HEM’s Questions & Answers – September-October 2009
I have been homeschooling for eight years now. Lately I have been looking for an umbrella school/distance learning for my soon to be 8th grader. We are looking for one that allows you to chose your own curriculum. Any information you want to share would be great. -Betsy
I signed my daughter up with Clonlara and have been thrilled to find they not only offer alternative curriculums but positively encourage families to work out of the schoolwork box, to read real books instead of textbooks, to play games, go places, find mentorships, find hobbies and passions which “count” in the transcript somehow. They consider multiple methods and pathways for learning.
My daughter had rather severe dysgraphia for a number of years, so wasn’t able to produce large amounts of written work. Clonlara helped me work around this and encouraged different kinds of production and evidence of learning.
If you still want traditional subjects, they are happy to work with you in that fashion as well. From reading the parent chats and discussion threads I found that families had vastly different ways of approaching homeschool and the whole issue of a child’s “work.” I think Clonlara was just superb at matching families and learning styles and various curricula.
You can find several online schools on web. But be conscious while selecting the best online school. I have searched one site for you – distancelearningu.com . It is a complete source, here you can browse a huge list of online schools. Search over here and best of luck.