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Thursday, August 2, 2007
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Online program to benefit home-schooling families
Staff Writer As more parents are deciding to home-school their children, a consortium of area school districts is developing an online program to reach out and assist these home-schooling families, which also will keep their state aid funding back in those districts.
The Minnesota Collaborative Online Learning Academy, which includes eight area school districts, announced plans to pilot an online learning program for students in kindergarten through sixth grade, beginning with the 2008-09 school year.
Students in the program would be fully enrolled in their local districts and be considered public school students. However, the content delivery and teacher interaction would occur at home via the Internet and with parent involvement.
ÒWe think this model provides a nice option to families who would like to home-school as a way to spend quality time with their children, but who also want or need the expertise and support the public schools provide.Ó
Susan Williams
MNCOLA program director
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"We think this model provides a nice option to families who would like to home-school as a way to spend quality time with their children, but who also want or need the expertise and support the public schools provide," says Susan Williams, MNCOLA program director. "In addition, because the students are enrolled in their local school, there is no cost to the family to participate."
MNCOLA is looking for families with students in kindergarten through sixth grade who are interested in this home-school/public-school combined approach to their child's education. Families living in a MNCOLA-member district are eligible to apply for participation. Participating districts include Aitkin, Brainerd, Crosby-Ironton, Isle, Little Falls, Pequot Lakes, Pillager and Pine River-Backus.
Williams said MNCOLA decided to wait a year to launch this pilot project because officials want it to be a high quality program that parents will want and use. She said there are benefits to an online elementary school program for both parents and the school districts. When families homeschool their children, the state aid doesn't go to the local school districts, which hurts the district and also families have to pay for their own curriculum.
Online learning is a growing educational force, particularly in the high school grade levels, and Williams said MNCOLA wants to be prepared when that interest and need moves into those younger grades as anticipated.
Williams said MNCOLA wants to help families by providing quality curriculum with the support of a quality teacher. This becomes more important when a young student reaches those upper elementary levels and is starting to explore more complex subjects, she said.
Families interested in participating in the pilot program should attend one of the following informational meetings: 6 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room at the Washington Educational Services Building, 804 Oak St., Brainerd, or 7 p.m. Aug. 9 in the forum room at Crosby-Ironton High School in Crosby.
Williams said the focus of these meetings is to find out how a public school can help home-schooling families, to find out their needs and concerns about public schools and what they would want in an online program.
For more information, contact Susan Williams at susan.williams@mncola.org or by phone at (218) 894-5469.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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