Building Blogs Fifteen; So here we are..

So here we are into the second half our the school year with OCA.  Things are going great.  We are where we should be with assignments and grading.  We are actually now even to the point where I hear "Mom can we do school already?" in the mornings before breakfast is even over!

We just had a Valentine's party recently, with cookies, valentine's and crafts.  All the fine celebration ammenetities.  We made a bag to keep the Valentine's so that we can later distribute to all her little friends.  We also are in the middle of our Black History Month celebrations.  Learning about the past and all of those who made incredible inpacts in our history.

I think about how many months ago, I was stressing about what school she would go to and if it would work out okay.  Now she is typing, reading, writting, adding, subtracting and even doing some of it in Spanish.  So today I can safely say, we made the right choice with this school.  Now we patiently await for spring, and more field trips to come!

Building Blogs Fourteen; It's contagious!

When we first began with Connections Academy, the online school was a fairly new thing to my community.  Homeschool in any manner was not the typical idea, but my family was determined that there were better options to suit our needs out there.  Finally we took the plunge with OCA.

I must say, even I was nervous in the beginning.  I was not about to breathe that to anyone however.  Confidence was key to making this go well, and the staff at OCA made everything easy for us.  We got our materials, looked over the site and immediately started to brag. Yes, we had bragging rights!

Here we are going into the second half of the year.  We have our schedule down and know our routine.  We are comfortable with the school and yes, are still very pleased with it and it shows.

We have now recruited other children to OCA as well.  My hope is that they enjoy the school as much as we do.  I will be there for support of the parents, as in our community, criticsm still exists, as unfortunate as it is.

So cheers to the second half of the year and may the kids who have joined have a great school year!
Our OCA spirit is contagious!

Building Blogs Thirteen; Wow what a break!

I haven't wrote here in, well what seems to me as a long time anyway.  The holidays are always very busy for our family.  We celebrate many different times, as we have a long distance family.  School was on break for us and we are currently finishing up the middle of the year finishing grades. 

Now for the hump!  It seems with all of the excitement that has surrounded us previously, it's hard to get back into the swing of things again.  Today was a bit rough.  Paper work is no fun, for anyone.  We have found a way to make it fun however.  For every good day that she does her paper work with no complaints, we have a reward bag.  She gets to draw one, very extra fun thing for us to do.  Now she excited to do the paper work, woohoo!  Let's hope the excitement lasts!

Building blogs twelve: Where oh where has all the time gone, Oh where oh where could it be?

It's been a while since I've wrote here.  Things have been very busy.  At some points, I believe my sanity even ran away and hid without me.  Then, when I sit down and just think about what all has happened in the past few months, I become grateful that we're still alive and well.

We had our first experiences with online school planning and dealing with doctor's appointments and funerals.  It really didn't go that bad.  You see, that is the some of the beauty I am finding with this school option.  Not only were we able to work through our personal times, but we were able to flex our schedule so that we did not have to take any time off either.

I must say for myself, the hardest part is remembering to log on and record the attendance.  But I am proud of myself that I have been able to do this, every single day that it was needed.  Now I know, that if I can do this, anyone can.

Pledge of allegiance, all by herself :)

Building blogs eleven: Oh to fall in love

I think we have fell in love with this school.  Sounds corny, but it's true.  This school has everything to offer a family.  We are taking full advantage of it all and trying to be very active.

My little one is all signed up for Book it!  Remember that program? Read books and get pizza?  That is every child's dream.  I remember doing that and I can't wait to see my little one's face, the first time she gets a pizza for reading.

Also, the You Earned It! program is awesome.  I discovered it yesterday and was taken in awe by it.  How cool is that, that your student can earn points just by doing things like orientation and LEAP and in turn be rewarded? Also, they can turn in their points to help others who are need, such as bottles of water or shoes overseas.  How many public schools do you know, can say that they do that? ;)

Building blogs ten: I'm not that mom..

It's funny because I have ran into quite a few people who think I'm crazy for choosing the online public school option, verses the traditional Bricks and Mortar setting.  Now, I will tell you their reasoning.  The same statements follow their judgements with, "school is my break away from the kids" as they giggle.

Now you see, I'm not that mom.  I don't see school as a vacation from my children.  As a family, we researched and interviewed many families of different school settings before we made our final decision.  Once we were set with OCA, we knew it was right for us.  I enjoy being able to know what my child is doing in school, having that direct contact with the school and especially, not arguing with a child about homework (our work is done!).

There are a lot of things I could say that we enjoy over the traditional school.  No school buses, no waiting for her to come home late in the afternoon, no asking her what she learned and getting an I don't know answer, no conversations of who wore what and who is so and so's best friend, no stories of who got beat up on the playground.. although some of these we will eventually deal with anyway, because we do have social events routinely, it is not part of my daily worries.

I could go on and on in comparison.  For now, I won't.  I will leave that for a later building blogs post.  I will just say, that I don't apreciate the parents that use a school system as a sitter.  I feel very strongly that you should care and show support in your child's education, in your child overall.  And really, these parents should take a few steps back while judging me.. and take a minute to look in the mirror.  I am not saying all parents who put they're children in traditional school settings use a school for a sitter, I'm saying the ones that judge others because they admittingly do- are.

Moral of the story.. be careful of what you say, before you say it.  Because you might in turn be calling yourself out, instead.