Avoid Summer School with our Help

Avoid Summer School with our Help

When a teen starts to fall behind in school, the stress the student and family feels is palpable. Often times when a student fails a class, they start to struggle in their other classes too. They begin to doubt themselves and the grades in their other classes reflect that mindset. In order to make up the classes/credits, in the past, they have needed to enroll in summer school. However, that isn’t the case these days! We want you to know that there are other options out there to help your student avoid the dreaded summer school.

We offers a unique program that allows students from any high school across the country to take a high school class within an eight week time period. That’s right…just eight weeks! The classes are delivered online utilizing Edmentum so they can earn their missing credits from the comfort of your home!

Once enrolled, each student is assigned an academic coach who will contact them twice weekly to discuss progress and provide advice. They will also call the parents twice weekly to keep them informed of their progress.

Upon completion of the eight-week course, the final exam is given. This exam can be taken online via zoom, or at the student’s current school with an approved counselor from the school district.

Classes are very affordable, with the cost for a half credit class being $200.

It’s not always realistic to think that a student will learn the material taught to them the very first time it is presented in class. That’s why we offer credit recovery programs. Programs such as ours give struggling students another chance at successfully completing a course. It’s a shame some students end up in summer school or worse, drop out because they are shy a credit or two to graduate. We aim to prevent that and get teens graduated!

Credit recovery programs can enhance a student’s schooling experience and ensure that they stay on the path to graduation. When they earn a credit with our virtual school partners, they can learn from the comfort of their own home, which is a very successful way to learn for most students.

Another positive aspect of credit recovery is that we focus on each individual student and their learning needs. What works for one student may not work for the next and we understand that. We offer a wide range of courses and are certain we can meet the need of each student that comes to us for help. This is a huge benefit compared to placing your teen in summer school where they essentially are “pushed through” and are expected to have the same learning styles as everyone else in the classroom.

We keep a tight level of control over the material taught in our courses. Students have the ability to focus on areas that they struggled in, which allows them to master the subject. As we mentioned, academic coaches will follow up with your student a couple times per week to ensure that they are staying on the right track and understand the material.

Just like traditional schools have to meet certain standards, we have been awarded accreditation by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), the Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), the regional accrediting agencies that span the AdvancED global network. Your student is guaranteed a quality education to make up those missing credits that are needed for graduation.

Graduate

We want every student to succeed. One of the biggest stepping stones in a person’s life is their high school diploma. It is needed for them to go on to college, enter a trade school, or pursue various careers. Often times, students still struggle with summer school because the material is being taught in the same manner as it was the first time around. A fresh, new approach may be just the thing your student needs!

Credit recovery schools are a great alternative for your teen and will keep them out of summer school and on the road to graduation. Don’t feel that your student is too far behind to graduate or that their only option is dropping out because there are other alternatives available!

We would love to discuss all the ways we can help your student, so please reach out to us today! Feel free to give us a call at 800-297-2119 or click here to visit our website for more information.

Adding Physical Activity Into Your Teens Day

Adding Physical Activity Into Your Teens Day

Think back to when your middle or high schooler was a young child. Remember how they were little busy bodies, just bursting with energy? Those days were long and exhausting but you never had to worry if they were getting enough exercise because they never stopped moving, bopping from one activity to the next.

Now that they’ve reached their teenage years, their days of early rising are a thing of the past and their daily activity level has probably dwindled down. Adolescents tend to turn their attention off of physical activities like sports and dance and onto things like part-time jobs, friends, their devices, and their studies. They have a lot to juggle at this age and often times their fitness falls to the wayside.

It’s been shown that people who have led an active life starting at a young age tend to be active and healthy throughout their adult life. We all know that the benefits of an active lifestyle are plentiful. Not only will exercise help your teen to maintain a healthy weight, but people who exercise tend to have better outlooks on life, better overall health, and those who partake in sports have higher self-confidence. Let’s take a look at how you can encourage your teen to add fitness into their daily schedule and get them back on track.

Medical professionals recommend that teens get one hour or more of physical activity each day. Encourage your teen to incorporate some form of activity each day whether it is skateboarding, bicycling, yoga, swimming, sledding, snowshoeing, football, baseball, karate, etc. The list of exercise possibilities is endless.

Even everyday activities present exercise opportunities. Remember, chores burn calories (plus it frees your day up when the whole family helps with household chores). Need something from the convenience store at the corner? Have your teen walk there instead of driving. Is your teen looking for a part time job? Suggest they try babysitting. Watching kids is a sure way to burn calories because they keep you on your feet!

weight lifting activity

Some form of screen time is being had at most moments of the day, especially when your teen is a virtual learner. It’s no surprise it’s hard for teens to find time to exercise when upwards of eight or more hours each day are spent in front of the screen. This includes watching TV, completing their schooling, browsing online, and playing video games.

Sit down with your teen and discuss how you would like them to find time to add one hour of physical activity into each day. Let them have control on how they want to add it in. They may agree to wake up earlier and get it out of the way first thing. They may wish to break up their school day and clear their mind just before lunch. Or, they may find they like to exercise prior to bed. Anytime is fine as long as they agree to get it in.

Like most things, once you get rolling, the momentum builds and it’s easy to keep going. Exercise reduces stress, increases energy, and gives an overall feeling of good health. Once your teen starts adding daily exercise into their routine, they’ll love the feeling and want to keep going.

Just like when your kids were younger, try to encourage your teen to find activities that they find fun. When someone has fun, they are more apt to keep going. Suggest that they try to have a friend join them in their choice of exercise. They may find it more fun if they have an exercise partner to keep them on track and motivated. Plus, it gives them another opportunity to hang with their friends and what teen doesn’t want that?Physical Activity running

A great way to get your teen interested in exercise is to make it a family affair! Every member of the family will benefit from becoming more physically active. Join a local gym that offers something for everyone and go as a family every night. Becoming a healthier family will be good for everyone and you can help each other stay on track with your physical fitness goals. Be a positive role model for your teen by leading by example. After all, they look to you for guidance and follow in your footsteps.

Make sure that your teens don’t try to run a marathon their first time on the treadmill. If they have led a sedentary lifestyle, they will need to start off slow then build up their momentum. Trying to tackle too much at once will result in injuries and can be discouraging in the long run.

Talk to a doctor if you are concerned about your child not getting enough fitness or if they are at an unhealthy weight. They will be able to give you additional pointers and make sure that your teen is adding in a fitness activity that will best suit them.

Should your child have a medical condition that makes you concerned about them adding in exercise, bring this to your doctor’s attention also. Often times, there are still ways they can stay physically fit but it may take some modifications or shorter time intervals. Their doctors will be able to advise you properly.

Is there a type of activity that your teen enjoys doing? What activities do you do as a family to keep your family fit and active? Leave a comment down below and let us know! For more on how to get your teen motivated physically and mentally, visit our Facebook page.

Does Your Teen Struggle Motivating For The Day?

Does Your Teen Struggle Motivating For The Day?

The struggle is real folks. Teens love their sleep and motivating in the mornings can prove to be quite the challenge. Even though your student is a virtual learner, they still shouldn’t sleep the day away. If you are like many parents and have a hard time getting your teen up and motivated for the day, try some of these tips and hopefully your mornings will start to improve and become less stressful!

Encourage your teen to prep the night before.

Are there things that your teen typically puts off until the morning and then they are stressed and rushed? Something as simple as having your teen complete their coursework before bed can reduce stress and anxiety in the morning. Do you leave the home to work while your teen stays home to do their schooling? Ask them to make their lunch the night before and make sure everything is in order for the following day. You can relate this task to going to bed with a clean house versus a dirty one. When you have taken the time to do the dishes, clean up after dinner, and have everything in order, when you wake up the next day, you are fresh and ready to go. You aren’t playing catch up from the day before. Same goes for your student. If their “house” is in order, their morning will run smoother and they’ll be ready for whatever the new day brings.

Keep your teen’s morning straight to the point.

Avoid adding extra tasks to your teen’s plate early in the morning. When they prep the night before, the morning should be fairly routine and easy going. Unless something is urgent, try adding extra chores or things to their to-do list for the evening or weekends. Your teen could be grumpy in the morning and just like all of us, we don’t like it when we’re thrown a curve ball or have another expectation thrown on us when we are still waking up and getting ready for our day.

Encourage a reasonable bedtime.

Time To MotivateIt’s hard to get your teens to stick to a bedtime like they could when they were younger. Often times you may think they are sleeping but they are in bed on their phone or watching TV. When they are up late, it makes getting up in the morning that much more of a struggle. Your teen should aim to get an average of 8 hours of sleep per night so encourage them to go to sleep and wake up at roughly the same time each day. This may not always be reasonable, depending on what’s going on in your lives, particularly on the weekends, but when you sleep and wake at the same time your body regulates and is working at its prime.

Let your teen make their schedule.

Being responsible about time management is a skill that is crucial for teens, especially teens that learn virtually. Distractions are abundant at home so it’s important to be aware of the time that is required to complete their coursework. The need to be able to tune out their surroundings and carve out the time needed to complete their schooling daily. Time management is an important skill that will be used for the remainder of their life so it’s best they learn about it now, while under your roof. Have your teen use an alarm clock so that they are responsible for waking themselves up. If they feel groggy in the morning and are not up to making themselves breakfast, give them some recipes for things that are easy and can be prepped ahead of time. Things such as overnight oats, breakfast burritos, or omelettes in a mug are things that require very little time in the morning yet will give them energy throughout the morning.

Make a checklist.

Try creating a morning responsibilities checklist for your teen. It will reroute their morning and set them on the right path for the day. If they struggle with time management, you could have their checklist accompanied by times of when those tasks should be completed. Have some extra time built in so if something takes longer than anticipated or something unexpectedly gets added to their morning routine, they don’t stress.

Ask them to make their bed and get dressed.Motivaitng in the morning

These two simple tasks have a BIG impact on a person’s day. When you make your bed, you are programming your brain to know it’s time for the day to start and you aren’t tempted to hit the sheets and crawl back into bed. It sets the stage for your day. The same thing goes for getting dressed. Although your teen could stay in their pajamas for virtual school, ask them to get dressed for the day. It changes their mindset and they will be more productive throughout the day.

Virtual learning is wonderful and students enjoy learning at home, in a comforting, relaxed environment. Just make sure that your teen isn’t sleeping the day away and then cramming everything into the evening. Cramming like that adds to stress and could put them behind. Following a routine as if they were attending a traditional school will help them with developing crucial time management skills and prep them with the life skills they’ll need once they graduate high school.

Have you checked out our Facebook page lately? Our staff is always posting updates about the school and other tidbits that help your student stay on track. Check it out by clicking here.

Study Tips: Become A More Efficient Studier

Study Tips: Become A More Efficient Studier

Book Worm Studying When your kids exit elementary school and enter their middle and high school years, it’s really important that they have the skills to study efficiently and effectively. This will allow them to gain more independence when it comes to studying and stops them from spinning their wheels and getting nowhere when studying for a big test.

Go over some of these study tips with your 5-12th grader and give them the power to use their time efficiently. Everyone will be happier and more productive once they get these pointers under their belts.

Carve out study time.

Block out a certain time slot each day that is dedicated to study time. Whether they need to finish homework, review daily lessons, or study for a test, that time is waiting for them. It helps to know how much time is needed each day by projecting the week ahead. On Sunday, sit down and take a look at what they plan to accomplish throughout the week. Do they plan to take a big test in history on Thursday? Time will need to be allowed to study for that test. Are they finishing up a science project? Make sure time is allocated to work on it. You get the idea.  Knowing your teen has time allowed for each task will take some of the stress out of the week because they won’t be cramming or falling behind.

Use study time sensibly.

It’s hard to avoid distractions, especially when you are home and perhaps the TV is on, people are cooking in the kitchen, or someone is talking on the phone. Make sure your teen has somewhere that is relatively distraction-free to go and study. When there are no distractions, their mind can be focused on the task at hand (studying) and make the most out of their time. If your teen is doing their work on a device, such as a laptop computer, tell them to avoid having any unnecessary windows open. Keeping social media accounts unopened, gaming sites off, etc. will all help to keep them focused on their studies and not distracted by messages and posts.

Study TimeThe evenings go quick – we know! It’s hard to schedule study time that doesn’t conflict with other activities, but try your best. If your teen is too tired, they won’t be able to concentrate and really lock in what they are reviewing. When they are dosing off, encourage them to try a change of scenery. If they won’t be too distracted, have them sit outside on your patio in the fresh air. They need to make good use of their study block so they stay on track and sometimes a change of scenery or a quick 5-minute break will let them clear their head, refocus, and then get back at it.

Develop good note-taking skills.

When you have good notes, studying goes quicker because you don’t have to scour page-by-page for information. They will summarize what you need to know for your upcoming test. When you write notes, it increases the ability to recall that information. Teens can create their own note taking system because it should be one that works best for them. If they are taking notes, and have questions or need to revisit something, have them put an asterisk next to it or some other icon so they can come back to that area later.

Don’t multitask.

When your brain has too much going on at once, it tends not to remember everything and it can also jumble up the information. These factors will reduce your recall ability because you will either be unable to recall the facts or could have them mixed up. Have them focus on one subject at a time and work on it until the daily tasks are completed. Then they can move on to the next subject.

Study With Flash Cards

Make flashcards.

Flashcards are a great way to prep for a test. They can even use their notes as a quick guide to making flashcards. All of the important information should have been pulled out onto their notes. By going through those and making flashcards, they are avoiding skimming every page in the textbook for important information. Flashcards are also an easy way to quiz them and see what areas they still need help on.

Get rest!

Teens tend to lack on the amount of sleep they need during the week. Less than 20% of teens say that they get the recommended 8+ hours of sleep each night. That means over 80% are functioning at a subpar level. Make sure your teen goes to bed at a reasonable time so they are refreshed and ready the next day. This, and a good breakfast, will set them up for a successful day.

What helps your teen the most when it comes to studying for an exam or finishing a big assignment? Leave a comment below and let us know. Others would love to hear what you have to say too!

If you haven’t already, go follow our Facebook page and check out our website to see how My Virtual Academy helps students become better studiers and prepare them for life after high school.

Time Management 101: How to Juggle Both Work and School

Time Management 101: How to Juggle Both Work and School

As a virtual student, you probably have already discovered that it can be challenging to stay on track when you are studying and going to school from home. The everyday distractions can seem like simple 5-minute breaks here and there to take out the trash, fix a quick snack, check your text messages or social media (you get the idea) but before you know it, hours have flown by and time got away from you and the task at hand. Whether you are in high school for a few more years or are graduating and getting ready to enter the real world, time management is key to success.

Often times our students are faced with challenging home lives including financial hardships. Whether it’s to help support your family or put gas in your tank for running around with friends, our students find themselves juggling both work and school. Juggling work and school can really stress students out and some students start falling behind if they don’t have the tools needed to stay on track. We don’t want that to happen to you, so let’s go over some ways that you can be a successful student while earning a paycheck.

Set up a work station

First of all, in regard to school, are you setup for success? By that we mean do you have an area designated for your schooling that is relatively free from distractions? Do you have the supplies needed to get your work done (pencils, notebooks, computer, etc.)? When you are running around looking for a sharpened pencil so you can take notes or you can’t focus because your work station is in front of the family TV, you’re not really setting yourself up to be successful. Prepare your school space and you’ll save yourself some valuable time and energy.

Fast food workerConsider the time of day you are most focused

Second, take a second to think about your day. Do you tend to be someone who wakes up and gets their day going with a bang or do you pull the sheets over your head and let the snooze go off 5 more times before you wake up? Think about when you feel like you are at your peak performance and make a mental note of those times. Try to do your school work when you’re most alert and motivated. If possible, schedule work hours around your school schedule.

Schedule ahead

Third, let us introduce you to your new best friend: your planner. Whether you have a schedule that changes each week or one that is set in stone, creating a schedule that you can live with and stick to is going to be key in staying sane while tackling both work and school. Hey, when you’re running here and there and trying to get your lessons in, the stress will get high. With a thought-out schedule, things will get easier because you would have made time for everything. The trick is to stick with it.

Listen, no one said this would be easy but by taking some time to carve out your days in the beginning, you will avoid mass chaos at the middle and end. If you feel that your school work is suffering because of your work commitment, see if there are areas that you can reduce your spending so perhaps you don’t Girl laying in the grass with a book smiling at the camerahave to work as often. If you made a schedule thinking that you were really productive in the afternoon, but it turns out that is when you hit a lull in your day, make some tweaks and move your obligations to the earlier hours of the day. We are confident in you and know that after a short time, you will have found the perfect balance and things will fall into place.

Have you checked out all of the entertaining and informative posts on our blog? What are you waiting for? It’s a great resource for those within our MVA family and for those families that are contemplating making the leap to virtual learning. We post on all kinds of topics that will help keep you on the right path and also gives parents some guidance on things they may be dealing with. Click here to check it out! If you or someone you know could benefit from a virtual learning environment please give one of our enrollment specialists a call today at 800-297-2119.