Regarding fear of failure…. I also agree it’s the school system that drives it into us, and the media that reinforces it by feeding us a constant diet of fear. And speaking from my own experience it’s not just Millenials who had fear of failing and making mistakes pounded into them. I was born in the mid-70’s (late Gen-X’er I guess), and I felt that fear and the importance of ‘gotta get it right the first time’ being driven into me constantly in school. This fear of making mistakes has taken a lot of effort for me to resist, and I use the term “resist” versus “overcome” because it is always whispering to me in the back of my mind. I’ve found the best way to minimize it and resist it is to force myself out of my comfort zone for long periods (living in a different country and trying to learn a different language is a pretty good way of doing that I’ve found).
This is one of the three big reasons I’m homeschooling our 7yo son now, and urge others to do so too (if they can). If one can’t, at least tell your kid on a regular basis that it’s ok to make mistakes, because it’s highly unlikely they’ll ever hear that at school. I really wish that I had accepted and internalized this back when I was a young adult, and I figure this wisdom is one of the best gifts I can give to my children. I honestly shudder to think that this conditioning might actually be worse now than when I was in school.

I think it is important to note that K12.com is a platform, not a school. Online schools pay for the K12.com platform to run their school on and they choose if they want to follow a state-mandated offering and therefore get certified and issue “diplomas”. Only if you want a state accredited graduation certificate does any of this even matter. Further if you are willing to pay there are several offerings outside of the “public” schools that use the K12.com platform.

My son just completed last spring grades 7-12 (which he got done in 5 years) through Michigan Virtual Charter Academy that used the K12.com platform. While we did have to accept some stuff we probably would not have picked if we were completely doing out own thing, we felt the trade-off was worth it at this time to get a “real” diploma through a State of Michigan school. If he had been 5 years younger we probably would have picked a different path.

I think we are rapidly approaching the time when other accrediting organizations outside of the various states will pop up and their diploma will be recognized as one from a state accreditation. After all, you have got 50 different sets of state rules on what it takes to graduate high school and I’ve never heard of anyone saying “Well since you graduated from a school in we don’t recognize your diploma as valid”.

For someone that wants to really shake up the education system the K12.com platform could be used for that without any problems. Just because Government Schools use it doesn’t mean it couldn’t be used for any offering someone sees value in and gets parents to fund for their students.