Well there so many pro's and only a few negatives. Sometimes it just depends how you look at it and what works for you personally but I'll share my thoughts..
The negative aspects would be the reactions of others, it may not work with your schedule if no one can be with the student during the day, the student needs to be somewhat self motivated, lack of social interaction, lack of extra curricular activities. But I believe there are ways to overcome the negatives..
I find that once people hear/learn more about it, they become less skeptical. The students schedule is often very flexible, for example, with my daughters school, she doesn't have any particular hours that she has to attend her cyber classes as long as she logs in everyday (for attendance) and completes all assignements on time. So the work can be done in the evening, on the weekends, it can be broken up throughout the day, ect. Learning to be self-motivated is not such a bad thing, as that is a great life skill to have! Really do your homework on the school because the one we chose offers several opportunities for students to meet eachother and meet the teachers in person. There are class trips, school picnics, proms, ect. Our school also offers a performing & fine arts school that is 2 days a week, in person. That's an entire other conversation though! They also offer a two day a week program for gifted students. Plus there are plenty of other activities kids can get involved in outside of school to ensure the social interaction aspect.
So they don't really sound like negatives or con's afterall, do they?
As for the pro's.. I feel much more involved in my child's education with no extra effort. I'm copied on all correspondence between my child and her teachers so I know every single grade and exactly what is going on. The flexible schedule is a bonus of course. You can do double the work one day and no work the next day as long as work is up to date and the child logs in everyday. There is no wasted time with lunch, recess, study halls, the class being held back while kids are diciplined, snow days, ect. The school year is much shorter because of this. They don't have to deal with all the drama that often comes along with attending school everyday, they can just focus on what they are supposed to.. learning. My daughter is learning so much about technology and time management which I believe will really help her with college readiness! She is getting real school credits and will get a real diploma no different than any public school student. Last but not least, as I mentioned in a previous post, this is a free option in our state! Check with your state/location. The school even supplies the necessary equipment!
Of course each cyber school can be a little different so again, if you are considering it, you really need to research which schools to look into. It's also been brought to my attention that many public school districts are offering cyber programs as part of their curriculum. So you can choose to do all cyber or part cyber and partial in-school classes. Then you can still participate in the school extra curricular activities, proms and graduation. There are lots of options! Don't discount it because of pre-conceived ideas! We dismissed it at first but finally agreed to give it a chance and we never looked back!
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