The Parent's Role

The parent or other responsible adult role varies from K-8 to high school. In K-8, you as the parent (or other responsible adult), working in conjunction with the teacher, serves as a “learning coach” to your student, helping facilitate progress through the daily lessons and working to modify the pace and schedule according to your child’s needs. The teacher communicates with you via e-mail, telephone, online Web meetings, or even face-to-face, in many cases. A suggested lesson plan is provided to you each week, which updates automatically as your child progresses. You can vary the lesson plan, to accommodate your child’s pace or abilities: for instance, some kids do better when they can concentrate their Math studies for longer hours per day but fewer days per week. Other parents use their children’s favorite subject as a reward to give the child a break periodically from tougher subjects.

In the K12912 high school program, students are expected to be more accountable for their daily progress and time management. They have one subject-specific teacher for each subject studied. These teachers are responsible for reviewing all student work and providing instructional feedback. Teachers work together on a teaching team, and employ a cooperative team-teaching approach. The student is expected to move at a more consistent pace with her or his “class,” in each subject, though there is room for flexibility. The parent still plays an important supportive role to help the student stay on task and to help ensure the student is following through on his or her assignments—but the student is expected to start managing his or her own time and schedule more directly.