How Much Is Online School?
by Trey Edgington
Find Volunteer Opportunities for Your Kids
byCorissa Hennessey
3 min to read
This article was originally published on December 10, 2019. Updated on June 7, 2022.
To keep your kids active and learning about the world around them over the summer and during other school year breaks, consider volunteer activities for kids in grades K-12 that are available in your hometown.
Volunteer work for kids—especially online school students like the ones at Connections Academy—helps them learn to manage their time, solve problems, and develop social skills as they work alongside other people. Volunteering opportunities for kids might even align with their school curriculum and can even help prepare an online student for the jobs of the future.
Finding Volunteer Opportunities for Elementary and Middle Schoolers
You may be wondering, where can kids volunteer and where can I volunteer with my child? To find kids’ volunteer opportunities near you, look within local organizations that your child is already familiar with, such as your religious congregation if you have one, a local library, kids’ museum, or municipal recreation center. Volunteer programs are great ways to keep your child learning during the summer or other school year breaks while adding structure to their time off.
Finding elementary and middle school volunteer opportunities can be as simple as finding organizations dedicated to topics or causes that interest them, like:
- Working at a food bank or soup kitchen
- Tutoring younger students
- Participating in community cleanups
- Visiting an assisted living home
- Working at an animal shelter
- Helping out at the library
- Walking or running for a fundraiser
- Telephone banking for a political or moral cause
Finding Volunteer Opportunities for High Schoolers
For older students, many organizations need volunteer help and will gladly put your teenager’s enthusiastic spirit to work. Remember, extracurricular activities, like volunteer work, are essential ingredients every college portfolio needs. Here are a few online databases and search tools that can help high schoolers find community service opportunities near them:
VolunteerMatch
VolunteerMatch calls itself the web’s largest volunteer engagement network, serving over 130,000 participating nonprofits and 150 corporate network partners. Its home page features not only a volunteer opportunities search tool (usable with city or ZIP code), but lists of new, upcoming and “popular” volunteer programs “near” the user’s location. Click through on the search tool, and on the next page, click on “More Filters” to narrow your search to volunteer opportunities for kids or teens. You can also search by interest, such as education, homelessness, or hunger.
National Park Service
Students of all ages can volunteer with the National Park Service doing everything from educational to scientific research to service projects. With parental permission, kids can participate with scout groups or as families to learn about biodiversity, local history, and more. Another benefit of volunteering with this organization is that children can stay involved when they are adults as there is a lot of variety of volunteer positions, there will always be something new to discover, and it’s an opportunity for kids to volunteer for kids and families who want to visit the parks.
Animal Shelters
Do your children love animals? Looking for volunteer programs at a local animal shelter is an effective way to get them interested in volunteering. Seek out the shelter list on ASPCA.org to find a shelter or rescue near you.
Points of Light
Points of Light is a large volunteer organization that is now a network of volunteer-mobilizing organizations that serves more than 250 cities across 37 countries. With sections for kids, teens, parents, teachers, and organizations, the website directs users to information on community service clubs, project ideas, family volunteering, and service stories. Children can visit the Clubs page to find resources and children’s volunteer opportunities in your area.
Why Volunteer?
Many traditional brick-and-mortar schools require students of all ages to complete community service hours, so don’t miss your chance to turn this time into a learning experience.
For online school students, one of the benefits of kids volunteering is that it demonstrates your family’s values in action. Start small and appropriately for your new volunteer’s age. Talk to them afterward about what they liked or found rewarding about the experience. It might be useful information if they need a gentle reminder on why volunteering is important.
To learn how you can be more involved in your children’s education and have the flexibility to layer student volunteer programs into the family schedule, check out these five sample schedules for online school students.
Ready to Learn More
About Connections Academy?
Explore the benefits of attending Connections Academy, a tuition-free, accredited online public school that’s passionate about helping your child thrive.
Related Posts
-
-
Everything You’ll Need to Sign Up for Online School
by Connections Academy
-
Earn Your High School Diploma Online for Free
by Valerie Kirk
In today’s world, the path to high school graduation no longer has to be a straight line from the neighborhood elementary school to your local school district’s brick-and-mortar high school. As students grow and change, so do their learning needs, causing students to explore other options, including private, charter, and virtual schools, to continue their learning journey.
As students and families explore their school choices, they are often left wondering how to earn a high school diploma online for free.
One way is at a public virtual high school like Connections Academy. Just like in a public brick-and-mortar school, where students don’t pay tuition and receive their high school diplomas for free, students at public virtual high schools don’t pay tuition and earn their high school diploma online for free.
The Benefits of Online High School
Choosing the right school is one of the hardest decisions that parents have to make. There are many reasons why parents may want to explore different school options for their student, and many find that virtual school fits their specific needs. Virtual school offers:
- Flexible daily schedules, allowing students to complete their daily lessons on their schedule, leaving time for family obligations or extracurricular activities and sports.
- A safe, inclusive learning environment where everyone is welcome.
- Accredited curriculum
- Teachers who are specially trained to teach online.
- Social experiences like live classes and online clubs.
Read some of the stories from online school students about their journeys to earn a high school diploma online and see how online school benefits each student’s individual needs.
Graduation Requirements to Earn a Free Online High School Diploma
High school graduation requirements for accredited online high schools are set by the state where the school is based and mirror the state’s brick-and-mortar schools’ graduation requirements. Students enrolled in both types of public schools typically do the same number of credit hours, attend school the same number of hours/days, and must pass the same or similar state competency tests to graduate and receive their online high school diploma.
Virtual high schools have guidance counselors who help guide students in their course selection to ensure they meet the state guidelines to receive their high school diploma. Many virtual schools also offer solutions to support students who may be missing credits.
Many virtual schools also offer in-person graduation ceremonies where students are presented with their high school diploma. Students can celebrate their achievement with friends and family!
Costs for Public Virtual Schools
Public virtual schools are tuition-free, but there are some things families are responsible for. Depending on the grade, technology can play a significant part in the online school experience. Many virtual schools provide computers to their students at no cost. Virtual school families often find having a working computer helpful to have near the student’s learning space—especially if their student is enrolled in middle school or high school online.
Required texts and instructional materials, which can be either digital or physical depending on your student’s grade level and state, are also provided at no cost. Virtual school students need most of the same supplies as brick-and-mortar public school students, which must be purchased by the family. This includes school supplies like pencils, erasers, and notebooks.
Public virtual schools don’t charge fees to earn a high school diploma online. To graduate, students must simply meet their state’s graduation requirements.
Application Process for Online School
It’s never too late to transfer to online school and get your student on the path to earn their free high school diploma online. You can join one of Connections Academy’s information sessions to learn more about public virtual schools and the application process.
Learn more about how virtual school can help your student earn a high school diploma online for free.
read more
