K12, a distance learning school with strong academic credentials, has partnered with the Nelson County School District (and others across the country) to offer online education to homeschoolers.
According to an article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (12/10/06), the virtual school is available to students throughout Virginia (contact the Nelson County School system for more information).
As always, there are concerns about getting entangled in the government's web, and about sitting a child in front of the computer for extensive periods of time, but for some families, this may be a solution that works.
Many people are enthusiastic about K12's curriculum, which is based on the Core Knowledge series written by E.D. Hirsch. This means a greater-than-usual emphasis on solid, traditional learning, including the use of good classic literature.
I'll be looking forward to getting some feedback from parents who have participated in the program!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Virginia Homeschool Law Updates
There were two articles in the December 5, 2006 Richmond Times-Dispatch that effectively summarized recent changes in the homeschool law and discussed their impact on homeschoolers.
The first article, Helping Homeschoolers (they used the archaic spelling, home-schoolers), appeared on the front page of the Metro Section, and included positive comments from several homeschool parents.
The second article appeared on page 3 of the same section. Titled "Religious Exemptions Rise," the article included statistics on home instruction in each of the Virginia counties, as well as statistics on how many students choose to homeschool under the religious exemption law.
Thanks to staff writer, Holly Prestidge, both articles seem to be well-researched, and present homeschooling in a balanced way. The boxes and sidebars that were included provide extra information in an interesting and usable format.
It would have been nice if links to the websites of Virginia's primary homeschool organization, Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV), as well as the other organizations mentioned, could have been included, but as they can be easily found online or through directory assistance, that is a minor quibble. Overall, this was a positive and informative presentation, and worthy of sharing!
The first article, Helping Homeschoolers (they used the archaic spelling, home-schoolers), appeared on the front page of the Metro Section, and included positive comments from several homeschool parents.
The second article appeared on page 3 of the same section. Titled "Religious Exemptions Rise," the article included statistics on home instruction in each of the Virginia counties, as well as statistics on how many students choose to homeschool under the religious exemption law.
Thanks to staff writer, Holly Prestidge, both articles seem to be well-researched, and present homeschooling in a balanced way. The boxes and sidebars that were included provide extra information in an interesting and usable format.
It would have been nice if links to the websites of Virginia's primary homeschool organization, Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV), as well as the other organizations mentioned, could have been included, but as they can be easily found online or through directory assistance, that is a minor quibble. Overall, this was a positive and informative presentation, and worthy of sharing!
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