A meeting to learn more about the benefits of enrolling in the Virtual Academy “School@Home†program is planned for Tuesday, Jan. 5, for families who home school their children, and others interested in learning more about other virtual opportunities. The free informational session tomorrow is from 6-7:30 p.m. (ET) at the Jasper Public Library Annex Meeting Room, 1116 Main Street, Jasper IN.
The School@Home program is available for students in kindergarten through 12th grade and uses online curriculum that meets all of the State of Indiana’s academic standards. For high school students, Apex Learning provides the online coursework. This digital curriculum takes advantage of the power of technology to create active learning experiences that keep students attentive and engaged as they read, watch, listen, inquire, write, discuss, and manipulate. Multimedia tutorials provide students with opportunities to explore and understand new concepts, allowing each student to move at his or her own pace. Information is presented in “chunks†consistent with the way students read successfully on the web. Students are required to make decisions as they progress through the material. Prompts and interactive exercises give students frequent opportunities to check their understanding and apply what they learn.
The K-8 curriculum includes lessons designed by the teachers utilizing the Compass Learning software and teacher created lessons for project based assignments. The teachers work closely with students and parents to ensure students achieve mastery of each assignment. The high school curriculum utilizes Apex Learning software to provide mastery based learning for high school credits including core courses, elective courses, and Advanced Placement courses in English, World Language, Social Studies, and Mathematics.
School@Home students can turn to their teachers for help and guidance. Shannon Souder, a parent of an 8th grade student currently enrolled in the School@Home program, says that whenever help is needed, it’s only a phone call away. “That’s one of the things I really like about this program. It is not so large, that we can’t get help when we need it. We can call or sometimes we do a ‘Google Hangout’ and talk with the teacher face to face. They also provide tips for us as the resource person to help us when working with our children.â€
Janet Leistner, director of the program, says she and the teachers also work with students to help them be accountable and to plan specific time frames each day in which to do the coursework.
