Well, mine go to TPS, so I guess so 😉

Thanks! I forgot, they've done classes with Serbicki at AIM and while they didn't need cameras on there maybe that has changed. I will definitely check out Blue Tent!

Thanks! Right now we primarily use TPS and WTMA. Other providers without cameras that we've used include CLRC, AA, AOPS, and OpenTent, The only ones we've found so far with cameras on are Outschool (eldest takes many interest-based classes there, but I don't use the platform for any core subjects as I'd like something more rigorous), HSA (younger two use this), and CWK. I agree, incorporating student cams leads to bandwidth issues like you mention. Consequently, I am open to non-cam courses that use instructional methods that require constant focus 🙂

Replying to another recent post got me thinking... While all of my children prefer synchronous classes (much more engaging), I'm starting to feel like my 10th grader needs to have classes that require her to have her camera on (or some other mechanism to keep her focused and accountable). Otherwise, she zones off easily. Yes, I can confiscate phones, limit website browsing, etc., but not only do I not want to go that route for this child she could stare at a wall distractedly for hours so those measures wouldn't work. Does anyone have recommendations for online live classes that fit this criteria?

I would NOT recommend WTMA's Spanish 4/5. My eldest was in the first Spanish 1 class and followed up with the first Spanish 2 class. She earned A's in both. However, as a foreign languages undergrad myself, I noticed that her grasp of the language was atrocious so I started watching recording midway through year 2 and was horrified by the lack of rigor (teacher relied on students to present topics, lots of watching videos/songs, busywork that wasn't graded, etc.) whereas I was expecting conjugation drills and grammar lessons. The only thing I did like was that they read a short book each year in Spanish (something I took over myself and ordered additional novels from the company for the kids to read this past summer). Suspicious, I had eldest tested at The Potters School. Instead of placing into Spanish 3 for this year, she placed right back into Spanish 1. We lost 2 years of instruction and eldest is mortified. (One of her younger sisters who took HSA placed into TPS Spanish 1B, so ahead of her). NOW (and I need to say kudos to WTMA for this), that instructor is no longer with WTMA (I wrote some pretty heated emails earlier this year, as did another parent in the class who came from HSA to WTMA Spanish 2). So the instructor slated to teach Spanish 4 (and all of the other Spanish classes at WTMA) could adopt a much more rigorous approach. HOWEVER, the curriculum in the sample syllabus is the same (I was not impressed, super vague and unclear). Further, if you're going into WTMA Spanish 4 next year, your student will be in that inaugural class that started Spanish 1 & 2 with my eldest. While they may be somewhat more up to speed taking Spanish 3 with someone else this year, their foundation is likely weaker than students coming from Leven's instruction. Just my opinion (and I apologize, this is a pretty sore point for me.)

Eldest took it last year. She honestly doesn't remember much about the class (she does tend be a bit scatter-brained, but definitely didn't leave a lasting impression). She said there's not much participation needed (probably correlated with why it's not memorable, she wasn't forced to pay attention). It has a decent reading list. Three papers were required each semester, roughly 600-1200 words each (final paper 1250-2000), She earned an 89% with minimal effort, I'd say. There was very little feedback (one of the overarching reasons that we switched out of WTMA for most classes). Finally, I have gotten to "know" a half dozen WTMA teachers very well through repeated classes with my kids; however, I, too, have zero memory about Mr. Wells (other than remembering his name).

We are finishing up wtma geometry this week. I think this makes three classes with Ms. Quintero at wtma in their aops series. Pace. We took 1 class at aops and it moved at breakneck speed. Just too fast for us. Two semesters is perfect (especially compared with rfwp which looks like they stretch it out over 3!). Alcumus. Wtma doesn't include it so I just have them do Alcumus over the summer to maintain. Communication. We have written to Ms. Quintero maybe once every 3 weeks about this or that and she responds via email within 24 hours. If you are instead referring to feedback on a given problem this depends upon your child. She allows 3 attempts on hw, but (according to my daughters observations and some general emails Quintero had sent the class, it sounds like many don't take full advantage of that. We, however, always try to get the first attempt in at least 1 week ahead. That way if there are corrections that need to be made, there's enough time. Plus on my experience she provides enough gentle nudges that we have never not gotten them right. Proofs. Each week has a regular short answer problem set (10-20 problems) plus 1-3 proofs. She is pretty particular about the setup of the proofs but that experience has helped my other daughters in their math classes. Challenge. Many but not all problems come from the as textbook. I love this as of she gets stuck (and then if I get stuck), I can sneak a peek at the hints to see if I can figure them out. However, most come from the section end and chapter review parts, so if you only do the challenging problems you may be disappointed. Overall, I love the aops classes on wtma. They are extremely well organized, offer plenty of flexibility (I.e., enough time to plan out assessment completion around busy schedules), decrease stress by allowing multiple attempts, are very predictable with even work loads (some other classes I have no idea what is due when and the workload seesaws but i always know what to expect in this class), uses blackboard along with collaborate which feels like my second home (my eldest just zoned out on the impersonal aops platform), and uses am extremely solid math program (aops). I plan on having all of the girls complete every wtma aops class. (There's also monthly discussIon board topics, but my eldest has never had any questions about those so I have never looked at them.)

I had no idea they rolled one out! It must have launched this academic year. Fair warning, we took one class with their peer mentor network (island level) and while I adore and have several levels of the curriculum their technology grasp for online classes (fall 2019) was elementary at best. If you're open to other providers, my eldest is about to complete her fourth aops class at wtma where I have been pleased with the math instructors.

Just an update, I think we may pass on this class because their registration fee effectively almost doubles the cost of the class! Too bad.

Does anyone have experience with this class? It's being offered in Summer 2020. I have been on a quest for the ideal programming resource with online, live classes. My kids have exhausted most free online resources, they do much better with live classes and not self-paced stuff. and one is part of a coding club and does hackathons. We've already done the AOPS first python class (very challenging, not the right environment with only typing and no video interaction) and FundaFunda's python (asynchronous and not much guidance/feedback) course. While I've considered WTMA and TPS because they both now offer live programming courses, their school year is usually packed with extracurriculars and I was trying to shift stuff to this summer since it looks like most of their stuff is canceled anyway. For background, we have never taken classes at WHA, we're very agnostic, but can be tolerant. (E.g., the girls are taking classes at TPS and CLRC, in addition to WTMA.) I am very much open to other suggestions, too, I want to feed this interest if I can find a resource that fits their learning style, thanks!

Agreed. As a programmer myself and former leader of a coding club, my kids started Scratch probably at age 4. Then they moved on to Python through lots of different gamified platforms for kids. So I thought my eldest was prepared. But goodness gracious, we still spent at least one evening a week, working for several hours into the night, on her weekly assignments. They started out easy but really ramped up by the end. There is an active online community that the students can access for support, and my daughters still use it despite us moving to different providers for AOPS-based classes.

My eldest did it two summers ago. Good / standard csci assignments but she hated the format (didn't keep her attention or really encourage interaction). It also moved very quickly, to the point that I wondered how students who didn't have parents who coded could keep up. I still haven't found an online python class that I've really liked but I keep looking!

The Number Theory book is in the other room right now (I'm in bed). Is it the game 24? If so, there are online solvers.

Thanks, but I just don't understand this site at all. I registered earlier this week and from what I can tell it's a total misnomer as there are only recording! Unless I'm missing something crucial...

Ack! I don't know where my reply went! Thank you both. I most definitely didn't realize how pervasive the religious content was at Schole, I appreciate the detailed outline. For writing/grammar, I'm now considering onlineg3's MCT Town level or CLRC's Upper Elementary Arts I, either should be fine I think. It's math that's trickier. I'm actually a math professor so I'm pretty picky (I'm just also really busy). Do you think the Potter's School is going to math even math religious? Again, I appreciate both the feedback and the suggestions!

Quick background: I've homeschooled all 3 girls exclusively. However, I also WOHM and over the years promotions have caused me to need to turn to online classes. So while they're home with my husband (who WAH with his own side-business), the older two take all WTMA classes (we messed around with different providers but settled on them the last few years). They work mostly independently (I still help on mornings/evenings and Sunday) and thrive in live classes. The issue is my youngest (3rd grade). Not as many providers cater towards the elementary crowd. For two years, she has been taking mostly Athena's classes (supplemented by HSA, FundaFunda, MCT online, BA online, etc.), However, despite loving the MCT books (which I used several levels of before we had to switch to online classes), I am not fond of their online system. Also, FundaFunda is fine but not live and Athena's has been great but I think she's ready for more rigor. So here's my plan (below) and I'd love feedback that anybody has with these classes (Schole, Potter's, and onlineg3 are new for us). I'm especially hesitant about the religious content/slant (we are secular, and while I'm much more tolerant, if my husband walks through the kitchen and hears too many prayers being pushed at his children his head might explode - sorry). Thanks in advance! The Potter's School - Math Accelerated 4 (Math - I have all of the SM books from the older 2 and it's a solid program, although I adore AOPS) Schole Academy - Well Ordered Language I (Grammar) Schole Academy - Writing & Rhetoric I (Writing - I still have 5 levels of these books from the older 2) Schole Academy - Latin for Children A (Foreign Languages - have the books from the older 2) OnlineG3 - Horrible Histories Romans/Egyptians & Middle Ages (History - I have every Horrible series out there, the older girls loved them) OnlineG3 - Introduction to Computational Thinking with Scratch (Programming) Homeschool Spanish Academy - 3A & 3B (Foreign Languages - she'll continue taking combined classes with one older sister) Athena's Academy - Advanced Think Books, 2 semesters (Literature - she's taken many of Dr. Kirsten's classes, and both older girls took these so we have the books)

My youngest two share two 25 minute sessions each week at HSA while my eldest has done Spanish I, is in Spanish Ii right now and today I signed her up for Spanish III at wtma. The two girls adore their HSA teacher, absolutely love her. The work load isn't tough, they download 2-4 pages of worksheets almost every lesson and practice then on their own (no submission process for grading). I think there's an individual oral quiz every couple of weeks over 2 sections, a longer quiz or mini exam ever 4 sections, and an exam every 12 sections, all oral. Nothing written is ever graded. I hate the website interface (could be so much better for taking where a student is in a course and what assignments will be covered in a given class). The system has a lot of flexibility for families with changing schedules (although this can be a con of you want Spanish to always occur on the same day of the week at the same time, hard to make happen with HSA). My eldest needs more structure, rigor, and student interaction, hence wtma. The wtma classes use lots of online quizzes, read books in Spanish, make presentations and slide decks in Spanish, and complete workbook pages that need to be scanned and uploaded for grading. So it's much more like a traditional classroom. She would absolutely freeze up if she had to speak one on one with an instructor in Spanish each day like at HSA. Honestly, I like both, it just really depends upon what works for your child and family.

My eldest did last summer. She loves anime and has been interested in learning the language. Honestly, it was pretty disappointing to her but that could have been an expectations issue on her end. She thought she’d learn some language and stuff about Japan when it turned out instead to only be a film critique class. Each week she’d have to submit a pretty in-depth essay on that week’s film. Now she loves, loves writing and had completed 2 of wtma’s expository writing classes by then but these essays were critiqued much more thoroughly than those class assignments were. Just an FYI, like I said, we could have simply misunderstood what the class was about.

My eldest took it last year (after taking their aops prealgebra, and is in their geometry now). My middle one is on the same track and will take the class next year. I love the consistency and organization of these courses. There are hw problems due each week (Friday I think) as well as proof problems. I think there is a test maybe once or twice a semester? I'm pretty sure there are discussion board assignments, too, some can be pretty meaty. The girls work on the hw and proofs themselves and then I help them on the weekends and check them over before submission. If they get their stuff done early the professors provide feedback and allow a few attempts.

My eldest took all of them and I'm signing up my middle one for her last one in the series tomorrow. When my youngest is just a tad older I'll start her in the series, too!

This really sits wrong with me... So make an able-bodied parent look really poor on paper and then resume working after you no longer need to look poor? What in inefficient allocation of financial aid and the labor force as it redirects (a) financial aid from those who may truly need to to those who are choosing to appear as if they need it and (b) minimum wage jobs from unskilled workers who may truly need them to folks who are apparently qualified enough for a higher paying job and thus don't need it.

Honestly, I really wanted to like the series. I think I put my eldest through four levels and my middle child through two. They hated it, though. It wasn't until my eldest started WTMA expository writing classes 2 years ago that her writing really improved.

I interpreted that quote as saying that somebody who is currently in Pre-Calc by definition would have already completed Algebra 1&2 and Geometry so they should be sufficiently prepared for the exam content (i.e., they would have seen everything already), not that the exam content would cover Pre-Calc. In contrast, somebody currently in Algebra 2 or Geometry could face a question with content found in the latter part of the course they're currently in and thus haven't covered yet.

I'm sorry and embarrassed to bump my own thread, but if anyone has any experience with this platform I would really appreciate your insights!

I apologize if this has been discussed already, but my searches both on here and google are coming up empty. Has anyone used Royal Firework Press's Michael Clay Thompson Mentor Network before? I used (and thus own print copies already) MCT's 1st 2 levels of language arts & literature curriculum. However, my job has subsequently gotten exponentially more demanding so I have started integrating more and more online courses. My older two (11 and 13) are blossoming in this environment, but my youngest is 8 and thus not taking that many. I love MCT's grammar approach so I was looking around for options that use his materials and stumbled across the newly released Mentor Network (maybe launched Fall 2018?). However, I have questions even after looking through the sites linked below. First, if anyone has used it, I'm looking for reviews and insights into your experiences. Second, if you're familiar with the program, am I interpreting the information correctly? Specifically, since I already own the books and would like the material to be graded automatically, I am considering Level 1 options without print materials but with instructors. Right now, that means I would sign up for Building Language (seat & instructor, $250), Grammar Island (seat & instructor, $250), and Practice Island (seat, $12.50). I believe that since I want instructor involvement, I would need to wait until their academic year which I assume to be 9/3/19-5/24/20. (If I didn't want access to an instructor I could start at any time and my subscription would be for one calendar year.) In Fall, my daughter would work through Grammar Island and Practice Island on her own and there'd be some type of instructor involved with Building Language. In Spring, an instructor would enter the scene somehow in Grammar Island. Is that right? Even if I have the costs right, I'm still fuzzy as to what actually I'd be buying. Is it an online interface like Khan Academy or Beast Academy that the student logs into and reads passages and then answers questions which are then automatically graded? If I don't purchase the instructor option are the answers still automatically graded? There's no real "class," right? While I'll pay that price for year-long WTMA classes, shelling out $500+ for a year-long solely online platform seems pretty dang steep. Anyway, if you've made it this far, I appreciate it and would also love to hear about people's thoughts on the offering. Thanks! https://www.rfwp.com/series/royal-fireworks-press-digital-learning https://rfolc.com/mentor/ https://rfolc.com/mentor/courses.shtml https://www.rfwp.com/pages/mct-mentor-network/