Ditto. OP, that's where Derek Owens sells his printed workbooks.

We watch a lot of shows by streaming them on the computer and "projecting" the computer screen wirelessly through our Roku to the TV, through our Wi-Fi network. On my Dell, it's initiated by using the function key F7 and selecting the Roku for the output. Other computers may be different, I don't know.

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Adding on, former Landry teachers have also ended up at: Open Tent Academy http://www.opententacademy.com/ The Academy at Bright Ideas Press https://academy.brightideaspress.com/

FWIW, we're not doing the parent-graded option, instead opting to have DO do the grading (currently in DO geometry, having also used DO prealg and DO alg 1 previously), but we view the separate homework sheets - which is what we send in for grading - as quizzes. DS has found that the homework sheets/"quizzes" tend to more closely resemble the problems on the tests, as opposed to the "practice problems" from the text, which are not sent in for grading. Which makes sense to me because DO creates the homework sheets himself, as well as the tests. But since your DD is doing well on the tests, it must not be an issue for her! :)

Just wanted to chime in about the bolded . . . My son is taking Wasko Lit's ancient lit class this year and I consider it VERY low output. There is a weekly multiple choice quiz of approximately 5-10 questions, just to make sure the kids keep up with the reading, and it takes my son less than 10 minutes per week to take that quiz. Probably more like 5 minutes. DS wrote one 2-page paper last semester and has done a Powerpoint project this semester. That's it. He spends maybe 2, rarely 3, hours per week on the reading assignments. The online class itself is one hour per week at a scheduled time. The class is very much about enjoying and understanding the books through class discussion. It seems Mr. Wasko doesn't believe in working a book to death. There is minimal output required. We're pleased with it. DS wants to take another Wasko class next year. http://www.waskolit.com/

That's awesome! Congratulations to your DD! So cool and inspiring.

FundaFunda Academy has a great Computer Applications course. My DS loves the way the class works and the assignments/projects he's completed. It is up-to-date, well-designed, and very relevant. Here's a link to the course page as well as blog post with more info about it. The price listed is per semester. It's a full-year course. The class is asynchronous so you don't have to be online at a scheduled time, but there are weekly deadlines to keep the student on track. http://www.fundafundaacademy.com/product/computer-fundamentals/ http://fundafunda.com/blog/fundafundas-computer-fundamentals-class.html

My son is taking LTOW 1 right now (outsourced). I asked him if he could help. Here's what he said: Amplification makes our argument more persuasive and more emphatic. It addresses "who cares?" and "why?"' Here is one of his amplifications on an essay about The Giver (I'm hoping this will help, but if your DD hasn't read that particular book it may not mean much, so I will ask DS to find another example if this one isn't clear, just let me know). "This decision matters to Jonas because if he had not accepted the career he was offered, he would have been re-assigned to “laborer.†This would have led to a harsh, short, and back-breaking life for Jonas." If you'd like to hear more from DS, a different example, or the complete essay that he wrote about The Giver, just let me know, and we'll try to help.

My DS is taking a semester course with WriteAtHome currently. I've been pleased so far. It seems like the writing coach assigned to him for this semester really spends some time thinking about how to guide him and she also strikes a good balance between encouragement and helpful criticism. She points out the strengths but doesn't gush over the writing (like previous teachers have done, which really isn't terribly helpful), and she points out the weaknesses by asking Socratic-style questions, so DS can improve the current paper and also apply it to future writing. There is no live class. New assignments are given and papers are exchanged once per week on Thursdays, although you can send a question to your writing coach anytime. All interaction takes place through the WriteAtHome website (not email). As I understand it, if your student doesn't click with his/her writing coach, you can request a different one. The parent can also request that the writing coach focus on specific areas of concern, in addition to what they would normally cover. Just for reference, DS has taken writing courses with WTMA (WWS1), Bravewriter (KidsWrite Intermediate), CLRC (Intro to Lit and Comp), and Circe Institute (Lost Tools of Writing 1), but has never received as much genuinely helpful feedback as he's getting right now with WriteAtHome. I consider him a strong writer for his grade/age, but there's always room for improvement. If you'd like to see a sample of his writing with feedback, feel free to PM me. We plan to use WriteAtHome again next year for at least three of their workshop classes (Essay 1, Essay 2, and Research Paper). If WriteAtHome wasn't working for us, we'd go back to Bravewriter next year, although BW costs about twice as much per week of instruction, and I think we're getting more valuable, universally applicable feedback from WriteAtHome. DS is also taking a live online lit class from Mr. Wasko, the founder of WriteAtHome, and he loves Mr. Wasko's teaching style, so that - plus other previous positive reviews here on the forum - drew us to trying WriteAtHome in the first place. HTH.

Whether or not a particular instructor uses workshop format is supposed to be included in the instructor's bio on the WTMA website. http://www.wtmacademy.com/instructors/

Woot! That's awesome! Congrats to your DD! :party:

I just wanted to comment on this part, for others who may be reading . . . we're on our fourth DO class here (3 math classes and physical science). The 12-month limit might apply to the special circumstances where DO allows you to pay half-price and you do the grading yourself, but I have never seen this 12-month limit applied to the regular, DO-graded classes. The regular, DO-graded classes do have a maximum of 9 monthly payments however . . . you only pay for 9 months at the most, even if it takes your student longer to finish the class.

How about a plushy, warm blanket for her hospital bed?

I think it would depend a lot on her workload in other subjects. I considered WTMA biology for my DS this year but went with something else due to the reviews here indicating quite a heavy workload in the WTMA bio class. Which I think is fine if that's what you want. It seems to be a rigorous, very thorough course. FWIW, another option you might consider is FundaFunda Academy. They have a secular high school bio course that uses the Miller-Levine textbook. ETA: Here's a thread about the workload in WTMA Bio, in case you haven't seen it already. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/577166-wtm-academy-biology/

That's awesome news! Congratulations!

I'm sorry, I'm not quite understanding what you meant by the bolded. I got a bit long-winded in my earlier post, but my impression from your OP was that you're disappointed in the level of instruction, and I was just trying to say that maybe it's because you're looking for something that is inherently not offered in the (lower-level, basic) course your DS is presently enrolled in. The workshops that I mentioned might be a better fit for the more advanced writing skills you said you wanted. I don't know if its too late in the semester to switch or not. Again, maybe I'm sort of fuzzy on what you wanted. My apologies if I misunderstood and extrapolated something that I shouldn't have. :)

Yes, 2015 is the most recent.

Mirabillis, is your DS is taking a 1-semester comp course with WriteAtHome, since you mentioned he just started? If so, have you looked ahead at what it covers compared to their other offerings? The 1-semester courses are basic and do start off in what could seem a slow fashion for a student who has done as much previous writing as your DS has. Narrative and descriptive assignments are first, just to cover the very basics. Then they move on to an expository paper and finally a basic persuasive essay. It sounds like perhaps your DS is beyond that level already. And if you're editing his papers before he turns them in, then you're doing work that you've already paid someone else to do. ;) For us, the best part of WAH is the feedback from the writing coaches. It has more impact on DS than any comments I make, and DS is able to apply it to future assignments due to the Scoratic nature of it too. Considering your son's extensive previous writing experience, I think you'd be getting more bang for your buck if he were placed in the workshop classes that actually teach what you're asking for: Essay 1 workshop, Essay 2 workshop, Research Paper- Informative, Research Paper-Persuasive, and Literary Analysis. FWIW, we also have experience with LToW1, and it teaches only the persuasive essay. The first semester is very basic, not much volume of writing, but more foundational learning and thinking. It picks up some in the second semester.

Under "Tuition", at the top of the homepage. http://www.wtmacademy.com/tuition/

:laugh: That's a great story. Love it. Also feeling relieved since we're DO users and that bit of validation from an outsider is nice to hear! Thanks for posting that.

This is a common question. The video I've linked below helped me a lot. It shows SWB herself doing dictation with one of her sons. Real life stuff. There's also a part 2 video that you can look up if this is helpful.

In our community, we found that many of the usual volunteer activities had a minimum age requirement that excluded my DS . . . until we checked with a local retirement home and "created" an opportunity for him. The retirement home doesn't have an official volunteer program, but they have an enrichment program for the residents that offers offering bingo, bean-bag baseball, etc. on a regular weekly basis with set days/times. My son asked if he could help the enrichment coordinator with that and it has worked out great! They are thrilled to have him. He's grown rather fond of several residents too, which is nice because we do not live near any of his own biological grandparents, so these residents have started filling kind of a surrogate-grandparent role for him. He always feels great about helping out and getting to know them. And, another bonus, the enrichment coordinator now trusts my son enough to let him lead the activities . . . AND tomorrow he is kicking off a brand new program for them with science demonstrations to hopefully help engage more residents (the ones aren't especially into bingo and the other games). So, leadership opportunities combined with community service . . . and big confidence booster for DS. Anyway, that's another idea for a type of volunteer activity you might want to check into. And if that isn't your daughter's thing, another idea is becoming a "book buddy" at a daycare, preschool, or elementary school. That was also on my DS's radar. Here, book buddies just spend regular weekly time reading aloud to/with the younger kids either individually or in groups. No minimum age requirement around here for that one either, just a willingness to help.

That's great! I remember a year ago struggling with this decision, what geometry course to go with. If we didn't need self-paced and asynchronous, we'd have looked into Jann's class too. I know how good it feels to have made the decision. :)

Do you know for sure if Jann's math class involves the teacher grading the homework, or if student/parent checks their own? I might be mistaken and thinking of a different class, but my fuzzy thinking vaguely recalls that Jann grades tests only. I could be wrong but you might want to check on that if that's something you're not comfortable with.