Blogs

Matt Arkin, head of schools at Georgia Cyber Academy, sat down with the Good Day show on WFXL Fox 31 News in Albany, to explain how online learning works, how it can be an excellent alternative to traditional brick and mortar schools and highlights how the K¹² curriculum supports and enhances student literacy.

Not long ago, I wrote a post, at the request of a reader, about encouraging kids to craft, create and “actually make things.”  A few weeks later, the “maker movement” went viral when Caine’s Arcade, a short film about an enterprising nine year old’s cardboard creations, hit the web.  The film introduces us to young Caine Monroy who, armed with cardboard boxes and lots of packing tape, built an elaborate arcade in his father’s auto parts shop. The film has since gotten a lot of attention, from media outlets, as well as educators who are promoting the idea that informal learning, creating, and making things with their own hands is just as important as the formal education kids get in schools.

The creativity and real-world skills children gain from this sort of unstructured productive play is invaluable, and may serve them well in their future careers; jobs which almost certainly will require technical skills, as well as workers who are inventive, adaptable, and creative.

Sunday is Mother's Day, time to celebrate, appreciate and honor moms everywhere.  I was looking for creative and innovative ideas to offer our students, and came across the idea of journaling.

Journaling about Mother's Day gives students an outlet to create a personal and intimate way to honor one of the most influential and important people in their lives.  It's an opportunity to think about all the lessons learned from their mothers, as well a special way to document the many memories created with them. It can give them a chance to really stop and think about what really makes her special and the enormity of her role in their lives.

Most of us look back at our childhoods now that we are grown, and realize how special and "right" our moms were about so many things.  Asking students to write about their moms gives them a chance to stop and really think about  their importance in their lives.  I'm not saying that it will change the overall mood of your teenager, but it can lay the solid framework for when they begin to realize that there was some truth in the saying Mom knows Best! 

Mobile touchscreen devices like smartphones and tablets provide opportunities to interact with online content in new ways. 

One of my favorite ways to read digital content is to pull my favorite blogs and news sites into a news reader app which makes the content much more visually appealing.

Today, I am happy to tell you about some new ways in which you can connect with K12 on the go! 

Every year high school students from around the country graduate not prepared for what lies ahead.  National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education recently reported that nearly 60 percent of incoming freshmen need remedial courses to get them up to speed for college level classes.  

Even in Maryland, where the K-12 school system is considered one of the best in the nation, approximately 80 percent of students who graduated and went on to attend a two-year community college needed remediation.

With research like this being surfaced, many young adults and their parents are looking for an educational option that offers rigorous; high-quality courses to help them not only attend, but succeed at the college of their choice. Our award winning curriculum, coupled with personalized college counseling and individualized learning strategies, offers The George Washington University Online High School students an edge they won't find anywhere else.