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A Day in the Life of Klara, Keegan, Zoe and JessieAnn

Favorite Subjects: Science
Hobbies: Singing

Favorite Subjects: Social Studies
Hobbies: Building Blocks

Favorite Subjects: Physical Education
Hobbies: Soccer, Softball

Favorite Subjects: Pre-Calculus
Hobbies: Playing Guitar

Why K12?

Windy switched her four children to online school during the pandemic for more consistency in their education. They decided to stay because K12-powered school offered the services and support her younger children require while providing the advanced courses and extracurriculars that will help her oldest child prepare for the future.

Live Classes and
Assignments

Schoolwork for Klara, Keegan, Zoe, and JessieAnn is a mix of scheduled, live classes called Class Connect sessions, self-guided offline assignments, and special school services like speech and occupational therapy.

For example, a typical day may have Zoe starting with a small-group special education Language Arts lesson, then a live Language Arts class led by her state-certified teacher. Later in the day, she might follow a similar setup with math. If she gets stuck, her mom and Learning Coach Windy is there to help.

JessieAnn may start with offline assignments for anatomy and physiology and then live classes for honors American literature and math led by state-certified teachers. She can reach out to her teachers in the live classes, via email, or during weekly office hours with questions.

A benefit of schools powered by K12 is that the educational materials—a computer, textbooks, supplies for offline activities, and more—are provided.

Family Schedule

Learning Coaches typically spend between 4 to 6 hours each day with elementary school students like Klara, Keegan, and Zoe, providing oversight. High schoolers like JessieAnn are more independent, so the time expectation changes to 1 to 3 hours per day and is more about encouragement.

Windy is nearby if her youngest children need assistance to help keep them on track. When she’s not helping with assignments, she often contacts a teacher or service provider, looks ahead to the week’s schedule, or checks her children’s progress in the online learning system. JessieAnn works independently but knows her mom is there if needed.

Student Schedule

Family

Klara

Keegan

Zoe

JessieAnn

Q & A with Windy

Why did you switch to online school?

The distance learning our local school provided during the pandemic wasn’t working for us, and school, in general, felt very up in the air. We wanted an option that would provide a consistent education—taught by teachers who knew how to teach online—and we found that with K12.

Curriculum

The number of classes students take varies per grade level and individual. For example, students in 3rd grade, like Keegan, typically take between 4–6 subjects each semester, with maybe 2–4 of those requiring scheduled, live classes. For high school students like JessieAnn, it may be between 3–6 subjects, with 2–3 of those requiring live classes.

JessieAnn is taking additional career prep courses in healthcare. Many of her and her siblings’ subjects are completed via self-guided assignments and skills labs in the K12 interactive online learning system.

In addition to core academic subjects like English, math, science, and social studies, K12-powered schools have a great selection of electives, including advanced courses like the honors options JessieAnn enjoys. The school also provides support services for Keegan and Zoe, such as occupational and speech therapy.

Class schedules may vary considerably based on the individual student and their needs, their state, and any special programs.

SEE HOW OUR CURRICULUM IS DEVELOPED

Grades K-5 Online School Tour

Grades 6-12 Online School Tour

Q & A with the Family

Why do you like online school?

Windy: We like online school because we have more opportunities to be together as a family. And the level of support we’ve received for Keegan and Zoe’s special learning needs has been so helpful. I’ve seen all of my children’s’ confidence increase since being in online school.

Plus, we don’t have to spend time on a commute. Since we live so remotely in the mountains, it took a lot of time for the kids to get to and from school when they went to the local brick-and-mortar.

JessieAnn: I like challenging myself, and at online school, I get to pick the level of the classes I take. So I can take honors U.S. history and have access to more elective options.

Not to mention the distractions. With online school, I don’t have to deal with the issues that come with more than 30 teenagers in the same room.

Klara, Keegan, Zoe, and JessieAnn’s time away from the computer looks like…

Playing basketball, climbing trees, making music, practicing soccer, and watching hockey together.

Overcoming Challenges

Zoe and Keegan now benefit from the range of services and support for students with special needs offered at K12-powered school. At their old school, it was hard to get them tested and diagnosed, but their online school immediately listened to Windy and set up supports.

Zoe has autism and severe ADHD, and Keegan has some disabilities that can make basic tasks like writing challenging. Windy has seen academic and social improvements in them both. Keegan’s writing skills and use of speech-to-text tools have increased. And Zoe increased three grade levels for reading, writing, and math in one year with the new services.

In addition to their core subjects, they also have special education classes, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and counseling. Online school is different because they don’t take the kids out of class, so even though it may be a longer day, they don’t miss any content or feel different for being separated from their classmates.

Q & A with the Family

What is it like doing school at home with your whole family? How do you navigate all that as the Learning Coach and four students?

Windy: Organization, technology, and a lot of timers. We have the electronic assistant announce all the class, snack, and break times. That helps the kids stay on track and manage their free time once their schoolwork is finished for the day.

I spend time bouncing back and forth between the younger kids since they’re not as independent yet. I’ll answer questions (referencing the teacher’s answer book if I need to) and help them get through the assignments. It’s kind of like how I would help with homework at their old school just during the day instead of in the evenings.

JessieAnn: It’s really nice to have more family time at home throughout the school day. We have family dinners where we all ask about each other’s days, and it’s cool because we’ve already been a part of them.

I can also ask my mom questions if I’m confused on an assignment, make a fire with my bonus dad, or play with our dogs Sophie and Athena.

Family Time

Since Windy and her children live so far out in the mountains, they would lose a lot of the day taking the bus to and from their old school. Switching to a K12-powered school immediately gave them that commute time back.

Now they can use those hours for more quality time together doing things like cheering on their favorite hockey team, practicing soccer, or in JessieAnn’s case, all the clubs she’s interested in but didn’t have time for at her old school.

Q & A with the Family

How was your family’s transition to online school?

Windy: It was a little scary at first, not knowing if we made the right choice. Once we made the transition, though, it made sense and fell into place as we received our materials and got started.

JessieAnn: Honestly, at first, it was hard because I missed my friends, basketball, and band. Once I realized that online school gave me even more options for clubs and ways to be social than I had at my old school though, I got myself involved and made some really great friends.

Preparing for the Future

K12-powered online school is preparing JessieAnn for her future in medicine. Through her career exploration at school, she knows she wants to work in a research lab versus a field where she’d work more directly with patients.

She’s taking full advantage of online school with healthcare classes like medical terminology and anatomy and physiology, career clubs, and even courses at the local college where she’s getting credit early. Her mom likes the career prep and the life prep. Being at home more, she can help make sure JessieAnn learns skills like money management, grocery shopping and cooking, and basic home repair.

Q & A with the Family

How does your family stay social doing online school?

Extracurriculars and Clubs

JessieAnn says she can fit even more extracurriculars into her schedule now with online school because she doesn’t have to consider the commute time.

She’s active in her school’s SkillsUSA chapter, plays acoustic guitar in Rock and Roll Academy, and works with a few friends to create a new, student-led mental health club. She’s in two honor societies and is also learning Arabic on the side with a group of friends from school.

SEE EXTRACURRICULARS AND EVENTS

Q & A with Windy

What specifically about K12-powered schools made you choose that as the online learning option for your family?

Windy: The biggest thing for me was that K12-powered schools have state-certified teachers. I wasn’t going to have to be the teacher or understand, say, trigonometry on my own. That was a big relief.

Teacher Support and Communication

Windy raves about the teachers’ support and communication, especially for the younger kids. The instruction is so engaging she can focus on keeping the kids on schedule and motivated versus as much on the content itself.

There’s also the teacher answer books that detail all the lessons, share step-by-step tips to explain topics, and contain answer sheets for assignments. So, if Windy gets stuck, she can refer to that guide.

More Q & A with the Family

Was there anything that surprised you about online school?

Windy: The biggest surprise was the quality and amount of learning materials we received. K12 sends everything you need—every book for the full year, lesson guides, science equipment, art supplies, math manipulatives—even the computers and printers. And the quality is amazing; I was very impressed, especially having worked in the local school.

Do you have any advice for families that might be considering online school?

Windy: Just stick with it. You have a whole community of teachers, staff, and other Learning Coaches like me who have been there and are ready to support you and your family.