Our K12 Virtual School

Most, if not all of us registered with K12 have likely started our semester, but how many of us have recieved all our materials? Apparently there are scads of you still waiting for manipulatives and other course necessities… even those who enrolled in the program back in May. I know, because I’ve been waiting too.

We registered back in May… late May to be exact, but I’m certain we were final early June. Apparently, K12’s program has hit a few frustrating glitches. Here’s what I recently learned about why our materials are so late in coming:

* K12 has doubled in size from last year, from approximately 50,000 to 100,00 students. That kind of growth is bound to require a bit of fine tuning and if it’s not anticipated, will mean… well, that there won’t be enough materials initially to get students started!

*Apparently there was some sort of computer glich that resulted in all ordered materials has having been shipped, when only a portion actually had. So, there was a bit of chaos to contend with as they sorted that mess out.

In any case, from the homeschooler’s standpoint, it’s all very frustrating. We started our semester on August 4th, in an attempt to be ahead of the game come November, when we take a 2 week family vacation. I didn’t want to get behind and despite the delay in receiving our son’s 2nd grade science kit, we’ve done quite well. When 2nd grade science finally does arrive, we’ll just have to do 3 science lessons a week instead of 2, to make up for lost time.

What has your experience been like and how have you managed your lessons without all materials in hand? Maybe you’re one of the fortunate ones who did receive everything early!

There are no perfect homeschooling methods or platforms and today as the K12 website refuses to load, I’m reminded that homeschooling through an online curriculum might mean we have an occasional free day.

With K12, you’re very limited to what you can accomplish without the Internet. So, you’re at the mercy of your Internet provider, the cooperation of your PC, and the accesibilitiy of K12’s website in order to get through a lesson. If any one of the three is having an off day, then so will you.

Today we started on schedule, precisely at 9, fully expecting to school until about 3:00. My daughter completed her math assignment, then my son… but somewhere in the middle of his math lesson we lost our K12 connection and I have yet to reconnect with the site.  We finished his lesson without the OLS (K12’s lesson plans), but I can’t mark his lesson as complete or log his hours. It’s a K12 issue, but from what my SIL tells me (her second year with K12) this type of think is a rarity. Only happening a couple days last year.

It sort of reminds me of snow days when I was a kid, only more random (and without the business of creating snow angels and snowmen).  Who gets a snow day on September 1st?  Since my kids won’t ever have a real snow day, I’m calling this their snow day. Why shouldn’t they have a random & unexpected day off from school once in awhile? It’s of course at the price of extending our school year (or is it?).  Homeschoolers have the luxury of making up lost time, anytime. We can do an extra lesson each day this week and leave our calendar untouched.  Just another advantage to teaching & learning from home! 

As with my other homeschooling blog… I’ve decided to create a widget through Widgetbox. If you’re wondering what a widget is… there’s one in my far right sidebar for Homeschool Hacks. It’s basically my blog in a box! I compact little frame containing my latest and greatest adventures with K12, so you’ll know exactly what we’re up to each and every day.  

Within the hour,  I should have my K12 blog widget ready for distribution. The widget can be embedded into your own blog or website quite easily, so… if this idea appeals to you, please stay tuned for the magic code!

Apparently I need to have my widget image displayed within the context of a blog post in order for it to properly work. If that’s not the case, then well… I’m not really sure what I’m doing!lol I’ve made a widget before, so I have every faith that I’ll figure this out and yet, it’s not going as smoothly as it did the first time around.

Ok… I’m off to my Widgetbox to see if my technical issue has indeed been remedied. Once it has, you’ll find the Widgetbox button in the far right sidebar. Click it to get your code. Simple as pie!

Is it cruel and unusual to expect your children to practice their handwriting on a Saturday afternoon or squeeze in a math assignment before going to a Sunday matinee with dad?

If it is, don’t tell my kids.  It’s the price we may pay for following a laid back approach to a very structured curriculum. With K12 you can juggle just about any schedule, so long as you find the hours… somewhere.

I totally expect weekend assignments to become a matter of routine in our home. I’m not sure it’s a bad thing either. Why get stressed out clock watching; attempting to light a fire under your child, when you could relax, pace yourself, really enjoy the lesson, and wrap things up with a smile? Last year I was way too uptight about the length of a lesson. This year I’ve decided it’s better to stretch the day out between my 2 children, between the hours of 9 AM and 4:30 PM, with plenty of breaks, a real recess, a home-cooked lunch (free of convenience foods), and a healthy attitude when dad comes home from work. Let me tell ya, that healthy attitude is worth its weight in gold!

If you’ve done the math you’re likely thinking… um, you do how many hours a day and yet there’s something left for the weekends? Just so I don’t scare anyone away… I haven’t found a way to successfully school both my kids at one time. So, you’re seeing the time commitment involved in two sets of lessons, taught independently. I think in time, I may find a way to merge some of our lesson time into a tighter package, but at this time I’m simply not ready to make the issue of time, an issue in our homeschool. It just shouldn’t be our primary focus. If you want to know the truth, I’m happy not making it a focus at all!

When I first picked up the box, I was certain it was empty. I thought to myself… “they forgot to pack the box!”, but I was wrong. They had packed the box. In fact, it was 97% packed with plastic pockets of air (packing material that is) and 3% product. lol Yes, that’s right. My estimation can’t be too far off.

You really have to see it to believe it. Now, this is one of the weirdest packages I’ve ever received from anyone. Did they not have a smaller box? Even a packing envelope would have worked. I wonder how much money they spent sending us this little black board?

I don’t know if you can fully appreciate what I’m sharing through my amature photography, but this box is about 8″ deep and the slate board is about a 1/4″ thick. I should have hit this from more than one angle.

So, while I’m happy to have my daughter’s missing Handwriting Without Tears black board, I still have to say, “huh?”. lol Well, it was worth a good laugh anyway. Even my 5 year old thought so!

Who can focus on math and history with the news of Sarah Palin? I know I can’t… well, not until I blog about it for a bit! lol

I’ll say the same thing here I said on my other blog… this blog functions not as a political thing… it’s a homeschooling thing. However, since politics is a part of the real world we live in and since this is a Presidential election year, it seems only fitting that we discuss it a little. Doesn’t it?

Then there’s this: homeschooling will be effected by the decisions of our elected officials. So, politics is always relevent to the future shape and direction of the American homeschooler. Am I right?

So, now that we’ve cleared that up… what is your take on John McCain’s choice for Sarah Palin as running mate? Are you surprised? Are you excited or concerned? Maybe you don’t care at all! lol If you’re like much of the U.S. you probably don’t know much about Sarah. Since waking up this morning, I’ve learned quite a lot and all I can say is Wow! wow! Wow! and wow!

 What say you?

I’m excited to be here, with Today.com sharing our 3rd year homeschooling, and 1st semester with K12. Whether you’re homeschooling, considering homeschooling, curious about why people homeschool, or want to argue about whether or not virtual schoolers like those using K12 are even really homeschoolers at all… welcome! In time, as I build up this blog, you’ll find all those issues (and many more) shared and discussed here.

My kids are 2nd grade, and a mix of 1st and kindergarten, giving us a nice variety of assignments to wade through. We have a couple different personality types to contend with too, adding to the drama of teaching and learning from home. One of my kids (my 5 year old daughter)  is eager to learn any subject in small spurts, mixed with a reasonable amount of playtime… while my son (7) loves to learn, but would rather choose the topic and direction of each lesson, than have mom or a pre-planned curriculum provide any kind of agenda.  With that said, we sometimes have our battles and this year’s been no different.

We’ve been K12-ing it now for 3 weeks, having started early as to easily accommodate a trip to Florida in November. Our K12 experience is through a public school in the state of Kansas, as it’s soooo much cheaper going that route than purchasing the program directly through k12.

So, there’s my intro! I’m anxious to share more… hoping you’re just as anxious to follow along! Keep on reading (and contributing comments) and I’ll keep on posting!

~Wendy