Home Schooling seems to be more pervasive today than when I was a kid.   Back then, home schooling was just for religious fanatics that were too protective of their kids to expose them to learning about sex on the school bus.

As I mentioned in a previous post, our youngest attends school from home.  It isn’t really home schooling in the traditional sense.  He attends a [1] public, state-funded charter school that conducts its classes and instruction on-line, using a parent as the learning coach.   He has a teacher that reviews his assessments, answers questions, and provides on-line or phone based assistance.  Some lessons include a lecture element conducted on-line.  Everything is provided including the books, science lab supplies, and PC with a printer.

What’s the issue?  We have 2 older boys in traditional schools (6th grader in middle school and freshman in high school), and now they are having grass is greener on the other side syndrome.  Our middle child is envious that his younger brother is at home learning when he is at school trying to dodge the kids that are bullying him in the hallway.  The middle child wants to be able to do part of his learning at the coffee shop, and his desire to not be at school has resulted in multiple calls over multiple days in the 1st 3 weeks of school wanting to come home because he didn’t feel well.  Our oldest seems fine being in high school; however, he struggles to remember to complete work and turn in completed work.  Of course there are medications that help him focus, but being home schooled would soften the “turn in your homework” requirement substantially.

The solution sounds simple… let them all attend [2] AZVA.  The questions… does that create more problems or different problems to address.  Will Karen have time for all 3 boys during the day so they are learning effectively?  How will it impact her ability to run her business out of the home?  Will it add to the stress in the household or will it improve the family bonds?  Will the kids get the social interactions they need (remember we live in Disturbia, not the rural countryside)?  Will they miss out on important extracurricular activities?