SS in MD Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Hi all! Has anyone taken the AP English LA course with PA Homeschoolers? If so, my 10th grade (15 yo) wants to tackle this class next year and I had a few questions - 1) Which teacher would you recommend? 2) How many hours daily (on avg) was your dc devoting to this class? 3) dd has very good grasp on grammar usage/mechanics. But, she needs help in polishing her essays (being concise, improving style, strong conclusion). Is that something that the AP Eng LA teacher will help dd in? In other words, do the students turn in essays and the teacher returns it to them with revisions and pointers on improvement and the students then submit a final draft?? or does the teach only work on essay content? Hope this makes sense. Currently dd participating in local persuasive writing class. Each week she has to turn in a persuasive essay on a certain top and an essay critique on a historical speech, political candiate or news commentary. The class ends in Dec. Her teacher is offering a spring class on short stories. The class will read/discuss short stories and write essays analyzing them. They'll discuss literary elements found in the stories and at the end of the semester each student will write an original story using these elements. Dd took a similar class with the same teach LAST spring (great works of literature). Her teacher said she was planning to discuss the same literary terms as last spring, but with short stories. Dd has taken writing classes with this teacher for 2 yrs and has enjoyed them. SO, here is my dilemma- should I enroll dd in the short story class in the spring (Jan-May) or have dd take a progym tutorial with Cindy Marsch (www.writingassessment.com)? I emailed Ms. Marsch and she said she could work with dd on refining her essay and improving style. But, if PA homeschoolers AP LA teacher will coach dd on essay improvement. Should I use Cindy?? Cindy is the more $$ than the local writing class, but we can save up the money if that's the better option. Anyway, SO sorry to ramble, but if anyone can tell me about their experience with the AP Eng LA class and how teachers critique the essays that would be very helpful! Thank you for ANY advice you can give! Sangita dd(14 soon-to-be 15! next month) dd(12 soon-to-be 13!! next week!), dd(9), ds(6) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 (edited) He has Kathryn Walker. Of course I cannot compare with the others, but she is quite good. She sometimes makes little videos where she talks to them about the lesson of the week. I've seen several already. She is very lively and encouraging and my son really enjoys her class... I'll have to check about the polishing part. So far he turns in essays and she corrects them. I'm not sure if they turn them in more times though. I'll check about that. (ETA - ds says that sometimes they have to turn them back in - but more times not) Hours a week... it can vary a bit when they are working on a longer paper. Sometimes the main written assignment is a timed essay (for practice), though there is still reading, etc. I'd say between 6 - 12, but it is hard for me to say as ds is doing reading for the class in his bedroom outside of "classtime" which he does upstairs, and I do not know how much time he spends reading... HTH, Joan Edited November 7, 2010 by Joan in Geneva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS in MD Posted November 7, 2010 Author Share Posted November 7, 2010 He has Kathryn Walker. Of course I cannot compare with the others, but she is quite good. She sometimes makes little videos where she talks to them about the lesson of the week. I've seen several already. She is very lively and encouraging and my son really enjoys her class... I'll have to check about the polishing part. So far he turns in essays and she corrects them. I'm not sure if they turn them in more times though. I'll check about that. (ETA - ds says that sometimes they have to turn them back in - but more times not) Hours a week... it can vary a bit when they are working on a longer paper. Sometimes the main written assignment is a timed essay (for practice), though there is still reading, etc. I'd say between 6 - 12, but it is hard for me to say as ds is doing reading for the class in his bedroom outside of "classtime" which he does upstairs, and I do not know how much time he spends reading... HTH, Joan Joan, Thanks so much for your insight. Glad to know your son is enjoying the class :). How strong an essay writer was your son when the class started (prior to Sept)? Do you (or he) feel like Ms. Walker is helping him get stronger/improve in writing? I wonder is the main purpose of the class to learn how to write with brevity and conciseness (sp?) or learning to write fast (timed) essays? Sorry, to sound like a broken record... I'm just trying to figure out what route to go this spring... Thanks so much for taking the time to respond! Sangita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moira in MA Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 I have dd currently taking Eng Lang and one who took it 2 years ago. Both teachers have been excellent. My recommendation would be for you and your son to wait until the April timeframe and check to see who is teaching, what kinds of things are planned and what books will be used. You can then choose the course of study that is most appealing. English Language is a subject that seem to be particularly suited to distance learning. As Joan said, weekly hours spent varies, I'd say 7-10 hours. HTH ~Moira Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Glad to know your son is enjoying the class :). How strong an essay writer was your son when the class started (prior to Sept)? Do you (or he) feel like Ms. Walker is helping him get stronger/improve in writing? I wonder is the main purpose of the class to learn how to write with brevity and conciseness (sp?) or learning to write fast (timed) essays? Just some quick answers...Ds son says they have to write three 6-10 page papers, so it is not just fast essays. I do think she is helping him improve... His writing experience...lots of history writing until last year (we did not completely move to outlining, he liked to write. Occasionally he would do "mind-mapping" and did outlining books.) and some personal experience narrative writing. 9th grade - Advanced composition with Rebekah at Laurel Tree (now it is High school comp I think) 10th grade - Bravewriter course for SAT writing 11th - now AP Eng. One oddity is that his persuasive writing and some other types of writing were done in French. So he got exposure that way... Ds added that every week he has to submit something, though sometimes it is just one page. He had to submit samples of his written work to Kathryn to apply. I agree with Moira about looking in April.... HTH, Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS in MD Posted November 8, 2010 Author Share Posted November 8, 2010 Thank you both ladies for taking the time to respond. Your answers were very helpful. I'll definately checkthe PA Homeschoolers website in April and see who is teaching, books used and go from there. :) Thanks, Sangita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS in MD Posted November 8, 2010 Author Share Posted November 8, 2010 Joan, How did your son like Laurel Tree Tutorials course? Was it worth the money and who was the instructor Rebekah? Was she responsive with questions and improved his writing and critical thinking? (I have looked into Laurel Tree for dd also, it might be an option as well this spring). Would you recommend them? THanks again! Sangita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 My son liked her and I thought she had a good way of encouraging writing. There was really a lot of work too. I think it brought him up to speed for high school writing. You can search this forum and find posts about her course(s)... Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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