This is my first post here and we are just getting started on our fulltime adventure and we have a very bright 15 year old. We are enrolling her in the online school Northstar Acadamy and wondered if anyone has any experience with this school or what their high schooler was doing on the road.

She is a go-getter so I want her to be challenged too

Any insight would be great and we can't wait to meet other traveling families on our journey!

Welcome to the forums!

I hope some of the folks here can help you out, my kid is turning 33 soon so I can't help with the school question.

I'm not familiar with it, but I just want to caution you about using an online academy while traveling because access to the internet can be so unreliable when you're on the road. Do you have a method of reliable internet access, no matter where you will be traveling? What is the academy's policy with regards to making up work due to internet access issues? On a more personal note, are you willing to give up academic autonomy and be tied to the online academy schedule, even if it disrupts you travel plans? Lots to think about.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Kinsa

First of all, welcome to the Escapees forums! We are happy to have you join in and we will do all that we are able to help you.

The first thing that I would want to verify is the accreditation of the school. Here is a US News article about accreditation of online colleges which may help as I don't find the subject addressing high schools. You do want to be sure that she will be able to gain entrance into the major colleges and universities after she completes her current courses. I did find this accreditation information from the site About Education as well that may be helpful. Another internet site that I think you may find to be helpful is Families on the Road which addresses the education issues.

We don't yet have a lot of members here who do what you are planning, but we are making an effort to grow that side of the Escapee organization, so please do stay an active part of our community and share what you learn and your experiences with others here. We do have a vast resource of RV related information and experience so are probably better equipped to assist in those areas, but we need your help to increase our resources in the home school and travel with children side of RVing.

Thank you for visiting us and please do become a regular contributor here!

Thanks for the feedback Kirk, Kinsa and Stanley! I used to be a teacher, so I understand the accreditation aspect and they are fully accredited and I also called two of the colleges she wants to attend and verified their accreditation with the colleges as well (just to double check and confirm). I've heard there are a lot of scam online high schools that are not accredited, and appreciate the info

The internet access was also something we were considering but the academy allows her to download the entire course, so she doesn't need constant internet access and can work offline when needed. The flexibility was definitely a plus.

Thanks for the warm welcome and we are happy to contribute and share our lessons learned

Good that you're taking advantage of what's available these days . Wish that we had the technology of today when I was 15 . I know my parents would have been doing much the same as you .

  On 4/23/2016 at 3:16 PM, TotallyTrailer said:

Thanks for the feedback Kirk, Kinsa and Stanley! I used to be a teacher, so I understand the accreditation aspect and they are fully accredited and I also called two of the colleges she wants to attend and verified their accreditation with the colleges as well (just to double check and confirm). I've heard there are a lot of scam online high schools that are not accredited, and appreciate the info

 

The internet access was also something we were considering but the academy allows her to download the entire course, so she doesn't need constant internet access and can work offline when needed. The flexibility was definitely a plus.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome and we are happy to contribute and share our lessons learned

Then I think that sounds like a great situation for you! I've never heard of an online academy that allowed you to download entire courses. How helpful while traveling!

(And I just thought I'd mention that colleges do accept homeschoolers who never had anything to do with accredited schools. I've managed to get three, so far, homeschooled kids into college - two private colleges and one public university - without ever using an accredited anything.)

Edited because I apparently can't type worth a darn.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Kinsa

Accredited or not if they score well on the SAT test they will get into college.

Hello TotallyTrailer,

How did your daughters year go? We are looking into online schools at this time and would love to hear how your experience was.

Warm regards,
Heather

You might check out the Facebook page Fulltime Families, they are living it. There are a lot of us retired people on this site