What is Virtual Home Learning? Interview with Melissa Perkins

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: What is Virtual Home Learning? Interview with Melissa Perkins. What is Virtual Home Learning? Interview with Melissa Perkins There's not ONE right way to homeschool high school and so Vicki is excited to talk to a new friend about virtual home learning. Our new friend is Melissa Perkins of Blue Star Virtual Home Learning. Melissa Perkins is such an interesting person. She is a graduate of Meredith College and a distinguished teaching fellow. Melissa is a world-class educator as well as a former military wife (so has taught all over the world including Central and South America, South Africa, Thailand, Malaysia and China). Somewhere along the line, Melissa started bringing her love of teaching online with Blue Star and has grown her organization into a thriving educational resource. Vicki ran into Melissa in the Facebook world where she enjoys Melissa's Conscious Educator community. Melissa started the virtual learning program at the request of her friend who had been homeschooling her son but needed a tutor for her son when she had to go back to work. Melissa helped him succeed while the family made their lifestyle adjustments. Then her friend's co-op asked for her teaching support, too. That was three years ago. Since that time, her online home learning platform has gone worldwide. She has virtual offices in Mexico, Malaysia, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya and is working on opening locations in Great Britain, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Australia. One of the stand-out principles of the program is the concept of Master Students. These are young people from toddlers thought adult who work at being their own primary educator. They bring Blue Star in to be their guide. Thus, Blue Star is not a school, per se. Rather, it is an "educational ecosystem" that helps develop the hearts, souls and minds of students and their families. Blue Star is there to enhance their student's educations- whether they are homeschoolers, hybrid schoolers (those in a traditional school but taking Blue Star courses to develop student interests and abilities). Melissa wants her students to have educational experiences that are: * valid * relevant * enriching Melissa's Blue Star works to support their Master Students' families as well as the students themselves. Because Blue Star is not a school, they do not issue credit for courses. Not only that, they make sure their families know that they are not in the education business in order to babysit their students. They want families where the parents are "hands-on involved" in their children's education. Melissa calls her staff "educational concierges". In other words, they provide some academic administration or "TA-ing". They help with resources and lesson planning as well as courses. This leaves more time for families to be families and enjoy themselves. One of the virtual learning distinctives is having an education concierge. This person: * Answers questions * Walk you and your students through the program * Have a weekly meeting with families Melissa's story Her call as a teacher when she was five years old when she began teaching her dolls and stuffed animals. In Melissa's high school in North Carolina, she was part of a program for future teachers. After that, she became a teaching fellow to have her college education in return for teaching service. She was inspired by good teachers in her home county of Wake County,