Introduction: Extensive Testing Services, Learning Disability/Special Ed Services, Tutors for Parents and Fully-Accredited High School Diploma -- all Online!
Homeschooling and the Internet go together like soap and water. With all of the great resources and services available to us on the Net, it is hard to imagine what struggles our homeschool forebears endured in the "prehistoric" 1970s and 80s, with mere books, paper, pencils, chalk and blackboards.
One of the greatest innovations of the Internet age is the online school -- especially for older students, in middle school and high school. These are the ages when parents, who
may have previously been comfortable with the local public school, begin to closely scrutinize the social and academic environments their children are swimming through and find the school system wanting. Like the 7th Calvary, online schools are charging to the rescue! And leading the charge is ED Anywhere, one of the very best online schools available. One reason for this is its flexibility, the result of the foresight of its optimistic founder, Phillip Singh, who believes that there is always a successful path for every student.
At the apex of the growing popularity of homeschooling in general is flexibility. Parents can customize a curriculum that is exactly perfect for their child. And if they find that it isnt perfect, voila! they can change it -- not at the end of the semester or the end of the quarter, but right now, today! Homeschooled children do not have to suffer through wasting their time with inappropriate or useless programs as their public school counterparts do. The founder and owner of ED Anywhere, Mr. Philip Singh, understands this approach and has it as one of the underlying principles of his school. "The public school tries to make every child fit its system -- even if it is obvious that there is no fit.
With homeschooling you can design a program that fits your child."
At ED Anywhere parents with students who do not have high school credits can purchase the testing and assessment services offered to recover and document school credits. After that, they can choose to have ED Anywhere provide them counseling for acting upon the asessment, or not . . . whatever they wish. If parents enroll a child in the online middle school or high school program, they can check the childs progress daily, if they wish. Grades, homework assignment status, etc., are all updated daily by the teachers. If progress is not up to parents standards, parents can identify it immediately and work with their child to get it corrected.
The curriculum used was developed by Home Study International, an accredited distance education provider affiliated with ED. Anywhere, and is used in Mr. Singhs day school in Sterling, Virginia. He evolved his philosophy of education while working with developing youth in Loudoun County, VA for 20 years. He operated multi-therapy programs and alternative school programs as well, and his model has been used by several high schools in the country. Mr. Singh still teaches math at the day school and also teaches some of the online math courses.
One of the most significant services offered by ED Anywhere is for a student who has failed a course in high school and has to repeat it. ED Anywhere uses a course recovery accelerated method. The student is given an exam on the material he covered in the failed course. Then his/her knowledge of the material is assessed. Then, the ED Anywhere course is offered focusing on the weaknesses that have not been mastered. At the completion of the course, a follow-up exam is given and if the student passes it, she/he takes a final exam, this grade replaces his/her initial failing grade. As Mr. Singh explained: "Most students who fail a course know some of the material. If a student received a grade of 58%, that means she/he knew about half of the material covered; so why waste the students time re-covering that half? We concentrate on the half she/he didnt know. It works very well and it is a much faster way for the student to make up the class."
ED Anywhere also provides strong tutorial support for parents of enrolled online students -- thats right, the parents! If you break out in a cold sweat at the thought of teaching your child high school chemistry or advanced math, ED Anywhere provides online tutors to help you through it. Students may purchase chemistry lab kits sold by ED Anywhere that are safe and reasonably priced and also offer a number of experiments that use household ingredients.
Another unique feature of ED Anywhere is that all teachers are Special Ed. certified. This is because the day school has many children who are Special Ed. students and the faculty brings this extra training to bear in the online school as well. ED Anywhere also offers Special Education Consultation with resources such as computer programs which read the text aloud to the students. This is a dramatic help to those children who have difficulty reading.
The future of ED Anywhere holds some very exciting aspects for homeschoolers as well. Besides his work mentioned above, Mr. Singh has had experience working with student entrepreneurs and job counseling. By June, 2006, ED Anywhere will offer job aptitude testing, assessment and counseling in the online school -- the day school already offers such services -- and the students Job Profile will be generated along with Dot Scores -- the specific number assigned to every job in the country by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Therefore, once a student has completed the necessary testing to generate a Job Profile, she/he can go to the Dept. of Labors website and look up all of the jobs suggested by the Profile to see exactly what they are and how the Department rates them for being in-demand, etc.
Besides the fully accredited high school diploma that is awarded by ED Anywhere to students who complete the necessary course work, ED Anywhere also offers GED diplomas for students 16 years of age or older. (Their testing services and solutions go beyond what is mentioned in this article. Please see them on the website for your specific needs.)
As one of the ED Anywhere teachers stated, "Once I have my initial consultation with the parents, I can mention our remedial reading program and our other special needs services, if the need is there. Homeschooling parents are much more aware of their childs strengths and weaknesses than parents whose children are coming out of the public schools, so they are good at informing me about anything special we need to address."
A large percentage of children coming into the Ed. Anywhere program have ADHD, dyslexia, ADD or other learning disabilities. These children may not even be diagnosed with a disability, but simply have not thrived in a traditional school setting. Many students with differing levels of activity, focus, and learning styles have difficulty in the traditional setting, and thus develop academic and behavior problems. ED Anywhere offers the curriculum and support, while families create the enviroment that best suites the child.
If the student has reading disabilities - ED Anywhere uses a very affordable software program that reads the on-screen info to the student and refers parents to how to purchase it. This program can read anything on the computer or on the Internet -- websites, e-books, text assistanced reading, etc. -- providing these students with access to virtually any printed material. However, even though the program reads to them, these are required to write everything themselves. In the public schools, these students would be taught a dumbed-down version of a subject, receiving a 3rd-grade book instead of the high school equivalent, for instance -- even though the student can understand the high school level, he just cant read it himself. Without such a software program, the parents have to sit and read everything to the child. Online students have to supply remedial reading work themselves, but Stephanie refers them to the same program ED Anywhere uses at its onsite school.
If you are considering a solution to your middle school/high school public institution, or simply want to have your homeschooler attend an excellent, caring, online, accredited high school, you will be pleased at what you find at ED Anywhere's website. They have extensive information and fee schedules available for your perusal. Please go to www.edanywhere.com or call toll free 877/4ED-0805.
ED Anywhere stands firmly behind our pledge to leave no student behind. We work closely with students and parents to provide creative solutions to challenging cases. Providing solutions and effectively meeting the challenges of education have been the highlight of ED Anywhere.
Homeschooling has always been more of a grassroots endeavor which lets families stay true to their philosophies by allowing them to create individualized learning environments and educational programs to meet their own needs. It also means that like-minded individuals can collaborate to improve the process through supportive groups without the bureaucracy associated with traditional school organizations.
One of the biggest contributors to the organized growth of homeschooling has been the localized homeschooling groups. Often set up according to geographic location, religion, or homeschooling methodology, these support groups welcome families new to homeschooling, gather and share resources with members, and provide assistance in making decisions.
One strength these groups have is that they retain their commitment to individualized learning by providing families the opportunity to continue on their own education path while still being a supportive organization.
Such individualism, however, often means that families are left to their own devices when it comes to many of the difficult choices and problems that occur during the homeschooling process. Even with strong efforts and experiences being shared among members, many times homeschoolers face new areas beyond their expertise, such as subject matter, special needs, or remedial skill issues that the homeschooling groups do not have the resources or expertise to tackle.
Fortunately, homeschooling has recently been growing in both numbers and acceptance, which is providing homeschooling families with more choices and opportunities for collaboration and support while still remaining a personal undertaking.
A new opportunity for homeschooling groups to reach a higher level of expertise and resources has recently become available through satellite distance learning schools. These programs, under the umbrella of a larger homeschooling group, promise to provide the best of both grassroots and organized worlds.
ED Anywhere has given homeschooling families access to education professionals, which helps the groups to provide the best homeschool experiences for their families. This has been our greatest joy and priviledge.
