We're considering outsourcing a couple of subjects for our high schooler this year, and are wondering if any of you have had a good experience with FLVS Flex in math or science courses? FLVS isn't a consideration for humanities courses for us, but I am wondering if the advanced/AP math and science classes work well. Please share any experiences you may have!

I am genuinely surprised by the responses. I know only one or two families who use the cookie-cutter "online academy" approach. Everyone else I know really does carefully select and put thought into their curriculum and/or outsourcing choices. I wonder if different parts of the country are dominated by different approaches?

Oh, you have done the self paced -- tell me about it! I had been reluctant to try that because 1) I had heard that some students find it too easy to do well on the quizzes/assignments simply through going through the modules and without fully reading the texts and 2) tying into that, the concern that screen time easily becomes overdone, and I thought that engagement would be more likely in a live class (if screens were unavoidable) than adding in more video modules that could make it easy to zone out/become distracted. Could you allay these concerns for me (or not)?

Well, it had to get done, so I'd say they enjoyed it as much as they would have enjoyed any science class. 2 observations: 1) the class structure was very helpful in maintaining accountability and minimizing friction with the parent. I say this as someone who is currently using the Pearson Chemistry materials for a student who is NOT currently enrolled in Chemistry as a live class. As far as whether that sets TPS apart from other online providers, probably not. 2) some of the biology Savvas assignments and test questions were very open-ended, and one student found that quite stressful. He still needed to be able to do it, though, so I don't really see that as a negative. "Enjoy" just isn't a word I'd use in this context, but I think that depends on the student.

I have had kids take both. Biology used the Miller Levine textbook/course materials; Chemistry used Pearson. One of the potential advantages of TPS is that each (non-math) class meets only once a week, so it can help to minimize screen time for a student taking multiple live courses, and the teachers usually make good use of that limited class time. My recollection is fuzzy, because this was a couple of years ago, but I think that the Biology class involved relatively frequent quizzes that the student would type, or, if complicated diagrams/interrelationship maps were required, print out, draw/complete, and scan in. There were weekly online assignments through Savvas, I believe, in which the students would enter some free-form, short answer questions. Tests required deep mastery but were not unfair. Is that the information you were looking for?

I don't think it's too early to talk about next year -- when we hit the 2nd semester blahhhs, I find inspiration in figuring out how to improve the choices we're making for that next year:):). Here's the plan so far for our soon-to-be-8th grader: Math: Geometry (Jacobs) through Veritas Press English: Composition 1 through Veritas Press History/Literature/Bible: Veritas Press Omnibus 1 (at-home option only, no live class) Science: Novare Life Science Latin: Latin 1 (Wheelock) through Veritas Press

So, to be clear, your kids have tried the VP diploma program? Because I do appreciate that the VP diploma math is on level for an accelerated student, but there is quite a bit of weight towards the humanities -- so you are saying that your students felt they were not able to give attention to their math courses bc of Omnibus? As a 3 credit class, I can see that could be difficult.

We are using Apologia (Exploring Creation with Health and Nutrition) right now for our 10th grader, and it's just what we were looking for -- a get er' done health and wellness course, substantive, not too much work. Then again, he does have some genuinely hard classes right now, so maybe the easiness here is relative. I wouldn't say it's "too beefy," though, and we were specifically looking for something that wasn't going to be a lot of pointless work.

I have a 7th grader who will be taking a few courses through Veritas Press next school year, while considering the prospect of pursuing their diploma program in high school. Sharing your perspective on the diploma program would be welcome. Particularly, I am wondering whether a) the workload is excessive for the humanities (it appears that one would be taking the equivalent of 8 or 9 credits each year instead of the standard 6, since their Omnibus courses span 3 credits and the remaining class load doesn't seem to be reduced) and b) whether your student felt he was living his entire life glued to the computer given the number, length, and frequency of the the classes. It looks like a spectacular program, but I do have these questions about any actual experience you may have had. Please advise!

Are you doing the entire book of the older Saxon Calculus edition or the newer edition?

Ah, I see everyone was just as confused about this 6 years ago:). I wish Novare would update with more feasible equipment options! Thanks for the link.

Some years ago, one of my older students was assigned Novare Physical Science as their middle school physical science text by an online course provider. We were pleased with the rigor, and have now purchased the homeschool digital resources to make it happen in a fully at-home environment for my rising 7th grader in the coming school year. However, I am seeing that the extent of the equipment for the experiments far outstrips anything the older child was required to purchase for the online course, and I'm feeling a bit intimidated. Who has used Novare, and did you actually purchase all of the recommended equipment (yes, I know, they recommend building some of it (!), but that's not feasible here)?

I have no answer here, but it's an excellent question and I'm curious to see what counsel others have. My instinct is to still focus on solid course work that will make some level of change of mind/direction possible, but without course plans selected primarily to impress (such as AP). I do think one mistake occasionally made is assuming that child X "isn't going to be a_____, so she doesn't need to know______" and leaving holes in the knowledge base that may later be regretted.

Can I ask why you are hesitant to use MB chemistry? We have a hybrid school option open to us next year that would be using that, and I'm not familiar with it. What's the downside?

I absolutely understand all of this. And then I wonder if some of the issues with our older ones comes from a failure on our part to separate parental identity from our hopes for the kids. Parenting and home education is so much more complex than the people writing the books and presenting at the conventions often promise:).

Could you share what you're finding unworkable at TPS? Please, please PM me if you don't want to share on the forum. We have some decision-making that needs to happen ASAP for next year that TPS was going to be a part of and I'd love to know what you feel has changed or doesn't work.

I do. But it's also helpful for her to see, because she clearly feels like she is accomplishing something -- she has a tendency to think that my self-driven planning is an attempt to create pointless work for her. Checking things off someone else's Official List is her gamechanger, evidently. Have had other children but not one quite like this:). Also, she really likes the layout of the books intended for student use. We were trying to use Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, which I personally think is the gold standard in phonics instruction, but the little one (unlike older siblings) couldn't focus on the small, denser, pictureless print.

My preschooler is currently working through A Gentle Feast's Lessons in Sight and Sound, and loving it (at least compared to other phonics/reading programs). Although I'm not as enthused about the nature study components of the main curriculum (as opposed to a more standard/comprehensive approach to science), and I have a few other minor bones to pick, the fact that my little one absolutely LOVES the layout of the books and planning pages makes it all just not a struggle. Given that I need to plan our program of study for her upcoming kindergarten year, could anyone share his or her experiences with A Gentle Feast curriculum as a whole? Thank you!

Is that because of the lack of structure with Khan? Or another reason?

Our rule of thumb has been that you need to show enough work so that someone who didn't know how to work the problem would be able to see how you solved it. The level of detail you are indicating would (I think) be unnecessary. I would only require that if they are *still* making careless errors due to those grains of minutiae not being demonstrated.

Our TPS experience has been that the classes are structured so that there is not a great deal of room for teacher difference in the mathematics courses. I don't think you're going to go wrong:). There is a great deal more variation in the English teachers, IMHO, but that may just be the nature of the subject.

I mean Schole Academy. Autocorrect drives me crazy

I was planning on doing Art of Argument with my 7th grader next year -- ByGrace3, do you think this is feasible without the outside support of Schooler?

All the discussion of Derek Owens has been helpful! I noticed that no one ever mentions Abeka Precalculus, which surprises me since Abeka seems to be a fairly dominant publisher in the homeschool market. Has anyone had experience with that?

When you say you wouldn't recommend Saxon Calculus, especially without the advanced math book for pre-calc, do you mean that you'd find it more acceptable if the Saxon Advanced Math were used as the pre-calc curriculum? I would actually have thought that would be MORE of a problem due to the limited scope of Saxon Advanced Math -- can you clarify please?