In the United States families have many options for educating their children. An increasingly popular choice families select is to enroll their children in an independent study school or program. While each independent study school is unique, generally speaking, families who enroll their students at this type of school have several supports they receive as well as several expectations they must uphold.
What does this support look like? At the school level, parents consult with assigned school staff members, often called educational facilitators, homeschool teachers, or consulting teachers. These individuals are accredited teachers who oversee and assist families in a number of different ways. Educational facilitators offer curriculum support and oversight. They help families navigate through learning difficulties and make certain these families are meeting all of the state standards required of their students. They serve as the first and primary point of contact.
In some large schools, parents are able to visit a location to review curriculum options. These preview libraries are a wonderful way for parents to get their hands on the curriculum and examine it more closely prior to deciding which materials to order.
While the educational facilitator is the first person families should contact with questions about their students, IEW is also here to support families. Are you a parent of a student enrolled in an independent study school? The absolute best way you can assist your students is to invest in your own training. Our freshly updated teacher training seminar, Teaching Writing: Structure and Style®, prepares you to confidently support your students as they learn to write.
Our Structure and Style for Students video-based courses are our best recommendation of where to start if you are brand new to IEW. These easy-to-implement and affordable courses offer elementary, middle school, and high school students twenty-four video lessons presented by master teacher Andrew Pudewa. Filmed with live classes, these lessons provide humorous, engaging, and incremental instruction in the highly effective Structure and Style writing method. The curriculum provides clear daily assignments and includes vocabulary words, grammar and literature suggestions, and lesson plans. You can watch the videos and learn the IEW methodology alongside your children.
If your students are working through a particular course that you have a question about, you will find our webinar archive is especially helpful. In addition to housing links to general webinars about IEW’s structural models, the archive boasts a robust library of previously recorded webinars on specific curriculum and topics. It is highly likely that a webinar for the Writing Across the Curriculum (not video-based) course your student is working on can be found in the archive. Parents supporting their students can select the course and unit their student is in to learn background information about the unit and its purpose along with tips on how to teach it.
One important way to help parents is to help their students. Recently we released a wonderful tool for students called the IEW Writing Companion. At first glance it is a simple online word processor. That is part of its genius. It eliminates the outside influence of AI while also supporting IEW students by helping them do what they check and check what they do. It includes a built-in assignment checklist along with an integrated thesaurus that supports the students as they write. Students are able to type, save, print, and share their final drafts with ease. At a cost of only $10.00 per course per student and access for a full year, it is a low-cost way to support the learning process. Visit this page to see which curriculum is supported and to try it out for free!
Another wonderful resource that covers a wide range of topics related to English language arts is the Arts of Language podcast. Podcasts are published weekly and are sure to inspire and encourage you in your educational journey. Additionally, we recommend you check out IEW’s blog. Are you wondering about how to teach a stylistic technique? We have blogs and podcast episodes that address various techniques. Are you curious about comprehension? We cover that too! Do you have a student with a learning difference? Our Learning Differences web page provides links to several blog posts, podcast episodes, and other resources that will inform and encourage you.
These are just a few of the many supports IEW offers for families educating their children through independent study schools. To discover even more available support, visit our web page for independent study schools. The page lists many additional resources that will help you as you teach your children.
If you have a student enrolled in an independent study school and have unanswered questions specifically about IEW, call our office at 800-856-5815 and ask to speak with a customer service agent. All of our agents are able to assist you with your curriculum questions and are delighted to do so! You can also email info@IEW.com for assistance.
by Jennifer Mauser
