Our My Tech High Experience

This past school year (2012-2013) we participated in My Tech High-Utah. Overall, we had a good experience with them. I was going to make a list of pros and cons, but my main points kind of fall into both categories.

Online discussion forum
Austin & Nyah had access to discussion groups for their classes. I wasn't planning on letting them be a part of any online social networks until they were at least 14. However, I was able to set up their accounts so they would receive emails with all their discussions, and then I linked their emails to my iPhone so I knew what was going on. Nyah barely participated in the discussions. She didn't have much interest. 

Austin was interested and did participate, and he ended up learning some good lessons about online etiquette and being responsible. He had a couple instances where he posted some things he shouldn't have - a youtube video he didn't watch all the way that had swearing in it, he made comments like "that's stupid" which the moderator disapproved of,  etc. There was also the time management aspect- no discussions during school time and he had to decide if that's how he wanted to spend his free time on the computer. As part of Austin's computer literacy class he had to set up a Google+ account and I think I'll have him delete his account, as I haven't figured out how to keep an eye on him in that setting. 

Outside Pressure
I'm not a big fan of having to report anything to anyone. Well, I pray to God daily and consult my husband since we're doing this family thing together, but aside from those 2 guys I don't like to have outside pressure on our family. So having to have our curriculum approved and making weekly reports on what we did felt annoying and a somewhat intrusive.  

However, after our 2011-2012 school year I was feeling a little burnt out and lacking motivation so this past year the outside pressure from My Tech High was helpful in keeping us on task and moving forward. We didn't do more than we have in past years, we still had our midwinter slump, and we were anxious to be done in the spring, but overall it was okay.

Software & Technology
My problems for this past year had more to do with my lack of knowledge about software and technology than anything else. When we received our welcome emails with all the accounts and software information it was stressful and challenging for me, because I didn't always know what I was doing and would need to wait for Kurt to be able to help us. Unfortunately, he was traveling a lot at that time and it wasn't always possible to wait for him to get home. So, I learned that google and youtube can find the answers to pretty much any question or problem. Thank goodness for the smart people who make videos for the less tech-savvy people! 

Then Kurt decided we need a new computer and we switched to a Mac during Christmas break. It took me about a month to get everything re-set up or switched over and figured out for a Mac, and even after all that we had to delete and re-install the Lego robotics software each time Austin needed to do a new project for his robotics class for the remainder of the year. Yikes.

Testing
I do not care about tests, especially multiple choice standardized tests that only measure a small amount of a child's knowledge and experience. I also do not tailor our curriculum to match the state standards for each grade, so my kids are not learning the same topics their public school counterparts are learning. Because I work with my kids daily and discuss what they are learning with them daily, I know when they've mastered/understood a lesson/concept, or not. 

However, testing is a part of the world- especially looking to  possible AP tests, SATs/ACTs, college tests, employment tests, etc., so it was good for my kids to have the experience. I'm curious to see how it they did, but we haven't received our results for the tests so I still have no idea. Except for Nyah's comment after the math test, "I didn't know anything so I just guessed." :)

Along with testing, I've been trying to work with the charter school we are enrolled through (Gateway Prep) to figure out Nyah's learning and behavior challenges. This has been a discouraging, but also very empowering, experience. I was initially given the impression they would be able to determine if Nyah officially has autism or not, and that turned out to not be the case. We're going to find a professional in our area to work with, which is going to be better for her & us anyways. 

I also wanted to figure out *why* Nyah struggles with learning (ADD, dyslexia, processing disorder, etc.) and how to best help her. The school told me "Yes, she's behind in these subjects, so let's create an IEP to get her caught up." However, I'm not interested in the public school approach to learning disabilities which tends to be cram-cram-cram everything into them so they get caught up (I know this seems like a horribly, generalized, blanket statement, but this is reflective of my experience with Gateway Prep and a local elementary school I've previously tried to consult with). 

So, in the fall, Nyah will be doing speech through Gateway Prep to help with the language side of the autism (double meanings of words, jokes, sarcasm, conversations, etc. - I really like the speech pathologist she worked with the last month of school), but I'll continue to be in charge of the "what & how" for her school plans. 

The biggest PRO with My Tech High is that I can choose individualized curriculum for each of my kids with the little bit of structure I feel we need at this time. 

So, overall, our My Tech High experience was a learning curve for all of us in many different ways, but I feel it went well and we're going to try it again this next year with {hopefully} less snags along the way.