Next month many children start heading back to school and many parents are still undecided about which schooling option is right for their families. As a mother of six myself I have definitely felt what you are feeling, however, our family has done private school, virtual/home school, AND public school, so I hope I can offer some guidance to help your family with choosing what's best for you all!
Homeschooling:
For the past 11 years I have home schooled our children on and off, it has been a journey, definitely not an easy one but definitely has its benefits too. There are several different ways this can be done , and honestly a lot is trial and error to find what works best for your family, and your child's learning style. First, you will need to choose whether or not you will register with your county as a homeschooler or register under an umbrella school. To register through the county you will need to fill out an “Intent to home school” form, and submit that to the Brevard County School Board, a form can be found here https://florida-homeschooling.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/NOI.pdf. An umbrella school is an alternative education school that serves to assist and make sure a child's education is meeting the governmental and state requirements. A list of umbrella schools can be found here, https://a2zhomeschooling.com/regional/us/florida/florida_umbrella_schools_homeschooling/, a good FREE option we found was Florida unschoolers, however there are many to choose from!
Some of the pros of homeschooling are a more flexible schedule, more time with family, and getting to choose what your children learn! There are so many curriculum's to choose from, or you can make your own. Below is a list of websites we found useful, some are free, while some have a monthly membership fee :
All in one home school- Full free home school curriculum
Khan Academy- Free curriculum resource for all subjects
Moby Max- helps struggling learners quickly catch up to grade level and closes learning gaps for all your students.
ABC Mouse-helps kids learn to read through phonics, and teaches lessons in math, social studies, art, music, and much more.
Duolingo-Website and apps teaches foreign languages
ABCYA- Educational games for grades PreK through 6 that will keep kids
engaged and having fun.
Prodigy- free, adaptive math game that integrates common-core math (grades 1-8) into a fantasy style game that students love playing.
Teach your monster to read- free, award-winning reading and phonics game.
Virtual school
Our family used virtual school to supplement our homeschooling with classes we did not feel we would be able to teach adequately and /or classes we felt our children needed a little more assistance with. In Brevard we have a couple different options for virtual school, Florida Virtual School (FLVS), and Brevard Virtual School (BVS)
Brevard virtual school- more information can be found on their site at https://www.brevardschools.org/BrevardVirtual.
Florida Virtual School - their program information can be found at https://www.flvs.net/#:~:text=Florida%20Virtual%20School%20(FLVS)%20provides,and%20schools%20around%20the%20world..
Both options offer the same state approved curriculum, taught and guided by state certified teachers! Some of the pros of virtual school are, like homeschool, more time with family and a flexible schedule, but also parents and students will have instructor guidance, and with some programs text book work books and other supplies are provided.
The other options are of course brick and mortar public or private school.
The Brevard County Public Schools are free, and offer many helpful benefits such as free breakfast and lunch if you qualify. Please reach out to your particular school for more information.
To those who wish, private school is also an option and tuition assistance is available to those who may need it through Step Up For Students, who currently offer five different types of scholarships! The application process is fairly easy and for some families, will cover the entire tuition. Information on the program as well as the application can be found at https://www.stepupforstudents.org/. Some of the benefits of brick and mortar schools are peer interaction, in and after school extracurricular activities, and also allows children to receive their education while also allowing their parents and/or guardians to work.
So there you have it! So many options, so many factors, and one big decision to make. I hope that this article helped make that decision a little easier. This for sure is a hard decision for all of us, but trust yourself to make the best possible decision for your family. You as their parents/guardians know exactly what works for your children, trust your gut and choose that option, no matter what those around you are doing or saying!
