Cyber School????

[crazeedizneefinatic]

I have been contemplating cyber school for my son for some time. He will be entering 3rd grade and quite frankly I am not happy with his current school. He goes private now. I don't think the set up would be a problem, we have talked about it and researched it extensively. The school district we are in sponsers a cyber school that looks amazing. I actually worked for them before I had my son, so I know exactly whats involved and expected. I am home anyway so participating when necessary is not a problem either. My son is excited about it and if worse came to worse it would not hurt to try it. He already has established friends he hangs out with and talks to all the time so the socialization part is not a problem and I am not worried about that. I know of 2 kids (who are much older) that did this and were very sucessful at it and excelled.

Anyone here participate in homeschooling or cyber schooling? School starts after labor day and we are in the enrollment process now. I will be contacting my sons current school to let them know he will not be returning this year. Wish me luck for a smooth transition! I am a nervous wreck!

[dismommy]

Just a question:
How is cyber school different from home schooling? I am not happy with my son's current school situation, but when I try to work on certain things with him (math) he gets mad at me and It quickly goes to frustration on his part, but other subjects we work fine in. So if there is some kind of interactive school that online that we could participate in that may balance out the problem.

[crazeedizneefinatic]

Well, from my understanding, it's relatively the same except the supplies and computer are provided. Here is what is expected on my son.

We will receive a laptop, printer, fax, and scanner free of charge to use from our school district. We will also get reimbursed for our high speed internet connection. He is required to do school work 5 hours a day. 1-2 hours of those will be working with a teacher on the laptop. We will be assigned a teacher for any questions, help, extra tutoring etc.. The rest of the time will be in workbooks, printouts and such. They also have outings and field trips monthly. Alot of time mangement and such will have to fall on me which I do not mind. I spent days volunteering and organizing class activities at his old school anyway. I am in the process of setting up a classroom area for him at home, complete with a library. We will see how it goes. He will follow the schedule of our public school. Days off and christmas and spring break. It works just like a normal school, must attend, must call off for sickness or present doctors notes etc..

Check with your local public school district. They will be able to give you all the info if it's available in your area. You can also look online.

[FriendsofMickey]

I am homeschooling my girls (twins, 1st grade). We just started our second full year (though I did pre-K also).

My sister is cyber-schooling her daughter and is very pleased with it. We live in PA and the cyberschool system is just like going to public school in many ways. That is, the state sees them as a type of public school. She get her internet paid for, a PC, text books, and school supplies. Her daughter has opportunities to take sign language, music lessons, as well as many other classroom type classes.

My caution on cyber school is some of them cause a lot of busy work. This sometimes "burns" both the parents and children out.

You will find those who love it and those who hate it, so listen to what they say with your child's learning style in mind. Also, do not forget about what you think will work for you.

For myself, I am homeschooling. The difference is I pick my curriculum. I have spent hours and hours trying to put together what will work best for my girls.
I like this over cyberschool, because if it is not working for us, we can quit and try something else. I am not forced to log into a computer and report to anyone.

I will have to keep records/logs and report two times a year to the school. I will also have to have the girls tested in 3, 5, and 8th grade. I will also need to have them evaluated yearly (after the age of 8).

So homeschooling is probably more work in the long run, but for now it is working for us. I love the freedom of hand picking each subject.

Good luck. I frequent a site www.homeschoolingreviews.com that would be a great resource in your search.
Lori Ann

[FriendsofMickey]

Too funny, I just noticed it says you are from Pittsburgh, I am only about 50 miles north of you. :)

[crazeedizneefinatic]

Too funny, I just noticed it says you are from Pittsburgh, I am only about 50 miles north of you. :)

Oh my, that would put you around where we camp. What a small world.

I have weighed out home school and cyber school. I went with cyber school because I just don't have that much faith in myself to be able to actually teach (especially math, LOL!) and organize everything. I just would not know where to start. I liked the freedom of home schooling but the structure of cyber school. It was a hard choice. One other thing is that there is an objective party to grade my son. My biggest fear was that I would not teach something correctly and it would slide. With regular testing I will know he is getting it or not. This is the 1st year we are trying something like this so I may change my mind. I don't have any doubts my son will adapt, I think he will actually excell.

I think you are amazing, homeschooling 2 little ones.

[Jasper]

We looked at this here in Indiana for one of our children and found that you can really sum up the difference between cyber school and home schooling by looking at who is calling the shots on schedules and what you study. In a home school situation you, as the adult, have virtually complete freedom to have your child study when and how it works best for your family.

Cyber school is almost exactly like regular school except that the work is being done at home.

Of course, in both home schooling and cyber schooling you have to also consider if the entire family has the discipline to do the work, what kind of social interaction the child will have, and how any extra curricular activities are handled. And while I am on the issue of extra curricular activities I know that in many states a home or cyber schooled child is eligible to participate in most extra activities. However, just because they are allowed to participate many students don't want to because they don't have that built in comfort level with the other students and instructors that comes from attending the school.

[PittFan]

If you are referring to PACYBER, it is excellent. We decided to enroll our children in cyber school last year, not quite sure what to expect. It exceeded our expectations by far. Their grades improved , not that they were bad before , but they really seemed to excell with the curriculum offered. That being said, cyber school isn't for everybody. It takes an alot of parental involvement as well as a willingness to learn on the students behalf. The schedule is quite flexible and the extra ciricular activities and opportunities are outstanding. One benefit I found to cyber school was that my children weren't spending unnecessary amounts of time on subjects or materials that they were already proficient at. They were able to progress at a faster pace and use the extra time they needed on sujects that they weren't as proficient at. As far as socializing goes, we have met numerous other students and parents at various school related events, and we were awakened to many different cultures and walks of life as well as making many new friends. I would highly recommend PACYBER to anyone interested. :thumbsup:

[tmosier]

My 8th grade daughter is enrolled in a cyber school and LOVES it. She previously attended a Christian school K-5 and 7th grade and we home schooled for 6th grade. After an extremely difficult year in 7th grade (not academically), she-- and her dad and I--- were ready for something different. We decided against sending her to the public middle school in town and instead looked into a cyber school called iQ Academy. We were hooked immediately for many reasons. School has been in session for a week and she is so happy that we chose iQ Academy for her this year. Now if only we could get our 9th grade daughter interested!