To make a long story short, I had Brhiannon in a cyber school for one week. I took it on good faith that the claims of “individualized” curriculum to meet the needs of the child were exactly that. They aren’t. This is our third try with a public cyber school since we first started homeschooling three years ago.
Once again it became evident that “individualized” actually meant only a very small sliding scale of grades - a difference of one grade - and only in specific circumstances. There’s actually very little leeway, unless your child is special ed.
I had been warned ahead of time. A special ed teacher who had worked for that school, told me the teachers referred to themselves as “naggers” and that their main job was to call and “keep the kids on track”. She, also, told me that unless Brhiannon was evaluated as having a learning disability, there would be no real modification of the curriculum.
Dyslexia is not legally recognized as a learning disability. She would be expected to do everything and in a timely manner, in addition to reading remediation.
I was told this by the head of special ed, as well, which struck me as rather odd, since the remedial reading program I would have used has its own methodology which differed from the regular curriculum.
I did not keep Brhiannon in long enough to be evaluated, but long enough to clearly see that the emphasis was on teaching to the test. The goal was to enable children to score well on those state mandated tests, the PSSA’s, and the importance of using programs designed specifically for that - Study Island and Skills Tutor.
It’s one thing to use them as supplements or enhancements. It’s another to make them a central part of your studies. But when getting a good report card - for the school - is of paramount importance, that’s what shapes your child’s curriculum.
I have different goals for my child.
Actually, I wanted to pull her out after the first day. Much to her credit, Brhiannon wanted to give it more time. It took her from morning to late at night to do each day’s work. But she did it diligently. At the end of the week, she was satisfied with her efforts, but she realized this would leave her no time for theater or dance or anything else.
She chose to go back to traditional homeschooling. I was thrilled.
And concerned, because I was afraid it would go back to the way it was, with her father refusing to let me teach her during the week day, when I worked in the evening.
I shared with him my findings, the conclusions I had drawn as a result of three years of documented observation and what I learned about dyslexia. That’s a whole other post. He doesn’t believe she is dyslexic, but he has been much better about driving her to town for me to teach her on a more regular basis. Not always - I won’t get her tomorrow during the day, because he said, “I’m not going to drive here and just hang around.” - but certainly more than the previous years.
This has benefited her immensely. I hope it doesn’t revert back to the way it was before.
Still, having her in a cyber school for the sole purpose of hoping her father would be more mindful of her education isn’t worth the type of education and pressure she’d be placed under.
So we’ll just do it this way, and see how it goes.
Tags: cyber school, dyslexia, special ed
