Giving IQ Academy - Wisconsin a Try
All is set for my oldest son to attend IQ Academy, an online curriculum offered by the Waukesha School District of Wisconsin. My son will submit work online and eventually get a diploma from the high school of Waukesha. If this goes well, we will probably have our younger children attend from grades 9-12 as well. The benefits of this program include:
- Kids work from home. In our case, that means they don’t spend up to 3 hours per day on the bus.
- A public school diploma is issued, making college entrance a much simpler matter.
- Some nice electives are offered, like html design and other computer programming classes that even our local public school does not offer.
- Weekly progress reports will be given from each teacher. This is especially helpful for the student that easily gets behind or side-tracked if the parent is not constantly monitoring progress.
Disadvantages might include:
- An overly easy curriculum. We will see.
- Surrender of some control over the child’s education. The student is no longer home schooled but rather is enrolled in the public system. So far this has not been an issue, but I will certainly post here if it does become an issue.
The steps one must take to enroll in such a program include:
- Research your state to see what online options are available. Search for your state online high school in Google.
- Attend an orientation session in your area if available. (This was very helpful!)
- Complete open enrollment papers by the deadline given. You are completing the same forms that you would complete to attend a neighboring school outside your district. In some states this may be done online.
- Notify the district of your intentions to attend or not attend and pay any needed fees. (We had to pay $75)
- You may need to meet with a counselor at a nearby location to choose classes.
- Fill out some paperwork over the summer dealing with immunizations, computer needs, etc. Attend one last orientation session in your area if required.
I will post updates throughout the year on this program.
I will be interested to read your thoughts on this program. We have signed up for the Kaplan online program this year, so maybe we can compare notes. Hope you have a great school year!
Thanks for the comment Kate. I will post updates throughout the year.