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Does anyone have recommendations or reviews of the various options for online classes targeted specifically towards gifted kids?  I've seen stuff from Stanford, John's Hopkins, GHF, etc., but I'm not sure if there is some consensus about which programs are worth it vs not worth it.  FWIW, my daughter and son are bright but not profoundly so (or if it is profound, it's marginal).  We homeschool.

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Oldest DD did an online CTY lit class and while the feedback from the teacher was excellent and the teacher provided a letter of recommendation that we needed for another program, DD was disappointed in the overall experience. The other kids aside from one girl seemed to be (pardon my French) half-@$$ing their way through the course so there wasn't the high-quality discussion DD was hoping for. We haven't done any of the other CTY online courses.

 

I have heard excellent things about G3, Lukeion, and Athena's Advanced Academy, but we have no personal experience with any of them.

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I looked those up,  thanks for the recommendations :)  G3 and Athena's Advanced Academy seemed like the same thing (same wording for FAQs, etc.), and it looks like a good fit.  We're doing Greek but my daughter is only 8 (and son is younger) so I doubt they'd be ready for Lukeion yet.

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At the elementary level, my kids have taken classes with CTY online and online g3.  The other students in both the CTY and online g3 classes were very active on the message boards.  My kids enjoyed the classes from both providers, but they took more classes with online g3 because they were much more affordable.

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Hah, I dunno about math.  My son is just 5; daughter is decent at math but Does Not Like It.  We've just switched from Saxon to Life of Fred, though (it's in the mail), so maybe that will make a difference and I can convince her to do AoPS.  I can't imagine its being more boring than Saxon, anyway.

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My DD loves Athena's (and will probably be doing a class at G3 next year) because of the social component. She's had mostly the same group of kids over the last 2 years (and they'll pretty much be moving as a group to the G3 lit next year since they've exhausted the Athena's lit), and they "know" each other pretty well, chat often on the boards, and it's filling a need for her. The level isn't challenging for her-they're the "fun/easy" part of her HS life.

 

In general, she hasn't enjoyed asynchronous courses, like eIMACS or TIPS as much. They're more like having a good book or playing on Uzinggo or Khan Academy to her. It's having the regular in-class discussions and the chat boards with a group of kids who are doing similar things that is the real benefit-and for that purpose, Athena's (or, presumably, G3) fits the bill as well as the higher priced live Talent search classes. I'm guessing GHF would be similar to Athena's or G3, but they haven't been around as long and may have less of the class sequences where kids stay together (and, I've discovered, will actually plan out which courses they want to take together next).

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Oh, my DD started Athena's at 7, and 7-10 seems pretty common there. I get the impression that G3 tends to be a little older on average, and the group DD has been with for literature at Athena's who are moving over to G3 in the fall are mostly in the 9-12 age range, with DD being on the young end.

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At the elementary level, my kids have taken classes with CTY online and online g3. The other students in both the CTY and online g3 classes were very active on the message boards. My kids enjoyed the classes from both providers, but they took more classes with online g3 because they were much more affordable.

Which classes at CTY did you like?

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Athena's sounds like a good fit for my daughter - she's almost 9, very into literature/history/mythology, reads at about a 7th grade level, and has no friends currently who are into any of the same things or can even talk to her about them.  We do Classical Greek (Athenaze) but I doubt she'd be ready for the rigor of Lukeion (from what I can see on their site, anyway).  Maybe in the fall, though - we've just started homeschooling this past winter, so moving at their own pace (instead of slowing down to fit public school) is sort of a process of discovery at the moment.

 

 

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Trinqueta's done a bunch of classes at Athena's. She's really liked the history and literature classes with Athena as the teacher. Unfortunately, this will probably be her last year there as well because she's moving on to higher level classes at other providers like dmetler's daughter. Athena does a great job herding cats and keeping kids on topic.

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Which classes at CTY did you like?

 

The literature class for elementary aged kids, ( I can't remember the name of the class, but they read a Harry Potter book, Matilda and Inkheart.) the middle school science classes, and the honors high school biology course. 

ETA: My 9th grader is currently taking CTY's Crafting the Essay and is enjoying it.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...

The last few classes listed http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/School/ definitely look good....truly valuable for students without local resources.

 

But the first ones seem mundane, slow, and overpriced.

 

Am I wrong?

Dan

 

Definitely not mundane.  We do the work independently (not the class), but the challenge problems for prealgebra are tougher than many algebra problems.  Their approach to prealgebra is precisely what sets the child up for success the rest of the way.

 

Many children spend four weeks or more on chapter 2 alone.

 

IMHO, AoPS is the best home school curriculum available for the money.

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The last few classes listed http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/School/ definitely look good....truly valuable for students without local resources.

 

But the first ones seem mundane, slow, and overpriced.

 

Am I wrong?

Dan

I have never had a student take the pre-alg courses, but my dd took alg and my ds took alg 3-cal. Slow and mundane are 2 words I would NEVER even consider using to describe AoPS classes. Fast-paced, challenging, problem solving, theory, proofs, dedication to math.......those are all words that I would select.

 

If a person considers AoPS slow and mundane, they are used to dealing with prodigies that most of us do not have in our homes.

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The last few classes listed http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/School/ definitely look good....truly valuable for students without local resources.

 

But the first ones seem mundane, slow, and overpriced.

 

Am I wrong?

Dan

Are you familiar with the texts already? There aren't many texts of this depth.

 

The classes are like the texts (and require the texts), but with teachers, online peers, a class forum, and a weekly problem set that includes one or more written (proof or proof-like) answers.

 

I have read here that the Mathcounts class is especially fun

Edited by wapiti
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I think I understand. I followed the link in his siggie and saw a way request a free book on how to raise a math genius. He has his own method and probably doesn't see the value in an alternative approach. My math genius did more than " fabulous" with AoPS.

 

What I don't get is that the blog praises Richard Rusczyk back in 2013, but the quote in this thread calls the early courses, largely penned by Mr. Rusczyk himself, mundane.  Something is fishy here... 

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Does anyone have recommendations or reviews of the various options for online classes targeted specifically towards gifted kids?  I've seen stuff from Stanford, John's Hopkins, GHF, etc., but I'm not sure if there is some consensus about which programs are worth it vs not worth it.  FWIW, my daughter and son are bright but not profoundly so (or if it is profound, it's marginal).  We homeschool.

DS finished all the elementary EPGY programs and Dreambox math between ages 4, 5 and 6. Both were not difficult, there was an element of being timed in the advanced stages of Dreambox, but the best thing about them is the ability to accelerate and be done with the whole program at your own pace.

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Question. Can you take the AOPS pre algebra just using the recorded lectures? I'm looking at the classes, but the one time is a conflict. Is it still worth it?

 

You can absolutely use the Preaglebra text all by itself.  Or you can add the free on-line videos.  Or you can add the on-line class (which is not video-based but chat-format).

 

The on-line classes also include a transcript of each class, put up on the class website afterward, so students can read through it again if they wish or if they missed class, which happens from time to time.  I probably would not bother to sign up for a class that couldn't be attended most of the time, however.

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My kid is not gifted, but is talking a variety of online classes so hopefully this feedback helps a little. Our one Online g3 does not strike me as particularly rigorous, and I dislike all the interactive games, what have you (I joke that if Java is required, I'm not going to like the class). That said, it provides nice interaction and it is my DS's favorite class (his other classes are particularly intense this semester so I think he loves this one because he feels it's at his level and secondly because he likes to interact). I suspect he will always be in a g3 class now because he enjoys the experience. Unclear to me that he is learning anything.

 

Our CTY language class just started but I think it will be great. Their classes are $$but for the language, with 2 classes a week, and 1:1 30 min Skype session (teacher assistant) AND 15 minute skype session (teacher)--I think it is good value. I need to get a better handle of the homework (seemed light, but then it's week 1). I do not regret paying for this class.

 

Not specifically for gifted kids but we are finding the Python 1 class from Landry academy pretty challenging (in a good way). I imagine other students are as well as the poor teacher keeps recalibrating.

Next semester we will try AOPS pre-A. I don't think DS will like the text only interaction, but since every single class has a different interface, and I've taken a trial and error approach with this boy, why not try, eh?

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I think this cyberscholar guy was the same one who said he had taught his 4 yr old all the algebra he needs. I think he is just looking for some publicity

 

I keep popping back in this thread to see if he ever came back to explain what he said.  Having read 8FilltheHeart's reply and yours, I have to agree with both of you.

 

And I suspect he's done himself no favors. ;)

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I checked out his blog as well.  Many of his posts are designed to be traffic sources and have serious fallacies of logic.  They are the type of things which people attempt to have go viral without much to back them up.  It took much strength to not completely go off about the whole "MineCraft is a drug" issue.  Not that I am a big fan of plugging kids in, but to blame a game for obviously larger issues is just a ridiculous over simplification.  Nevermind! I'm not trying to stir the political pot and derail the thread.  This is definitely one of those times that someone is merely trying to create hype by being obviously uninformed.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My bright dd11 is trying out Classical Learning Resource Center and taking an Introduction to Literature & Composition class.  She is enjoying reading Tale of Two Cities and writing up chapter summaries but working on the five paragraph persuasive literary essay is an "ok" and the discussions so far have been more about summarizing the readings than actual discussions (metaphors, historical references, literary devices, etc) about the readings. I am also reading the books assigned so we share.  I think I need to pick up an annotated version (or something else?) so we can dive deeper. 

 

She has taken all of Athena's literature classes and loved the discussions/rabbit trails.  I would have signed her up with G3 but she had already read the books assigned for the year.

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