CindyE Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I would love to hear some of your experiences with the Potters School classes. I have a son who really wants some interaction with others and not just the two of us all day long by ourselves. Right now he is mostly doing Bob Jones DVD's which he likes okay. I also thought he could benefit from discussing his subjects with other students and teachers through Potters School. He is around other kids at church and with baseball which he plays almost year round but I am looking for something in between private school and homeschool if there is such a thing. :confused: Thanks for your help. Cindy E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 The younger son is taking the Visual Basic class, and we are quite impressed with the class. (It could move faster, but it is very thorough, and the teacher is making sure that everyone understands the material -- it is SO easy to get totally lost in programming! My son likes the course enough that he is planning on taking C++ next year through TPS) We have not had any other dealings with the Potter's School, but from the one course we have some positive impressions of TPS. It seems VERY organized and well-run, and they do solicit feedback on courses, course content, teachers, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynde Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 The Potter's School has worked well for us over the past four years. Truthfully it has been a blessing for us. Our dc experienced being accountable to someone other than mom and had the opportunity to engage in cyber classroom discussions. TPS offers such a wide variety of classes. It has provided dc with lots of options for elective courses in addition to some core sciences they took there. I never could have provided that variety. TPS is a Christian school with a Biblical worldview. They have been great to work with from the directors of the school to the instructors. There are certain standards teachers have to follow, but all the teachers do have their own teaching styles and requirements. Some courses have been harder than others but all have been academically sound. Our dc have had good experiences with all their teachers. My social dd has made lasting friends through TPS and has even met some in person. We've taken classes in the sciences, social sciences, English, religious studies, and other electives - 18 classes in all - and haven't regretted any of them. Good luck and ask more questions if you'd like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CindyE Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 Thanks so much for the information! My son would be starting 9th grade in the fall. I could see signing him up for Grammar and Writing, History, Science, and Spanish through TPS. Is that too many? Do you know if they offer summer classes? I would like for him to try it out over the summer with a class before jumping in in the fall. Thanks again for your help. CindyE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynde Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Thanks so much for the information! My son would be starting 9th grade in the fall. I could see signing him up for Grammar and Writing, History, Science, and Spanish through TPS. Is that too many? Do you know if they offer summer classes? I would like for him to try it out over the summer with a class before jumping in in the fall. Thanks again for your help. CindyE No TPS does not offer summer courses. Courses essentially run September through the end of May with some exams first week of June. Years ago, I seem to recall TPS suggesting starting with two courses. However, I just quick checked and couldn't locate that information again. Check out the "Curriculum Scope and Sequence" under "Classes." It should give you some helpful information. You know your child best and what he can handle, so I really don't feel that I can say if four full-year courses would be too much or not. I started my ds with one course in 9th grade but he was going through an "I hate school" stage (btw, he's the complete opposite now). Dd started with two courses, not because I didn't think she could handle more, but because we had plans for the others. Some course involve more work than others. It depends on the subject and teacher. For example, our Biology with Mr. Rosenoff (excellent!) was quite involved with lengthy lab reports. You may want to email Jeff Gilbert (TPS director) and give him some background information and see what he thinks. You can also email the teachers to ask questions by clicking on "teachers" under classes. Just click on the teacher's name and their email pops up. Hope that helps you a bit even though I kinda dodged the "too much" question. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in VA Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 and will take German 2 next year. The classes are quite rigorous and I'm sure my daughter will take some of their classes when she is older. It is a top-notch program! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 My eighth grade son has taken Latin through TPS for a couple of years, and added a writing class this year. Each of his classes have been wonderful experiences, and we adore his teachers. The classes meet for an hour and a half one day per week, and the student is responsible for scheduling and completing the work for the remainder of the week. We have found the classes to be rigorous, but the teacher's expectations are certainly reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 My former high school English teacher wrote the materials for TPS Narnia class and was a co-founder of the school. She is on the board still and speaks very highly of TPS. Chrissy, Did your ds take Mr. Spott's Latin course? Which writing course is he currently taking? Thanks!! Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 I would go slow if you are in doubt. online classes can take a LOT of time for homework, and when you add to that the three hours in class, you end up with a lot of hours. For example, my younger son gets almost no schoolwork done on Wednesdays -- he has programming for 1/5 hours and Latin for one hour. That plus work for those classes takes pretty much the entire day -- with some time out for read aloud etc. Starting with four classes could be a bit overwhelming, though it absolutely depends on your kid. We got our kids in gradually, starting with one and then two and then "a bunch". But undoubtedly some kids can handle being thrown in the deep end better than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CindyE Posted February 15, 2008 Author Share Posted February 15, 2008 Now I just have to wait for sign ups. Do you think classes will fill up fast? I'm concerned that we won't get the classes and times we want. It looks like since we are new and in the U.S. that we will be last to sign up. :( Thanks for your help. CindyE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynde Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Yes, classes do fill fast especially the more traditional ones. Less common "electives" don't fill as fast. As soon as the time frame for new students opens, be online and register. Check ahead of time which sections are full and which are open for the class you want to speed up your registration. I'm not sure how many classes you decided to have your ds take. The more classes a student takes, the trickier it gets to register because of juggling all the time slots. If the class section you want is full, it can throw off your plan. Be prepared to go with an alternate schedule. New students do register last. But if you return next year, you will appreciate the system. IMHO, this method seems fair and is a blessing to those students who return. Even our dc's community college registers this way. Good luck getting the classes you want. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan P. Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 My ds took Oxford Tutorials Tolkein/Lewis class from Dr. Norm Lund. My ds was 16 at the time, and he thoroughly enjoyed his class. It is a discussion type class where a microphone is used. Dr. Lund talks directly to the students. Now, he is a Christian and starts each lesson with a prayer. I can remember walking in the room while ds was online and hear ds laughing and commenting with great interest to Dr. Lund. I highly recommend Oxford Tutorials! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 My former high school English teacher wrote the materials for TPS Narnia class and was a co-founder of the school. She is on the board still and speaks very highly of TPS. Chrissy, Did your ds take Mr. Spott's Latin course? Which writing course is he currently taking? Thanks!! Beth Yes! We love Mr. Spotts! And he is taking the Narnia class with Mrs. Richardson. She is wonderful, and he is really enjoying the class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindy Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 but I just had to comment on Potters School and how much we LOVED our experience with them. My older boys took science and English classes and they were superb!! My boys really, really enjoyed them. My sister, who was a public highschool English teacher for 25 years, sat in on their classes from time to time and thoroughly enjoyed them. She said that these were quite equal to the AP courses she taught in her public highschool. I can barely wait until my 5th grader is old enough to take a couple of classes. Good luck, I'm sure you'll be pleased....Mindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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