Day 2: Sometimes things just work out

Find out more about Florida Virtual School here.

During the planning phase of our move to Florida, I found out that St. John's County had the most highly rated schools in Florida.   I was thrilled and never considered living anywhere else.   This is where a little bit of knowledge got dangerous.   What I did not find out until we got here is that Florida was 50th our of 50 in education nationally.   I was appalled.   I had happily moved my kids to the best of the worst (Note: FL is no longer 50th.   Thank heavens for Mississippi).

So what could I possible like about that?   Nothing, really, it was definitely a fail on our part.   What we do like, what saved the day, was Florida Virtual School (FLVS).    This is a student driven on-line school.   Not home schooling, because I did not have to be the teacher.   Student driven because, as recommended, I let my youngest set his own pace.  It is not the choice for everyone.   Our oldest tried it for one class and hated it. 

He came to us with the idea.    There was never any doubt that he would do well (he is that kid), but even an extrovert, needs some social contact.   He pushed, we relented, and it turned out to be one of the best things we could have done for him.  He went from bored and miserable to engaged and confident.   He also learned that even he needs social interactions.   He flew through 7th grade, then choose to go to traditional HS with a virtual class or two thrown in to maintain interest.    This year, at 16, he is doing a combination of FLVS HS and traditional college.   He is doing very well and we are very proud.

  

This post is part of a 31 day series.
Find all the posts in this series here.