Back to School with the GCA 2015-2016! August 10th-14th
Well, it’s that time of year again! Time for our kids to go back to school! Or in most of our cases, having something educational and constructive to do on the internet instead of chit-chatting or play games. 
This year, I am down to having two kids in the program; a daughter in the 8th grade, and a son in the 9th.
So what’s new for us?
Well for starters, we’ve got new equipment!
As most of you know, if you have more than one child in the program and they are in the same school (elementary, middle, or high school), and are eligible to receive a computer from the school, you only get one. Your responsible for securing another computer for the second student to use, or else you have to work out sharing. When we started the middle school program during the 2013/2014 school year, both of my youngest kids were in middle school. We recieved a desk top computer and printer which was primarily used by my son, while my daughter used a laptop or one of the other desktop computers we had at home. Last year, my oldest daughter decided to complete her 12th grade year in the GCA instead of going back to the B&M Magnet Arts school she’d been attending for three years. As a high school student, she was eligible for a laptop. Once she graduated, the laptop was returned to the school.
But this year, we had options…
Computers:
Since my son is no longer in middle school, the desktop computer that was assigned to him needed to be returned. As a high school student, he is now has a laptop which is given to high school students. When I contacted the school in regards to returning his desktop, I was advised to keep it and it would be assigned to my daughter who is still in middle school. Because we’d had that laptop for nearly two years, I asked to return it and have a new one sent to my daughter…mainly because last year, that desktop computer had too many issues, and trying to have them resolved by the K12 Tech department didn’t really fix anything. We still had issues with viruses. Besides, electronics wear down over the years and I wanted her to start off with her own, brand new, never been used computer.
My son received a brand new laptop, which made my recent high school graduate jealous! The laptop she got last year didn’t have all the fun bells and whistles as this new one. The bells and whistles being a built in camera and really cool headphones. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to make a kid smile.
First Week of School:
If it’s not your first time in the GCA, you know that just like the first week of B&M schools, it’s hectic, crazy, and out of order! New and returning students have to get acquainted with a new set of teachers, course curriculum, and schedule. Classes are reassigned multiple times and so are homerooms. Councilors are called upon to ease some of the tension, answer questions, and get kids situated in the right class. As for teachers, getting a chance to meet their new students, have assignments, and course layout is key. And, like B&M schools, unless your at the top of the class (meaning in the final grade level of the school or your a student who already has a history in the school), you probably spend a majority of the time sitting in class, talking about your summer and don’t have any assignments because its impossible to get started when everyone doesn’t have what they need. I say this because if your student didn’t have any class assignments except for logging in to get the orientation for each class, it’s okay! They are not behind and they are not failing! It’s just the first week of school and there is always a learning curve! Take a deep breath, calm down, and don’t stress! If your new to the program, so is your student. If you stress about it, your student will stress and that can make the entire experience of not attending public school more stressful than actually attending public school!
***Remember…most of us decided to pull our kids out of their regular school because of teachers, bullying, worrying about our kids safety, and a myriad of other reasons. Let’s not be the ones to make what should be a painless experience one our kids dislike!***
Classwork:
8th Grade….
As I said above, if your student is returning to GCA and already has a history in the program, their first week of school should have been a busy one. My daughter started in the school when she was halfway through her 6th grade year. This year, her first day of school was with a full schedule, starting at 8:30 am and ending around 12:30 pm. During that time she attending classes, was assigned work to do in class and in-between the start time for the next class. Her days generally finished around 1:30 to 2:00 because she was able to get a lot of work done during class. Since the Study Island and USA Test Prep weren’t up, she didn’t have any outside assignments that would take her longer to do. I’d say she had an amazing first week of school! Unlike last year, (if you haven’t read my last blog post about that particular experience…sigh, follow this link) she is determined not to repeat. One of the comments she said that made me smile and have hope that this will indeed be a better year was when she said, “I was able to finish most of my work during the class period which meant I didn’t need to go back after my last online class to do homework. I like that.” Yes my friends, if she keeps this up, 8th grade should be a lot less painless for everyone!!!!!
9th Grade…
Well, it’s the first year in a virtual high school, how else was it supposed to go? Crazy, that’s for sure! The first day, my son only had 3 classes on his schedule, mostly after 8:30 am. As the week went on, the schedule changed to only one orientation to attend and that wasn’t until 1:30 in the afternoon. Instead of stressing about it, my son played around on the computer and discovered the ORN tab. What that did was basically walk him through the ‘day in a life’ of each class subject. He got to read, answer questions, discover exactly where he’ll have to go to find the appropriate text books, videos, and other information for his classes. Unlike middle school, high school doesn’t come with a box load of books. The only shipments he received were his laptop, art supplies, math book, and literature books…everything else will be available online. Because he has a problem with math, he tested for and was accepted in the Fundamentals of Algebra class, which I think is a great idea! I’m glad the state is trying out this new math class. I remember being in the 9th grade, failing my Algebra class, and having to do summer school. Uhh! If they would have had a program like this during school, it would have made life that much easier! So, we’ll see where this goes. Now all we’re waiting for is for his Science class to be assigned and for the Art class to come off the schedule.
***I saw a parent on FB mention looking for one of the books they did not receive on Amazon, and I was like, ‘wow’. The beauty of taking the online classes is that they know what curriculum our kids need to have in order to be successful. They only ship what we need. If the work is available online, let’s go for it, it’s called Going Green!***
What I did like….
The middle school schedule outline! This is new! I like how they have outlined what the students day should look like! If your student follows the outline, participates in each live class everyday, they will stay on top of their work. I like the fact that lunch time and breaks or catch-up time is factored in between each live class. I also like the fact that they show a student when they should focus on working on Study Island and USA Test Prep assignments…after lunch where it’s more like homework instead of in-class work.
First Week in a Nutshell…
…not bad at all! That’s not to say craziness won’t come up, but I’m happy. My kids have a full understanding of what it is they need to do this year if they want to be successful. Last year, they pushed it, this year, they plan to be successful…only time will tell. But regardless, one of the main things we as parents of home schooled kids need to remember:
We made the decision to bring our kids home and give them a different way to learn. Its not going to be the same.
Every day won’t be an eight hour day of school work.
It’s okay to miss a live class, that’s why they have videos.
Class doesn’t always have to begin at 8:30 am and can indeed end at 12:00 am.
As long as your children are participating, completing the assignments, and asking for help when they need it from teachers and counselors, your going to be okay!
Now…who’s ready for week two?
**UPDATE**: Tuesday, August 18th: My 8th graders classes are still going strong; my 9th graders full course load starts today and he has everything I need. Much thanks to his councilor who has reached out to me several times since Monday to make sure he was on the right educational track!
How did the first week of school go for you? Comment below!
PS: To all of my GCA Parents, I’m on the Facebook GCA 8th Grade and 9th Grade private pages as M.j.Kane. I look forward to chatting with you!
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