Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Has anyone had any experience with online public schools? My wife and I are seriously debating this as we are none to pleased with the schools in Georgia and feel the teachers are worthless. My wife is a former teacher so we feel by having our students learn online she may be able to assist them more than she could with public schools. Would love to hear experiences and those who know people who have attended online elementary schools. Thanks..
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh My kids both graduated from a Connections Academy school. My son graduated a year early and my daughter graduated two years early, both with honors. They both were awarded very large merit scholarships to a prestigious university. Online school was great for our family - it allowed us to travel on many vacations off season as well as attend many events for their youth groups. Of course, we occasionally had to hang around our hotel room at Disneyland or Disneyworld while they completed an assignment or were on a live lesson, but that wasn't so bad.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I have no experience with online High School education. Online For-Profit College Education (University of Phoenix, etc), run like hell. You will pay outrageous prices for a degree that no one respects. I never made that mistake, but unfortunately some I love have. They have enormous student loan debt for a degree that is worthless.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh The online school my kids attended didn't cost us anything. It was a public charter school sponsored by a school district in our state. I think that is the way most, if not all, Connections Academy schools work. They are in several states. I don't know if they have competition.
Originally Posted By Donny My son is doing his freshmen year online and I will tell you it can be an adjustment.He will tell you there is more work then sitting in a classrom but if your kid is self motivated and has a good support group (You and your wife) then he or she can excel.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<My wife is a former teacher...>> This is the difference that typically makes or breaks online learning/home schooling. It's not true in every instance. But many kids fair poorly without a structured classroom environment run by a professional. As for keeping kids out of public school... I'm curious as to why two of the most conservative posters on these boards have or had kids schooled at home. Most conservatives I've known through my professional contacts in education did the home schooling thing to 'protect' their kids from 'liberal brainwashing' in the classroom. I'm thinking that's the actual reason conservatives keep their kids at home.
Originally Posted By Donny My son was suppose to go live with his Mother for a year but came back early so instead of him enrolling halfway into the school year we signed him up for online.
Originally Posted By ecdc I have no experience with online or alternative elementary education, although I would say the most recent research shows that charter schools usually fare no better, on average, than public schools in testing, later graduation rates, etc. Obviously individual schools can vary wildly, with some charter schools being extremely successful, and others doing very poorly. But as a whole, charter schools have not been the educational revolution some of their most ardent supporters have said they would be. With for-profit schools, I'd only echo what RT said. I'd warn anyone against going to a for-profit university like Strayer, University of Phoenix, etc. Until the last few years these schools have operated without much attention. Thankfully they've been the subject of more investigative journalism, and it's been revealed just how much they gouge people, how little people actually learn, how they especially prey on veterans, and how a degree from one lacks almost any benefit. I've had some friends go to these "schools" - it's been really hard to watch. They are (rightly) proud of themselves and feel accomplished for getting a degree, and they're convinced their life is going to change. They're stunned to find out in job interviews or applications just what little regard there is for a degree from one of these schools but they're still saddled with tens-of-thousands of dollars in debt. In a day when undergraduate degrees and even law degrees from established, mainstream universities are even being questioned for their value, avoiding these schools is a must.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder I know of a director of a rather local large governmental agency who obtained a Phd from Walden University within the last few years. At first glance you'd think the name was a joke from Doonesbury, but it's an actual online school based in Minnesota. Walden claims Bill Clinton gave the commencement speech one year. How does that happen with an online school? Skype?
