Lots of students will be learning at home this year. So what are all the options, are you doing public school, private school, or homeschool? And who needs Accountability?
Stay-At-Home Learning in your School District
Virtual Learning, Virtual School, Virtual Program, eLearning are some of the names being used for the new stay-at-home options for public school districts. Some of the more population-dense school districts are setting up virtual schools with coursework specifically designed for virtual schooling. Students will be grouped into virtual classrooms rather than their local school classroom. You know you are using this option if you enroll through your school district or your local public school.
To find out if your school district is offering virtual school, go to their website or contact them directly. South Carolina School District info.
GLOW will be allowing the school district virtual learning students to join the Facebook Group and GLOW Events this year. Traditionally Events have been during the day on weekdays, but scheduling events is up to our members.
Online Public School and Virtual Charter School
Online Public Schools are tuition-free online public school options in South Carolina. Schools are full-time and are available statewide. They have been around for years and are not specific to a school district. Students who enroll in online public school have always been welcome to join GLOW Facebook and GLOW Events. Events are typically during the school day hours and can conflict with a student’s required “seat time”.
Online Homeschool Programs
If you use a free or tuition-based online homeschool program other than those listed above, you will need to join a South Carolina accountability association. This is the case even if the program covers all the subjects and provides report cards or transcripts. Some of the common ones are Abeka, Time 4 Learning, Discovery K12, etc. You will also need an accountability association if you attend a co-op, homeschool school, online classes, or other local classes.
Traditional and Hybrid Homeschoolers
And of course all GLOW memberships are open to traditional homeschoolers! You are a traditional homeschooler if you plan to school at home for the year, do your own thing, use (or not use) whatever curriculum and learning materials you want. Some of you are experienced homeschoolers, some have kids just coming of age, and some are taking the leap into homeschooling as the best choice for their families in the educational chaos of this pandemic year.
Hybrid homeschoolers take classes at a co-op or school one to three days a week and spend the other days learning at home. They are not considered part of the SC school system and need to join an option 3 accountability association.