Web Based Public Schools?

Anyone else heard the ad? I heard it on KBCO last week, encouraging kids to go to school on the web. I know one girl who graduated a DPS high school last year but her final 2 years were predominately done from home. DPS classes and tests all done on-line.

Would you support this program? The girl I know who did it came from a broken home and had discipline and attendance issues but when working on her own schedule from home, she was able to get her diploma.

The downside I saw in her particular case is that she still hasn't learned the importance of other people depending on her to be on schedule.

So maybe school is more than the 3 R's, but also includes learning to work with other people, working on schedule, socializing.

Then again if I was a teenager, I would love school tele-commuting. Wake up at 10 AM, finish up classes at midnight, have a tasty pizza and coke when I am working on my math lessons. Take a nap when I wanted to.

That's probablythe only kind of school we'll be able to afford in the future after we pay for all the unfunded liabilities.

I think they are a great idea for some kids. Choice is always a good thing. Kids in cyber schools have to be self disciplined and you don't get credit just for showing up.

I homeschooled my kids for a couple of years and we tried an online public school for a while because they were using a well-known, excellent program. I pulled them out after a couple of months. The problem with having it tied to a public school is they are so hung up on you wasting time keeping attendance and charting progress and keeping on schedule and doing well on the standardized testing that it became very stressful for my kids and myself alike. Also it defeated the purpose of homeschooling where you are trying to let your kids work at their pace, and go into things that interest them more deeply. You just can't do that when you're being scolded all the time to be at the expected level of completion in every subject plus making your kid spend (waste?) time every day on standardized testing preparation.

We later used the same program (K12) without the public school tie in and it was great. Both my kids made about two years of progress in six months with it.

Interesting question in light of the recent cheating scandal and cheating polls.
Why go to school and cheat when you can do it at home???? (Rhetorical)

SS, you make a good point about people depending on the girl you mentioned. In that sense, I wonder if things like this are really good changes. I mean, it seems like we always want to take the easy way out and maintain no discipline in our approach to achieving goals; doing everything when, where, and how we want it.

OmniScience wrote: Interesting question in light of the recent cheating scandal and cheating polls.
Why go to school and cheat when you can do it at home???? (Rhetorical)

SS, you make a good point about people depending on the girl you mentioned. In that sense, I wonder if things like this are really good changes. I mean, it seems like we always want to take the easy way out and maintain no discipline in our approach to achieving goals; doing everything when, where, and how we want it.

Actually, I found online schooling to demand a lot MORE in the way of discipline. I think it might be good preparation for the future when it's likely many adulss who are kids today may be working from home. If you haven't learned how to stay on task when there are tempting distractions like video games and TV and snacking, you may be at a disadvantage in a future when most workers may be expected to produce without a supervisor hanging over their shoulders every minute.

I think the bad part is that kids don't learn to interact and do team projects that are important skills to learn before entering the workforce.

CriticalBill wrote: I think the bad part is that kids don't learn to interact and do team projects that are important skills to learn before entering the workforce.

Actually, this is pretty easy to arrange.

we have a few pwople we know that have home schooled/web schooled.
For the most part they are smart, but they have no social skills and immature for their age (teens).
1 is even scary as in sociopath.

We had a very good experience with our grandson and K-12 COVA on-line school. He went from nearly not graduating high school to completing a year and half worth of school in one year, with a solid B average that final year. He did have to take extra classes via a high school extension program through BYU.
I agree with AV’s statement “I found online schooling to demand a lot MORE in the way of discipline” and that is exactly what this kid needed. Luckly that was something we were able to provide.