Are you wanting to teach your kids at home but don’t know where to start? That’s how I felt last year when my oldest was headed into Kindergarten. Then I was told about K12, it’s a online school that is FREE and sends you all the materials you need to teach.
What is Online School?
Online School is a cross between traditional homeschooling and in-person public school. The traditional homeschool experience is where the parent/learning coach/teacher decides on a curriculum for each subject and devises a plan of what to teach when.
The traditional in-person public school is well…what most of us are used to. Kids go to school in a school building, they are taught by teachers, take part in learning, social activities, etc. then at the end of the day go home and work on homework. There is much more to it than that but that’s just the quick version.
*A nice perk of online school is there isn’t any homework!! At least not that we’ve encountered through our first 5 years in the program!*
Why We Chose K12 Online School
I have nothing against in-person public schooling. I grew up in it and worked as a school psychologist for 7 years before becoming a stay-at-home mom. Now I teach my kids at home, which is something I never thought I’d do, but it’s working for us.
At first I chose to keep our kids home from school due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2020/2021 school year. That school year my oldest worked through a 4-year-old curriculum and 5-year-old curriculum in just one year! He was so eager to learn! At the same time, my twins who are two years younger than him worked through the 1-year-old curriculum and 2-year-old curriculum in that time. Busy boys and busy mama!
As our oldest was about to enter Kindergarten, we had a decision to make for the 2021/2022 school year. We knew that there wouldn’t be mandatory masking at our local school district and we knew that there would be another surge that fall (which there was: Omicron). We decided to keep our oldest home for Kindergarten even though we felt bad that he’d be missing such a fun grade and age. If you don’t know from other blog posts of mine, I am high risk for complications due to COVID-19, death, and Long COVID.
As the school year wore on, we saw our local school district’s numbers of staff and students contracting COVID increase steadily. By the end of the school year, 25% of students and 35% of staff had contracted COVID. We are a rather small school district of about 4,000 students and about 550 staff. We’re very glad we kept our Kindergartener home, now that we know infections can lead to Long COVID even in kids.
Knowing that we wanted to keep him home we looked into different options including traditional homeschooling where I research different curricula and decide on the best one for each subject. We decided on a school district about 30 miles away from us which used the K12 curriculum and loved it!
We were with that school district for a couple of years until they dropped the K12 curriculum so we moved to a bigger district that still used it. Sadly, the school district we were with initially, ended up closing the year after we left. We are glad we made the switch to the larger school that covers all of our state and uses the K12 curriculum and program.
What is K12?
K12 is a FREE online public school that is typically tied to a local school district. They also have private school options but we stick with public school.
Through K12-powered school options, we empower students to learn in the ways that are best for them – in their own place and at their own pace.
K12 at k12.com/about-k12.html
K12 notes some key facts on their site including that over 2 million students have chosen K12-powered schools, that they have K12-powered schools in many states that are tuition-free, career preparation is available for middle and high school students, and that they’ve been around for decades!
The last one is what really stuck with me. I love that they’ve been around since long before the pandemic, unlike so many other options.
Who does the Teaching?
The majority of the teaching is done through the online platform, K12. There are lessons for kids to work through with videos, interactive activities, and some bookwork. Each school district is different though.
Each school district that the virtual school is run through does have options on how to run their school so yours may not look exactly like ours.
The math lessons are taught on the K12 site via video of K12 teachers, followed by interactive questions which the students answer and get immediate feedback on if they’re correct or not. There is also a paper workbook which students work on almost daily, anywhere from 1-3 pages. The font is large and if it’s 3 pages it tends to be 3 problems that are broken down and asked different ways.
For English Language Arts (ELA), it’s very similar. There is a K12 teacher who will go through the book they’re working on that day, take them on a book walk through the book, talk about what they think the book might be about, then the teacher reads the book. The teacher will stop every so often to ask students questions about the book to which they’re supposed to answer aloud (this is prerecorded so it’s not like the teacher hears them but it’s good for them to respond anyway.)
The picture below is during one of our oldest child’s virtual class morning meeting back when he was in 1st grade. Here he was talking about something that interested him. He loves being social with his classmates. (He has my wallet from when I was a teenager on his desk for some reason with some fake money. I can’t explain why that’s there. lol)
We also have direct contact with their teachers and communicate with them as needed. Typically we communicate via email but sometimes also text message as they have shared their phone number as well.
What’s the Schedule Like?
A question I had going into all of this is if it’s online school, does that mean they’re online all day? I don’t want my kid having that much screen time!!
The short answer is: It depends.
Each school district that the virtual school is run through does have options on how to run their school so yours may not look exactly like ours.
Back when there were fewer calls, our kids tended to be done with their schoolwork within 3-4 hours, including some breaks and the two calls with his classmates and teacher.
This year though, with the increased number of calls, they typically aren’t fully done with school until 1pm for our 1st grade twins and 2:30pm for our 4th grader. We start school at 8:30am working on lessons then the first calls start at 9am.
Initially, there were just 1-2 calls a day for each of our kids in early elementary school with their teacher and their class and the rest of the day they were working on self-paced lessons online.
However, starting the 2025/2026 school year at the K12 school we attend, there are 30 minute calls throughout the day.
Here is our 1st grade twins’ current schedule
- 9am-9:30am Morning Meeting call with class
- 10-10:30am or 10:30-11am: Small Groups Phonics
- 11am-11:30am: English Language Arts (ELA) call
- 12:30pm-1pm: Math Class
Those are the live calls with their class that they have to be on. Our twins are actually above their peers in terms of phonics so their teacher made a different phonics group for them at 11:40am-12pm where they are working on reading chapter books.
These calls are with his classmates and teacher. During these calls they learn, are able to socialize like a regular classroom setting, take turns, and participate in activities.
Other than the calls, between calls and before calls, there are typically 3 self-paced lessons a day kids need to work on. By self paced, I mean the kids all get the same lesson for the whole class, but there is a recorded “teacher time” where a K12 teacher (not their own teacher) teaches them about math, health, or whatever the lesson is on.
Then there is typically a portion where the student will need to complete a little quiz to make sure they understand the concept and/or pages in a workbook.
I’m always available for if/when my kids need help, to check their work in their notebooks and workbooks, and to be there for support. Some lessons, such as health, we have found work better when we do them all together at my computer instead of individually at theirs. It’s nice to be able to do things the way that works for us.
My 4th grader has a more robust call schedule:
- 9am-9:30am: Morning Meeting
- 9:30-10:15am: English Language Arts (ELA)
- 10:30-11:00am: Rotating schedule of Lexia or Science, every other day
- 11:30am-12:00pm: Reading Group
- 1:30pm-2:30pm: Math Lesson
Then, like my twins, he has lessons to complete between his calls, though for him, his teacher is mainly teaching them instead of the online lessons teaching them. Which is kind of nice.
Honestly, I liked it better when there were fewer calls so we had more flexibility with our days but this works too. We’re getting used to it. One nice thing is Fridays tend to be rather light so last week we were able to take an afternoon trip to a local family harvest activities farm when we were done with school.
Below is a picture of our twins’ school set up. The photo is taken from my desk where I sit and work on family and blog things while they work, always available when they need me. All their materials are between them and of course, one of our lovely Aerogardens, this one with petunias that have been going strong for at least 2 years!
What About Materials?
K12 sends us all the materials that we need for FREE!
We get a curriculum book for the learning coach for each subject as well as a workbook for the student for each subject they need one in.
Students also receive supplemental materials such as science materials, various books with stories in them that will be read throughout the year, math cubes in the case of early learners, flashcards, and other needed manipulatives.
The curriculum book and some other materials do need to be returned at the end of the year but they pay for the return shipping as well. It’s all paid through taxes, even if you don’t live in the district you are enrolled in because that money gets transferred from your resident school district to the one in which your student is enrolled.
Below is what our son received when he was in 1st grade. We already had some materials from the previous year, which I didn’t take a picture of, but there are a lot of great resources for me as a learning coach and for him. We’re excited to jump in!
We also were sent a laptop computer for each child and a printer! Which is totally not needed as we already had our own laptops and a printer (we didn’t know these were coming) but nice to have that option.
What about Socialization?
As a shy person and a former school psychologist, I do worry about the lack of socialization of my kids. I have my reasons for the way we live currently, but I won’t get into that.
There are socialization opportunities within K12 and the district in which we are open-enrolled.
Through K12, there are clubs you can take part in and even an online kid-safe social platform that kids can play games on as well.
Our eldest, loves being social and activities so he’s taken part in the K12 clubs in the past and is currently in a weekly Outschool Lego club as well as online karate classes that he’s been part of for 3 years now!
All in all, there are some K12 activities your child can partake in, and there might even be ones through the district you’re enrolled in including in-person activities if that’s what you’d prefer.
There are also opportunities outside of school, such as a platform like Outschool, to have more social interaction. If you click on my Outschool link, you can get a $50 credit!! Our son’s Lego class is just $10 a week so that’d add up to 5 weeks of free class!
Why Online instead of Homeschool
The first year we did online school there was a lot more parental involvement with the teaching and I quickly realized that sometimes the mom/teacher dynamic was hard. I do have a bit of an advantage though, I do have two graduate degrees in education and have spent hundreds of hours observing classrooms with wonderful teachers during my career. As a school psychologist, I was technically observing a student at the time but always listened to the teacher and noted their great teaching tactics. It’s almost as though I knew I’d end up teaching my own kids someday.
One thing that has been difficult is overcoming the whole Mom vs. Teacher dynamic. I’m always mom and as my children, they don’t always respect me like they would a teacher. I know that my sons act out more for me while I’m teaching them than they would for a teacher, it’s just how things are. Kids are more comfortable at home and feel they can be their true selves. Which don’t get me wrong, that’s great, but can be extremely exhausting!!
With my oldest who is very active, has a short attention span, and is very intelligent, I’ve learned that I need to get to the point pretty quickly so we tend to fly through subjects as fast as we can. He’s still learning and absorbing things, as he demonstrates in assessments, but I know that if I over teach or lollygag on anything that I’ll lose him and it’ll be hard to get him back.
Now that he’s older, he does all of this on his own. He’s actually upstairs in his room working on schoolwork instead of on the main floor with my twins and me because he gets too distracted if we’re around. He’s doing great with this independence and I check in on him from time to time to ensure he’s doing what he’s supposed to.
Below is a picture of when my little guys were little!! This is when just our oldest was doing Kindergarten and his little brothers were joining him during a lesson. Typically they aren’t quite this close but that day he was involving them within his learning and quizzing them as he worked through the worksheet. It was really cute.
BONUS Online Community for Parents
New this year, K12 has an online learning coach (that’s what they call parents/people helping the students learn at home) community! You can get tips from other learning coaches, give tips (of course, I give a lot), and socialize with other learning coaches.
There is a National Community as well as smaller groups where you can chat with other learning coaches and support staff from K12.
This has been really helpful this year in that they moved to a new learning platform and it’s had some hiccups so it’s been nice to hear that I’m not alone and that the school is working on making things better.
The Way it Really Is
I’m not going to lie to you, teaching is hard. I cannot imagine having to teach a whole classroom of kids and commend those who do it for a living. I actually have taught classes before, just for a day or two at a time, and it’s hard work!! Not to mention, all the prep work, planning, and grading that goes along with it after hours!
I’ve worked with some amazing teachers throughout the years, and have been taught by some amazing teachers as well! I truly believe teaching is the most underappreciated and underpaid profession out there.
We’re in many crises right now between COVID-19, inflation, war, insurrectionists in our own country, increased violence including school shootings, and lack of funding, especially for schools. All the more reasons I want to keep my littles at home with me as much as I can.
I started keeping my kids at home due to the pandemic but I honestly plan on keeping them at home long term at this point. Though we often have power struggles and it’s hard to teach one kid while the other two are playing, or fighting each other, I feel it’s what’s right for our family.
I feel that by me keeping them home, I’m freeing up 3 spots in classrooms for kiddos whose parents can’t stay home with them and teach them. In our local school district, though we moved here in part due to the great ratings of it, they have 30+ students per elementary school classroom. By freeing up those 3 spots I’m at least not adding to the problem.
With online school, I’m able to spend more time with my kids and teach them at their own pace. One of my kids has ADHD so if he were in person he may need help, but as a school psychologist, I know his difficulties aren’t significant enough to qualify for Special Education services so they would likely struggle at in-person school. Though at home, I can be right there with them helping them through it and giving them that 1:1 or 1:3 attention they need.
While I don’t want to be a helicopter parent, I do want to protect my kids from what I can. I want to protect them from bullying as much as I can, from having to participate in 5x yearly fire drills with blaring noises which I know would really set off at least two of them with sensory issues. I want to protect them from having to participate in 5x yearly lockdown drills and the possibility of an actual lockdown and school shooter situation.
When I was working in the schools, I remember the fear in elementary school aged kids’ eyes during the lock down drills especially. Even though I worked in smaller cities of less than 10,000 people throughout my short career, there were at least two instances where we had a real lockdown because there was a concern of a school shooting taking place. We weren’t in the inner city, this is suburban/rural cities, it can happen anywhere.
I know I can’t protect my kids forever. I completely get that. For now though, we’ve decided to protect them as much as possible and teach them at home at their own pace. It’s really nice to have to opportunity to do so.
I can tell you one success so far, all three of my kids are scoring well above average in their standardized assessments every year. And no, I don’t help them, this is done on a call with them and their teacher. Last year, when our twins were in Kindergarten, one of them was working on 3rd grade math in the IXL program they use.
We must be doing something right at home!
This is the right choice for our kids’ educational experience for grades K-12. New this year, they have preschool available as well!
Online School At-Home Classroom
Are you looking for ideas on what you need for your classroom at home? Here is a blog post I wrote based on what we have found to work for us. We have our classroom in the front room of our house, including my craft/work desk/corner.
Resources
FAQ / Review
What is Online School?
Online school is a cross between traditional homeschooling and in-person public school.
What is K12?
K12 is a FREE online public school that you can enroll in through a school district within most states.
Who does the Teaching?
There are prerecorded videos from teachers that teach students the majority of their lessons. Many schools also have daily lessons with a licensed teacher and their classmates.
What about Materials with K12?
K12 sends us all of the materials we need for FREE!
Are the Kids Online ALL Day?
It depends on the school. The school day can be much shorter than the traditional school day and often doesn’t require them to be online all day. Even with class calls throughout the day, there are still break times between calls.
How Long Does Online School Take?
It really depends on the student, the grade they’re in, their work ethic AND the individual school they’re enrolled in. For us, Kindergarten and 1st grade were about 2 hours a day and 2nd grade has been between 3-4 hours a day, including live calls with his class and breaks.
What about Socialization?
K12 offers many online clubs kids can participate in. The district we go through in our state also offers online and in-person meet ups.
As a mom of identical twins and a son two years older, I have gained invaluable experience in the realm, and chaos, of parenting. With a Master's Degree and Education Specialist Degree in School Psychology, I spent years as a school psychologist, helping children navigate through their educational and emotional challenges. Now as a stay at home mom and professional blogger, I combine my areas of expertise to help you in your parenting journey.
Thank you for such a helpful blog post, Nicole! We do school at home, too, for the same reasons as you — pretty amazing. We’re using an online public charter school nearby. For 2024-25 they are encouraging us to do some classes through Stride. I’m thinking of doing Social Studies and Science with them, but don’t see any samples. Mostly, I’m interested in learning if the curriculum for Grade 6 includes hype-controversial issues that are hot topics in our crazy state. (It’s ok if it’s not overly emphasized because we can reteach or explain a different stance.) What has your experience been? Maybe your children so much younger that it’s not an issue. Either way, I’d love to hear back!
Hi Dorothea,
Thank you for your kind words and I’m glad my post has been helpful! My oldest is just in 2nd grade so I’m not sure about the social studies curriculum for 6th grade. So far we haven’t encountered anything controversial but I realize the higher grades likely get into deeper topics. Sorry I’m not of much help!