You don’t have to commit to anything more than what your family needs. Live Online classes through VSA are available completely individually. You can enroll in a single course, a handful of subjects, or build up to a full schedule over time. There’s no minimum. Many families come to VSA specifically for one subject they don’t want to teach themselves and continue homeschooling everything else on their own terms. Full-time enrollment is only required if you’re pursuing the accredited Diploma Program, which is a separate path. Live Online classes follow the same rules and the same quality of instruction regardless of whether you’re taking one class or six.

Classes meet twice a week—either Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday depending on the time slot you choose—in the virtual classroom. It’s not a passive experience: students are on camera, participate verbally via microphone, and engage through the chat box. Participation is a graded part of the course, and the platform tracks engagement, so teachers know when a student has gone quiet and will follow up. Outside of class, students work from what’s called a Course Assignment Sheet (CAS), essentially a detailed course syllabus that lays out what’s due and when. Written work is submitted digitally before class. The workload is real and the pacing is consistent with a traditional academic school year.

More than you might expect, but probably not in the way you’re picturing. During class itself, your student should be working independently; our Live Online program asks parents to step back and allow kids to engage on their own. Where parental involvement is required is in the logistics: proctoring tests at home, making sure assignments get submitted on time, and staying aware of the course schedule. Live Online isn’t a “set it and forget it” option. The families who thrive are ones where a parent is present and engaged with the overall school day, even if they’re not sitting next to their child during class. That said, the structure of the Live Online path takes the actual teaching off your plate.

Yes, classes are recorded, and if a student misses a class, they can watch the recording and fill out the archive viewing form for full participation credit. Students are still expected to turn in assignments on time unless an Extension Request is approved. That said, because participation is a graded component of Live Online classes, missing class and watching a recording isn’t a perfect substitute. It’s best treated as a backup rather than a built-in flexibility feature. If you know your family has stretches of the year where attendance would be unreliable, it’s worth factoring that into which courses you choose and when.

Each course listing in the course catalog includes prerequisites and age or grade recommendations, so that’s always the first place to look. Beyond that, if you’re not in the Diploma Program, the responsibility for deciding whether your student is ready falls primarily on you as the parent. However, we strongly recommend a free consultation with one of our Family Consultants before you register, especially if your child is new to classical education or you’re unsure how their existing coursework maps to VSA’s sequence. That consultation is genuinely useful and not just a sales call—it’s the clearest path to making sure you’re starting in the right place.

Individual course students receive a report card rather than an official transcript. Transcripts are reserved for students enrolled in the full-time Diploma Program. For many homeschooling families, a report card is perfectly sufficient for state reporting purposes or for keeping their own records, but if your long-term goal includes a VSA-issued accredited transcript at graduation, that requires being enrolled in the Diploma Program. Be sure to plan ahead!

Yes.VSA has families in this situation across the program. Accommodations are available, but they have to be formally requested through administration, require documentation of the diagnosed need, and come with a fee of $50 per course, with a $150 minimum per student. The process isn’t instant, so it’s best to start that conversation before you register rather than after class has begun. The live class format—with its structured participation, regular teacher feedback, and small class sizes—actually suits many learners with attention challenges better than self-directed work would. That said, it’s a rigorous program, and whether it’s the right fit really depends on the individual child. A consultation with a Family Consultant who can talk through your specific situation is the best first step.