Steven Helmer Publications

I think it ended up being a great decision. Granted, pulling a child out of a traditional school setting in favor of taking their classes online isn't something that is going to work for everyone. But, while I had my doubts when we pulled the trigger following her freshman year of high school, it was definitely the right choice for her. First of all, her grades have improved considerably. She went from barely passing her classes to A's and B's with high marks both on tests and homework (the latter was her primary issue). She feels the lessons are much easier to follow without constant distractions from kids who don't want to learn (a huge problem for her last year) and, if she doesn't understand something, she can get almost immediate help from the teacher or can just watch the video replay of the class. She is also a heck of a lot less stressed than she was last year. She doesn't have to worry about forgetting something in her locker or only having three ...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we decided to pull my oldest daughter out of high school and, instead, home school her using an online virtual school. Today is the last day of her first week and, so far, this is looking like it was a great choice. Image Courtesy of Pixabay There is a night and day difference between this year, her sophomore year, and her freshman year last year. Last year, we had to practically drag her to school and she was stressed and grumpy all the time. This year, she's up and ready without a fight and full of energy. She's also participating in her classroom discussions (done via a chat room) and group projects, two things she pretty much avoided like the plague last year. And, outside of school, she's a completely different person, laughing, talking and seeming to enjoy life. In fact, the only real drawback we're seeing so far is she's got a lot more free time than we're used to her having. The virtual school is structured...