It's a rainy spring morning. The teachers at The MorningStar Academy are getting their morning coffee and preparing the day's lessons. Just like every other school, they sit down at their desks and get ready. However, at MorningStar, there is no onslaught of children rushing through the doors. That's because it's no ordinary school. The MorningStar Academy  is different because we offer a unique Christian online education.

Meanwhile, in sunny Florida, 6th grader Matthew rolls out of bed. He wants to get an early start on his school work so he can go skateboarding later that afternoon. While most of Matthew's friends got up hours earlier, missed breakfast so they could catch a bus full of rowdy classmates, Matthew quietly prepares an egg, toasts some bread, and pours a glass of O.J.. When he's ready to eat, he sets down his meal at his computer desk and logs into his online portal.

"Good morning students!" reads a message from his teacher, Mrs. Gardiner. He checks out his daily assignments and figures out that if he works hard for a few hours, he'll have plenty of time to hang out with his buddies later on. So he gets to work on the individualized curriculum selected just for him.

Starting with math, Matthew breezes through his Pre-Algebra course. Because Matthew is such a math whiz, he's actually a year ahead of schedule, completing algebraic equations with ease. He finishes his math work in a half hour, with only a few hiccups. He gets stuck on a particularly tricky word problem. He types out a quick question to his teacher, Mr. Rodriguez.

 

Back at the school office, a text message pops up on Mr. Rodriguez's computer. Within a few seconds, he sends a reply. After a few more minutes of communication, everything clicks in Matthew's mind. He's received the one-on-one help he needs and quickly finishes up the rest of his math homeschool curriculum.

After less than an hour of working on English, Matthew is ready to take a break.  He has become friends with a few other online homeschool students in Miami, as well as a few pen pals in Alaska and the Philippines. He asks one of his classmates a few questions about their schoolwork and sees how his international friend is doing. They talk about a recent movie that they both like and Matthew signs out.

Matthew then moves on to online science course. He watches an educational video about the life on the ocean floor. At this point, he waits outside for his mom to get home from her part-time job. She drives up and they head off to the Miami Seaquarium to supplement his online education in ocean life. Matthew spends a few hours at the aquarium, taking notes and photos. When Matthew and his mom get home, they eat a few tuna sandwiches and Matthew gets back to his online education. Mom logs in their time at the aquarium into the Extra-Curricular Activities Folder so that Matthew will receive credit for this educational field trip.

After constructing a clay model for his art class, Matthew grabs his skateboard, gives his mom a quick hug, and heads to the city park. There he'll skate around and shoot some hoops with neighborhood friends for the afternoon. Later, he'll ask his mom to log in his time under Physical Education. When he sits down to dinner with the rest of the family, he tells his dad all about what he learned that day through his online courses.