Definitions of school types - virtual, home, hybrid

In various conversations I've had over the last few years, I've noticed that everything seems to come down to definitions.  How you think of something makes the difference as to how you work with it.  So, I thought I'd lay out some of my definitions of the types of schools in an attempt to help clarify things.

1- Home School - A parent (family) that chooses to adopt their own curriculum and teach their child the material they feel appropriate.  Now, the curriculum can come from various providers online, both free and paid, or from your local school supply.  It can have religious context or not.  You can unschool your kids, or simply teach them the "normal" material at your pace and your preference of method.  To be able to home school, you have to first file a declaration of intent with the state and then follow all of their rules.  For more information on this, you might start here:  http://www.ghea.org

2 - Virtual School (or schooling from home) - In this case, the parent becomes a helper to the teacher, but isn't the primary teacher themselves.  The school involved (for example, Georgia Cyber Academy or Georgia Connections Academy) provides materials and teachers for the students.  They will follow all state regulations for requirements for materials to be learned. You will follow all state requirements for testing as well.  The advantage here is that the student stays home.  This is an excellent way for medically fragile kids to be able to get their schooling without having to attend.  It's wonderful for families that are involved in their student's education but who do not want the responsibility of the primary curriculum.  In many cases, the families will supplement with additional material (religious or otherwise) and field trips.

3 - Brick & Mortar (B&M) school - Your traditional state/county schools.  Students ride a bus (maybe) to school, are taught at school by teachers, then return home at the end of the day.

4 - Hybrid school - (example - Gwinnett Online Campus) 
This is one that combines your virtual school with your brick and mortar.  Majority of the learning is online via the computer.  The student will go in to a fixed location on some form of schedule for additional teaching or labs with teachers.  It must still follow all requirements as given by the state, but has many of the advantages (and disadvantages) of each of its parents.

Friday First

So, I didn't get first day of school photos for my kids out on time as they didn't have the same start date.  So, here are my two on their first day of school.

Monday musings - School summary and hard choices

With the struggles we've had this year with school, we finally completed the school year. This past year I've had to watch my honor roll students turn into students with Cs and Ds. My son will apparently have to attend summer school to move up to high school as well. It's disappointing and frustrating on my part to know that I failed to keep them on track and doing better.

I found out at the last minute that his science class actually qualified to receive Carnegie credits by taking an EOCT. It caught me off guard only in that respect, it didn't change the effort (or lack thereof) that had been put into the class during the year. Both that class and his accelerated algebra class had EOCTs instead of finals. He did very well in Science and acceptably well in Math. Unfortunately, his efforts at EOCT weren't enough to bring his average up to an good level, so we did not accept the Carnegie units associated with them. I can only hope that he'll complete summer school well and get a fresh start next year at high school and be able to pull things out the way I know he's capable of doing.

As to my daughter, I have a hard choice to make now. As in, where will she be attending? I can put her back in GCA (I preliminarily put her on the enrollment list), I can leave her at GOC (her preferred choice), or I can send her to brick and mortar. I guess what we'll have to do this week is figure out what the best option is for her and go from that. I haven't been impressed by the teaching (or lack of) when it comes to math especially. She adores her language arts teacher and is fine with her social studies teacher. Her science teacher she has mixed feelings about. Personal feelings aside, though, I'm going to have to make sure whichever choice we make will give her the support she needs in her classes.

So I cannot call this year successful by any stretch of the imagination. It's a veritable stew of factors that created a disaster of a meal. I can only pray that it all works out with the choices that we make from here on out.

It's CRCT week

I hate CRCT week.  I really do.  Not only is it a big stress for the kids, it's a major stress for me.  Luckily for my kids, they're confident enough in what they know to not worry half as much as I do.  Then again, maybe they know I'll do enough worrying for all of us.  With my son in 8th grade, this is a major year for him.  The troubles he had earlier this year makes this even more stressful now.  I so look forward to getting this school year over.  It's been an experience that I really don't want to repeat.

Thoughts for Thursday - Gwinnett education

I attended the District V meeting for the Gwinnett Board of Education this past Tuesday.   For the most part it seemed to be testimonies to how good Gwinnett is for public education.  I'll admit that I appreciated the boys that spoke, especially the young man from GIVE West and his mom.  I was not, though, expecting that.  I'm not sure what I *did* expect, it just wasn't that.

At any rate, I did come away with a little bit of use.  Mr. Wilbanks spoke with a presentation about the initiatives that Gwinnett has in place.  IE: Core Curriculum (put into terms I could understand), eClass (which my son won't benefit from while he's in HS), and the teacher evaluations.  Most of the audience were faculty/staff from the area, so I'm certain they're primary interest was in the last item.

Mixed in there, though, was information about changes coming to CRCT testing.   Similar to Gateway, instead of straight out multiple choice, the kids will have essays and short answer.  This will allow the kids to show that they know the material even if they get the answers incorrect.  As much as I don't care for over testing students, I do prefer this type of testing to the other.

I was also able to view the preliminary budget that was approved by the board.  Not a lot of big changes there, as a parent I don't see anything that I will complain about.  They're dropping the furlough days, though teachers won't get a cost of living increase.  I'm sure that there will be a lot of words about that.

That was effectively my take away from the meeting.  Not a lot for 2 hours of time, but I won't call it a waste of time either.  I'd rather have gone and come away with what I did, then to have not gone.

Monday Musings

To Virtual School or to Brick & Mortar-
The deadline is upon me. I must decide whether or not I'm sending my daughter back to Gwinnett Online Campus in the next couple of days. I plan on trying the drive out to the new school location tomorrow. On a good day, the drive will be about 30 minutes. On a bad day, well, it's Atlanta. I also have to figure out what I'd do with myself while she's there. I will still be working, so I'll have to find somewhere to hole up and work. I don't see me driving out there and then back twice in a day twice a week. I know there are a few places I can probably set up, so I'll scout those out while I'm out that way tomorrow. I know my daughter's preference and I know WHY she has her preference. Honestly, I'm not sure it's enough to use yet.

Going to Church-
I'll be honest, I haven't been to church in several years. I was on a roll when the kids were younger until they got sick back to back and broke the streak. From there, I tried to convince my husband to go with me but he's generally a homebody after his work week. My kids see him and would rather stay home. I'd rather stay home with family, just because it's not often we're all together. I'm thinking this summer, though, that I may try visiting a new church. I'm thinking my kids are old enough to make that decision for themselves and come with me or not. I made some new friends when helping out at the Easter carnival at Luxomni Baptist and they were highly encouraging for me to visit. So, I may make that a summer goal.

Spring Break etc -
I'm on spring break this week, my kids go on spring break next week. So, I'm going to try to use this time to catch up on a few things around the house. My daughter and I have to prepare for the Color Run this weekend too. I'm excited to be able to go do it again. This year we're running with some fellow mom bloggers, which should make it that much more fun. Hopefully, I'll have lots of pictures to share on this one next week.

Musing about schools (HS specifically)

I've had a few people question my thoughts on putting my son back in brick and mortar, especially if he's going in to the school we're zoned for. I've talked with the district superintendant, I've talked with the school's principal, and as of last week I have talked with the man who would be my son's counselor. I'll admit, the school isn't perfect, not by any means. However, I've been given enough hope to believe that it's not half as bad as rumor has it made out to be. If not, I'll address that as those issues arise.

In the meantime, though, I'm tired of the struggle. To get my son to do his work. To get my son to do his work properly. To get my son to turn in his work. To admit that he needs help. To talk to me (or anyone) about issues. At this point, I just want him to pass 8th grade. My once honor/principal roll, straight A student, has crashed and burned in a royal way this year.

When it comes to helping my child, those of you that know me, know I don't do some subjects. It isn't going to happen. My husband works late (and constantly) so getting support there is a struggle too. Getting teacher support means my son has to either a) ask for help, or b)be pushed into it by me. If nothing else, the last 2.5 school years have taught me that my son isn't suited for being schooled at home (at least not by me). That doesn't leave a whole lot of options for us.

Yes, we could try to move. We are, though, upside down on our mortgage and houses in our area just aren't selling well (or don't seem to be). I don't see us moving for several more years, so moving to another zoned HS isn't going to happen. I can do a permissive transfer to another school, something I'll certainly keep in mind if I decide that our HS isn't going to work out. Doing it straight out, though, doesn't seem to be likely to happen.

So, my son is off to a "regular" brick & mortar next year. Doesn't matter if he's repeating 8th grade or moving up to 9th. The stone wall that I ran face first into this year has made that determination for us. So here's praying that he does well enough on the remainder of this year, that he at least remains where he should be grade wise. I really don't want to encounter the 8th grade wall a second time with him.

Thoughts for Thursday

School:
Why does the D2L system (that Gwinnett Online Campus uses) have an issue with Wednesday? The last 3 Wednesdays in a row it has gone down or become so slow as to be effectively unusable. It makes it hard for the kids to stay caught up and not get distracted. It makes it hard for the parents to keep up with the kids and make sure they're doing their work on time. I blame it on the fact that the system was created by a Canadian company.. not someone local, 'eh?

Fitness:
My daughter and I have officially signed up for The Color Run in April. We'll be all tie-dyed for a second year. This year, though, it's down at the speedway. They apparently had so many sign up last year that they had to find a bigger venue. I'll likely be signing up for the Pretty Muddy run in October. Several social media moms are going and I'd have someone to do it with (since daughter isn't old enough yet). In memory of my brother-in-law and of a friend's husband that passed recently, I may sign up to do the Heart Walk in September too.

Home:
I'm working on the small stuff around the house. I get frustrated looking at the big picture of what needs to be done, so I'm doing the little stuff. I've hung some pictures and have a couple of frames to go to finish that project. I hung my medals, so now I know what I have and what I have as goals. I hung my watches (all Disney) just because and so that I can show them off (or at least keep them organized). I have cleaned the majority of the mess that was in the office and hallway. I'm watching for a cabinet or shelves or something that I can use in my kitchen as added pantry space. I don't know exactly what I want, so I'm keeping my eye on freecycle and goodwill just to keep it inexpensive. Once I get myself organized (again), then I can look at some of the other things I want to do.

Other:
My daughter had my laptop and I'd left my pinterest page up. She was looking through it and saw this one. Since it seemed to strike a chord with her, I'm sharing it here.

Source: humortrain.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Playing with Cats

My daughter chose to play with cats for her science fair project. She wanted to know which they'd prefer, a string cat toy or a toy filled with catnip. What it allowed her to do is spend time playing with her cat (1 yo Jack, seen to the right, we adopted from FurKids) and my cat (15 yo Dodger adopted from Gwinnett AC years ago) and still be doing school work.

It wasn't quite the adventure as we had with Robert. Since she plays with the cats fairly regularly, though, it was an exercise in remembering to log what she did. She also had to remember to make sure she had her designated toys on hand when she did so. Simple enough in theory, but when you're doing most of the "real" experiments during the holiday and she's not very organized to begin with, a definite challenge too.

Her final day of experimenting happened at FurKids. I took her with her toys out to the shelter (we're already volunteers) and we spent time in the adult cat room.

She learned fairly quickly that you cannot get the cats riled up by playing with them and then take your attention off of them. They'll continue to play with the toy dangling in your hand whether you're playing or not. No harm done, just surprised her when one decided to make a leap for the string toy she'd had dangling in front of the cat's face. We always enjoy visiting and I usually get shots of some of the adoptables. The catch this time is the adoptables I was taking pictures of were busy playing with my daughter or the toys she brought. So they don't really show them off to their advantage. Maybe next time I'll be a bit more successful.

Adventures in Rocket Science

The middle school students at my kids' school had to do a Science Fair Project. My son, on reading the list of available topics, jumped at the chance to study the aerodynamics of rockets with the excuse to launch his model rockets. The idea being to compare the styles and sizes of rockets and seeing which design works/flies better. We realize this has been done many times, but for an 8th grade boy to be able to shoot off rockets and get a grade for it, he couldn't resist.

What I didn't know, and apparently neither did his teacher, is that launching model rockets in the metro Atlanta area is near impossible to do. Gwinnett county itself has an ordinance specifically against launching the rockets in the public parks. Most of the surrounding counties do as well. Someone at one point suggested a state park or a national park. Unfortunately, both of those consider model rockets to be fireworks, which are prohibited. A last resort came when we found the local model rocket club which has launches twice a month.

What makes this an adventure was that for a month, we did the research on our own on places to fly. Now, we're lucky in that we have family with property in north GA and in Alabama. Unfortunately for us, the weather NEVER cooperated when we took the rockets out there. We did try the local park that the rocket club suggested. We struck out, though, when on one day there were too many people and on the other the rockets refused to launch.

So, the lesson learned is that unless you have private property large enough and clear enough to launch rockets on your own, you HAVE to find the local rocket club. Which is sad, really, considering you can buy the things at any local hobby shop. The hobby shops, though, will generally tell you that they have no idea where you can launch them.

#WW Science Fair Projects

Back story on each of these at a later date/time. Let's just say I'm glad it's over.

Monday Musings

If you hadn't noticed, I changed my blog background again. With a new year, I decided it was time for a new look. It represents me a bit better, I think. With my two favorite Disney characters on board, maybe this will be a happier place too.

The kids' school has me somewhat worried. Technically school started in Gwinnett last Thursday. My guys don't actually start back until tomorrow. Today the school hosts the new group of students joining us. They go through orientation today with labs starting tomorrow. It means that the only thing my kids have been able to work on is their Science Fair project. Not a bad thing, but it makes me worry that they've lost time we'll have to make up later. With all of the issues we had last semester, I'd really like to make sure we get a jump start on things.

Speaking of a jump start, I used some of my Christmas money and got myself a FitBit. It will work in with an app I already had on my phone called MyFitnessPal. Hopefully I'll be able to track what I'm doing better. You can look for me on MyFitnessPal and friend me. I can always use the extra nudge to keep moving. I'm not really looking to lose a lot of weight (5-10 lbs), really just want to be more active and feel better.

My kids and I are going to be hanging out at Six Flags/White Water this summer. We took advantage of a member deal to give us something to do this summer. We're going to TRY to do less traveling this summer.. we'll see how successful that is.

On that note, I'd better get my week started. Have a good Monday!

End of Semester 1

The new semester starts after the holiday and the old semester is gone. My kids and I survived the transition. I won't say this semester has been successful, it's definitely been stressful. In the end, though, my kids passed all courses for the first semester. Some of the grades I wonder about, but now that we have something of a clue as to what to do and how to do it, next semester should run better. I certainly won't get ambitious and say it will run smoothly. Somehow, with all the hormones in the house, I sincerely doubt that's possible.

I still have my issues with Gwinnett Online Campus, but I'm hoping it works its way out quickly. My son is focused on getting to 9th grade, he's really liking the idea of going over to GSMST. He knows what it's going to take to get to 9th grade from here, he knows what I expect of him. He's still working on coming to terms with what will be expected of him if he does go to GSMST.

My daughter, on the other hand, is loving getting the best of both school worlds. She loves being able to do work at home and then do what she wants. She loves being able to go to school for the labs and hang out with her friends. As much as she likes one of the teachers, though, I get the impression she's indifferent to them. She's thinking about what she wants to do for next year. We're holding off on a decision, though, until after this school year is out.

Monday Musings

This school year has been a major struggle for us. We got off on the wrong foot with my son and had to play a major catch up game. By mid-terms we found out that my daughter had slipped as well. We caught up and thought we'd get the second half of the semester off to a good start only to hit another road bump. I won't call it major, but it seemed so at the time. My kids aren't monitoring their work well and apparently I'm inept at following up. A couple of the teachers are good at giving me a quick heads up on issues, but others not so much. It's to the point where I'm contemplating if it's all worth the effort.

We moved from GCA last year for a couple of reasons. One being that I wasn't able to support my son's accelerated math curriculum. Another that I had started work (part time) and I found it hard to juggle both. A third, and rather major one, was that I plan to have my kids attend a regular brick and mortar high school. This was to be a transition especially for my son back to that point. I've had it pointed out to me that maybe the transition is as much for me to relearn how to deal with "regular" teachers and schools as it is for the kids.

So, I'm working on my research into our options. I've plugged in with the cluster superintendent and the local HS principal to get information about the zoned HS. I've plugged in with a mom I haven't spoken to in a while who has students attending our zoned MS. So far she's been pleased with the programs they've been offered and has had no problems. Since I unplugged as a substitute teacher, I'm trying to work on reconnecting to other sources as well. Maybe our area is improving enough where I can actually consider sending my daughter to the local MS next year. I don't know. It's all very fluid at this point.

Friday Facts (Charter Schools)

With all the debate going on about the upcoming Charter School amendment, I wanted to present some information here for you to review. Just a note: I am not against the charter school amendment, I'm actually for it. I'm against a portion of the law that goes into effect when the amendment passes. It does not allow for true transparency or representation on the board that would do the charter school approvals. At any rate, for your review..

From the Georgia Public Policy Foundation

- FAQs about the Charter school amendment

- Financial Impact of Charter Schools

From Georgia Hope

- Fact vs. Fiction

- Setting the Record Straight

Of course, you can always read the bills themselves here:

-http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20112012/HR/1162

- http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/sum/hb797.htm

@GwinnettEHC Ropes Course with @GwinnettOnline

My kids went to the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center this past Friday with their school. They did a water purity study, visited a waste water treatment plant and then were able to play on the ropes courses there at the center. I didn't do the first two with them, I wandered the trails around the center instead. I love the fact that the courses blend fairly well into the trees. You can see them, but you can also ignore them if no one is on them.

I ran a few errands and went to lunch. When I returned, the kids were about ready to try the ropes courses for themselves. I played paparazzi and took lots of photos.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed the entire trip, especially the ropes course. They came home and crashed for the remainder of the evening.