4wildberrys
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Posts posted by 4wildberrys
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Good point Katy. It is very wise to check on what CLEPs are acceptable by the college of choice! CLEPs are not accepted everywhere...
Just want to preface my reply with the statement that I am NOT working for College Plus, nor trying to promote them. BUT... based on the experiences of 2 families we are good friends with... you are getting a LOT more for your money than just "a little bit of organization and hand-holding" -- at least for the actual College Plus package (I do not know anything about the College Prep package).
- College Plus has done all the research and administrative work of lining up the specific college and the combinations of the specific CLEP tests and distance courses that will be accepted for a degree.
- College Plus walks you through some career testing/exploration FIRST.
- College Plus walks you through some special prep coursework FIRST so you will succeed in this style of learning -- speed reading course; study skills/memorization skills course; and CLEP. test practice
- The weekly emails/phone sessions with the College Plus mentor are crucial to helping young high school/college age students get through this intensively-paced, solo-study program -- remember, you have no face-to-face time with a teacher, or a classroom to have to go each week to to help you be disciplined and get the work done!
Both moms of the 2 teens we know who have completed/are in process of getting their BA with College Plus have said there is NO WAY they could have pulled this off on their own -- both the organizational aspect, AND the mentoring the student through the program to finish. And both these moms are extremely organized, smart women!
However, if you are talking about just taking a few CLEP tests (not an entire degree program) -- I agree; go for it! It would not be too hard to do the research of what is needed, what colleges will accept it, when/where the testing takes place, etc. BEST of luck in your CLEP testing! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.
:iagree: Our dd used CollegePlus at first, until their life purpose planning was a little too good and it showed that what she was really interested In studying was not a major they offered. College Plus was VERY good about refunding our money at this point. Dd REALLY liked her coach and was sorry to not be able to use the program. It certainly IS much more than just tips---the coaches really work with the kids. I am even more thrilled with CP Now that they are partnered with Liberty University, because ds wants to use CP for a business degree. He does not want to graduate in debt and is fine living with us rent free until he graduates. It may not be a program that suits every student, but for kids who are concerned about college debt and who aren't interested I spending 4 years on undergrad, it's a viable option that should pose no hindrance to future employment ;)
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Wowza is right! For that cost, I could purchase curriculum for my son with all the bells and whistles of online/DVD support. You have made me happy that we have no CC within 5 hours of us:tongue_smilie:
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It's definitely more fun with more students, but definitely doable with one. We watch one movie a month---one Sunday we will watch the movie through its entirety, and then in 2 more Sundays we watch it and go through the questions. Of course, it will be more than a years course with this method, but I am not using it as a traditional English credit, simply as a fun elective.
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Just to clarify, the quadratic formula is taught in MUS Algebra II. I didn't want future readers to think that MUS just leaves it out completely.
Yes, I was going to say the same thing. Ds learned it quite thoroughly in MUS Alg2 this year.
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You can always just get one student guide and look it over to see if it will logistically work with 2 students, and then purchase another if necessary. As far as answering questions, you could allow shorter answers if you plan on going over answers together with them. I know I had dd answer questions in a notebook, but the IG problems prevented me from actually being able to go over answers effectively with her, so I'm afraid I don't have very good experiential advice on that one :001_huh:
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:iagree: I totally agree with this! You think you are freaking out and the year hasn't even started for you yet. And although rearranging your IG -- separating the components out -- will help some, there are still the issues of flip, flip, flip, look here, or to find 6 weeks later something that should have been covered, or to wish that your student had the same notes as you -- or to realize that that your student has more questions (or fewer) than in the answer key -- and then when you are going over questions, you don't even realize that some have been asked --- because there are no answers to those questions, that's why those questions are not even in your teacher's guide but the student's only. And is your student going to say, mom, I had 3 more questions you didn't ask me? My kids never did.
And if you wonder why my sentence goes on and on like I'm out of breath, it's because that is how it will feel using that old IG (some old things are better burned than resold). You will spin your wheels trying to make sense of it and be frustrated more often than not. Ask me how I know this. :glare: Three times - no, four - I have used the old guide and it did not get easier. Every experience left me feeling like there was so much more that I didn't use than what I did.
Breath of fresh air, that new IG is!! It is everything I ever asked for. The parent IG matches the student IG word-for-word except the answers. Love it, love it.
Being new to Sonlight, you do not realize the cost of frustration in this old IG. Please let my experience influence your choices. Frustrating materials are the enemy of my homeschooling. With as much "oomph" as I can muster up, I strongly, strongly advise you to buy the new IG!
Laughing from this description and agreeing with your extended description of the frustration!
:iagree:
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Hate to say it, but YES, it was a big mistake to buy an upper level SL IG used! The new design is SO, SO much more user friendly. There truly is no comparison to the frustrating, jumbled, confusing mess of the older IGs. In my mind, the only remedy is to do whatever it takes to get an updated IG. With the new IGs, you will have the parent guide that has ALL the notes, ALL the questions and complete answers for it all. The student guides also have their own complete schedule like the parent guide has, and of course all the notes and questions and writing assignments right on the back page of the weekly schedule and 2 students can easily share one student guide. I highly recommend you upgrade, especially for Core 100---I guarantee you will be pulling your hair out with confusion and frustration trying to use it not only with 2 students, but just trying to cover the notes, Q&A :glare: With the version you have, the parent's guide portion does NOT have the notes the student is supposed to read, does NOT contain the complete questions asked to the student and the writing assignments are contained in some mysterious nether portion of the guide----I found the 'joys' of the continual flipping back and forth from student guide to parent guide so frustrating when dd used this, that we finally gave up on using the guide at all! I will be purchasing the updated guide for ds for this reason alone.
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To us, it's necessary for the fun aspect. It's something I want my boys to have since we enjoyed it in our time. ;) Going to the place that's the right fit for them is equally important to the availability of great academics. If ours didn't want to go, then we'd align our thoughts to what they did want, but we don't have that problem at all.
I guess for over $40,000 a year fees for the 'experience' is worth it if your kids are focused on a particular subject and they are guaranteed a high paying job right out of school to start paying off their loans. Or maybe a family is lucky enough to have no loans at schools that expensive and kids totally focused to boot. My dismay is caused by the cost! I know certain degrees can pay off quickly after graduation, but with the statistics still standing at 1 in 10 unemployed or underemployed after graduation, the college 'experience' to achieve the American Dream is very overpriced, especially since apparently now college is meant for producing a well-rounded individual for let's say business who can converse intelligently in Italian renaissance painting :tongue_smilie:
We all do what works for our families and kids, but I will never stop shaking my head at the jaw dropping costs of college these days, the constant talk of a massive default loan bubble coming and then the continued nose snubbing at cheaper, more focused online degrees that kids can work for with NO debt :001_huh:
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Really? Truly?
I have two college grads and one entering in the fall.
1) My kids have benefited from close relationships with profs. One arranged for two AMAZING internships for dd -- ones that quite probably resulted both in her getting into the #2 grad school in her field and her receiving an NSF grant (the internships were specifically mentioned in the feedback on her application). (Research overseas in a prestigious lab and an internship in her field of interest at the Smithsonian)
2) My kids have done research with profs. "Real" research. None of it resulted in a published paper, but all of it involved them learning the frustrations and the joys of the research process. They are far more prepared for an interesting "nice" job than they would be had they studied the topic with no hands-on experience.
3) My younger son will have four arranged 8-week work periods during his freshman and sophomore years. The school coordinates the student/industry interface. The internships are amazing -- working on the teams for various America's Cup boats, etc. Ds has a local job related to his field of interest that is FAR more interesting and relevant than most jobs for 19yo's, but without the college interface he could not hope to have access to these types of internships.
4) My kids have had references written by Ph.D.'s in their fields of interest, people with whom they have worked with and interacted over several years. I think this is worth far more than a recommendation written by mom!
5) Online classes are NOT the same as being in a class with excited students and face-to-face time with a great prof. While not all colleges and not all college classes provide this, at home my kids would NEVER have this type of stimulating experience! (And I could not hope to teach my kids thermodynamics or advanced physical chemistry!)
The U.S. college system has all kinds of issues. College is not for everyone. But colleges can still provide experiences (academic and off-campus internships) that just aren't available except through the college system.
This is truly wonderful to hear---congrats for your kids! :001_smile: But I NEVER experienced this or saw this at my college. All colleges are not great or give incredible experiences or support of this nature, even if your kids are exceptional. I'm not bashing college in general, but there's no way this experience is the norm.
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I wish we could homeschool for college. Picking and choosing our curriculum and only taking the courses that are important. Think a job would accept my "mom" degree? LOL
Lol---wouldn't that be nice :tongue_smilie: We all know that would never, ever go----way, way too much money in higher Ed.
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Yes, but is university the right time to be doing that?
What struck me when I lived in Europe is that even the people I met that had 10th grade graduations leading to apprenticeships seemed more well-spoken on what was going on in the world than most US college students I knew. There they get the broad education in secondary ed, and university is for specialization. University should not be a requirement to be generally well educated.
:iagree: My point exactly! College is generally VERY expensive, and shouldn't be wasted on this unless a student chooses it. Not picking on you personally Creekland, but the attitude of discrimination towards online or more focused degrees just fuels this higher education bubble, encouraging people to take out loans for higher ticket degrees :glare:
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Oh yes--I know---well-rounded students with a nice broad education that does not prepare them for a specific career if that's what the major is supposedly directed towards. I can understand a basic Liberal Arts degree, but for things like business it boggles my mind. Some of the online colleges I have been looking at for myself have very focused courses for the specific major, and yet the more expensive recognized 'brand name' schools with online degrees require more courses in extraneous subjects and literally cost between 3-5 times more. It's so confusing and frustrating for me, and then leaves me even more stumped because I am very hesitant to recommend some of these schools to my son because of the prejudice he might run up against if he doesn't have a more expensive, recognized school name on a resume :glare:
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In looking into returning to college to finish my degree myself in a couple of years, I am absolutely struck about something: the amount of electives that have NOTHING to do with a given major necessary in order to complete a degree!!! In looking at a BSBA----why is it necessary to take art history, American history etc??? Biology, chemistry?? Almost half of a major is General Ed and Electives?! What a waste of time! And looking at housing it looks like the housing expenses, compared to real world rent, are about $1000 or more a month----with no privacy or cooking facilities! No wonder college is so overpriced, no wonder kids have to take out such expensive loans----all so they have a piece of paper that says they are job ready---but they aren't really because their education was large and wide as opposed to laser focused on a particular career/major focus. :glare:
I guess I am just now seeing something I didn't back when I first started college, but the amount of wasted time/money on classes that should have been covered in high school is ridiculous. I am so glad ds is now planning on College Plus to avoid this racket also, as he is interested in getting a BSBA and I'm so glad he will be able to CLEP out of the fluff electives so he can get to the meat of his major. He'll still be paying quite a bit for a degree, but at least it won't be $35000++ for mostly fluff :tongue_smilie:
Am I the only one who seriously questions the sanity of this? I guess all these years homeschooling have left me critical of too much maybe...
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We have all bombed understanding proofs in this house---even mathy ds! I tried very hard to understand them to teach and explain using the MUS DVD and solutions manual, but It was no use :001_huh:
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I did email the company today since there was no easy way to see if a homeschool mom could order on the actual site---and I was informed they are MORE than happy to sell to homeschoolers! I am seriously looking at this now as it looks greAt and doesn't leave me with reservations like BJU lit does.
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:lurk5: I've never heard of these texts, but they look as thorough as BJU lit!
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I also make it clear all of the things that I DON'T value, so there is no wasted discussion: prom (gag me), school sports, and school social life.
OK, this is my favorite part of your quote!! I wish I knew more people like you IRL----our small town is ALL ABOUT....prom (gag), school team sports (gag) AND the social life revolves around here on the ONE public school...:001_huh:
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Wow-sounds really exciting! :D
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:grouphug::grouphug: so, so sorry Julie, but your husband Shane is now with the Lord with no more pain and suffering. My prayers go out to your and your children in dealing with your grief and loss.
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I say KEEP IT :D You won it, your son does not need it. I won an Ipad 2 last year and kept it and I LOVE it!!! I never knew how convenient and useful a tablet was until I got this thing.
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Gently, to answer your original question, yes it's a waste of time to post here. Sometimes, all I really feel like doing is wasting time, so it's perfect. However, don't look to this board for personal affirmation or to feel noticed and valued. You will not find that here. If you never posted again, the vast majority of the people on here wouldn't notice (they wouldn't notice me either). Don't feel bad about that! Just realize the truth of it. Do NOT invest emotionally into being affirmed here. This is not the place to find your value. If you did get your affirmation here, I would call that unhealthy.
I have had seasons when I invested too much (time, emotions, ect) into an Internet board, just to realize that it was pointless. It helps to take breaks. Maybe some time away from the board is in order?
((hugs))
:iagree:
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Actually, it's over $136,000 and her story is about to break on the Today Show.
http://www.indiegogo.com/loveforkarenhklein?c=comments
Some of the comments are suggesting funding a retirement for her.
As for the kids, it is plain scary some of the comments I've read. If I were the parent of one of those boys, I'd be very worried for my son's physical safety. I think they should be punished, but there are some real whackadoodles out there. I saw where one guy offered $1000 to the first person to give him the full name of the lead bully!
Is it bad of me to believe that these monsters being in danger is the ONLY way they will understand how awful their behavior truly was? Society is horrified at them---and they should understand that actions like this go FAR beyond a time out or suspension, but could earn them a pack of outraged civilized human beings looking to really teach them a lesson in respect and proper behavior. They deserve to be scared".....
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The truth is that your children would not behave like this.
What was seen on the bus was the result of decades of coddling, of telling children "You are special", of refusal to adhere to basic standards of morality, of abandoning any standards of behavior, of removing all threat of punishment, of psychobabble rather than parenting, of screeching every time a parent spanks his child, of condemning the good kids when they stand up to the bad ones.
This is the world that the "experts" demanded when they decided that they knew better than a parent how to raise children, when psychobabble became the norm. These kids do not need a counselor, they will never understand why they were wrong, all that we can hope for is that when they leave school fear of real punishment will keep them from straying....but that is, alas, a forlorn hope.
Of course this is a wider problem, it is not just the way we raise children but society as a whole that faces enormous problems. A society that also refuses to maintain standards, that expects someone else to take responsibility for one's every need, that has discarded personal responsibility and accountability, that makes excuses for outrageous behavior.....well what did we really expect?
:iagree::iagree: 100%
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LOL---too funny! I just figured I had grown 3 chins and not noticed it yet :tongue_smilie:
Dual enroll at home through College Plus????
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
Not all majors they offer can be done totally online. For music majors, I do believe they help you find a close enough school where you can fulfill the required credits in person.