The Homeschooling Decision

Well, we've made our decision about homeschooling. I spent many hours researching lots of curriculum. I found the best option for each child, in each subject area. I budgeted and planned. I thought I had it figured out.

Along the way I came across a new option for Oklahoma homeschoolers. It's called Oklahoma Virtual Academy. Basically, it's public school at home. I looked into it, but I had already missed the April 1st deadline to "transfer" into OKVA from our home school district. So I put it in the back of my mind as a possibility for next year.

The day after I got home from Ghana I got an email from the OKVA folks saying that there were still more spots available in the school, and that we could do an "emergency transfer" for the kids. Honestly, there are pluses and minuses.

Pluses:
Everything is FREE, delivered right to our door.
It's K12 curriculum--a normally expensive and extensive curriculum that we couldn't otherwise even consider for our children.
It meets all state guidelines, so IF we decided to return to regular public school in the future, everything would be seamless.

Minuses:
Big brother--there is reporting, attendance, etc. that we have to do because it is considered public school.
We are supposed to go by public school calender--which I do NOT like.
We lose freedom to have Samren repeat 1st grade, since public school was going to move him to 2nd.
Big brother--is worth repeating. That makes me nervous.

HOWEVER, if we don't like it we can withdraw at any time, just like we could withdraw from any other school.

After talking about it with Eric, we've decided to give this a try. It's not what I expected to do. I'm not sure how it will work out. But it's a proven curriculum that will be free to our kids. It's an easy way for me to dip my feet into homeschooling while also helping Kendi to adjust to our family.

If you've used K12 with your kids I'd love to hear what you think of the curriculum--good or bad!

Anita