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mooreboyz
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I would really like my current 10th grader to take some kind of online class next year. I want him to have an opportunity to try out this mode of teaching before he goes off to college and has to pay for it. So, I am looking for suggestions of good ones for him to try. It could even be a course over the summer. I don't want it to be something very taxing like chemistry, for example. Also, our internet connection isn't the best and so anything where he would need to take part in live lectures would not work for us. It would have to be where he could watch the video lecture at his own time. By the way, my son is very computer literate (develops websites, writes codes, can fix anything, etc). So, if anyone can offer suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.
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Jackie
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pmeilaen
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Two suggestions: Catholic Homeschool Connections and The Rolling Acres School.
By the way, that's a good idea according to this article here. It talks about grade inflation among homeschoolers and how to show that your student really deserves the grades you give him or her.
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MaryM
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Homeschool Connections mentioned above has the live classes which we take - so those don't sound like they would work for you, but they also archive and you can get a monthly subscription to access those and take a class at your own pace. There is no teacher interaction with that though. Are you looking for something where he would be actually getting credit of some sort and have assignments/accountability to a teacher?
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Mary M. in Denver
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pmeilaen
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Derek Owens would be another online class you can do at your own pace. Seton is also doing more online now and you can take just one class.
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Eva
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Kristie 4
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I don't want to hijack this thread- but have you used Derek Owens Eva? We are trying it out right now as I wanted something more challenging than Apologia for my dd who finds science a little to easy right now 
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Kristie in Canada
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pmeilaen
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Kristie 4 wrote:
| I don't want to hijack this thread- but have you used Derek Owens Eva? We are trying it out right now as I wanted something more challenging than Apologia for my dd who finds science a little to easy right now |
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Kristie, I haven't but I have written emails with him back and forth. My son looked at his samples online, but didn't like the way algebra was presented. It went too fast for him. He also prefers learning from a book and not from a video. However, Derek was very helpful in trying to find out what class he would have to take, since he already had covered some of the algebra topics. He sent me a sample exam to try to find out what level he would need. He also recommends books you can use in addition to his science books/lectures if you also would like some more written material. When my daughter reaches high school, I will look into his classes again. I do think that many people on the Well-trained Mind Board really like him and the classes. You could contact him and see what he says about the content of his classes in comparison to Apologia.
I hope this helps.
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mooreboyz
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Mary, i am looking for something where there would be some teacher interaction and assignments. We already use sites like khan; but, with seeing how many college courses are available online now I want him to be exposed to this during his high school years.
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Jackie
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mooreboyz
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Has anyone used coursera? I know it is college level; but, there are some courses that look like they'd be fine. It is free and there are assignments and you get a certificate at the end for most courses.
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Jackie
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Kristie 4
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It does look great!
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Angie Mc
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Jackie, have you checked out your community college? That where my high schoolers take online courses as well as regular classroom courses. You can also talk to a counselor there to see which classes are best suited for entry level.
Love,
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mooreboyz
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Yes, we actually have a comm. college that allows high school seniors to take classes for free and for credit to high school seniors. We'll definitely do that his senior year.
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Jackie
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Angie Mc
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Nice 
I asked Devin her thoughts on online courses:
The student needs to be able to self- teach. So if the student hates math, don't take that. No matter what, online courses are more work and less support. I delayed taking them as long as possible. I took my first online course at ASU my sophomore year. Online courses vary according to content. The skills of an online class is to remember deadlines. Discussion boards tend to be stupid and useless. It is easy to get lost and behind. But if the student is a go-getter, he can get ahead. I think it's unnecessary to take an online class just to take an online class because it's not that big of a leap. Just pick a good entry level class when the time comes.
Hope this helps!
Love,
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Martha
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I agree with angie Mac.
And I'll go further to say any college that has had heavy online offerings has been taken off our list of options due to experience. Online classes tend to be an expensive venture for the user and a huge profit to low effort/overhead for the administration and it shows in the quality of the course. Experience has made me exceptionally jaded and critical about online offerings.
The Potters School was good for the couple classes we took online with them.
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mooreboyz
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That is interesting to hear you say this as this is one of my huge concerns with my boys' future learning. It seems so much of post secondary education is going to this virtual type of learning and I really wonder what the future will bring and how I should be preparing them for it. I will probably be posting a new topic on this soon.
I also see the option of testing out of a lot of courses through Clep testing and such. It is a lot different world than when I went to college. I hear where people are learning so much from watching the videos on Khan Academy and such and wonder if this is where we are headed.
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Jackie
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Angel
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mooreboyz wrote:
That is interesting to hear you say this as this is one of my huge concerns with my boys' future learning. It seems so much of post secondary education is going to this virtual type of learning and I really wonder what the future will bring and how I should be preparing them for it. I will probably be posting a new topic on this soon.
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My older kids both take online Latin from Memoria Press. They enjoy the class, which does have a real-time, required virtual classroom component. So if you're taking the class, you actually have to be around at a certain time and you have to participate. It's a bit pricey, but I think it's been good for them to take quizzes, meet deadlines, learn to type better, participate somewhat with people they don't know, and interact with a teacher - email to ask questions or when they need to attend a session at a different time or whatever. Latin is something they enjoy, and I wasn't doing a good job of teaching it, so it's been a win-win situation for us, and it wasn't hard for the kids to adjust to.
Another thing I like about this class is that I don't have to drive anybody anywhere. My 16 year old doesn't have his license yet and is technically in the 10th grade, so I would have to schlepp them around. Next year we probably will do some on-site rather than online classes for my oldest, but by then he'll be a junior and hopefully be getting his license soon, and I think he'll be more ready for that kind of environment. We'll be looking at local community colleges, universities, and homeschool coops. But we're planning for them to continue to take at least Latin through Memoria Press, and we're also looking at Pennsylvania Homeschoolers online AP classes.
I don't think it's a big adjustment for a homeschooler to learn online, by the way. They're used to the environment (home) and they don't have to interact with actual people face-to-face. So I wouldn't worry about signing your kids up for online classes just to prepare them to take online classes in the future. There are a few technical issues they have to deal with -- microphones, email, chats, discussion boards, virtual classrooms -- but that hasn't really been a big deal for my kids.
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Liz D
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I would recommend both Homeschool Connections and The Rolling Acres School. My children take from both schools.
Homeschool Connections records all their classes so it isn't necessary to attend the live class. You can watch the recording then do the homework. Questions can be asked through email. They also have the subscription service but I don't think that offers grading.
Rolling Acres does a recorded lecture to introduce the lesson at the beginning of the week, a live class in the middle of the week and live office hours on Friday and Saturday. They also have a independent study courses. With that you get all of the above except the live class (the teachers still grade work, are available for questions, and students can also go to the office hours), but students may work at their own pace rather than being held to the school's schedule.
Both these schools use Webex for their classes and recordings and Moodle for their online school room. My kids have found it easy to use.
Also both these schools offer their classes for a semester only, with a second part if needed, instead of the for the whole year. They also both have boot camps in the summer.
I hope that helps!
Liz D
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Martha
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mooreboyz wrote:
That is interesting to hear you say this as this is one of my huge concerns with my boys' future learning. It seems so much of post secondary education is going to this virtual type of learning and I really wonder what the future will bring and how I should be preparing them for it. I will probably be posting a new topic on this soon.
I also see the option of testing out of a lot of courses through Clep testing and such. It is a lot different world than when I went to college. I hear where people are learning so much from watching the videos on Khan Academy and such and wonder if this is where we are headed.
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CLEPs have been around since I was in high school. My dh took some for college. My caution is that just like not all colleges or professors are of the same quality, neither is online classes. However, the big difference with online vs brick and mortar is that it is far easier to get a problem corrected in person. Make sure you look into the reputation of the professor and the online academy bc many if not most of them are far substandard to in person classes. It's harder to get a response from the teacher, knowing who to complain to is sometimes very nebulous and difficult to track down, and system errors and so forth can complicate things.
So I don't think all online courses are awful or to be avoided, but I would strongly caution against depending on them for a majority of classes and I would research their quality. Some universities are offering entire degree programs online and with few exceptions, we would personally not go that route after talking with many people about the pitfalls. A few courses? Sure. Especially if they aren't specific to the degree.
Obviously ymmv, but this is just my perspective after some hard knock personal experiences for myself and 2 oldest boys. 
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Martha
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mooreboyz
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I completely agree with you, Martha. When I talked to my son I told him that I think that he should take the classes in his field at college with a professor. I recall them to offer lots of real life stories and inspiration. Classes that he isn't interested in whether it be history or science or whatever to be the ones to try to test out of and save the time and money.
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Jackie
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: online classes
