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  1. That's an interesting question. I'll ask our site director, but even when I tried to get a percentage grade from him on my son's last exam, he had to really hunt it down and stuck more to the color scheme, saying that they didn't really get hung up on the exact percentages. Given that their 70% is considered a good score, I don't even know how that would even translate into letter grades.
  2. Ah, Greek comedy is definitely not my forte at all. For something comedic and Greek inspired and on the Shakespeare theme, Troilus and Cressida is a riot and is rather tongue-in-cheek about the Iliad. That said, it's fairly bawdy, so... These are a few more Shakespeare resources I like: https://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Ideas-Profile-Paul-Edmondson-ebook/dp/B00QIFK32Q https://www.amazon.com/Globe-Guide-Shakespeare-Plays-Productions/dp/1681772604 Youtube lectures by Ben Crystal on original pronounciation fascinating discussion on "Is Othello Racist?" This is the speech and clip that got my kids hooked on Shakespeare. It's the Royal Shakespeare Company's first all-black cast, and they have set Julius Caesar in Africa. It's an amazing version of the "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech, and it's pretty much spoiled me on other versions: :laugh:
  3. My kids attend the on-site AOPS Academy, and they consider 70% on their exams to be very good. That said, their exams are a bit harder than the review problems in the text, but not as hard as the challenge problems. When I test at home outside of class, I assign some of the review and some of the challenge problems. I think I'll add Alcumus as my kids haven't been testing very well at the Academy.
  4. Oooh, the Bard. I love Shakespeare and I like to think of myself as a Shakespeare-whisperer, lol. Watching a play is one of the best ways to hook kids on Shakespeare--Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing, Tennant's Hamlet, Branagh's Henry V and the Hollow Crown series are all good places to start. As we are watching, I'll give my kids the background info about what's going on in the scene--a running commentary of sorts, just enough to help them understand what is going on. Also, just offering tasters of the language, such as well-written passages and funny or interesting dialogues really hooks kids in. In my online classes, I show my students clips from the RSC plays. They love those as they are just so well done. I try to pick passages that are particularly dramatic so that they can really get pulled into Shakespeare and so that I can whet their appetite for it. I tell my students to try to enjoy Shakespeare as a whole first, and not to be fussed about understanding every word. Watch the scene (with a bit of background explanation first, perhaps), and just enjoy it. Then, read and discuss it, and then re-watch, seeing how much more you can understand and appreciate it. Sometimes even just listening to his words flow over you like music can be entertaining and instructive. This version of Lear is fantastic, as are others from this same series: Pair it with Ian Pollock's creepy graphic novel version, which contains the unabridged text: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12942.Ian_Pollack_s_Illustrated_King_Lear Peter Saccio has some nice Shakespeare programs from the Great Courses. I love Shakespeare Uncovered as well. Folger Shakespeare Library has some nice podcasts and resources. I love Ben Crystal's work as well: http://springboardshakespeare.com/ Is that enough or should I keep going? :lol:
  5. My daughter is in Heather's A Wrinkle in Time class. She loves it!
  6. I'm looking for some Outschool classes for my kids to take this spring, and I'm hoping for some tried-and-tested recs. I have a few that I love that I've listed below, but right now I'm looking at step-by-step writing instruction and history. I'd appreciate any recommendations you all have! I'd prefer Outschool classes right now as they are reasonably priced, and tend to have smaller class sizes. I've been burned by a few larger online programs before, so I'm looking for small class sizes with ample opportunity for class discussion (orally, not just via chatbox). Thanks! my favorites so far: Lindsey Nelson for science/engineering: https://outschool.com/teachers/Lindsey-Nelson Thomas Jones for law (haven't tried others but the crim. law class was fabulous) https://outschool.com/teachers/Thomas-Jones Maureen Tobin for literature (loved her Poe class) https://outschool.com/teachers/Maureen-Tobin
  7. Just found this list of videos based on Disappearing Spoon: https://teachchemistry.org/classroom-resources/collections/sam-kean-s-disappearing-spoon Also, in the online class the kids watched several of these videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/periodicvideos
  8. For Groovy Kids, the experiments I can remember off the top of my head were: making a spectroscope, extracting DNA from fruit, and copper plating a nail. The kids had to watch several youtube videos during the week going over various topics from the text. They also had virtual labs (unfortunately I can't remember any of them!) Another thing to look into is the You Be the Chemist Challenge: https://www.chemed.org/programs/challenge/
  9. I'm wondering if anyone has tried the classes from Gifted Homeschoolers Forum? I'm specifically looking at the science classes: http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/ghf-online/class-schedule-fall-2017/
  10. Was this the Saxon class or AoPS? My son is enrolled in the AoPS one this fall. Edited to Add: duh, just saw your signature that it was AoPS. Any tips for us as we start this class?
  11. We did Disappearing Spoon through Groovy Kids. It wasn't a comprehensive chem course, but it was more of an entertaining tour of the periodic table. It did touch on many different aspects of chemistry, just not in a textbook-y way. My son learned a ton and really became interested in chemistry and its applications and history. They change course selections each term so I'm not sure if they'll have it next year: http://www.onlineclassesforgroovykids.org/enroll-in-classes.html
  12. Yikes. This is all good to know. I'm hoping this won't be an issue for the younger set. Do the kids talk via chat box or through a mic?
  13. Thanks! I emailed her and she said that some Biblical themes might come up in the class, and that most of the time the discussion is in the chat box although students do occasionally have the opportunity to use the microphone. What type of work was your daughter able to produce as a result of the class? Also, what kind of feedback does the teacher give? Thanks for any insight you have :) With all the options I am having a heck of a time figuring out what to do next year.
  14. I ended up dropping it before the semester began, because I didn't want to rush. I figured we'd take this year to slowly go through BA 5, do some Zaccaro and Alcumus, then hit pre-a the next year. I did email AOPS and they said that he would have been fine doing the class after BA 5B and they gave me some suggested topics to cover to bridge the gap. For now I have registered him for next year.
  15. Do the Literature classes (or the Elem. Language arts) from CLRC teach from a Christian POV or are they acceptable for other faiths/secular homeschoolers? I'm thinking about putting my daughter in the Elementary LA class.
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