Children taking online classes

[LilOne1989]

I guess I'm just looking for opinions on something that has been on my mind quite a bit lately. I homeschool my children and I was wondering about putting my oldest who is now a freshman in high school in a type of virtual school. I know that he would do fine, the boy is a human sponge and retains 99% of everything he sees and/or reads. In the research I have been doing I have found that a lot of states are turning towards more and more virtual types of schools for children. Either by choice or illness or suspension/expulsion whatever the reason is for education rather than a brick and mortar school. I know that online learning will never replace the brick and mortar school but it does seems to becoming more popular. What are you opinions on this?

[tater03]

I personally see nothing wrong with this. I would just start out slowly and then take if from there.

[Michelle]

My oldest son is homeschooled and a freshman this year too. He is enrolled in Penn Foster. My daughter has a homeschool transcript created by me, and even though she did not have any trouble getting into college, there were a few times we were nervous, so I decided to use an accredited program for my son. The Penn Foster program allows plenty of time for studying other things, so he is able to take Spanish and science labs at the local homeschool co-op. At the end of high school, he'll have an accredited transcript from Penn Foster and also one created by me showing the additional work he has done. So far he is really enjoying it.

[karenlyn]

I think it's a good idea, especially with an accredited program. It's a way to get in some extra learning and prepare kids for college, where they may be required to do some of their classes this way.

[rubybeetle]

I also homeschool my son, he's thirteen, he'll be a freshman next year. I've been wondering about the same thing, I don't want him to attend the high school out here. I'll check into Penn Foster, sounds like something we'd be interested in.

[LyricB]

That sounds like a great idea. Sometimes I wonder if homeschooled kids are getting all the info they need, and I think something like this would help.

[LilOne1989]

That sounds like a great idea. Sometimes I wonder if homeschooled kids are getting all the info they need, and I think something like this would help.

I'm not sure about other homeschooled children but mine regularly blow their public schooled peers out of the water with the depth of knowledge they have in many subjects. With homeschooling you are not limited to a certain amount of time or a certain number of pages in a book to learn a subject so you can really get deep knowledge on areas where others can only skim the surface before moving on to the next subject.

As a matter of fact I just took appoximately $2000 worth of library books back to the library (two big stroller fulls) today and tomorrow after me and the kids sit down and discuss what we want to do for our next 6 weeks I will probably get that much if not more back out tomorrow or Friday.

[LyricB]

Oh, I know there are some people out there like you LilOne who actually do a stupendous job of homeschooling their kids. You have to admit, though, that there are some people who simply aren't up to the task.

[jpsn]

I think virtual school would be a wonderful option for his age. What does he think about it?

[LilOne1989]

Oh, I know there are some people out there like you LilOne who actually do a stupendous job of homeschooling their kids. You have to admit, though, that there are some people who simply aren't up to the task.

Unfortunately there are some people who have no business what so every teaching their kids but luckily those are not the majoritity who are homeschooling.

[rubybeetle]

Homeschooling seems to have a negative attitude in my area. During the first year, I was looked down on by my in-laws and my own parents. They went so far as to say, in so many words, I wasn't intelligent or dedicated enough, ends up I'm both. We're going on the third year of it, after the first year, they saw a difference in my son and I gained their respect. Not that I needed their vote, I had plenty of self-confidence, I just had to ignore their negativity.

[ladygirl99]

I think that it is a good idea for kids to take online classes. The more choices the better for the children.