I was talking with a home school mom today and I had never heard of this. She gets paid $1,600 a month for her child's educational needs (i think in the form of reimbursements, not cash). This includes curriculum and extra curricular activities like gymnastics, art, music classes, and field trips (only stipulation is that they won't pay for Christian curriculum, which she buys herself and does not seek reimbursement) . She meets with a school representative once a month and reports on the things they've learned to keep him on track. I have heard we have excellent charter school programs in my district, but I have never heard of this. I asked as many questions as I could from her, but couldn't retain everything she was telling me. She used a lot of jargon that meant nothing to me. Any one know what this is called and how to get started?
(we are in the Capistrano Unified School district)
Thanks Hell on Heals. $1,600 a year sounds more reasonable. Like I said, i was having a hard time retaining all the information, she talked so fast! So far my research shows that this is an on-line home school with access to teachers monitoring your monthly progress via reports on what you've learned, and they administer Star testing.
That may be a way that some charter schools are getting extra money... by having you enroll under them, and then you homeschooling them..... that way they have a larger enrollment, but don't have to hire extra classroom teachers, or pay for a larger facility.
I've never heard of it, though.
No, no. Not $1600/month. It's $1600/YEAR for curriculum (you are correct that it's anything that is non-religious), and you can also use it for classes/activities via approved vendors (such as foreign language lessons, dance lessons, art, whatever). Since we are in Northern CA, obviously the charters are going to be different, but here's a resource I found that I think lists the charters you can look into: http://www.homefires.com/charter/orange.asp
Only thing that comes to mind is some form of school vouchers. But that is a state thing so it would depend on what state she's in - possibly even what school district.
Is there a way to contact her and ask for more details?
I've never heard of this.
I heard ALASKA gives you x dollars per child per year. I too want to know if this exists in Texas. I hope someone helps you out.
Sounds interesting! I would be all for this!
I hope that's not true, because it would decimate the public school system.
Yes, there are charter schools that reimburse like the one mom said, and it's a certain amount per year. But they are all different. Some give you nothing but free online curriculum, some let you buy supplies/curriculum. Do some serious research before you jump.
I live in Los Angeles and word is that Sky Mountain gives the most money, with a lot of people going with Golden Valley if the other one is full. Apparently Sky Mountain has a waitlist. The "easy" in is the CAVA K12 program, they give you everything you need and a computer, but I hear its a total headache to deal with, and way too much work. Every single person I know who has done K12 charter has quit homeschooling.
I do homeschool, but I actually belong to what is referred to as a PSP (Private School Satellite Program). It's a fancy term for a private homeschool academy, where I actually pay a modest monthly tuition for them to keep my records and deal with the govt. for me. They also provide curriculum counseling, co-op days, field trips, park days, etc. You can do that on your own, but I like being part of the academy because it's a Christian academy and we meet other families like us. I pay for my own curriculum, but I don't mind, because I buy what I think is best for my kids and don't have to wait for it to be approved. And the activities we do probably wouldn't be paid for by a public charter program anyway (like AYSO, museum visits, private piano lessons, etc.). The public charter programs only pay for activities from a pre-approved vendor most of the time.
So I'm not the best one to give advice about the charter programs, but I would highly encourage homeschooling. It's the best decision I ever made for my kids. They are so much happier and well-rounded, and have so much more time just to be kids and hang out as a family and with other kids and families. I also have noticed something really interesting. All the homeschooled kids I know look adults straight in the eye and aren't afraid to speak on level with adults. I can't say this for most kids, especially teenagers.
