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Natalia
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| Posted: Aug 16 2012 at 11:07am | IP Logged
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I am wondering if any of you have used this service. We are current subscribers to it but, I am thinking about cancelling it. I subscribed to it thinking that the courses were more of a lecture format. I was thinking that I could use it similar to an Itunes U or something similar. But, the courses we have enrolled are more discussion based and it makes for boring viewing. My kids have not enjoyed them and they haven't gotten much out of the ones we tried.
To be fair, I am not saying that the quality of the courses or the instructors is not good. But, I am wondering if the recorded format is not a good idea for us. If any of you have used it, what is your experience? what courses have you taken? have you found that some courses work better in the recorded format? which ones?
Any experience with this service at all?
TIA
PS I am not sure I am posting in the correct forum ( I am out of practice :-) ) Feel free to move accordingly.
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Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
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mwittlans
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| Posted: Aug 17 2012 at 3:15pm | IP Logged
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Hi Tia!
I'm co-founder of HC but I'd like to respond instead as a mom who also uses the recorded classes. I agree that some of the courses don't work as well in recording.
What we do in our homeschool is mix it up, doing some course live and others recorded.
For the recorded classes, we plug the laptop into the TV and watch as a family. You need a newer TV to do this and the kids seem to think that you have to make popcorn every time :-). The ones we like are Phillip Campbell's history classes and Dr. Russell's literature classes. Those ones are more lecture than discussion.
Monica Ashour's theology classes would probably work well as recorded too.
That's just off the top of my head. Let me know if you want to bounce off some ideas.
Blessings,
Maureen :)
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MaryM
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| Posted: Aug 17 2012 at 5:05pm | IP Logged
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I'm glad Maureen jumped in. I also asked my daughter as we just signed up for the recorded classes earlier this summer. Haven't had much chance to take advantage of many recorded, but my daughter has done several live classes. She feels most of the classes she has done as live classes (the history and literature ones) would be mostly lecture on the recorded classes. That coincides with what Marueen said. Leah loves Mr. Campbell's classes. We decided that the language and math classes have a lot more student interaction and participation so wouldn't do very well for recorded classes.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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sunshinyliving
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| Posted: Aug 17 2012 at 6:25pm | IP Logged
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This is really helpful! We signed up about two months ago, but the classes I previewed had quite a bit of time dedicated to virtual "hand raising" and student interaction that would not be helpful to a student who was merely watching the recording. I will definitely check out Mr Campbell's, Dr Russel's, and Monica Ashour's classes!
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Diana, wife to Brad, Mom to dd18, dd16, dd13, ds10, dd7, ds5
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Natalia
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| Posted: Aug 17 2012 at 7:01pm | IP Logged
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The ones we tried that didn't work for us were the language ones: Latin and Spanish. I am not saying they weren't good quality courses. They were. But, I don't think they are well suited to the recorded format.
On the other hand, we listen to a short 8 sessions introduction to philosophy course by Dr. Rioux that was excellent. It was more of a lecture and even though there was some discussion you didn't get the feeling of just being an observer in someone else's party.
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Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
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StephanieA
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| Posted: Aug 17 2012 at 7:29pm | IP Logged
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Maureen or anyone,
We have taken live courses, but not used the recorded service as yet.
What about Kennet Rollings courses on Greeks and Romans?
Kris Correira's Science courses: Blood & Immunity in Sickness and in Health?
Did the Spanish work for anyone?
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mwittlans
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| Posted: Aug 17 2012 at 7:56pm | IP Logged
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Personally, I prefer the language courses live. Language is not my forte so independent learning is more difficult in my world. However, we have a lot of families who take Latin, Spanish, and German as recorded courses. So it works for other families, dependent on their children's learning styles.
I took Ken's classes live, but I think they would do well recorded too. They were largely lecture. As a side note, Mr. Campbell is planning on teaching middle school Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome live in the future.
Kris's science classes are great. Again, I did those live but I think they'd do well as recorded, especially for a kid who loves science. Some require home experiments so parents need to be involved.
My 16-year old did Mr. Campbell's economics course recorded and it went pretty well. Ditto on Mr. Rivet's Government courses -- those are pretty popular.
Dr. Gotcher's literature courses are based on Socratic Discussion so they're better live in my personal experience. His theology courses are lecture so those ones do well recorded.
Another one I really like recorded is Mrs. Conroy's Elements of Writing: Essential Punctuation and Grammar. She lectures and has it set up so that the computer automatically grades the quizzes. Very simple! Plus she has a very engaging presence on video.
I'm sure I've missed something. There are over 80 courses. So let me know if you have questions about other specific courses.
Blessings,
Maureen :)
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mwittlans
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| Posted: Aug 17 2012 at 8:00pm | IP Logged
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PS Ditto on what Tia said about Jean Rioux (husband of Maria Rioux). He's definitely a favorite in our house. My daughter fell in love with philosophy after taking his classes (live) and is now majoring in philosophy in college. M :)
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momtomany
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| Posted: Aug 18 2012 at 10:48am | IP Logged
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We did Ken Rollings' history courses as the recorded ones and really liked them. This thread is very helpful as I make choices for this year!
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Mary Ann in PA
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mwittlans
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| Posted: Aug 20 2012 at 6:07am | IP Logged
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Has anyone done any of Gray Michuta's apologetics courses as recorded? We did the high school one live but not recorded and I'd love feedback from anyone who did it recorded.
I really appreciate all the input here. This helps me a lot. I'd love to start a HC forum or email group one of these days where parents could talk about this kind of stuff. I envision it being completely parent-runned, where I would only jump in if asked. That way parents could talk fmore openly and reely. Do you all think that would be a good thing and that parents would want it?? If so, I could put out a plea for a volunteer to monitor it.
Blessings,
Maureen
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StephanieA
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Maureen,
I think it might be helpful, but I can also see where some of it might be subjective. For example, we just finished the live Algebra I review class. My daughter didn't benefit from it at all. It seems that many of the students didn't have a basis for Algebra I and it moved very slowly and didn't cover all of Algebra I. Now, for some students this class might have been very helpful and the fact that it moved so slowly, would have been a benefit. I had to chalk up the cost in my mind as a donation to a good, Catholic cause. But I am hesitant to do that too many times.
Also, personally, I would be hestitant for the most part to tell someone if we didn't really like a particular course or that a teacher may not be very organized. I would really like to have that information  , but I would feel bad giving that specific information myself over the internet.
Blessings,
Stephanie
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mwittlans
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| Posted: Aug 20 2012 at 9:35am | IP Logged
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Thank you Stephanie. I can see that a forum may also give me the opportunity to know when problems arise for an individual family. We want everyone to be successful when taking our classes. I'll email you privately as I have a couple of ideas to make right your experience. Blessings, Maureen :)
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cheesehead mom
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| Posted: Aug 22 2012 at 9:38pm | IP Logged
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American government, recorded was great and my son just passed his american gov't clep exam after taking it last spring (and studying a bit this summer). Great foundation though.
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Natalia
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| Posted: May 27 2014 at 5:12pm | IP Logged
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Hello All!
I am again looking at Homeschool Connections for next year. Any more review of courses (recorded or not) to add since we last talked about it?
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Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
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SallyT
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I'm following this with interest, not because we're necessarily going to use Homeschool Connections for a student this year, but because I'm teaching for HC for the first time in 2014-15, and all of this is helpful food for thought as I consider how to set up my courses.
I'm teaching Introduction to Poetry in the fall semester -- a literature course with a creative-writing component, good for a half-credit in English -- and then a poetry-writing course focusing on traditional poetic forms in the spring.
I'm hoping that these will be interesting and useful classes as live courses, though my hope would be that Intro to Poetry, particularly, would play well as a recorded course, as I can envision doing a good bit of lecturing as I walk students through "close readings" of poems. I'm hoping to work more or less on Erin Conroy's class model . . .
Anyway, a little self-promo here, but these are brand-new courses, and I thought you'd like to know about them!
Sally
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amarytbc
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We tried out several of them at the end of this year, and our daughters enjoyed them. Apologetics Bootcamp was a big hit. Romeo and Juliet was also very popular. There were a few others that they enjoyed, too.
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mwittlans
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| Posted: May 30 2014 at 6:40am | IP Logged
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We have a lot more recorded courses to choose from since the original post. I'm in the process of converting all of the Spring 2014 courses to recording this week. By next week, we should have 150 courses in Unlimited Access.
We're doing a few things over the summer -- a pro-life boot camp and a math ACT/SAT prep. Our math teacher is recording Saxon 65 and 75 lessons to be ready by fall. We're also testing out some grade school offerings.
For my family, history is what we do mostly in recording. My 14-year old did Kris Correira's human anatomy courses recorded and loved, loved them.
Blessings,
Maureen
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Natalia
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| Posted: May 30 2014 at 10:36am | IP Logged
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Hi Maureen!
Thanks for the update.
For my self, I have registered for some courses on Coursera. I don't do the course work but just enjoy the lectures and count it all as gain. Do you think the same can be said of the Recorded Courses? Do you think that we can gain knowledge just by listening and not doing the course work and readings? Some of the courses you have listed sound so interesting that I wouldn't mind taking them myself, but I don't have the time to do all the reading and writing that might be required.
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Natalia
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mwittlans
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| Posted: May 30 2014 at 6:06pm | IP Logged
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Natalia,
Over the summer we watch the history classes as a family. I plug the computer into the TV. The younger kids watch too. We don't do the homework. Mrs. Stanley and Mr. Campbell are entertaining as well as incredibly knowledgable so we all get a lot out of them even though we're skipping the reading and tests.
You could do the same with Monica Ashour's theology classes, but only with the older kids.
Blessings,
Mauren :)
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SeaStar
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| Posted: July 13 2015 at 9:56am | IP Logged
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Bumping this up... if you use Homeschool Connections, how does it fit into your day/week/term?
Do you prefer live or recorded?
What have been your favorite classes in the last year?
I keep wanting to try this program, but then I keep wondering how I would figure it into planning. My kids are not going to want to sit and watch recorded history lectures with me this summer 
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Homeschool Connections Recorded Courses
