About Home Schooling and GA Cyber Academy OR GA Connections Academy
There are as many ways to truly home school as there are families that choose home schooling. Parental choice and control, flexibility in scheduling, and teaching to the needs of the individual child are some of the hallmarks of true home schooling. In response to the popularity and growth of the home schooling movement, the state of Georgia has launched the Georgia Cyber Academy, and more recently GA Connections Academy, under the banner of "home schooling." But the state proudly touts that GCA is the largest public school in GA. This underscores our position, which is shared with HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association), that both of these entities are public school implemented in the home, not true Homeschooling and therefore the support needed for these families is different.
Home schooling vs Georgia Cyber Academy (GCA)
- Home schooling allows parents full choice and control of their child's curricular material.
- GCA mandates that all children follow the curriculum selected by the state.
- Home schooling families are entitled to full membership in HSLDA which includes the protection of your right to home school and many other benefits. http://www.hslda.org/about/default.asp
- GCA families are not entitled to membership in HSLDA, but rather are overseen by the state and as such are not subject to the same laws as home school families. For an explanation on HSLDA’s position on the subject, please see http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/issues/c/charterschools.asp. Georgia’s Home School Laws can be found at http://www.ghea.org/pages/resources/stateLaw.php.
- Home schooling families have the freedom not only to select curriculum, but also to choose when, where and how their children will learn.
- GCA families are mandated by the state to follow the hours and calendar of the public school system.
- Home schooling families have the freedom and flexibility to tailor learning times to meet the specific needs of each child. (This includes jumping grades in subjects where the child is naturally gifted while spending extra time on the areas in which they struggle without grade level parameters.)
- GCA families, while working at home,must adhere to state mandated curriculum and grade levels.
- Homes schooling families have the freedom to change curriculum throughout the year to maximize the results and effectiveness of their efforts. Sometimes these changes are based on the learning style of each child they are teaching or a preference for a specific method of introducing concepts.
- GCA families are mandated to execute the curriculum, as laid out by the stateregardless to how the individual student responds to the curriculum.
- GCA families are mandated to execute the curriculum, as laid out by the stateregardless to how the individual student responds to the curriculum.
- Home schooling families have the right to include religious instruction and curriculum in their schooling. As we state elsewhere, we in DASCH believe this spiritual training is of the utmost importance in educating our children.
- GCA families, though they might choose to include religion in their homes, are not able to make the curriculum choices and other educational decisions that place this spiritual training at the center of their schooling.
DASCH Membership
Because DASCH places emphasis on spiritual training and we believe in the homeschooling movement as well as protecting the freedoms to choose where, when, and how to educate our children, our organization is focused strictly on supporting families home schooling under the GA home schooling law. The Georgia Cyber Academy, nor the Georgia Connections Academy, do not fall under the GA home school law therefore it are not in keeping with our organizational requirements for membership.
We do however offer further support for those still wrestling with their schooling options on our DASCH website www.daschhomeschool.org. We encourage families choosing the various Public Cyber options to find support and fellowship with other families who choose this option to educate their children and therefore will have similar schedules, concerns, and experiences.