This year has brought a lot of cyber school changes that have proved difficult for many families. For example several online schools now require the children to attend live sessions with a certified teacher in addition to completing their lessons and assignments. The benefit of this is that the children get the chance to work with a teacher who can assist their understanding and check to make sure that they are grasping the material and making progress. This also gives the children a chance to work with the other students and make friends with their classmates. The big drawback however is that making this required rather than optional is creating a problem for families who do not do school work during those hours. I interviewed one mother who said that she works as a nurse and her schedule varies so much that it was a deciding factor in homeschooling her daughter. She felt that providing education at home would give her the flexibility she needed with work. However now that her daughter has to be online at certain times, she is no longer able to get the hours she needs at work or she has to hire a babysitter who may not be able to handle her daughter's lessons during class time. Another major issue is that most cyber school require in person assessments several times a year. I spoke with a family recently who said that they were told only two days before one of these assessments and they had to drive nearly three hours to the testing site. When they got there their child had to wait another two hours until it was his turn to do the assessment. These are just some of the major challenges that parents are facing this year. In light of these recent events the Home School Cyber School Alliance is working to provide an advocacy service where they will act as a neutral mediator between schools and parents to work through these solutions and find solutions that benefit all parties involved.
Whether you are a new student to cyber school education or an old pro there are a few things you need to do to prepare for the all important first day of school. First off make sure that you have a copy of your school's schedule including the start date, vacation days and exam information if it is available. These things can often be confusing as most cyber schools allow students to work ahead giving them access to lessons before school and during vacation times. This gives the appearance of a regular school day but you will not be allowed to enter attendance. Knowing ahead of time when exam dates are is an advantage for parents who need to arrange their schedules. Also you need to get to know your school's policies including attendance, etiquette and lesson completion. For example some school require that students work with a teacher online in addition to completing their daily plan, while others are more flexible in this area. Remember to take your time and work through each lesson. It may seem overwhelming at first but you can do it. If you get stuck you can contact your teachers for help or feel free to contact the Home School Cyber School Alliance. We offer professional online tutoring for both students and parents for only $5.00 per hour as opposed to the $20 to $50 that for profit companies charge. As a nonprofit our fees only go to help cover operating costs. We do this simply to benefit the students.
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