools.
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Old 17-03-2011, 14:59   #20
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

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Tellie - I am fascinated by your stance on home schooling - all of which I agree with wholeheartedly - and wonder... what is your background in education? Do tell!
I'm the black sheep in my family. Everyone else, my parents, sisters are all educators. My sisters have their masters in education as does my father, who retired after 43 years as a teacher and wrote several books on education through ASU. My oldest sister has two masters and completed her National board certification in six months two years ago. I grew up with teachers and schooling conversations at the dinner table. I am a product of the Miami Dade public school system. I went to St.Thomas University after that. When my wife and I first announced to my family that we would home school our daughter it was like holding up a mirror laced with garlic to a Vampire. It was not a decision made lightly. But after seeing my daughter go through it and seeing first hand how large the homeschooling community has grown and interacting with many home schooled kids their opinions have radically changed. I know this, if more parents valued the investment of their time on their kids education rather than throwing their money at their child's education, we would have far more educated graduates
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Old 18-03-2011, 09:26   #21
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

Wow, great discussion. So far I think we are heavily leaning toward Calverts for the first year simply because we are going cruising for the first time and don't know what to expect. In addition to that, neither my husband or I, are teachers by trade so I think we need a little hand-holding for the first year at least in terms of a "box" curriculum and then maybe see where we are after a year. I am also worried about starting off with an "open-ended" day for our kids and realizing that maybe they need a little more structure and trying to go back. Impossible! I would rather start strict, then ease off as our voyage/adventure unfolds. After our cruising years, we are planning on putting our kids back into primary school. That said, after all of the discussions around this forum, it seems that generally people stay out cruising. That wouldn't be so bad either. One question about the British and Australian systems: can you enroll the kids in them if you are not a citizen of that country? Finally, where do you buy all of the school supplies. Judging from our house at home, we go through a lot of supplies. How do you know how much of what to bring?
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Old 18-03-2011, 09:34   #22
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

Every place you go sells school supplies: paper, pens, pencils, art supplies--and often with a neat local flavor or uniqueness. There is no need to stock up too hugely on that stuff.
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Old 18-03-2011, 12:23   #23
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

After beginning to homeschool our 12 year old he came alive. He has developed a lot of his own curriculum, he is excited about learning, he is writing 3 books, researching everything, reading all the time, loves navigating and the stars, and he's always trying to solve math problems that he has devised. If you give them a chance they will, with a lot of help and guidance, explode! They want to learn. I can't believe that the public school system was able to squash that out of him but they did.
We couldn't get the poor kid to read for 2 years because if he did read anything he'd have to take another damned AR test. He loved reading but not the tests.
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Old 19-03-2011, 16:16   #24
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

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But never assume that home schooled kids are getting less than any other kid. I assure you in most cases the opposite is true.
Hi Tellie,

I have nothing bad to say about home schooling, just the opposite... but that doesn't mean I subscribe to a freelance approach... In my judgement, you need to use a well recognized program....then supplement that with language studies and experiences of helping less fortunates along the way... but just one man's opinion...

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Old 20-03-2011, 06:52   #25
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

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Hi Tellie,

I have nothing bad to say about home schooling, just the opposite... but that doesn't mean I subscribe to a freelance approach... In my judgement, you need to use a well recognized program....then supplement that with language studies and experiences of helping less fortunates along the way... but just one man's opinion...

Cheers
It's a great opinion. When we first started the process I was more than a bit worried and had many of the same concerns as the OP. I had zero experience in what to expect and felt at the time that if we were to do this that it would have to be very disciplined and strict. But as with all things time, experience, and help from others that have already been there you learn to adjust. Like I said in a post above, I come from a family of educators. I falsely assumed that there was pretty much one way to do things when it came to educating your child. I made plenty of mistakes in the beginning. But once I realized that there is not just one way to educate a child but hundreds I learned to zig and zag as my child reveled to us how she learned best. This is one of the most important benefits to homeschooling that is for the most part never discovered for the individual child in either public or private school. sww914's post is a perfect example. I watched in total amazement many home schooled kids "come alive" with their education and just take off on their own. I understand the concerns first time home schooling parents have of wanting a very structured program when they first start as Rivers2Seas wants. I think that is actually a very good idea. It give the parents a certain comfort in the begining that at least they have a structure they can fall back on. But In my experience, and it is certainly unscientific, many parents after a few years will abandon structured systems like Calvert and other very good structured programs. Once they gain both the confidence and come to the realization that their child learns as well if not far better with out the structured programs designed to teach to the masses at once they will see progress in their child that will amaze them. Is home schooling for every child? Absolutely not. Nor is public or private school for every child. Will all home schooled children ease into Harvard? Again, absolutely not. Neither will all public or private schooled children. Children are individuals and will develop into their own as it should be. Giving them the best tools we can as parents to achieve what they want to do in life should be a higher goal for ourselves as parents than what collage we would like to see them attend.

Cheers back at ya.
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Old 13-05-2011, 03:44   #26
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

Of course, there are always loads of resources, and even curriculum plans at Teaching resources, classroom resources, primary resources, lesson plans, TES Resources as well as forums where you can speak to teachers.
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Old 11-10-2011, 18:52   #27
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

Triton318, I use K12 to homeschool my son. I love the curriculum and can't find anything better for language arts and math. We will be living on our boat by next June and I would love to continue using K12 but don't know if we will have the internet access that we will need. Is it possible that K12 could develope some sort of program using CDs like RosettaStone does for learning languages or Teaching Textbooks does for math? I believe that K12 would do very well with "boat schooled kids.
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Old 03-11-2011, 11:36   #28
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

I have started homeschooling my son aboard this year. It is both a learning experience and stressful for the single father. I have found Teaching Textbook Math to be great for him (There have been a couple of edits that needed to be made on our discs) but he hates the narrators voice. Rosetta Stone has been another great tool helping with Spanish (Make sure to get them involved in ordering at the Mexican restaurant or mercado). For social studies I ended up with a Florida Social Studies book and supplement it with videos. Science is on the second format and I am still not happy but he is making it. And I hate english anyway so that is still trial and error. I just wish he like to read more since I have 15000+ .pdf and .mob books

Maybe next year I can post a Boat School Cheat sheet to get started with homeschool on a boat

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Old 04-11-2011, 06:17   #29
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Re: Home Schooling - K12 Inc.

How is Roseta stone, according to their ads it is the best thing since sliced bread. The big measure I use is after the course, can I read one of thier newspapers? Can I listen to a radio broadcast and understand it? Can I talk to a native, without them either laughing, or shaking their head in confusion?
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