Lakeport >> Many mother-daughter duos share the same activities — church groups and art classes and trips to the movie theater. But Sandra and Samantha Montgomery share their educational pursuits.
The Lakeport residents are both completing their schooling almost entirely online. Sandra Montgomery is pursing a criminal justice degree with an emphasis in human services through Colorado Technical University. Her daughter, 6-year-old Samantha Montgomery, is taking first grade coursework through California Virtual Academy.
Sandra Montgomery was the first to start online schooling. She was volunteering with Lake County Behavioral Health and the Circle of Native Minds Cultural Center when she realized she wanted to make a bigger impact on the community. She knew more education would also help her take care of her daughter and her parents as they get older, so she researched schools and found Colorado Technical University online and their criminal justice program.
The human services emphasis will allow her to go on to grad school and obtain a Masters in psychology or criminal justice. “I just love helping people,” Montgomery said. “I want to be in something where I’m helping people.”
It wasn’t long after that when Montgomery found California Virtual Academy for her daughter. She was looking into the idea of home schooling when a friend told her about the online program, which she describes as a mixture of home school and public school. Once enrolled in the academy, kids have daily and weekly lesson plans and attendance they must log each day. They’re required to take physical education, so the Montgomerys go to Quail Run Fitness Center in Lakeport for 45 minutes a day, where they enjoy swimming and yoga.
Samantha Montgomery does between four and six hours of schoolwork daily, and there’s a support system of teachers to help the students when parents can’t.
There are the monthly field trips and events for all students enrolled in California Virtual Academy. A science fair particularly impressed Sandra Montgomery when she saw a kindergartner had entered a science project. Another event she and her daughter attended was an art contest, where Samantha Montgomery entered a small clay sculpture of her grandparents.
Sandra Montgomery decided to look somewhere other than public school for Samantha Montgomery’s education in large part because she was concerned about bullying. “My daughter, she’s very outgoing and she makes friends easy,” she said. “I don’t want that to be hampered.”
She also liked the vast array of extracurricular options, which Sandra Montgomery feels are vital to boosting intelligence. Samantha Montgomery is currently taking art and music lessons and for her art projects, California Virtual Academy sends along all the materials she needs — plus famous art prints for her walls.
Plus, the program ensures learning is fun. “They learn best when they’re interested,” Montgomery observed.
When Samantha Montgomery first began her history coursework, she received a little paper backpack and passport to “travel” across the world. She had a different backpack for each continent and “visited” various countries, which she learned all about.
She’s also been able to take her education into her own hands, in a way. Equipped with her My Little Pony horses, Samantha Montgomery has Twilight Sparkles “teach” the other ponies. It’s a unique way to learn, and it’s been highly effective for Montgomery.
“I’m so excited. She does good on all her mandatory tests,” Sandra Montgomery said. “She seems to be retaining it really well, so that’s a big plus in my book.”
She can do her work at any time, from anywhere. And because Sandra Montgomery is a California Native American Basket Weaver and they both belong to the Californian Indian Basket Weavers Association, which hosts a large meeting once a year, neither of them have to miss school to attend.
“We can be doing school at the same time and then that frees us up more time to play together,” Montgomery said.
One of the biggest concerns when it comes to home schooling is the lack of a social setting. But Sandra Montgomery isn’t worried about it. Her daughter has a large group of friends. Some she met through California Virtual Academy and others she’s knows through her church, where she reads scripture and prayers in front of her peers. “She has friends of all ages and that is great I think,” Montgomery said. “She really gets lots of socialization. That hasn’t been an issue for me.”
California Virtual Academy goes up to the 12th grade, so Montgomery is planning to keep her daughter enrolled as long as the program continues to work.
“I really enjoy learning and I want her to enjoy learning,” she said. “We’re both having fun learning.”
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
