H, M and MAVA

We are well into our school year for H and M and really happy with our choices. M is going to "Federated" in town and H is enrolled in the first ever Massachusetts Virtual Academy (MAVA). M is so happy to be in school even though he informed us after his first day that he "had a great day at school and he's all done, he's learned everything he needs to know and doesn't have to go back again." He was pretty disappointed to find out he was going every Tues. and Thurs. until summer. Now he's made lots of friends and absolutely loves his school, teachers and new friends!

I think Preschool/Nursery School is important. Having the kids go to school 2-3 days a week and experiencing a fun, relaxed learning environment is very important. Honor was in Preschool for a while and after her school moved we decided to keep her home and join a group of homeschooling moms. This was a choice to 1) save money and 2) get more involved in what and how she was learning. I'm so grateful to my homeschool co-op moms and families. We have such an awesome time together and it's so fantastic to have the kids learn and play each week.

So when August came around we were getting ready to send H to all day Kindergarten. She was excited, I was excited, we went to meet her teacher earlier in the summer, we knew what number bus she was going to take to school. Then about a week before school was going to start Darren got an email from a homeschool curriculum called K12 announcing they partnered with a public school in Mass. (just as they have in many other states) and were offering MAVA for grades k-8. After a quick discussion about this amazing opportunity we decided to apply. For us the pros out weigh the cons of doing school at home. MAVA is very firm on the fact that this is school at home, not home schooling. It is still a Mass. public school, H has a teacher, the curriculum is laid out for us and I am considered her "Learning Coach." She is still subject to all the standardized testing that she would have if in a "brick and mortar" school.

Pros:

Being involved in H's education

Having an amazingly diverse curriculum available at our fingertips

Not worrying if Art, Music, Science, etc will be cut from the curriculum

Spending as much or as little time on a lesson as she needs, not her classmates

Not worrying about the new illness spreading through the school

Not having my life run by the bus schedule

Not having to worry about what to pack for lunch

Not having to buy school supplies

Not having H experience situations that she might not be ready for

Not having to worry if she's being bullied or being a bully

I could go on and on I'm sure but those are the ones on the top of my list

Cons:

Scheduling

Easily being overwhelmed

Not giving H the traditional school experience

I'm not going to put the fact that she's not getting the socialization at home as she would in school on the list because I don't believe that's a factor. I've gotten the question....."Why homeschool? Just to keep her home with you?" Nope, if I could find a comparable curriculum in a school nearby that could accomplish in a day what I do as a "Learning Coach" and was free I would send her there! Since that's not a choice we'll settle for MAVA!

It's definitely not for everyone, it's a huge commitment! I'm definitely attracted to the thought of being able to put her on a bus at 8am and not worry about her until I need to get her off the bus at 3p. But then I think that's an awful long time for a 5 year old to be gone! Then being able to squeeze all those hours into about 2-3 hours throughout the day pushes that previous thought right out of my head! Then on the other side of the coin I'm very attracted to unschooling and letting H determine what she wants to learn about. Luckily we are still able to do this to a point and our homeschool co-op mommas also help the free flowing ideas and fluid learning still happen each week.

I love that we have control over the schedule with MAVA also. I can pick vacation days, I can choose to do lessons on the weekend, I can decide what days to learn which subjects and how many lessons to do on that day. It has worked out amazingly well for us! We do all the week's Math lessons on Monday, the week's worth of Language Arts on Tuesday, Science on Wednesday, Phonics on Thursday and History and Social Studies on Friday. Art, P.E. and Music are scattered throughout the week which is fun since the boys love to get involved with those too.

Overall it's been a huge adjustment but then again, it hasn't. Scheduling is the biggest issue and I know the lessons will get more involved the older she gets but one of the things that I LOVE not having to deal with is......HOMEWORK!