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Susanna

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  1. All of my kids took a few classes (1-2 per year) with Wilson Hill Academy for several years. They are older teens or college graduates now and with the exception of a few good math teachers, there was nothing special about Wilson Hill. They all scored well on the ACT (34, 32, 26) and received college scholarships. The WH classes were average compared to some of the other programs and courses we used. None of them were designated as honors and anyone could sign up without even a placement test. We left when Wilson Hill began having financial problems and charged a ridiculous $200 registration fee for all stidents. I thought for sure they would shut down. Seems they rebooted and recovered.
  2. Folks I think many of you misunderstood here.. the fact that he offered information about a church without being asked, was going to let my son stay there for free, does not seem to be needing money, and has had a young man in the house supposedly for two years, seems to prefer young men as opposed to someone his own age, is all quite odd if taken as a whole. I've never known a young adult to share a room with someone in that circumstance. No one in my town does that. My friends think it is very odd as well. I do appreciate your perspectives and thank you for commenting. I am never on this chat board but came bc it has people from very diverse perspectives. But please understand without so many harsh, judgmental comments here. I'm from small town America and we don't do this kind of thing here. You would probably find many things about my town as well to criticize but I think people would be kind to you. I'm sounding off, feel free to talk amongst yourselves.
  3. My son is a college student who will turn 20 this summer. He is a good student with a scholarship, and has a steady girlfriend of 2 years. This summer, he plans to live out-of-state for an internship in a city with limited housing. After extensive searching, he connected with a man on Craigslist who has offered a room in his townhouse for the summer. My concern is that this man is in his 50's. My husband and I did some research and it appears that he is a college graduate and has held the same job for 20 years. We cannot find any record of a wife or children. My son spoke with this man for 45 minutes over the phone. He then put my son in touch with another college student whom he claims has currently lived in his home for the past two years. He claims to be going off to summer camp, which will leave the room empty. This sounds suspicious to me. They talked about pricing and at first the man said whatever you can pay. Really? Then they agreed to $400 per month because he claims that is what the supposed college student is paying. This man didn't want references nor did he provide any. His only rule is no drugs. He seems to be familiar with churches in the area, but that doesn't mean he actually has attended any of them and it could definitely be a way to present himself as respectable. I think the situation presents too many red flags and it is best for my son to not even do the internship if he cannot find better housing. That is my advice to him. But I also wonder if this kind of housing situation is becoming the norm? I'm curious what thoughts/advice you all have? And how can you talk an adult child out of something like this?
  4. We do not recommend Pennsylvania Homeschoolers Calculus AB taught by Jeff Lanctot. The asynchronous format did not allow interaction between teacher and students and there was no opportunity to ask questions to a live face. Calculus is a very hard course already, but this format made it even more difficult. Assignments were posted with online handouts and a few videos. Eventually my son was so frustrated that he gave up on this class and used Khan Academy and the AP test study guide on his own. He managed to get a 4 on the AP test by doing his own thing. And he is a very good student, with a college scholarship next year in honors program. But the format of this course did not click at all with him or his learning style. Complete waste of $700. As a side note, some here have also commented about Ann Stublen's live Calculus classes. My son had her for precalculus and loved that course. He had planned to stay with her another year for AP Calculus before we were informed from WHA that she had resigned. I don't know what she's doing these days, but she was an outstanding teacher.
  5. Someone on this thread recommended Pennsylvania Homeschoolers Calculus taught by Jeff Lanctot. I've not had a chance to read all of the comments, but I highly discourage this course. Mr. Lancotot won a teaching award years ago, and am sure he was a competent instructor at one time. I realize we cannot speak for everyone, as some students thrive in asynchronous courses, but my son, who is graduating later this month, rates the AP Calculus as the worst formatted class he has ever taken. There was no live meeting time and he found it exceptionally difficult to ask questions. He eventually began working on his own through Khan Academy videos and the AP study guide. Somehow he pulled out a 4 on the AP test, but this was due to his own efforts, not the teaching of the course. This past year as a senior, he has taken Calculus 2 and Statistics through our local community college, thriving in both courses with a real instructor and classmates, and the opportunity to ask questions each day. He regrets he did not take calculus 1 at the community college his junior year- Or through another online provider with a LIVE meeting time. AP Cal was a complete waste of $700.
  6. My son took 4 courses with PA Homeschoolers and had very mixed experiences. Susan Richman, AP History, A+++. We could not have asked for a better history teacher. She loved the subject and put 100% of herself into the course. She is a genius at teaching and the kids nominated her for National History Teacher of the Year. Such a warm, kind personality too. My son already loved history, but her course took his interest to a new level. Dr. Carol Gillespie, AP Human Geography, A+. Dr. Gillespie is an AP test grader and wrote the book "5 to a 5". I don't think you could ask for a more qualified instructor. She had very fun assignments and videos. Nothing at all was boring the whole year. This was a great 9th grade first AP class to "get your feet wet". Also, a good natured personality that my son liked. Myra Ispektor, AP English Language, A. My son did not finish this course and left after 6 weeks. Although she is a very good instructor, the time commitment, for us at least, was extreme. He was putting in 2 hours a day and really needed to enjoy the content more to be putting so much work into that class. We did our own thing at home and he got a 5 using a prep course. (You may not be aware of this, but students do not have to be enrolled in an official AP class to take the test). He had always been very good at writing and grammar but the time commitment was too much with other hard classes, part time job, and extracurricular activities. Jeff Lanctot, AP Calculus AB, F. I would not recommend this course to anyone, because you will be working completely on your own without help. I believe he was at one time a good instructor, but after years of doing this course, now gives it very little time and attention. Students must be 100% intrinsically motivated on their own. Parents will not be notified if students get behind and must keep up with the syllabus (which did not match the weekly assignment page). My son got a 4, but that is because his wore out Khan Academy and the AP study book doing his own thing. Do not trust the reviews! My son, as well as a few other students who formed a chat group to help each other get through, were never sent the link to send in a review. Save yourself $700!! Calculus is a very hard class to take online unless there is a live meeting time.
  7. ScoutTN, We have used other on line academies and WHA stands alone in it's rigid return policy. The tough spot was that WHA changed teachers without letting parents know in time to get something else worked out. It is a courtesy to return money in that situation. Furthermore, the 14 day return policy was mentioned as a heads up to anyone not familiar with WHA. Yes, it is "up to us parents", but it is nonetheless a shady practice, when no other academy has that kind of policy. Sorry to disagree with you, but many people here only check in about 2-3 times a year... We are not going through all the posts about WHA. This thread mentions WHA and it is appropriate to post as a warning.
  8. I would advise caution with Wilson Hill Academy. When our family was a part we recieved notice that a teacher, who our family had come to like very much, had resigned. We were not notified until June and received an email that said, "As most of you have already heard...". Well, we had not heard and were caught completely off guard. I understand that changes happen and teachers must reevaluate each year. But as soon as an academy knows, they need to notify parents right away. It was very difficult for us to find a replacement, although we did. How it would have helped us if we had known sooner. We had paid about one-fourth for this course already, and did not get any of it back. I thought this was wrong, considering that we signed up for this course because of the teacher. And please read their terms and conditions page. There are two payment options. I thought the registration page was misleading, as all it said for one of the options was "refundable". well, go to the terms and conditions and you will clearly see that if you pay full price, it is only refundable within 14 days. I think there are some good teachers at WHA, but I question their financial dealings.
  9. I am wondering if anyone has experience with the Veritas Press live on-line math courses? One of my sons will be taking Algrebra 2 in the fall. He is currently using Saxon Geometry and is doing well. I am confused as to why Veritas offers two different math tracks, the regular course and then Saxon, for "students who struggle with math and may need more repetition". We actually know a lot of kids who have used Saxon, scored very well on the ACT, and have gone on to math and science related majors in college. My own kids have all used Saxon at some point and I do think this curriculum has helped them score high as well. So, I am surprised that Saxon would be listed as the math for struggling learners. Has anyone taken courses through the Veritas Press Saxon track and found it to be slow moving? And why does Saxon use these two different classes for the same subject? We are looking for an on-line live(not recorded videos, but a live person) Algebra 2 courses and I would love to hear other suggestions. Preferably a class meeting 2x per week, as opposed to just once. Thanks!
  10. My son had Mrs. Richman for APUSH. Wow, what a fantastic teacher. I would give her and A+++++! Several students even nominated her for National History Teacher of the Year. She loves her job and is SOOOO enthusiastic with a warm personality. She is also super organized and on top of things all the time. My son got a 5 but loves US history and did not mind the huge chunks of time he had to devote to this class. Students put in well and beyond what is required for a normal class. We are from a part of the country that is religious and conservative. PA Homeschoolers is secular and may or may not be what you are looking for. But Mrs. Richman is very careful to be respectful of ALL views in the class. This was my son's first exposure to A LOT of students who think very differently than he. And also his first experience in the political minority. And I believe that many of the liberal outspoken students (from CA and NY) had never had a friend or even exposure to another person with a conservative point of view. It was a very good learning experience and allowed for interesting discussion, but I'm not sure he could handle that much hostility each year. If you student takes the College Board US History test, I would recommend taking it in May, not June. The June date is a few weeks after the AP test and my son was so thankful he did not have to continue to study well into the summer. But beware...the test is from a VERY biased, one-sided perspective, which may or may not help your score, depending on your political mindset. Very controversial topics go with a liberal slant. My son scored pretty well but also said if you must think as the most liberal person you know for 2 hours. Had we known just how biased this test is, I'm not sure he would have taken it. But as far as Mrs. Richman goes, an outstanding teacher whom I highly recommend.
  11. Several of our kids took math through Wilson Hill Academy a few years back. The two teachers my kids had for different classes were very good. But we left and I will share my story to warn anyone else in case this happens to you. A particular teacher we were quite fond of apparently put in her resignation in the spring. However, we were not notified until summer. At that point, we could not get full tuition back. I think if they had just told us up front when they knew it would have saved us a whole lot of hassle. In June parents got an email that said, "As most of you are probably already aware...". Well, no we were not aware because that was the first announcement. The replacement had never taught this particular math class before and we wanted to explore options. To me, it's reasonable to give a reimbursement in that situation.
  12. My son is taking AP English and Language on line with a very good teacher. But the workload is tremendous with his other classes and activities. I'm not sure if he can stay in this class for the rest of the year. But he scored very high on the ACT and received 5's on two other AP tests. Are there any on line AP English L&C online study resources as there are for other subjects, like history and biology? I;m wondering if he can do this on his own and take the test without the class? And thanks for the suggestion about the IEW AP resource.
  13. My oldest son was a part of Classical Conversations Challenge and used Henle in 7th-9th grade. I am not the most qualified person to respond here either, since I never actually taught Latin. But I will tell you that Henle it is a very hard curriculum (from my perspective at least) compared to other Latin curricula available). The kids who did well with Henle had a strong grammar background. But even then, it was challenging, even with a very good teacher. (And these kids were good students with high test scores too). A few years ago that teacher left CC to teach at a different co op and used First Form. We changed as well and liked it a whole lot better than Henle. The videos from Memoria Press that go along with helpful too. After using both, my son prefers First Form. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
  14. Handwriting Without Tears may be a good option. Another plus is that it is great for left-handed kids. ( I have two).
  15. An "umbrella school" is an extension of a private school opened to local homeschoolers. In our area they do everything that a guidance counselor would do, as far as testing, transcripts, and general advising. Students have a graduation ceremony and earn their diplomas as independent scholars. I never said the student services fee at Wilson Hill Academy is a bad idea. but rather, inappropriate to charge those of us who are already paying hundreds of dollars each year for these services. Families were not given a choice. Several of you mentioned that the student services fees were discussed on this forum. But it is not the responsibility of The Well Trained Mind to inform parents. Yes, there was a Wilson Hill meeting, but it was held in late January and registration began February 1st. These changes were very sudden. And it was setup so that parents could pay full price for a class without paying the student services fee, only to find out later that they would still owe $250. My point was that this was not clear on the registration page and I think that is deceitful. And as far as one of you mentioning that you personally received a waiver from the fee, count yourself lucky. I can't speak for everyone, but this was not offered to us.
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