Review of K12 Charter Schools in California and Nevada

I am a single mom of two boys, ages 13 & 11. I have homeschooled them their entire lives, in various styles. I work full time, only recently being able to work out of my home, so the public charter school was the best way for me to continue to homeschool my children and be able to work full time. I hope this review of one of the charter school options that is out there will help you in making your decision on the best way to homeschool your own children. In my opinion, there is no "best way" to do this, there is only the best way for your family, and that often changes as your children grow.

This is our second year going through K12 State Virtual Academy. Last year, we were in California and used CAVA (California Virtual Academy). This year we moved to Las Vegas, and K12 started their first NV Virtual Academy. They are very similar, yet have some very big differences as well.

This wasn't our first experience with a public charter school in California. As my sons have grown, their interests and schooling needs have changed, so I have changed the way we homeschool often. If it doesn't work, move on... that's been the way I've looked at schooling. CAVA, was a bit more structured than we had been schooling, but I felt that my sons needed a bit more structure as they got older. Since CAVA offered an almost completely online schooling system, and offline text books, I felt that this was probably the best way to go.

My family enjoyed most of the curriculum. The science was engaging for both of my sons, one who was in 4th grade & the other was in 6th. History and geography was also a great curriculum. They split Language into several parts, Literature, Language (grammar, composition & vocabulary), and then also spelling for my youngest. My sons also enjoyed the art curriculum. They gave us various types of clay, paints, art pictures, and lots of crafts to do together and separately. The best thing about K12 is that they do give you lots of supplies for Science experiments and art.