Can we start a thread of online classes you have considered...

[shanvan]

for the middle school years. Maybe include why you decided not to sign up Dc, or why you did. Also if you had a DC take an online class how well did it work for you?

 

I am currently mulling over the idea of TOG LLC Dialectic literature or history and the Lost Tools of Writing online classes. Currently I am leaning towards no for either of these b/c of the expense.

 

I was considering the TOG classes b/c I thought it would take some of the pressure off me, but then, I thought, part of the reason I'm homeschooling is so I can discuss literature and history with my DC, not so I can watch others do it. Still, we can have more informal discussions even if I do sign DS up for the classes. I'm really torn on this issue.

 

Lost Tools classes I haven't investigated as much, but basically I have the same issue. I just don't know that I want to follow someone else's plan all year. I've done it before and I always end up feeling too confined by meeting the requirements of another teacher, because inevitably I end up having to push aside some of my own teaching and assignments to allow time for Ds to complete assignments for outside classes--and many times those assignments have not been worthwhile enough to warrant all the time spent on them (I'm not implying that is the case with the classes I am considering).

 

I know I have seen others mentioned here. So what are you considering and why? Are there online classes you highly recommend?

 

Shannon

[Matryoshka]

I just signed up for WriteGuide. We've only been at it 1 day, so can't really give any feedback yet, but it sounds just the ticket. You get a dedicated writing tutor that will work with you to do pretty much do whatever you want. I'm hoping this will give us third-party feedback but leave us free to follow whatever curriculum we want, or write across the curriculum, or take rabbit trails, or work on issues particular to one child. You get daily feedback (as opposed to weekly with a class), and you can throw as many kids onto one account ($70-$75/mo) as you want, provided you only send work from one kid a day. I'm tempted to sign them up for an online Lost Tools course, but I think WriteGuide will be much more flexible (and much cheaper, since I put all 3 kids on one account). Well, we've got 3 months to see if it works (You can also sign up for WriteGuide at any time, for as little or much time as you like).

 

I'm also considering signing my older two up for an onlineg3 logic class (Critical Thinking 1) in the fall.

[PeterPan]

Well Shannon, I'm with you. I thought about the VP Omnibus primary class, walked right up to pushing the button (and had permission from dh!) but realized I wasn't homeschooling to have others do that talking with her. However as I did more research, I found this online lecture series that is astounding. http://college.cengage.com/history/lecturepoints/ And the more I started researching, the more online lectures like that started popping up. Hippocampus has free lectures (very pretty too!) keyed to a variety of popular texts and subjects. I tried searching that Cengage and never did figure out how to find more there, sorry, at least not free. But anyways, I felt like if the free online materials could take over some of the brunt work that anyone can do (drone about the mexican war, introduce Calhoun, etc.), then I could do the parts I really want to do or would be better at. At least the lighter load left me more encouraged about the practicality. (Though I admit practicality is not my middle name, and I've been thunking myself a lot lately, hehe.)

 

Ok, I'll toss out something for you. If literature is your issue but expense is a problem, how about combining your kids for a year? Have you done Shakespeare yet? You could lay aside regular lit for a year and do the Bard with all of them!! We just got done watching an Ambrose (BBC) production of Midsummer Night's Dream using the free lit guide from Holt to work our way through and discuss. http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/novelwise_ms_te_version/find/byauthor.htm# Crazy easy to implement, lots of fun, lots of meat, and FREE, between the online guide and getting the dvd from the library. You could do one Shakespeare play every 3-4 weeks. Your library will probably have retellings (Coville, etc.) to bring it down to their level. My dd has read all the usual retellings and the comic versions VP sells, so I got her "Stories from Shakespeare" by Marchette Chute, which dd is enjoying.

[shanvan]

Well Shannon, I'm with you. I thought about the VP Omnibus primary class, walked right up to pushing the button (and had permission from dh!) but realized I wasn't homeschooling to have others do that talking with her.

 

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one! Sometimes I feel a little unstable with all the vacillating I do!

 

However as I did more research, I found this online lecture series that is astounding. http://college.cengage.com/history/lecturepoints/ And the more I started researching, the more online lectures like that started popping up. Hippocampus has free lectures (very pretty too!) keyed to a variety of popular texts and subjects. I tried searching that Cengage and never did figure out how to find more there, sorry, at least not free. But anyways, I felt like if the free online materials could take over some of the brunt work that anyone can do (drone about the mexican war, introduce Calhoun, etc.), then I could do the parts I really want to do or would be better at. At least the lighter load left me more encouraged about the practicality. (Though I admit practicality is not my middle name, and I've been thunking myself a lot lately, hehe.)

 

These are great resources, Elizabeth. I knew about some of them and just never gave them a thought. Duhh! I'll be checking these out to see what I can use. I'm also thinking I can possibly add in some Teaching Company videos too. I do fine with resources that I can turn off, plan, and control myself. It's when another human being is controlling how our time is scheduled that I start going crazy. Humm, maybe I have control issues? Just maybe...

 

Ok, I'll toss out something for you. If literature is your issue but expense is a problem, how about combining your kids for a year? Have you done Shakespeare yet? You could lay aside regular lit for a year and do the Bard with all of them!! We just got done watching an Ambrose (BBC) production of Midsummer Night's Dream using the free lit guide from Holt to work our way through and discuss. http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/novelwise_ms_te_version/find/byauthor.htm# Crazy easy to implement, lots of fun, lots of meat, and FREE, between the online guide and getting the dvd from the library. You could do one Shakespeare play every 3-4 weeks. Your library will probably have retellings (Coville, etc.) to bring it down to their level. My dd has read all the usual retellings and the comic versions VP sells, so I got her "Stories from Shakespeare" by Marchette Chute, which dd is enjoying.

 

I'll have to look over our TOG lit and see if I can streamline it a little more. Trouble is I'm keeping BJU reading going for DD (9). I've thought about tossing it, but she enjoys it.

 

I think one of my biggest issues is not enough planning time, and too much I want to accomplish. I need to get my head out of the clouds and ground myself in some realism!

 

Shannon

[PeterPan]

Your 9 yo dd is workbooky? Hehe, how about the Logos workbook to go with the Shakespeare retellings? Then you're all still back to doing the same lit and she's happy. :)

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I've looked at a few over the years but I'll just mention the ones we've actually used.

 

http://www.cybershala.com for Singapore Math. Love it. Still use it. I think this is about our 3rd year. Meet in an online classroom with webcam and audio for both tchr and student. fully interactive white board. Uses text book, workbook, intensive practice, and challenging word problems.

 

http://www.lonepineclassical.com for Lingua Latina. Love it. Still use it. Third year (Stellae, Latin 100 and now 200). Meets in an online classroom with other students. Students interact via chat window. tchr interacts with students mostly via audio and a little video. whiteboard use. includes prep and test for NLE. also offers a convention in colorado.

 

http://www.bravewriter.com for writing. I loved it and so did my kiddo. I feel as if I got a lot of what I needed to be set free from what we had been trying to use, learned to teach writing in a new way, and got my daughter excited about writing. After one session (8 weeks?) I haven't taken another yet but it's because I feel that I got what I needed to sustain us for a good while. We plan to take several other sessions, though. We'll be taking one this summer for certain. The one we took was a message board set up. Student/tchr interaction via board posts. Students encouraged to interact but in our group, didn't much.

 

http://www.quickstudylabs.com for electronics. This, for us, is more of an elective. My daughter loves it and wants to continue -- she's on her second session -- but I'm not sure. I do think she's getting a great electronics education and it's something that I let her do as more of an interest led exploration. It's not what I want us to do for our Science studies forever. I think I'll let her continue through this semester and the summer but in the fall, we're moving on to General Science. If she takes the electronics class, and it really is good and worth it, she'll have to do it on her own time. I hate to say no b/c it's a good class with good information, useful and of great interest to my daughter. It isn't a class in the sense that the other ones are. She gets reading material and assignments via email and reads the material that came with the kit. She conducts several experiments and takes a weekly quiz and two big tests per session, I think. She doesn't interact with other students or the tchr (tho he does email her to say great job, et c.)

[MomOfOneFunOne]

 

I was considering the TOG classes b/c I thought it would take some of the pressure off me, but then, I thought, part of the reason I'm homeschooling is so I can discuss literature and history with my DC, not so I can watch others do it. Still, we can have more informal discussions even if I do sign DS up for the classes. I'm really torn on this issue.

 

Shannon

 

This is what goes through my mind often. It's also why I loved BraveWriter so much. I felt that it was teaching me how to teach her to write and teaching us how to work together more than it was just them teaching her and me out of the equation. I wanted that.

 

I love to teach her writing. I love to do history and logic, too. I love having those discussions with her. I started loving math with her but my math skills and understanding are so poor that I got over loving it and really ended up hating it . . . and she was getting further and further behind, not b/c she couldn't do it (she's a very mathy kid) but b/c my inability to move forward with the material was hampering her.

 

So, I think it's a matter of balance and deciding where you want someone else to take over and where you still want to be the one.

 

I want to do writing (except SAT essay readiness), history, science, logic, et c. I just cannotnotnotnot do Math. So, for me, it's really finding online sources to free me from things that are sucking the love out of our homeschool.

 

It is a lot to think about.

Edited March 22, 2011 by MomOfOneFunOne

[LisaKinVA]

I signed my oldest up for VP Secondary Latin I. I want to make sure Latin is done right this time.

 

I will also sign my son up for Mandarin online in a couple of years (we're going to do Tell Me More first... though)

 

I haven't ruled out other classes in the future, but this was something I felt absolutely critical.

[Bloggermom]

I signed my kids up for several online classes with Veritas Press for this upcoming year. Literature, Grammar & Writing, Latin and my son is going to do the pre-omnibus course called History Survey and Transition. I only plan to have them do some WWE, Elementary Greek & Math outside of online classes.

 

DH and I plan to get pregnant this summer/fall. We signed the kids up for mostly online courses so this can take a huge load off me during the pregnancy without sacrificing rigor in the kid's education.

[tenoraddict]

My DS13 did Latin I through Veritas last year because he was beyond my ability to teach him Latin. It was a great success. He's taking Latin II this year, plus Omnibus III Primary and Secondary, and Logic I. Overall, it's been a very positive experience for him and for our family.

 

My reasons for outsourcing are:

1. He is the eldest of 3 and last year I was teaching over 20 classes/day to my 3 boys. I needed help.

2. He is beyond my abilities in Latin.

3. I wasn't confident in my ability to teach Logic, given my time constraints this year.

4. We might put him in the Veritas Scholars Academy for high school, and to graduate with their diploma, a student must have all 6 levels of Omnibus...which means he needed to start in 7th grade.

[Crimson Wife]

:lurk5:

[KarenNC]

:bigear:

[Jen the RD]

I'll throw out a few I am considering:

 

The Potter's School--possibly French for my dd

 

Apologia Online Academy--possibly Physical Science for dd

 

Both cost about the same price yearly ($400-$450) so I can tell you that for us, I can only do 1. I talked with one of the instructors at the Apologia booth (Greenville convention) and was very impressed. They hire teachers who have a master's degree and have a strong teaching reputation. The class is 90 min 1 day per wk. There is live discussion and kids can ask questions and interact w/each other. They give & grade assignments & tests, but you have the final word on the student's grade. So, in essence, they support you in your homeschooling efforts and don't "take over" the role.

 

HTH,

Jennifer

[Poke Salad Annie]

Well Shannon, I'm with you. I thought about the VP Omnibus primary class, walked right up to pushing the button (and had permission from dh!) but realized I wasn't homeschooling to have others do that talking with her. However as I did more research, I found this online lecture series that is astounding. http://college.cengage.com/history/lecturepoints/ And the more I started researching, the more online lectures like that started popping up. Hippocampus has free lectures (very pretty too!) keyed to a variety of popular texts and subjects. I tried searching that Cengage and never did figure out how to find more there, sorry, at least not free. But anyways, I felt like if the free online materials could take over some of the brunt work that anyone can do (drone about the mexican war, introduce Calhoun, etc.), then I could do the parts I really want to do or would be better at. At least the lighter load left me more encouraged about the practicality. (Though I admit practicality is not my middle name, and I've been thunking myself a lot lately, hehe.)

 

Ok, I'll toss out something for you. If literature is your issue but expense is a problem, how about combining your kids for a year? Have you done Shakespeare yet? You could lay aside regular lit for a year and do the Bard with all of them!! We just got done watching an Ambrose (BBC) production of Midsummer Night's Dream using the free lit guide from Holt to work our way through and discuss. http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/novelwise_ms_te_version/find/byauthor.htm# Crazy easy to implement, lots of fun, lots of meat, and FREE, between the online guide and getting the dvd from the library. You could do one Shakespeare play every 3-4 weeks. Your library will probably have retellings (Coville, etc.) to bring it down to their level. My dd has read all the usual retellings and the comic versions VP sells, so I got her "Stories from Shakespeare" by Marchette Chute, which dd is enjoying.

 

Thank you so much!! I'm very excited about the Holt guides. We're planning on getting started with Midsummer Night's Dream soon, and this will be a fantastic resource. Free, too!

 

I agree with you about wanting to do the teaching, as I put in bold above in your post. However, I also agree that the free online lectures, such as you've linked, will be great add-ins to our schedule. Thank you for the links!

[Poke Salad Annie]

www.quickstudylabs.com for electronics. This, for us, is more of an elective. My daughter loves it and wants to continue -- she's on her second session -- but I'm not sure. I do think she's getting a great electronics education and it's something that I let her do as more of an interest led exploration.

 

Thank you for mentioning this! Now this is something very different, and I've found that I've got an *Edison trait* little guy, so it could be a good match. The fees are actually quite reasonable.

[Beth in SW WA]

(x-post from other thread regarding online courses)

 

TPS classes have taught my older dc valuable academic skills that they would not have learned had we not experienced this type of learning environment.

 

We have taken:

 

Latin 1 with Mr. Spotts

English 2 with Mrs. Frederick

World Geography with Mrs. Runkle

US History with Mr. Crosby

 

We have zero complaints -- only praise for the rigor of these classes.

 

Dd has taken pages and pages of notes from lectures. Tests are taken from info in the notes and the books required.

 

TPS has high expectations for students. We would recommend TPS to anyone.

 

My younger dds will eventually take Writer's Workshop and other upper-level courses.

 

We will also take classes from Veritas Press online next year. Dd7 will take Latin 1 (LFC A) and Primary Lit 3.

 

ETA: I forgot to mention Cybershala. It's not a class -- but a 'live' tutorial. We have the same tutor as MomOfOneForFun. Rachna does IP and CWP with Abi every Monday & Friday morning for 1 hour. It is awesome! I am learning a lot, too! :) I am addicted to IP and CWPs now.

 

Rachna lives in New Delhi, India. Cybershala charges $10/hour. Such a bargain. Abi loves Rachna. It is a video/audio/interactive white-board lesson.

Edited March 25, 2011 by Beth in SW WA
info about Cybershala

[Heather in VA]

Last year my oldest (9th grade at the time) took Latin I with Lukeion. It was not a great experience. She also took Classical Writing Herodotus. That was excellent. This year (now 10th grade) she took Latin II and Rhetoric I with Vertias Press Academy. My middle (6th grade) took her first online class - History Survey and Transition with Veritas Press. All of the VP classes were fantastic. I have been very pleased. Next year they will both take 2 classes. The oldest will take Latin III and Rhetoric II and the middle will take Omnibus I primary and Logic I. I have not found that having online classes reduce the amount of discussion we have about what they are studying. I'm just not teaching it to them. Often our discussions have them teaching me what they learned and spawning discussions from that. Honestly I can't imagine I would do nearly as good a job with something like Rhetoric. That is a group activity. My oldest uses Omnibus too but I've chosen not to put her in the online class. I only have so much money and she is doing well on her own. She loves history. She naturally wants to do it and discuss it. Doing it online made more sense for my middle because she's not a big history fan but something about the online class has sparked her interest. She's also pretty competitive so even if she doesn't love it, she wants to do well since people outside of the house will be grading her. I'll take whatever motivation I can get :-).

 

Heather

[missmoe]

www.cybershala.com for Singapore Math. Love it. Still use it. I think this is about our 3rd year. Meet in an online classroom with webcam and audio for both tchr and student. fully interactive white board. Uses text book, workbook, intensive practice, and challenging word problems.

 

 

 

MomofOneFunOne,

 

Could you tell me a bit more about these classes? What is the schedule like? How often does the class meet each week? I think maybe this might be a good fit for us.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Thank you for mentioning this! Now this is something very different, and I've found that I've got an *Edison trait* little guy, so it could be a good match. The fees are actually quite reasonable.

 

I think I have an Edison girl! She loves the class and likes the format. She loves the little notes she gets from Joel and feels so special when she gets them. The actual work is fun for her and educational and useful.

 

I don't have a single complaint about the class.

 

I will let my daughter take it as long as she wants to BUT we're moving on in Science next year and will be doing something else. She'll be able to do the electronics if she wants but it'll have to be in addition to our Science. I'm almost positive she'll choose to do it.

 

The specific kit required for the class is very difficult to find. If you decide to do it, you may want to order a larger kit and then order the supplementary parts. That's what we did and it was pretty painless.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

MomofOneFunOne,

 

Could you tell me a bit more about these classes? What is the schedule like? How often does the class meet each week? I think maybe this might be a good fit for us.

 

Hey Miss Moe, also ck out my response to Poke Salad Annie!

 

Every week the kids get an email from the tchr. They have to unlock the reading assignment with a code. They read that assignment and the week's reading material and sometimes have to watch a video (in the very first class, I think, it was a clip from an old silent movie) or read a biography, print a doodad, et c. They are all related to the work or topic and have been in all ways appropriate.

 

Then they have 5 projects to complete with the electronics kit. They read the material in the kit bklet and do the work. There is supplemental reading provided by Joel. At the end of the week, there is a quiz that is taken as many times as needed to get a score you or the kiddo is happy with or maybe he wants a 100. At any rate, I have my girl take it till she gets a 100 but that is not at all tough to do. She never misses more than one or two and then she knows the mistake she made and gets a 100 next time. There are also two Big Checks, I think. One in the middle of the session and one at the end. They only get to take that one once. Very straight forward. Nothing that wasn't covered completely in the lessons.

 

The kiddos submit the quiz online and submit the score via email. He then emails back with very sweet and affirming notes such as, "Wonderful job, Mary Grace, I knew you could do it!"

 

It just depends on the week and the work but while it's set up to do one/day, my daughter doesn't really want to do it that way. She does all the week's reading and several projects at one go . . . sometimes even doing them all in one go. sometimes not. The weekly quizzes are due on Friday. He'll give Saturday as a grace day but not Sunday.

 

THe class does not meet. This in not an online class like our math or latin classes. My daughter gets the assignments via email, submits the quiz scores via email, and communicates with the tchr via email when necessary. She does not meet in an online classroom, et c and does not interact with the other students. She can do the lessons at her leisure (well, as long as they're done and the quiz taken by Friday) so there is no specific daily or weekly time that she has to be at the computer and logged in with the tchr and other students.

[laurad1125]

Thanks for the link to QSL!!!! I've already signed my ds12 up for the summer club. It that goes well, he'll take the class next year!

 

We considered TPS Logo/Lego class for him next year. He said he wasn't that interested. So I guess we'll pass. I'll probably sign him up for Spanish there eventually.

[missmoe]

Momofonefunone.

 

The electronics class looks great, but not up my dds alley.

 

I was hoping to get more info about the math and science class from the

cypershala site. ;)

 

I looked at the site, but didn't see info about when the classes actually meet.

 

Thanks.

[Beth in SW WA]

MomofOneFunOne,

 

Could you tell me a bit more about these classes? What is the schedule like? How often does the class meet each week? I think maybe this might be a good fit for us.

 

I added this to my post above:

 

ETA: I forgot to mention Cybershala. It's not a class -- but a 'live' tutorial. We have the same tutor as MomOfOneForFun. Rachna does IP and CWP with Abi every Monday & Friday morning for 1 hour. It is awesome! I am learning a lot, too! :) I am addicted to IP and CWPs now.

 

Rachna lives in New Delhi, India. Cybershala charges $10/hour. Such a bargain. Abi loves Rachna. It is a video/audio/interactive white-board lesson.

[Beth in SW WA]

Momofonefunone.

 

The electronics class looks great, but not up my dds alley.

 

I was hoping to get more info about the math and science class from the

cypershala site. ;)

 

I looked at the site, but didn't see info about when the classes actually meet.

 

Thanks.

 

Butting in again... :)

 

You pick the time. We picked M & F morning from 8:30 - 9:30. Abi just finished her tutorial actually. Today they reviewed mult/div bar diagrams. Abi has cruised through 2A - 4A with Rachna this year. We did Singapore on T,W,R on our own in the workbooks. We love Singapore math and Rachna helps so much.

 

The husband/wife team who began Cybershala are wonderful! They are so accommodating. They are flexible with our chaotic schedule and cancellations for sickness and vacations. For us, the fee is about $100 every 2 months. I turn in my receipts to CVA and get reimbursed so it does not cost me anything out of pocket essentially. :)

 

Call or email them for questions and they will get back to you promptly.

 

We plan to hire Cybershala year-after-year because those CWPs in the upper levels look daunting to me. Hubby has no problem with them but, alas, he is not home during our math hour.

 

My

 

Does this help??? :)

[missmoe]

Beth--this does help tremendously. We are heading into 6A of Singapore math, and I would love some help! So, is it more than one student at a time in the tutorials? or a one on one time?

 

I'm falling in love with the idea of this.

 

I'm also looking at the science just becuase it would be nice to have that taken care of, so I could focus on the basics with my girls. Perhaps, just do the fun experiments.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Oh, yes, everything Beth said.

 

My daughter logs on and meets her tchr in an online classroom. They use webcams so that my girl can see Rachna and Rachna can see her. The white board is fully interactive and they use it to do most things from practice problems to introduce new concepts, et c. Both my daughter and Rachna can write on/manipulate the whiteboard.

 

My daughter's class if from 9.15 a to 10.30 (and hour and 15) but you have to keep in mind when setting up your time is that Rachna lives on the other side of the planet. I think her time during our class is 8.45 to 10.15 PM or something like that -- and they don't have a time chance for daylight savings.

 

They use the actual textbook and workbook and those assignments are scanned and emailed to Rachna. They also use the CWP and IP which Rachna emails and we print/do/scan them back.

 

Technologically speaking, you need a computer, webcam, headphones or speaker/mic, printer/scanner. They recommend a writing pad but my daughter never liked it and doesn't use it.

 

As for class . . . b/f class my daughter emails her homework. When they enter the classroom they go over the homework and cover any misses or problem areas. They move on then to the next material. Rachna types and writes on the whiteboard, uses powerpoint, and other things.

 

My daughter loves Rachna and math. This is a perfect fit for us.

 

The Principal is so accommodating. He is friendly and helpful and patient. They have customer service down! His wife is super nice, too.

 

Feel free to ask anything else.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

They originally set it up to be a class but, at least in my daughter's case, they didn't have any other students at her exact place so she is a cohort of one. I think that may be the case with Beth, too.

 

We wanted the class in the beginning and were disappointed not to have other students but now we are so spoiled with having the teacher all to ourselves and love it!

[Beth in SW WA]

Beth--this does help tremendously. We are heading into 6A of Singapore math, and I would love some help! So, is it more than one student at a time in the tutorials? or a one on one time?

 

I'm falling in love with the idea of this.

 

I'm also looking at the science just becuase it would be nice to have that taken care of, so I could focus on the basics with my girls. Perhaps, just do the fun experiments.

 

One-on-one in a 'live' chat room with audio/video and an interactive white board. The room is hosted by Acrobat. Very simple to set up.

 

You need headphones and a webcam. I am splurging for a digital writing tablet/pen. Abi uses a mouse and it is getting cumbersome with bigger, more complex problems.

 

Seriously, these are the nicest folks ever. Just call and talk with them and you can set up a free one-hour class. They are an Indian couple who used Singapore with their own children. They hire Indian tutors who know this program upside down and backyards. Rachna is a brilliant math tutor. I suggest you request her. She is one of the most popular and highly-requested tutors.

[Beth in SW WA]

They originally set it up to be a class but, at least in my daughter's case, they didn't have any other students at her exact place so she is a cohort of one. I think that may be the case with Beth, too.

 

We wanted the class in the beginning and were disappointed not to have other students but now we are so spoiled with having the teacher all to ourselves and love it!

 

It could easily be a classroom with multiple students. That might appeal to some students to have more interaction. But yes, we are spoiled to have Rachna all to ourselves.

 

I unplug Abi's headphones/mic and listen in on the class when I can. Aly watches also.

[Kim in Appalachia]

She taking Omnibus I primary and General Science with Veritas online. She has liked both classes. The experience has been good. She is keeping up with the work and enjoys the online time. This has been just what THIS child needed. I had tried an online class with my oldest but it was a disaster. She liked it, but learned nothing. It did not fit her learning style. She needs face to face interaction in order to learn.

 

My 2nd dd will be taking Omnibus II and Physical Science next year.

[KarenNC]

We did a summer course of Powerspeak French through k12 and it was basically useless for us. I don't know if it was the format or that she wasn't particularly interested in French, but she had no retention. This was the summer after 3rd grade, so I don't know how it would be for older levels.

[Cleopatra]

My dd is really enjoying OSU German I and I'm amazed at how much she is learning. It's quite comprehensive. The only item that has been missing is conversation, and that has recently changed with a call to OSU; the tutors (higher level German students) are supposed to be speaking German with her when she calls in weekly but it hasn't been happening. One phone call fixed the problem.

 

That said, it hasn't been perfect. Sometimes their links to online exercises don't work (not their online exercises but occasionally when they try to link you to other internet sites, the link is gone) and, at times I wish they'd give her more grammatical rules, but these "problems" are minor and overall, it's an excellent course!

[missmoe]

Beth and Momofonefunone,

 

Thanks so much for your replies. They were very helpful.

[missmoe]

We did a summer course of Powerspeak French through k12 and it was basically useless for us. I don't know if it was the format or that she wasn't particularly interested in French, but she had no retention. This was the summer after 3rd grade, so I don't know how it would be for older levels.

 

We used the Powerspeak Spanish Course last year and I was disappointed as well. Lots of fun, my girls loved doing it, but didn't retain anything.

[gingersmom]

My dd is really enjoying OSU German I and I'm amazed at how much she is learning. It's quite comprehensive. The only item that has been missing is conversation, and that has recently changed with a call to OSU; the tutors (higher level German students) are supposed to be speaking German with her when she calls in weekly but it hasn't been happening. One phone call fixed the problem.

 

That said, it hasn't been perfect. Sometimes their links to online exercises don't work (not their online exercises but occasionally when they try to link you to other internet sites, the link is gone) and, at times I wish they'd give her more grammatical rules, but these "problems" are minor and overall, it's an excellent course!

 

My daughter is doing the OSU Spanish 1 and it has been an excellent class also.

[Create Your Ritual]

Can I ask if OSU Spanish stands for Oklahoma State University?

[Cleopatra]

Can I ask if OSU Spanish stands for Oklahoma State University?

 

Yes, it sure does! :001_smile: