Wilson and Savannah Cobb don’t have to go far to get to school.

Wilson, 10, and Savannah, 8, start the morning with a few chores, have some breakfast, get ready for the day, and then head downstairs to their classroom. They both log in, see the day’s assignments and readings, catch a video presentation or two, and get studying.

Wilson and Savannah are getting an education through online school, and have since kindergarten.

“I thought this would be a great option for us,” said Amy Cobb, Savannah and Wilson’s mother.

Amy, who went to public school herself, at first didn’t think much of home-schooling or online school. Yet she grew concerned about education once she was pregnant with Wilson. She didn’t like the state of public education and was looking for outside options to get the best opportunities for her children.

“I was considering home-schooling on my own,” Amy said. “I wanted to be a big part of [their] education.”

She found a solution when she heard about MTS Minnesota Connections Academy, a tuition-free online school offered through a St. Paul charter school. After looking into it, she signed Wilson up once he was ready for kindergarten, and both Wilson and Savannah have attended since then.

Amy plays a large role in her children’s school day. She administers tests, checks off work, and at times coordinates her children’s lessons, all with curriculum provided by Connections Academy.

Aside from their location, Wilson and Savannah don’t differ much from other students. They block out time from about 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. most days to get their school work done, they have all the same subjects — they both have piano lessons as part of their music elective — and they even get time for lunch and recess. The textbooks, art supplies, science supplies and other plans all come at the beginning of the school year, which Amy sends back once school is done.

Connections Academy gives directions for Amy on how to teach her children, and hold Wilson and Savannah accountable by having them log into their classroom website every day, and getting Amy to check off every assignment.

“There’s not any particular way you have to do the assignments,” Savannah said. “You can check them off as you go on, where it’s which one is easiest for you at the time, or which one you want to do at the time.”

The biggest difference, aside from location, is the flexibility Wilson and Savannah have in learning. They still complete assignments and meet benchmarks, but they don’t necessarily have to do it in a sequential, structured order normally found in a public school.

“It’s still a public school,” Amy said. “They still have classmates and teachers. They have field trips, but they also have unbelievable resources available to them.”

Resources like gifted programs for Wilson. Though he’s in fifth grade, Wilson is learning seventh-grade math and basic algebra concepts. In addition, as Wilson gets older he does more independent work.

“They usually have videos for every lesson to understand that lesson” Wilson said. “That’s been really helpful.”

Savannah has her own independent work, too.

“Once I log in, I have Reading Whiz and Math Whiz,” Savannah said.

Amy acknowledges online school may not be for everyone, but she is a passionate advocate for Connections Academy. She volunteers to talk with people about Minnesota Connections Academy in parent-to-parent meetings.

Of course, she often gets questions about whether students who go to Connections Academy get to socialize with others. For the Cobbs, that isn’t an issue. Connections Academy offers field trips throughout the year, from aquariums in the Twin Cities to train depots in Duluth. Wilson and Savannah have even gone to the Spam Museum and Jay C. Hormel Nature Center, both in Austin, on Connections Academy field trips, which means they get to interact with other students in their online classroom, as well as online teachers, who lead class discussions, give presentations, and test students through video chat.

What’s more, Amy has enrolled Wilson and Savannah in tennis lessons to cover extracurricular activities.

The Cobbs are happy with their online experience, and Amy said Wilson and Savannah will likely go through Connections Academy in high school, as well, not to mention possible Post Secondary Enrollment Options classes at Riverland Community College.

Above all, the Cobbs are pleased with the one-to-one learning Wilson and Savannah receive, though they are still getting a public education of sorts.

“It’s almost like private school thinking,” Amy said.