Reply to FCPS Fall 2021 - Possible to Partner with Virtual Virginia?

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Reply to "FCPS Fall 2021 - Possible to Partner with Virtual Virginia?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is it really that bad in FCPS? Kids can’t handle a curriculum with textbooks?  What are they going to do in high school? College? If it is really this bad, FCPS is doing kids a real disservice. [/quote]

Different VAVA parent here. The way the curriculum is created makes it hard to progress if you do not understand the material. As a result, as a primary school parent, I have had to spend a lot of time to fill in gaps in English and Math - I can't just push it off until next week or weekend. The history and science classed are very detailed with quite a bit of memorization and understanding needed. If I weren't willing to invest about 1-2 hours on most days (and 4-5 hours on others when we hit a challenging math or Science subject), my son wouldn't progress, and it would be a very frustrating experience.

Wouldn't say the gaps are the fault of FCPS - they would have filled them in eventually I am sure. My son was just not very motivated to study and didn't really put in much effort back in regular classes.

To complete most VAVA lessons you need to score 80%. There are frequent quizzes and checks for understanding (and the questions are hard and detailed.) To prepare for unit tests in Science, History and Math we spend 2-3 hours a week. On average, he effectively studies 5-6 hours per day (including everything.) All that time is spent on the curriculum (primarily History (with geography), Science, English and Math.) My son is learning a lot more than he did in regular school - at home with me and with VAVA keeping track he does not have the option to do the minimum.

For live instruction we have 30 mins of English, 1hr Math and 1hr of Science per week. To prepare for the classes he spends about 30mins (per class) doing Playposit worksheets beforehand. The number of online classes will vary based on the initial testing results (students are assessed at the beginning of the year. to find the appropriate level.) As was mentioned earlier, the classes seem to focus on SOLs and does not necessarily mirror the k12 curriculum.

I believe it is the clearly laid out online curriculum and offline materials + the amount of time invested by the learning coach/parent that makes the difference. If you have a regular job this won't work for most primary school children. VAVA is closer to homeschooling than to a regular school. Constant parent involvement is required and necessary - especially for younger children. While first semester was tough, we are doing great now. I feel very fortunate to be able to have the ability to spend this time learning with my child. Not everyone has the ability to do that.

Also, just for clarification, "Virginia Virtual" is different from "Virginia Virtual Academy" (also referred to as VAVA)[/quote]

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