No matter how much I want to stomp my feet in protest of being “forced” to teach LuLu, the reality is that the new Georgia Virtual Academy, which uses the K12 curriculum, really is working for us. And, from what I can tell, is working for lots of other children with disabilities as well.

I have a dear friend who enrolled her son in GVA this fall, after he made the leap to middle school and they were, once again, teaching him first grade curriculum. Although he’s behind academically, he didn’t test that far behind on GVA’s testing, and his mom reports that he’s progressing nicely, while they have the time to pursue the therapies he needs to help him even further. In otherwords, his mild impairments are not really holding him back academically, but his years in a self-contained classroom where he was not being taught grade-level curriculum have definitely put him behind.

There are countless other stories of how and why GVA is working for other families. In our case, flexibility becomes the key. LuLu is going through a lot right now. Her recent hospitalizations really did not change anything for her behaviorally, but gave us a chance to clear our heads and realize that there are definite issues hormonally and in her digestive system.

So, in addition to dealing with her variable behaviors, we now have a whole truckload of blood tests, doctors appointments and other procedures on the schedule (and I’m trying to squeeze them into 2007 since our deductible has already been met). And we’re doing another med change because her private psychiatrist isn’t satisfied with the hospital’s regime – me neither!

Meanwhile, LuLu has developed chronic stomachaches, usually right after she eats and her sleep pattern is interrupted, so she’s getting up early, but then wearing out during the day.

But that’s the beauty of virtual school. We do it when she’s ready. This morning, for example, she was up at 5:15! Normally I get up at 6 am, blog, answer emails, read the paper and am ready to wake her between 8 and 9 and start school. But today, I turned my schedule on its head. We did 30 minutes of math while breakfast was cooking and finished it afterwards (by 7 am). Then we started another subject and her tiredness set in. She’s napping right now.

We’ll resume class when she awakes. If she has meltdowns, we’ll wait. Evenings, weekends…whatever it takes.

Georgia Virtual Academy is a public school (charter school), so it is subject to the same attendance rules as all public schools. That means children attend schools 180 days and 5th graders like LuLu have 5 hours of school work a day. But this doesn’t mean everyday between 8 am and 2 pm. This means 25 hours a week, whenever it suits your schedule. So if we have a 10:30 doctor’s appointment, or need a nap at 1 pm, so be it.
Now the homeschoolers are saying that they don’t need a public virtual school for flexibility. And that’s true. So what does GVA offer us that would make it better for our family than homeschooling? The answer is curriculum and teacher support for free. Not to mention the services that are written into her IEP (speech and OT)…just like a public school.

K12’s curriculum is awesome. It is comprehensive and very challenging. We are especially having fun with the language arts and science portions. The history is mega-challenging. And there are all kinds of extras, including study skills. The only thing I wish is that the state of Georgia had allowed the inclusion of the music and art curricula available through K12, because that’s not yet part of GVA’s program.

The program has a built in 85% mastery component, meaning that a child must master a concept before it is counted as complete. And the decision for promotion to the next grade is based on having mastered (and 85%) at least 80% of the curriculum by the end of the school year, or over the summer.

And the mom, who is plenty busy raising the child with special needs, has everything laid out for her. I don’t have to worry about whether what I’m teaching is on grade level or meets state standards. I don’t have to worry about how to judge when the child masters the concept…it’s all built into the curriculum.

We have weekly phone consults with LuLu’s special education teacher and talk several times, via email with both her special and general ed teacher. They give suggestions about how to modify things to help her or how to enrich the work or present it in different ways if she’s struggling. The general ed teacher also teaches classes via a teleconferencing tool on the computer that LuLu can log into and participate. And the school sets up field trips as well, so that the children, parents and teachers can meet in person. So, it is, in LuLu’s words “a real school”.

Our “real school” experience today included a lesson from her teacher on letter writing. She was the only one in the classroom for a while, so the lesson was very tailored. We need to get a microphone for our computer so she can answer the questions verbally. Now, she has to practice letter writing and she’s happily off doing that! She just got a “real assignment” from her “real teacher”.

What does that make me???? Don’t go there!!