Heidi W
Learning Coach
Heidi is the mother of Erik, a high school student at Maine Connections Academy (MCA). She is pleased that Erik has been more enthusiastic about school since enrolling at MCA. Learn more about the family’s story below:
I had been thinking of homeschooling my son Erik, but I just didn’t feel like I could give him the education he needed. Homeschooling was also too expensive, and I work full-time. My husband and I felt like Erik really needed some extra help in school, but we just didn’t know how we could do it. Last year, at his former bricks-and-mortar school, Erik was under a lot of stress, which made him sick a lot. Thus, we knew that we really needed to do something different.
One evening, my mother-in-law called and told me about MCA. I went online to learn more about it, registered for the meeting to go see a representative of Connections Academy, and fell in love immediately.
All kids learn differently. Online school will teach your kids how to be themselves, and they will soar!— Heidi
Both my husband and I work full-time. My mother-in-law stays with Erik on the days that we have to work and helps him with schoolwork. We really love the flexibility of the school. When we get out of work in the evening, we do make family time a really big priority. It doesn’t matter what time of day he does his work. He attends the LiveLesson® sessions and then completes the rest of his work at his own pace. Erik is not as stressed as when he came home from his former school. He was at school for seven hours and then on the bus for another 45 minutes each way. He then had anywhere from one to two hours of homework to do. He hated school so much before and wasn’t happy.
I feel like I have a whole different child now that he is at MCA. He loves school and talks to me about his day now—I am in awe! Erik can approach school at his own pace. He doesn’t have the stress of arriving to class on time. At his old school, because of Erik’s ADHD, he always had problems with staying focused and would be put in special seating. I know that Erik is doing well because of his new attitude towards school. He loves art, math, and science because he enjoys the experiments.
I love being a part of his learning. Erik has three Learning Coaches—me, my husband, and my mother-in-law, and that takes a lot of stress off of our shoulders. Being able to communicate with the teachers by email or phone is great! It makes you feel like you are cared about.Erik loves to play computer games, and he has dreams of being a computer programmer one day. MCA has helped him become more computer savvy.
I love the fact that Erik is learning how to navigate around the Internet and how to use Microsoft Word. He has even taught me a few things about the program.
