Any Homeschoolers here?

[Cori]

Hi there, I am new to the site and my family is planning a move to Ohio in the next year, so I was wondering if there were any homeschoolers on the boards here?

[Kent]

I've home schooled my son who is now a junior for the last three years. I enrolled him in ECOT which is an online HS that also offers on-site locations around the state and is based in Columbus, Ohio. So far I've been impressed with his overall work except for being a typical teenager.

[Cori]

Oh that is cool! I have heard of ECOT before. When I was doing my research that school came up. It is almost like Connections Academy. Now let me ask you...through ECOT are you allowed to go at your own pace or do the kids have a set amount of work that has to be done each day? When we were with CA they had a set amount each day and there was no room for exploring the subject and you couldn't take a few extra's days to really absorb the material. So if a child fell behind they would really be in trouble. The reason I was asking is because I was really considering putting my kids in there, but if it's like CA I may pass lol

[Kent]

The have some guidelines of which one is they're to be logged in a min of 5 hours a day. From what I've seen my son doing, they do provide a decent search engine to find things and research. Also, for those that can complete the assignments faster they can log off when the work is done. That's one area I'm not realy happy with because he can be done in less than an hour, and maybe it's just me but I'd like to see him do more than that.
They use the modular system like a large amount of regular schools do, so they focus on one area in detail for 9 weeks and then tackle the others. And you and your kids can take on more than what's required if you wish. I think all in all they allow plenty of time to do the work, maybe to much, so if you go that route you might want to give them a push to take on more than what is required.

The only downside I've seen so far is the lack or peer involvement on a daily basis, and of course what most schools require in PE isn't there, so unless a kid is motivated or the parent is, they won't get that either.
The upsides? They provide each student with their own PC, Monitor and printer and they pay for broadband so you don't have to have wireless and routers. They also have safeguards to keep them off sites they shouldn't be on. They have all the same things a normal school does, just have to use them via the net and emails and phone calls when needed.
Also as I said, they do have local outlets for tutoring and special events in various areas as well. I'm lucky as they have one where we live which made it a easy ride when he has to do mandatory test and such. And while the kid won't like it, as long as you have access to a PC, they can log on and do their work even on vacations and trips.

[Peggy]

Another thing I like is that they can do schoolwork during the summer as well. I have always hated that 3 months off deal. Not because he's home either, as some parents are, but because after that looooong break, it takes him the first month or so of school to get back into the swing of things. And being an Asperger kid, they hate any kind of change in their routine/schedule, much more so than the average child.

This will help with that concern quite a bit.

[Cori]

Thank you Kent for explaining that! It actually sounds nice! Much better than CA. I'll have to really look into it more when I come up.

Peggy, I school year round with my kids anyway for the same reasons you stated. They tend to forget a lot of information during that break too. We school for 5 weeks then take a week off. It works out very nicely and fits in well with the major holidays :D Over the Summer I give them 2-3 weeks off then they do light school until September. They seem to love this and I also get the break I need lol