Home Schooling and/or Online Schooling

Does anyone have any experience or opinion on home schooling or an online school for a second grader in Puerto Rico?

We would be in Bayamon area.  We would rather save money for our child's college than spend it on elementary school!

Thanks in advance.

Online schooling is the way to go. We did it with our 3rd grader and it worked out wonderfully for her. She learned more because there were no distractions. Her day was shorter because there was nothing else to deal with besides her school work. She went on to fourth grade at a conventional public school when we came back to the states and excelled. It will cost you a little money for books and registration. Breakdown in cost is - entry fee $175, books for the year $500, monthly tuition fee was $89. If you want to know any more details let me know.

DON'T DO ONLINE!!!!!

My brother and SIL tried the online crap for a couple of years and failed miserably. They ended up putting them back in school because they got so behind. Kids need a live teacher - a parent or an actual teacher in a school - to help them learn, answer any of their questions, and explore avenues of curiosity.

I would continue to home-school. If you can't handle it, there is no harm in sending them to school, either.

Would you please share the name of the online school?  Thank you.

www.k12.com

but you or somebody else has to be the teacher. It's free in the states but if you live in PR you have to pay the costs I mentioned in a previous post. It may or may not be recognized by the PR school system, but when we returned to the states our daughter's online education was recognized and she went on to the next grade. She was also placed well as a result of her learning.

Would it be Connections Academy?

Thanks.

No, it's www.k12.com

Thank you GreggK!

Gregg, the costs that you mentioned for elem school? I am going to into this for my grandson who has to complete the 11th grade and do the 12th to get a his diploma.

Now that we have internet, I will look into k12.com.

Thanks for the info. I' all let you know how it turns out. This may be my last option.

I contacted the school.  If you want to have the support of the teacher, it is about $5500.00 per year. If you just want the books and a curriculam it is between $1800 to $2400.00.

At $5,500 it is equal a Cathloic school tuition!

You might also want to check out Connections Academy.

time4learning.com is what we use and we also supplement it with lots of others things.  It is super affordable at $20 a month.

If you are planning to return to the states, get the state's required curriculum online, and become resourceful in achieving those requirements.
Either way, Khan Academy is very good (free), softschools, LEXIA (by Rosetta Stone) for reading/language art skills, Quizlet,  are all good/free/affordable as well as fun. You can purchase Oak Meadow's curriculum and materials package (little pricey).

There are several homeschool groups that I know of here in PR. We have homeschooled here the whole time with our kids. We've never done online, but the great thing about PR is that you have a lot of freedom. There are so many different kinds of curriculum to choose from - not just online. PR schools are wary of homeschooling, but if you eventually move back to the States you will be fine. Keep a calendar of attendance records, a list of subjects taught, I make report cards for the kids, and you can even keep a small portfolio. But most schools in the States will not question anything. Calvary Chapel in Guaynabo has a big homeschool group. There's a Puerto Rican group called Happy Kids Homeschool you can look up on Facebook. They do activities and field trips every Friday and mainly meet in Bayamon. We love homeschooling - the flexibility, the freedom, and ability to tailor our kids' education to meet their needs. At second grade concentrate on reading, writing, and math and have fun following your child's interests in history and science or integrate it with their reading and writing. Homeschooling for our family has been great!!