What You Need to Know About a Cyber High School
You’ve no doubt heard all kinds of stories about Cyber High Schools – that it isn’t school, your child won’t learn, there’s no social interaction, etc. Cyber High Schools are growing in popularity but because all states are handling this virtual education differently, there isn’t a clear description of how cyber high school is handled and delivered. The commonalities in all the programs are that in most cases, the school district will give you a computer and pay for your internet connection for that school year and your curriculum is paid for by your home district. So, your child is going to school at home and online. Here’s where the questions come in because most can’t understand how a child can learn without a physical teacher at the blackboard. Here is a list of the most asked questions that may help you decide whether online school will work for your student.
1) If my child is really struggling in public school, can I move my son/daughter in the middle of the school year? Yes, in most cases, cyber charter schools have rolling enrollment. Some did that to attract enrollment in their first years and are now full with a waiting list. But don’t give up. Some may be able to take you anyway, as these schools understand that students and parents coming to them in the middle of the year are most likely in a bad situation at their home school district.
Getting Ready For the First Day of Kindergarten
It’s September and time for your child to start kindergarten. You have purchased the school supplies, the new backpack, new clothes, and new shoes. The first day of school you are so excited for your big kindergartener! But when you get to school, it is quite obvious that he is not as excited as you are. This school is much bigger than his preschool. It is full of unknowns. And he definitely does not want you to leave!
Many a child will not allow her parents to leave her in the classroom with the teacher for weeks into their kindergarten year. There are many books about kindergarten that help children with ABC’s and 123′s and those are very helpful. But when a child needs to feel comfortable about being left in a classroom, what that child needs is a book that will walk him through the kindergarten year in a way that would help him feel more comfortable about his parents leaving him in the classroom.
With over 25 years of experience with children, and two of them as a kindergarten teacher’s aide, I can tell you that your child’s first days and weeks of kindergarten can be a smooth transition. I had many children in my kindergarten that just needed to be prepared for kindergarten by being told what to expect in order to feel safe walking into the classroom.
What will the first day be like? What will we learn? What kind of field trips will we go on? Most important, will anyone at school think I’m special? Who are all the adults I will be spending time with while I’m at school? What happens in the classroom throughout the year?
Gap Time Promotes College Readiness
High school graduates that do not believe they are ready for college, are smart to take time to think about what the future holds. Possibilities include working full time, joining the military, traveling, pursuing an apprenticeship, or taking a structured gap year.
A gap year, or gap time, is a period of time between the end of secondary school and college, or between college years, in which students enroll in a structured program that gives them opportunity to travel, work, or volunteer in country or internationally. The gap year concept was born in England as a way to fill time in between students’ taking their “A” levels (university entrance exams) and the time when their studies began. British universities encouraged the in-between students to explore their interests, see the world, or just do something productive. Taking such time also gives students time to ready themselves for college.
Considering the statistic that one of four college freshmen drop out, flunk out, or disappear for other reasons from their college campuses, it seems that many high school graduates would greatly benefit from a gap year or two before entering college. Many high school graduates simply aren’t ready for college right away. Many of them are tired of school and want some time to explore. Many of them don’t have the skills they need to be successful: resolving conflict, managing time and priorities, maneuvering the college bureaucracy, taking seriously the commitment.
Whether a student participates in a structured gap program, creates a situation themselves, travels, or just gets a job, such opportunities give them some time to experience life without the pressure of grades. Some teenagers pursue or discover a passion during a gap year-one that can lead to a career. Some find out that working at a minimum-wage, uninteresting job makes school look very appealing. And some find an entirely different path to follow. But the point is, many teenagers need that gap time to be ready for college or whatever path they choose.
Should College Athletes Be Paid?
College sports bring in big dollars every year on the major college level. These programs bring $30 and sometimes $40 million dollars per year to the universities and colleges and the players get nothing. These are the same players who are breaking their backs for the university day in and day out and can’t get a share of that money and, to me, that does not seem fair. I know what you may be thinking: that these student athletes are getting a free education or have gotten a scholarship to play ball at that university. To me, that’s the least they could be doing.
When I look at college football on Saturdays and see packed stadiums with cheering fans paying big money for a ticket I say, what business out there could run a company and not pay its workers? You would think I was talking about some Third World country! Pay the players now, please!
Think about this one: most of the college coaches get six figure salaries– big college programs and small ones. Some of these college coaches get shoe contracts, some get T.V. and radio contracts and many other perks along the way. Also, if they are a good coach and win games they will be offered another coaching job somewhere else with bigger money and larger perks! The student athletes get nothing and, to me, something should be done about that. Please pay the players now!