The Challenge of Keeping Up
Homeschooling can be an ordeal for parents. Often, they have multiple children with multiple interests. Finding classes, content areas, subjects, opportunities for each learner is often time consuming. Will their teachers be as concerned as we are with our child’s educations? Sciences, which are developing rapidly, offer new learning opportunities. Technology changes. After all, we know there is only so much time every parent has. Homeschooling often takes up much of it.
This is why OTA exists. First and foremost, we want to make your life easy. Parents have a personal relationship with us. They call. They email. We respond.
In addition, we offer state of the art technology, using both virtual classrooms and a learning management system, that allow teachers to use multiple teaching modes to reach our students, who all learn differently. Videos clips. Audio. Student presentations online. Discussion. Lecture. Games. Quizzes. Yes, we can do this all online. It is a remarkable world.
Our Instructors – Your Partners
We seek out instructors that are experts in their field. Unlike some of our competitors, who simply allow any teacher to “post” a class for enrollment, OTA’s teachers go through a rigorous process before we allow our teachers to instruct your student. Teachers must PROVE they can teach virtually. A teacher may be good in a live classroom, or a parent has experience homeschooling ten kids, but these experiences don’t necessarily mean they can reach a virtual audience. Our teachers must teach us, both myself and my husband, Jonathan, virtually before we put them in front of your child. Then, our teachers are trained in using Jigsaw, our virtual classroom and Canvas, our learning management system.
Why do we do this you might ask? All students, but especially gifted students, can quickly figure out those teachers who are TRUE teachers and those people who teach but teach from a textbook. There is a huge difference. It is our goal at OTA to provide your student with amazing teachers teaching amazing classes – every – single – time. We want to reach our gifted students as well as our not-so-gifted students. Our teachers not only know how to teach – they understand homeschooling children – and they understand gifted children.
Family, Friends, and More
Finally, we consider both our staff and students at OTA family. Our staff is small and intimate. We are in contact with one another daily via Social Media. Yes, we have a “secret social media – teacher’s lounge.” We work together. We consider our students “our other children.” Since many of our students take multiple classes with OTA, when an issue comes us, academically or personally, our staff communicates with one another to make sure the student/family is ok. We want students, as well as our parents, to be able to come to us with comments, suggestions, questions and concerns. The best compliment we can receive is a suggestion or a thank you after a class session, or when a semester is over.
Our students become our friends. They are part of our life. They do not go away – ever. When we travel across the United States, we love visiting with them. Both staff and students get excited about our upcoming, in person “get-togethers.” It is our goal to make connections to each and every one of our students.
The Winning Formula
Open Tent Academy constantly evaluates what we are doing to combine communication, the best technology with the best teachers, so we can offer you amazing, out-of-the-box classes alongside traditional classes. As we always say, “Be prepared to be amazed.”
Classes for the 2018 – 2019 school year have already been posted at www.opententacademy.com. Registration beginning March 1, 2018. The first fourteen days of registration we offer a 20% discount on ALL classes!
Come visit us at www.opententacademy.com!
Take a look! Ask questions! Join our Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/opententacademy/. Don’t only LIKE it but visit it often. We are so much more than “classes”, we are your partner in education – for your gifted or not-so-gifted child! We are in this together.
Eva Goldstein-Meola, is not only co-founder of Open Tent Academy, but an instructor as well as a former homeschooling mother. She has lived in New Jersey, Florida, Western Massachusetts, Northern Virginia and now resides just outside of Jerusalem. Eva holds a Master’s Degree as a Consulting Teacher of Reading and Writing, IEW certification and a Bachelor’s Degree as an Elementary Teacher. She has also been involved in education since 1986 as a Private Tutor, Teacher, Reading Specialist, Homeschooling Mother, Homeschooling Teacher and Business Owner of an Online Education Consortium. In addition to teaching, Eva enjoys cooking, baking, playing Settlers of Catan, traveling with her husband Jonathan, Broadway Musicals and reading. Eva teaches a variety of literature and IEW writing courses for Open Tent Academy.
Some other articles by Eva:
Top Reasons to LOVE Online Learning
Top Ten Reasons for Learning a Foreign Language
Morning Routines: A Necessary Evil
It’s Never Too Early To Think About Summer Programs
Ten Ways To Improve Your Child’s Reading Skills
