Changes in the Homeschool Realm

So I've decided to give WYVA a try with Fox.

And I'm nervous about it. 

I'm not sure when it started but there have been days when I have talked to dh and have lamented about some issues that are present with homeschooling. Of course, there are days that are absolutely completely without a doubt horrid. What kind of person would I be if I lied and said it is always peachy? But those aren't the days I'm talking about. Of course there are days that are beautiful and wonderful and make me think I am dreaming. I'm not talking about those days either. 

There are times that having an outside source tell you that you have to do something a certain way or by a certain date or time that motivates you more than if it is someone close to you. Granted the fact that a parent telling a child to do something should result in immediate action (without murmuring and complaining, I might add, and even with a smile) is beside the point. *that was ever so slightly sarcastic, by the way ;) *

Fox has a tendency to rush very quickly through subjects that I've set up for him and designed specifically for him. But he doesn't have a desire to learn about whatever it is that we are studying. He simply wants the check mark or the passing grade (which for some reason to him can be a low C; he'd be just fine with that). He enjoys the freedom of homeschooling- he can quickly complete his work and move on to some thing he wants to do. I'm fine with that as long as his work is done well. But he just doesn't care about learning or doing it well. 

We recently reviewed TenMarks (you can see my review here) and he just wants to finish the worksheets so quickly that he will not try to learn the concept first. The questions are all multiple choice (not a fan of that) so he could easily go through, get them all wrong and just 'correct' his work by choosing a different answer until it is right. Thankfully he doesn't do that but there have been a few that I caught him simply clicking what looked like the right answer to be done. 

He says he does not like any of the books that I have chosen for him for school. But even when we have sat down and talked about what we would use (and when I gave him a choice) he still later complains that he cannot stand the books. We have been 'fighting' about this since we first started homeschooling. I feel that he is falling behind because of his lack of motivation to move ahead, really. I can't change that but I can try to give him other opportunities to change it himself.

So I talked with him today about enrolling him in WYVA and he says he thinks that it will be a good thing. 

I've been looking over the site over and over again, and talking to others who have used k12 at some point and those who have only heard from others about it. I don't know anyone in Wyoming that uses it right now or I'd be talking to them, too. I am still in the enrollment/registration phase but that has to be completed by the 3rd of February, I believe.

K12 is an online public school, really. Just because it is tailored to each child and is done at home doesn't mean I can choose any more what he does and does not have to do. And he will be required to take the yearly standardized testing which Lee will not have. I'm not sure at the moment how this will affect our daily routines and our school year. But I hope that by the end of next week we will be settled into a new routine (or in the process of settling perhaps) with Fox going to online public school (but still at home) and Lee continuing on with homeschooling.

Yep, I'm nervous. To say the least.