There’s a lot of great things to love about Southern California: the sunny days, the beach, the great food.

But our personal favorite is the educational opportunities available for your children.

California ranks first nationally on the number of charter schools throughout the state, with 630,000 students enrolled in a charter school.

Knowing your child has several options is both liberating and stressful. It’s great knowing you’re not tied to a local district school if that’s not what’s best for you, but how do you figure out what is the best option?

To help you make your decision, we’ve gathered some of the most common forms of alternative educational options. Check them out below.

Homeschooling

Sometimes the home is the best environment for the student to learn. Homeschooling also allows for much more involvement in your student’s education because, essentially, you are their educator. You will know what their academic strengths are, where they need to improve and how they are being instructed.

You could find your own curriculum and teach your child on your own. They will have to take standardized tests and exams to earn the diploma, but that’s certainly a possibility.

But there’s a good chance you might not feel fully confident in all subject areas, especially once high school hits. If that’s the case, there are resources to support you in your homeschool journey.

For example, Elite Homeschool Academy follows a policy of “you are the driver, we provide the engine”

That ‘engine’ comes with personalized learning plans that you’ll work with an educator to develop. It also includes an aligned, solid curriculum and support from Elite Educators.

Should you decide to enroll in Elite’s homeschool academy, you’ll have a consultation to develop goals and plans. You’ll then have curriculum options to review and select, with the choice for a digital, award-winning curriculum for 6–12th grade students that’s A–G aligned and pending accreditation.

As a homeschool parent with Elite, you’ll have flexibility, choice and the support of an Elite Educator to ensure your child’s homeschool journey is successful.

To learn more about Elite Homeschool Academy, head here.

Online or Independent Study

If you’d like more of a ‘public’ school, but with more flexibility, online school–also commonly known as independent study–is likely your best alternative.

Students study at home or wherever they have access to a computer and internet connection. There is a set curriculum, which you can pick. Students have deadlines to fulfill but are able to work at their own pace.

With Elite Virtual Academy, the curriculum provided is aligned, which means students will graduate with a legitimate high school diploma. There are also highly qualified instructors who provide live online sessions and answer questions via email, phone calls or 1-1 online tutoring.

Online school can be a great option for students who:

You can learn more about Elite Virtual Academy here.

Blended Learning

Although 100% online school allows for more freedom, it also requires more discipline.

That can be a great trait for your child to learn. But if you feel they aren’t quite ready for a full independent study, a better option may be blended learning, which gives you the best of both worlds.

Blended learning is primarily in person with an onsite instructor who utilizes digital curriculum to teach. Students will be on a computer studying independently, while also working with the teacher to understand concepts and stay on track.

For 6–12th grade students, Elite Blended Academy can be a great option. Students can study in person or independently, but both scenarios are complemented with an Elite Educator, who meets up to three times weekly with students to discuss goals, assess strengths, areas of focus and create a personalized education for each student.

In other words, it allows your child to learn discipline through independent study while receiving constant support from an instructor through graduation.

The Elite Blended Academy starts this Fall 2018. Stay tuned as we post more details on the site!

Enrichment Learning

This educational offering is unique to Elite. If your child has a specific passion or talent, enrichment learning could be the best route.

There are specific athletic, career, musical and traveling academies that tie in learning with something your child truly loves.

Elite Athletic Academy (EAA) is for the student athlete who wants to pursue their passion in a sport while excelling academically. Because of our partnership with the nationally acclaimed Stars and Stripes program, this model provides student athletes of all levels the unique opportunity to benchmark, individualize and elevate their athletic development. Learn more here.

If your child knows what they want to be when they grow up, let them get a headstart with Elite Career Technical Academy (CTE). This academy allows students to combine college preparation and real-world workforce skills development into one customized education program. Programs include healthcare, computer science, psychology and more. Learn more here.

For the musically inclined, there’s the Elite Visual Performing Arts Academy (VAPA). Students will receive a quality education while learning from highly experienced professionals whose talents range from stage combat to creative writing. To learn more about this track, head here.

Maybe your student wants to explore the world? The Elite Travel Academy (ETA) has them covered, at little to no cost for students who earn a minimum GPA. These students can travel to New York, Washington D.C. or London. You can learn more about it here.