Our Experience with MBTA

Welcome to the new "A Day in the Life" series! This weekly string of blog posts will feature individuals or families here on the Big Island, describing what "a day in the life" (or a week!) of a homeschooler is like. This weeks post is by Jamee Adams of Hilo. She and her husband have 3 children, and are generously sharing their experience with using Myron B. Thompson Academy.

Our Experience with MBTA:

(Myron B. Thompson Academy - www.ethompson.org)

 Our family has been using MBTA for only one year, so I may not be the best reference, but I'm happy to share some of the things that work well for us.  My experience is only based on the elementary school, as I do not yet have intermediate-aged children. I chose to use MBTA for the allotment, and because I have full control over the curriculum I use in my home-school.

MBTA is a public charter school located on Oahu. For Oahu families, MBTA offers face-to-face and online classes, but for outer island residents, web-cam classes are the only option.  Each child enrolled in the program (K-6) is granted a $1500 allotment that can be used for books, curriculum, art supplies, private or team lessons, and a large variety of other resources. Each child is required to complete 2 web-cam classes each month, submit homework for those classes, and submit a portfolio of home-school projects each quarter.

In a nutshell:

        $1500 per child allotment. Some of the things I have purchased / utilized from our allotment:

• Wide variety of curriculum, science kits and experiments, wood-working kits, plant and gardening kits, math manipulatives, fine art supplies (paints, brushes, art papers…), craft supplies (googly eyes, feathers, pipe cleaners…) construction paper, cardstock, stickers, glue, educational coloring books, Rosetta Stone language CDs, Mavis Beacon typing programs, timelines, maps, art study cards, logic workbooks, flash cards, cartooning kits and much more.
• §  Note: Anything you purchase through MBTA that is NOT consumable must be returned to MBTA at the end of the year. It is cataloged and put in their library, and you can check it out again, but you can’t own it.

• Private and team lessons: (music, dance, swimming, soccer…), tutoring, classes.
• Memberships:  ‘Imiloa, Lyman Museum, Botanical gardens.  All national parks: Volcano, Puuhonua o Honaunau.
•   iPad and apps. Students can check out an iPad and can use allotment funds to buy apps.
•  Library at MBTA where we can check out materials:  I use this for things that I know I will have to return anyway. If they have it in the library, then it’s less money from my MBTA account to check it out and have it sent to me than it is to order it new, and still have to turn it into the library at the end of the school year.       

       The online classes are generally good. I like all the teachers my children have had, and I find the subject matter to be level-appropriate and interesting. I don't love having online classes, but only two classes a month is worth the allotment that we have access to. You will need to have a computer (obviously) and a good headset with a microphone.

MBTA’s web portal is decent. I think it could be more user-friendly but it seems that they are making improvements. Any time that we have missed a class due to technical problems, the teachers have been flexible and the phone technical support has been very helpful. Once your child is enrolled, you will get information from the school on how to login to classes. We found over time that getting online for the class itself works best with Chrome because the web-conferencing software they use seems more compatible with Chrome (as opposed to Firefox and Explorer.) Otherwise, regular access to the school site is fine on any browser.

Some things to keep in mind: 


*You have to use all of your allotment by Halloween (Oct 31st), so you need to have your plan in place for the resources you will need all year. If you don't use all of your allotment on physical resources by Oct 31st, you can still use that money throughout the year for lessons and classes. Just be aware that you can't purchase any more supplies once the Halloween due date is past.

       *Homework is due after every class, which may be an adjustment for families used to managing their own due dates. 

·      *Portfolios are due every quarter.  Each child has to turn in 2 samples from each of the 4 core subjects (math, science, language arts, social studies), totaling 8 samples. If you have several children, you’ll need to plan ahead to get it all in. Take lots of photos since they can be used to show science experiments, activities and progress for younger children.

       *If you live off-island, you will need to have access to a good scanner, since you will need to scan your child's homework and portfolios and then send them via e-mail or upload to their portal. I suppose you could snail mail everything directly to the teacher - I never tried it - but you'd have to set that up with the teacher ahead of time.

·       *Like any other publicly-funded institution, there seems to be a fair amount of paperwork to get your child enrolled, to prove your child is actually doing something at home, and to make certain that your child is passing all the HSA required testing. Just be prepared to make time in your schedule for the necessary secretarial duties.

Overall, we have been satisfied with our choice to use MBTA. It has required some flexibility and adjustment, but we’ve enjoyed our experience this year.

Thank you so much Jamee for your insights and experience in using MBTA for your family. This information is invaluable for those of us trying it out for the first time, or looking for more resources. So grateful for your contribution!