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Contents contributed and discussions participated by Brenda Wohlfeil

Brenda Wohlfeil

HSLDA | Homeschooling Thru High School : Curriculum - 2 views

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    I know as teachers we often associate online classes with the public school system. But a market that is growing in online classes is the homeschool market. This webpage gives you an idea of how many online programs already reach the home schooled student. However, According to Brian Ray, PhD, in 2011, there are approximately 2.04 million homeschool students. (https://www.nheri.org/HomeschoolPopulationReport2010.pdf) There is a lot of potential in this market yet for new and engaging classes.
Brenda Wohlfeil

Virtual Learning: A Different Approach to Home Schooling - 4 views

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    Learning at home and using virtual learning for this family was chosen so that their son could learn without all the distractions at school. What kind of children do you think would also benefit from this option?
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    Eric, it is interesting that you are bringing up social interaction. In my experience, many homeschool students are over socialized (if there is such a thing). Because homeschool students can get their work done in much less time than sitting in classes all day long, they have the opportunity to get involved in social activities much more than someone sitting in school all day long. When they were younger, by noon we were done with school work and meeting other families at parks, museums, and various other outings. And this does not include the sports/music/dance/4-H activities we were involved in. Socialization or lack of it was never a problem. Olivia, I know a lot of parents who pulled their kids out of schools because the were diagnosed with ADHD. At home, they thrived in school work. And as I just mentioned above, once they had their work done, they had extra time to use their energy in other ways.
Brenda Wohlfeil

Virtual Schools Provide the Power of Choice - FamilyEducation.com - 6 views

  • Virtual schools provide parents and children, from Oregon to New York and across the globe to Russia and other countries, with access to world-class curricula, myriad teachers, and support, just about anytime and anyplace. Most importantly, virtual schools provide the power of choice.
    • Brenda Wohlfeil
       
      As a prior home school mom, access to curricula at anytime and anyplace was very important.  I needed a curricula that I could take with me to hours of piano lessons and family trips across America. I home schooled my children year-long and took advantage of the many learning opportunities that occurred throughout the year.  Our curricula needed to be flexible and portable.
    • Brenda Wohlfeil
       
      Araceli and Don, Some virtual programs are self-paced. For example, my daughter took classes from Texas Tech ISD for high school. They were all self-paced classes She could start a new class whenever she wanted, and she had a good amount of time to complete each classes. Extensions were also granted with an extra fee, of course. http://www.depts.ttu.edu/uc/k-12/ In a homeschool, parents are really facilitators, especially as the kids get older. (I can't imagine ever giving my kids a lecture. They would have just tuned me out completely. :) Most of my kids learning came from project based learning, although at the time I didn't know there was a name for it.) Homeschool kids take classes at co-ops, on the internet, through distant-learning, using a box curriculum, or using a curriculum parents put together. The parent facilitates the learning by providing the tools needed for the kids to learn and the expectations. It is amazing how these kids learn.
    • Brenda Wohlfeil
       
      Deciding which method best serves their child's unique needs and talents is key here.  Children learn in so many different ways.  If virtual classes focus on only reading passages and answering questions, they will fall short of reaching so many children.  How can virtual classrooms cater to the needs and talents of so many children?
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  • Families facing educational choices need to research all options thoroughly. They must examine their educational priorities in order to determine which features best support their goals. Most importantly, they must decide which method best serves their child's unique needs and talents.
  • Are Virtual Schools a Type of Homeschooling? The answer to this question depends on the virtual school. While most of the learning happens in the home with virtual schools, many of them are public schools without doors. Students who register with a public virtual school are counted as public-school students, not homeschoolers, in their state. These public virtual schools collect ADA (average daily attendance), just like the neighborhood brick-and-mortar school. They offer a standards-based curriculum; require attendance keeping, frequent assessments, and progress reports; and comply with mandated state testing.
    • Brenda Wohlfeil
       
      Take a look at this website for just a short list of online classes for home school familieshttp://a2zhomeschooling.com/home_school_programs/online_homeschooling_programs/
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    I agree with Don. I think from a teacher's perspective, possibly Dr. Butler can give us some insight as to the validity of the problems stated by this teacher with regards to VLE in general.
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