I know. I was supposed to be posting on a weekly basis, I am going to tell you right now - this isn't easy. If you are signing up for Connections Academy because you think you will have a ton of flexibility and extra time, you won't. It is getting easier, especially the amount of time each lesson is taking, at least with my 2nd grade son. Elementary is more labor intensive for the parent/learning coach than middle school. I have started to find more time to help my 6th grade daughter, learn how to manage her time a bit better, and we are going to delve deeper this week into what she can skip. Trust me, there is quite a bit they can skip. With middle school you just don't get the nice learning guides like you do with elementary.
This is part of online learning guide for page 4 of 9 in LA for tomorrow.
I also have a 1.5 in thick book to accompany this. I also found out from my kids that their teachers had books like the ones I have to accompany each subject for elementary school. When we first started out I was freaking out, sometimes I still do, because there is so much stuff for each lesson. I found out you don't have to do every activity/worksheet, especially if they are already understanding the concept being worked on. Big sigh of relief!
The reason I chose Connections Academy is because I was afraid to jump into straight homeschooling. Let me tell you, if you are signing up because you are afraid to straight homeschool, I have come to the conclusion in 4 short weeks, that homeschooling would be much easier and way more flexible. I am going to stick out this year, it has only been 4 weeks, and I do believe my son is doing much better. Of course they both miss their friends, some of which my son is better off not playing with.
As for socialization, they go to school to learn, except the few short recesses elementary gets. If they socialize during "school time" they get in trouble, so socialization is kind of a moot point. They still go on field trips, and they both still have friends that we get together with. We are actually going to sign them both up for the "Y" homeschool gym program. My son, who is in 2nd grade has chosen 7-weeks of swimming lessons, my daughter in 6th grade is still not sure. She has the option of: gym, strength-training, or swimming. Once we get our schedule nailed down, and class times figured out she wants to start gymnastics again, and we are thinking about putting my son in hockey lessons.
The one thing that has really jumped out at me, is how much more helpful they are starting to become to each other. Amazing, and my 4-year-old is learning.
So. Things I have learned 4 weeks in:
We will stick this out through the year, I am curious to see how it ends up playing out. So far, we like it, but it is not as wonderful as I thought it would be and it is definitely not as flexible as they market it. It is definitely a little more flexible than a regular B&M school.
I also have a 1.5 in thick book to accompany this. I also found out from my kids that their teachers had books like the ones I have to accompany each subject for elementary school. When we first started out I was freaking out, sometimes I still do, because there is so much stuff for each lesson. I found out you don't have to do every activity/worksheet, especially if they are already understanding the concept being worked on. Big sigh of relief!
The reason I chose Connections Academy is because I was afraid to jump into straight homeschooling. Let me tell you, if you are signing up because you are afraid to straight homeschool, I have come to the conclusion in 4 short weeks, that homeschooling would be much easier and way more flexible. I am going to stick out this year, it has only been 4 weeks, and I do believe my son is doing much better. Of course they both miss their friends, some of which my son is better off not playing with.
As for socialization, they go to school to learn, except the few short recesses elementary gets. If they socialize during "school time" they get in trouble, so socialization is kind of a moot point. They still go on field trips, and they both still have friends that we get together with. We are actually going to sign them both up for the "Y" homeschool gym program. My son, who is in 2nd grade has chosen 7-weeks of swimming lessons, my daughter in 6th grade is still not sure. She has the option of: gym, strength-training, or swimming. Once we get our schedule nailed down, and class times figured out she wants to start gymnastics again, and we are thinking about putting my son in hockey lessons.
The one thing that has really jumped out at me, is how much more helpful they are starting to become to each other. Amazing, and my 4-year-old is learning.
So. Things I have learned 4 weeks in:
- homeschooling would be easier and more flexible
- they are learning to be a lot more independent
- they are starting to get along better
- I feel they are learning more than they were, more one on one time.
- We can say "screw it" if we want to, and take more breaks or longer breaks (big plus)
- they do move just as fast as regular B&M schools, they have to keep up
- the parent support network is amazing, extremely helpful!
- if you like extreme structure - this may be for you. If you want flexibility you would be better straight homeschooling.
We will stick this out through the year, I am curious to see how it ends up playing out. So far, we like it, but it is not as wonderful as I thought it would be and it is definitely not as flexible as they market it. It is definitely a little more flexible than a regular B&M school.