[hudsonava]

Good morning,
We have lived here for 2 years. I have a 12 year old in middle and an 8 year old in 3rd at a newly year round school. I have felt this for awhile that I wanted to pull the kids out and do the online schools offered in Nevada. Anyone out there that uses connections academy or nevada virtual academy with their children? Can you tell me what you like and don't like about them? These schools are so overcrowded, and where I am, they just keep building new houses..not sure where they think the kids are going to go. All the schools are over capacity already. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[von949]

What area of town do you live in? Spring Valley?

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by hudsonava

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Suggestions? Leave your kids in school. I hope you greatly appreciate that suggestion to the point that you take it.

Online distance learning is great for a very, very small percentage of young students. Everyone else benefits from a traditional classroom -- even if it is overcrowded.

If you want to see how your children might handle online schools, give them an assignment that is slightly out of their reach -- learning algebra, for instance. And then monitor their progress as they learn entirely new concepts on their own without formal instruction. Most adults I encounter don't understand FOIL, for instance. So try explaining that to a student -- or see how well they do when a website explains it.

[08grad]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Most adults I encounter don't understand FOIL, for instance.

I don't know what to think of this.

[vtvette]

Originally Posted by 08grad

I don't know what to think of this.

I believe Scoop is referring to teaching a child at home how to multiply binominals in Algebra

[WestieJeff]

My parents took me out of school for two years, there were pros and cons, but it greatly affected my social life and development. I returned to school in the 8th grade and it was horrific. I love my parents, but it was really one of the worst decisions they could have made. I had a very difficult time making friends and was shunned and outcast for most of the rest of my school life. I hated school because of it. My parents could never understand how bad school life was for me returning to school after home schooling. Prior to home schooling, things were fine, I enjoyed school, had friends, etc. It was bad for me back in the day and I can only imagine how much worse it would be today given facebook, snapchat, and other bullying mechanisms available.

I assume things are better nowadays since homeschooling (or online schooling, same time to me) is more mainstream. My parents could have done a better job too in terms of sports and extra curricular activities to encourage social development.

There were some pros, mainly that I learned to associate well with adults since that's who I spent most of my time around.

[Everdeen]

I'm a math teacher in the CCSD and here is my two cents.

I understand your frustration; I would likely homeschool if I had young children.

If you expect that the online academies to be automated with little work from you, you best do as Scoop says.

If you do not manage your time well and tend to be scattered, homeschooling is not for you.

If, however, you are an engaged parent who is resourceful, have time and resources, and is willing to spend extra money to hire help where you may fall short, then instead of NVA, I would suggest that you go the homeschooling route. Caveat: You must do your homework. I cannot stress this enough. You must look beyond the company literature. Many of them are thrown together. I recently was assisting an algebra student with one, and the test questions did not match up with the practice problems. Either way you are going to have to put in a great deal of time.

I would suggest joining one of the homeschooler groups here. You can get a lot of good input from a variety of people. Not only that, but you can network with other parents who have children in the same grade and pool resources and do group activities so that they have the opportunity to work with other kids on group projects and whatnot.

[LVAllen]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Most adults I encounter don't understand FOIL, for instance.

Foil is a wonderful product used to keep food fresh. It's available by the roll, which typically includes a blade attached to the carboard that can be used to cut the foil. Invariably, at least one sheet will take on the appearance of the State of Nevada. FOIL (all in caps) is the artificial strawman created at the manufacturing plant, and is how foil is known by the corporation of the Federal Government. These people are part of a conspiracy to deprive the public of the well-known and extensively-documented ability of aluminum foil in blocking mental invasion rays, which the government has been using since 1954.

FOIL is also an mnemonic acronym for teaching algebra students how to multiply binomials. (Firsts, Outsides, Insides, Last).

[vtvette]

Originally Posted by LVAllen

Foil is a wonderful product used to keep food fresh. It's available by the roll, which typically includes a blade attached to the carboard that can be used to cut the foil. Invariably, at least one sheet will take on the appearance of the State of Nevada. FOIL (all in caps) is the artificial strawman created at the manufacturing plant, and is how foil is known by the corporation of the Federal Government. These people are part of a conspiracy to deprive the public of the well-known and extensively-documented ability of aluminum foil in blocking mental invasion rays, which the government has been using since 1954.

FOIL is also an mnemonic acronym for teaching algebra students how to multiply binomials. (Firsts, Outsides, Insides, Last).

Let's not forget the Freedom Of Information Law while we're at it!

[hudsonava]

I live in southwest by rhodes ranch