Summer is almost over and it is about time to get prepared for a new school year. There is a huge difference between the school materials my virtual students will need as compared to a traditional bricks and mortar school. Parents' whose children attend a traditional school have to buy school supplies for their kids and for the teacher's classrooms. Virtual school needs are slim, lets review some of the things we do to prepare for school.
Notebooks, binders, pencils, color pencils, crayons, glue, pens, markers.... The list goes on and on. All of these things we use. However, this year when I stock up on school supplies, my focus will be on organization. Staying organized with school materials is crucial for a successful year. It is important to have your kids help with organizing everything because they are the ones who will be using it. If you have young children like I do, you will want to make sure the kids keep everything organized because sometimes children can be careless and messy.
This actually happened to us over the summer and we are just getting everything back in order. All of my art supplies was jumbled up from summer use. Now that we have reorganized everything, I will continue teaching my children the importance of staying organized, if they have not got the gist of it yet. For a virtual school family, it is crucial to practice organization for yourself, but it is equally important to teach organization to your children.
Or at least it was. But messes don't last forever around here because I have been able to teach my kids about keeping things clean. Their room is their responsibility. It is our responsibility as a parent to teach our kids how to keep their own things clean. If you are trying to do this, just keep at it. It will come to them soon enough. I stay on top of my kids about their room because to be a virtual school family, I have to have my house in "Ship Shape." That means uptight rules and cleanliness. Things around here can seem like boot camp style, or so my mom says. However, my children have learned everything they need to know in life from me and their dad, everyday.
As parents, it is our responsibility to mold our kids into the person we want them to grow into. You have to teach them everything, you need to be their guidance. When you decide to become a virtual school parent, that teaching demand becomes even more. You know how parents are so ready for school to start back to get rid of their kids, well if this is you, then virtual school is not right for you because I never have a break from my kids. I don't want one either because I enjoy shaping my kids into the person I want them to grow into.
One thing I love about getting ready for school is decorating. Our home is our school, so our home fits the part. Art is hung on almost all walls and there are motivational sayings everywhere. My girls and I like to look on Pinterest to get ideas and inspiration on decorating. I like to create things from scratch. The first year we decorated, we used the owl theme. Last year, we made a huge ship and octopus to hang on the wall. I love getting creative, and my kids do too.
This year, Georgia Cyber Academy will be 100% online. That means that K12 will not be sending children books. That is great news for my book shelves because I can use that space for the tons and tons of art supplies and books we have. (Thanks to my wonderful Aunt Sharon who loves to buy the girls art supplies and books.)
Cleaning up the computers and making sure they are ready to go is another thing that parents to virtual school children need to think about. If you have a lot of pictures and storage on the school computers, now is a great time to upload it to your cloud account. That way you can access it anywhere and on on any device.
When they pass out information to the Learning Coaches, I will begin making myself familiar with how things work, as well as helping my children become familiar with their new school environment. We are excited about learning all the new things that GCA has to offer this year. Here is a list of some of the things that GCA has to offer:
Wowzers
FLVS Math
Odysseyware
Learning A to Z
MindPlay
Writable
Discovery Education
IXL
Gallopade
We cannot wait to get started. With the puppies, the changing of GCA curriculum and my own school work, it will be different this year, but we are still looking forward to everything that GCA has to offer. Cailey and Allie cannot wait to attend their first day of Class Connects. Prior to the first day of school, as I do every year, I will help the girls create their personal "About Me" Presentation in PowerPoint. My kids also know their way around a computer. That is an advantage of being in virtual school, virtual school children get computer skills that many older traditional school kids don't even know yet.
If you are interested in learning more about Georgia Cyber Academy, Here is the link so you can visit their web page. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read this blog.
