Do Online School Parents Have to Teach?

Imagine yourself at the kitchen table having a small crisis over a math problem. When’s the last time you even did long division? What are PEMDAs again? Have I always been this bad at math? Remember failing 8th grade algebra? First, take a deep breath. Second, know that this may be the reality at other online schools, but not BlueSky.

Parent-turned-teacher is one of the most common misconceptions about online learning, as well as one of the most understandable. When you picture a student learning from home, it’s easy to imagine a parent sitting alongside them for hours, relearning algebra or proofreading papers. For many families, that image alone is enough to rule out online school entirely.

Luckily at BlueSky, teaching your child is our job, not yours. After 25 years as Minnesota’s first and best online school, we have the resources and experienced staff to keep students excelling and parents…well, parenting.

What BlueSky Parents Actually Do

Your role as a BlueSky parent isn’t to teach. It’s to support. There’s a meaningful difference between the two.

Supporting your student might look like making sure they have a quiet space to work, checking in on how their day went, encouraging them when motivation dips, or celebrating when things click. It looks like the kind of presence that any involved parent provides, not a second day-job in education.

BlueSky has been around since 2000, and in that time, we’ve guided countless families through this exact concern. Parents consistently tell us that they were surprised by how little teaching was actually required of them and how much well-rounded support their students received from our staff.

One BlueSky student put it simply: “I did not expect that much of a one-on-one communication, an immediate support system. The first week I got emails from every single teacher introducing themselves, so happy to see me. It was awesome. I never had that when I went to school before and I totally wasn’t expecting it at an online school.”

Your Student Has a Whole Team Behind Them

From the moment a student enrolls at BlueSky Online, they’re assigned a dedicated three-person support team: an advisor, a counselor, and a school social worker. This team stays with your student throughout their entire time at BlueSky; not just the first semester, not just when something goes wrong, but every step of the way from enrollment to graduation.

Teachers are at the heart of BlueSky student’s day-to-day. They design the lessons, provide one-on-one help with assignments, and communicate regularly through phone, email, text, and online chats. With the flexibility that comes with the online environment, they’re especially clear about expectations, requirements, and deadlines, often working directly with students to figure out what success looks like for them. Many BlueSky teachers also hold live sessions where students can interact with their teachers and peers in real time.

Advisors are your student’s first point of contact for just about everything. They check in regularly by phone, email, and text, get to know your student and your family, monitor academic progress, and act as an advocate when students run into obstacles. If something feels off, your advisor is the first person to notice and the first person to help.

Counselors focus on the bigger picture like graduation requirements, course selection, college exploration, financial aid, and career planning. They help students see the path ahead and make sure they’re on track to reach it.

School social workers are there for the things that have nothing to do with academics but affect everything about a student’s ability to learn. Personal concerns, family circumstances, mental health, community resources, and more. BlueSky’s social workers handle everything with confidentiality and compassion.

Stay in the Loop Without Having to Run the Show

Being out of the loop is another fear parents bring to online school. If my student is learning at home, how will I know how they’re doing? Who do I call if something’s wrong?

At BlueSky, parents receive regular updates from their student’s teachers and always have a direct line to their student’s support team. You’re not left to wonder, especially with the real-time tools and dashboards via academic snapshot. And if you ever have a question or concern, you don’t have to wait for a scheduled conference. You can reach out any time.

This is the approach BlueSky has spent 25 years getting right: keeping parents informed and involved without putting the burden of teaching on their shoulders. You’ll know what’s happening in your student’s learning. You just won’t have to be the one making it happen.

What Students Say

It’s not just parents who are surprised by the level of support at BlueSky, students are too:

“BlueSky definitely has prepared me for life. Honestly, I don’t know if I would have been able to graduate without BlueSky. The teachers are very supportive, they are very involved and they love to help you.”

“The teachers always lifted my spirits up to a higher degree; they were there for me. They are there because they care and are willing to make a difference in our lives.”

For students who felt overlooked or unsupported in traditional school, the level of attention at BlueSky can be unexpected (in a good way). A counselor-to-student ratio of 1:115—compared to the state average of 1:700—means students aren’t falling through the cracks.

See more student and parent testimonials here.

Online School Isn’t Homeschool

This distinction matters. Homeschooling places the responsibility of education squarely on the family. Parents choose the curriculum, deliver the instruction, assess the work, and track progress toward graduation. It’s a significant commitment that works beautifully for many, but it’s a very different thing from online school at BlueSky.

With us, your student is enrolled in an accredited Minnesota public school with licensed teachers, a structured curriculum, official transcripts, and a state-approved diploma. You’re not running a homeschool. Your student is attending school, just from the comfort of home.

Students can work at hours that suit them, learn at a pace that fits their needs, and do it all from home. But the education itself? Always handled by professionals who have been doing this for more than two decades.

So, What Is Your Job?

If we’re being real, the most important thing a BlueSky parent can do is stay engaged. Not as a co-teacher, but as a parent.

What will your day as an online school parent might look like: check in on how your student’s day went. Encourage them to reach out to their teacher or advisor when something feels hard. Celebrate the wins. Check in with their support team if any questions arise. Create a home space that helps them meet their goals.

That’s it! The rest is on us.

Start at BlueSky Today

If you’ve been holding off on exploring BlueSky because you weren’t sure you could handle the teaching side of things, we hope this puts that concern to rest. You don’t have to know algebra. You don’t have to recount your years in math class. You just have to show up for your kid, while we show up for them too.

Curious about enrolling for next Fall? Enrollment is open now. Explore high school and middle school programs and learn more here.