In some states, there are virtual academies in which you can do an online curriculum and the state pays for everything (curriculum, computer, printer, and at least a portion of your internet costs) and you complete the program at home via the interent. This is not homeschooling according to state laws. You will officially be classified as a public school student, even though you do your work at home.

Indiana does not yet do this. If you have had people saying that Indiana has a virtual they are likely confusing it with IDVA which is Idaho’s virtual not Indiana’s. There are about 8 to 12 states that are doing virtual public schools: Arkansas, Idaho, Wisconsin, California (district level), Florida, Ohio, are few.

You do still have online options when you homeschool however. There are several private schools that work with homeschoolers. Most of these are accreditted. The same curriculum that the virtual schools use online is also available to traditional homeschoolers; though you would not have accreditation through the program this way. Accreditation is done on a curriculum by currciculum basis. It is done at the school level, whether public or private. So, even though you may use all the same curriculum as an accreditted school and get perfect grades, you will not graduate with accreditation behind you unless you were enrolled in an school with accredidation. Get it? Doesn’t sound fair does it? You do the same work in the same curriculum and if you do it independently, you cannot claim the same status. If it will put your mind at ease, accreditation is less and less an issue all the time for homeschoolers. Colleges have realized that the homeschoolers coming to their colleges are just as well prepared and often better prepared than students that come from accredited institutions. Afterall, they had the same access to the same curriculum. They merely learned it independently.

OK, now back to the topic at hand. Check with a few colleges you have in mind and see if accrediation is a major issue with them and if so what accrediting agencies they approve of. There are dozens of them. Likely, it won’t matter to them so long as you have done rigerous courses and score high on entrance tests to back it up. If accreditation is an issue, look at private online schools which can give you this type of program. If accreditation isn’t an issue, then you are free to chose from a huge array of options.

There are online homeschool co-ops that you can get involved in (won’t be accredited). These offer free to low cost classes and are taught by homeschool parents. Basically instead of just teaching their own kids, they teach online so they can take a few others along with them. Usually, these programs will give first seats to kids of volunteer teachers first. This is the whole idea of a co-op. However, there are often seats left over even after filling them with kids of other volunteer teachers. Those seats then can be offered to kids from families where the parents do not want to do any teaching. The school year this year has already started, so many of theses classes are likely already full and in progress. I would make contact though and get into the information stream so you can hear when new classes are opening up. Here is a link to an online co-op: http://www.virtualhomeschoolgroup.com/.

You can get your own curriculum and work through it as an independent homeschooler (non-accredited). K12 is a good one. The high school level courses are done in an online, live classroom with a teacher or are text/online software based in which you work your way through it and you are tested via computer or send in your work to the teacher. Their high school level program is still pretty new, but they have been doing K to 8th for a while and have a very good track record.

Do an internet search for online schools. You will likely find many to chose from.

SPECIAL NOTICE

On April 29, 2007, after heated debate, the Indiana General Assembly approved a state budget that very explicitly does NOT include funding for public virtual charter schools such as Indiana Connections Academy (INCA). This is despite such schools being allowed under Indiana Charter Law and INCA being duly authorized by Ball State University to open in fall 2007. The INCA Board of Directors and Connections Academy are actively exploring alternative sources of philanthropic funding to enable between 100–300 students to participate in a Connections Academy private pilot school program for the next two years to demonstrate the program’s value to Indiana families. As of now, we will put all enrollment applications that have already been submitted on hold until it is determined if funds can be raised. Indiana families should be aware that INCA will NOT be opening as a public school this fall.

For information about how to voice your concerns to Indiana legislators and the Governor, please see Indiana Families for Virtual Public Schools, www.indianavirtualfamilies.org.

However, please understand that “public school at home” is not homeschooling. Virtual schools via K12 Inc. and Connections Academy are home-based public school programs. There are private online schools that many homeschoolers use. For example, the same K12 Inc. online program that the public school virtual academies use can be purchased independently. However, there is a charge for it. Please see link below:

http://www.k12.com/schooling_programs/k12_direct/

It may also help if you learn the legal options for homeschooling in the state of Indiana. The Home School Legal Defense Association website can give you this information, along with other information on how to get started in homeschooling; please click on the following link:

http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=IN

Another thing you may want to reconsider is the “accredited diploma” issue. In Indiana, homeschools are considered to be legal, private schools. Therefore, your mother can issue you a diploma or purchase one for you. The accreditation does not matter nearly as much as the knowledge that you gain. If you want to attend college, studying the proper subjects and passing the SAT or the ACT are usually crucial.

There is a free website through which you can take high school level courses that is absolutely free; however, they do not offer diplomas; you can check it out:

http://www.free-ed.net/free-ed/ProgClust.asp

I hope this information is helpful.

http://www.connectionsacademy.com/state/enrollment.asp?schoolCode=inca

SPECIAL NOTICE

On April 29, 2007, after heated debate, the Indiana General Assembly approved a state budget that very explicitly does NOT include funding for public virtual charter schools such as Indiana Connections Academy (INCA). This is despite such schools being allowed under Indiana Charter Law and INCA being duly authorized by Ball State University to open in fall 2007. The INCA Board of Directors and Connections Academy are actively exploring alternative sources of philanthropic funding to enable between 100–300 students to participate in a Connections Academy private pilot school program for the next two years to demonstrate the program’s value to Indiana families. As of now, we will put all enrollment applications that have already been submitted on hold until it is determined if funds can be raised. Indiana families should be aware that INCA will NOT be opening as a public school this fall.

For information about how to voice your concerns to Indiana legislators and the Governor, please see Indiana Families for Virtual Public Schools, www.indianavirtualfamilies.org

Here are 2 options if you can afford to pay for the curriculum yourself

http://scs.indiana.edu/unhs/howtoenroll.html

http://v7.k12.com/independence.html

k12 is a good one and you can purchase products on your own

I did a search myself, and I found a lot of them trying to charge. The best thing I can tell you is to go see your guidance counselor at the public school and ask her to point you in the right direction.

Your family should NEVER have to pay anything while homeschooling. So be sure whatever you choose, you are getting the supplies for FREE.

http://doe.state.in.us/sservices/hse2.htm