Homeschool Registered
- Acceleration and Retention Information for Registered Families
- Getting Started as a Registered Homeschooler with HCOS
- HCOS Registered Students in Online Courses
Acceleration and Retention Information for Registered Families
Acceleration
Acceleration is the practice of placing students at a higher than normal level of instruction to meet their learning needs. It occurs when a teacher provides the student with an advanced curriculum, when a student skips a grade, or when a student takes a specific course at a higher level.
Students can be accelerated by grade, when they are advanced in all areas, or by subject. For example, in the latter case, a student in Grade 6 may be doing math at an advanced level and language arts at his age level.
HCOS supports acceleration as a strategy in the support of gifted students.
Retention
HCOS prefers grade promotion (students staying with their age levelled peers, with learning supports) over retaining students for the following reasons:
- The achievement and adjustment of students who are retained tends to be no better than those of comparable children who are promoted.
- Repeating a grade does not ensure that children will overcome the areas of deficiency.
- Students who repeat the same material without new instructional strategies tend not to attain the same levels of competence as students who are promoted.
- Retention affects students socially, emotionally and educationally.
Impact on Enrolling
HCOS recommends that if a family is considering either acceleration or retention, or has done so while registered, upon entering the enrolled program that they connect with the administrator for their region. If you are unsure who your local administrator is please reach out to office@onlineschool.ca Upon enrollment in an online program, previously registered students may be offered an assessment to help determine the appropriate level in which the student should study at.
Getting Started as a Registered Homeschooler with HCOS
If you were unable to attend the webinar that HCOS presented called “Getting Started as a Registered Homeschooler with HCOS”, then we invite you to either view the recording here, or you can view the slide presentation as a PDF here.
HCOS Registered Students in Online Courses
Can my HCOS registered student take an online course?
Yes!
Grades 5-9: HCOS Registered students in grades 5 through 9 can take synchronous or asynchronous online courses as a part of their educational plans. There is a tuition fee of $250 per online course as unfortunately, registered students do not receive funding from the government.
Grades 10-12: HCOS Registered students in the grad program (grades 10-12) can take synchronous or asynchronous online courses at no cost, as courses in the grad program are funded on a course by course basis.
Please note that in grades 10-12 taking an online course starts the creation of a BC Transcript for your student.
What courses can I take?
Grades 5-9: Please see our course directory here.
Grades 10-12: Please see our course directory here.
How do I apply?
Please fill out our application through our cross enrollment division, BC Online School.
Select the appropriate grade level and course you wish to apply for.
In the ‘How did you hear about us?’ box, please include under Other: Registered Student. This will help us expedite the application.