Connect with a Connections Academy Parent

My daughter, Theresa, was unhappy at school and wanted to either transfer or learn at home.

Since I had traditionally home schooled from 1995 to 2000, I knew the amount of planning and reporting that was involved, and I wasn't prepared mid-year to take on that much responsibility. We looked into transferring but decided that Connections Academy was our best option.

What I love about Connections Academy is that I don't feel like I have to teach her. An experienced teacher is just an e-mail or a phone call away. Once we got into the flow of the program and Theresa got accustomed to the new way of schooling, we found we loved it. For me it was the best of both worlds. I could have my children learning at home in a safe atmosphere, I could be involved, and we have the expertise of a qualified teacher!

I believe in a challenging curriculum. My girls are advanced students, and I was thrilled to see Theresa being challenged. We were especially excited about the writing and grammar. I have seen so many students go into college terrified of Freshman Composition, but if they are learning these skills all along, they will go into college with confidence. We also enjoy the Quiz Bowl, book clubs and the online meeting places like the Monkey Bars for kids and Water Cooler for learning coaches. It is great to be able to interact with other parents and students. You certainly do not feel alone!

I never thought my girls would be learning at home again: Connections Academy makes that possible. Next year, Theresa's sisters will join them at home and we are looking forward to a great school year.

Greetings from Fountain in rural Minnesota! If you are reading this message you are a parent/caretaker of a child and you are concerned about his or her education. You want to meet certain goals to prepare your child for life. Now we have more choices, and it takes careful consideration. I understand as I have five children between the ages of 3 to 17 years old. Each child has a different learning style, strengths, and goals. My children have also been educated in various ways. They have been in public, private, homeschool, and Connections Academy; each has its own strengths and challenges.

I learned about Minnesota Connections Academy in 2006 when my then 16-year-old daughter said she wanted me to homeschool her for tenth grade. I did not know if I could meet her educational needs. A friend told me about an Internet-based school she had heard about while listening to Minnesota Public Radio, a relative told me that her daughter was going to try an Internet-based school, a friend gave me a newspaper article about Minnesota Connections Academy, and another family decided to enroll their three children in this school so they could travel with their father on his job assignments.

After hearing all of this, I enrolled my child. My now 17-year-old child has completed two years with Minnesota Connections Academy and also has completed 19 college credits because of dual enrollment. My other three school-age children completed their first year with Minnesota Connections Academy, and it was a great year of educational growth. I'd be glad to share our experience and answer questions.

My husband and I started schooling our children at home when our oldest was beginning the third grade. We originally had sent him to a nontraditional school because we were hoping for more flexibility in the learning environment and a little less "starch." We were pleased with some of the results, but we realized that no matter where we sent our children we were faced with a lot of the same frustrations any parent faces, such as worrying about what they were (or weren’t) being taught. Also, we really wanted to develop a deep relationship with our children, and that is hard to do when everyone is separated from each other all day, five days a week. So we made the decision to home school. We loved it! As the years progressed, our family grew to five children and we continued to home school.

However, a few years ago my husband was pursuing a career change, and I had to take on some part-time work. It became difficult to find enough time in the week for school preparation and even "class" time. I was frantically trying to figure out what I could do when I learned about Connections Academy. I wanted the same flexibility, hands-on learning, variety, and personal oversight, along with the good curriculum that I had with home schooling. But, I needed someone to take care of a lot of the paperwork I was struggling to keep up with. I also needed help with questions on days that just seemed too full and busy. I wanted someone to help me and understand what I wanted for my children, not just tell me what they were going to do for them. Connections Academy seemed to fit the bill.

This year is our fourth year! We have seen Connections Academy grow and expand in many ways since then. They have increased the classes they offer. The first year we were with Connections Academy, the school went only to the eighth grade. Now they offer a full high school as well! The individual teachers for each subject and grade have expanded so the student to teacher ratio is small. The biweekly calls, parent and student surveys, and daily assignment ratings are just a few of the ways they keep up with the families and students and get information about what is needed for their curriculum and learning environment. A plethora of field trips, parent and student chat rooms, LiveLesson® sessions, and the teacher message boards are some of the ways that parents, teachers, and students stay connected daily. These tools provide a way for CA families to meet each other as well as improving on the daily learning experience for the students.

My kids have made lasting relationships with many of their teachers as well as fellow students in and out of our area. They have thoroughly enjoyed what Connections Academy has to offer, and all of us look forward to more years with Connections Academy. It's wonderful!

Mike and I are very involved in everything our kids do. He sells insurance and is able to work from home, and—because of his very flexible schedule—he can help out when needed.

We started out with our first two kids in school, but we never really knew what they were doing in the classroom. The teachers didn't communicate a lot to us. I had some friends who told me about Connections Academy, and so I decided to check into it.

I loved the fact that I was able to receive all of the curriculum for free and that there were teachers to help me make sure we did everything that was required. We now have all four of our children in MTS Minnesota Connections Academy.

Sometimes it can be very challenging to work with all four. I have to keep things very organized and scheduled in order to make it work for me. I love the fact that the kids can work at their own pace, though. If they are stuck on something, I can take more time on it. Mike and I do volunteer work and our girls have been in dance, and having a flexible schedule allows us the time to fit all these things in.

It's also nice to be able to have the time to teach our kids other life skills that we may not have had a lot of time for if they were in a traditional school—and much of this is considered part of their education, instead of just having only classroom time.