Questions about BJU Online Classes

[mamato4girls]

I am leaning towards BJU online for my rising 10th grader. She is a great self starter and doesn't put things off to the last minute and likes to work on the computer (we've done TT math for 2 years). My concerns are her doing everything online. I feel she needs more "book" time. Does that make sense?

I guess in my mind I see her at the computer 6 hours a day, but I am guessing that isn't really the case? Also I know it is a better "deal" to buy the whole package, but I am really thinking of doing just Math, Science, and Grammar/Writing through the online classes. Anyone have any experience or feedback?

[Hockey Mom]

We did BJU online at the beginning of the year. We ultimately switched to the DVDs because we couldn't get the videos to play correctly (buffer/freeze/buffer/freeze). I have been told that they have since corrected that problem. I would make sure you ask before you buy though.

 

My boys are a LOT younger than your DD. We are doing the K5 and 1st grade kits. So with that in mind, my K5 kiddo takes about 90 minutes of video time (3 short videos), and my 1st grader is about 3 hours (5 video classes). They also do a lot of seatwork (worksheets).

 

I also read recently that you can purchase JUST the subjects you are interested in, instead of buying the entire grade kit. But I don't know the details of that. It might cheaper to go that route. Here is the comparison chart they have on their website: http://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=11201&pageName=distance-learning-compare-options

[Susan C.]

I bought whole grade for 12th grade for my son. We had a hard time getting it all done. One day I said, hey, let's just watch all of the dvds, then we'll do the work. He was still watching them at dinner time. Some dvds are 30 min., math/science are 45 min. But, some of them say to stop and do problems/etc. and come back to the dvd. Its also hard to watch dvds for several hours straight without a break. We ended up doing two classes with the dvds (English and Math), changed to Apologia for science, and did Govt./Econ. without the dvds. Our family seems to have a two dvd class limit, or its too much! :)

[ccm]

My daughter is using BJU DVDs for ninth grade now, and she will be using them for tenth grade next year. Like Susan, we do not use the entire grade. She has BJU Geography, Literature, and Spanish; Apologia Biology in a co-op class; VideoText Algebra with me. I am a bit concerned about too much screen time next year because I plan to add BJU Geometry into the mix. My daughter likes the videos and the different teachers for each subject. I've been very pleased with the experience this year.

[Jugglin'5]

My older kids will be doing their math, science, history, Bible, and Spanish with BJU online next year. They are only doing 1 or 2 classes this year (math and/or science). We have done almost the full schedule in previous years, and it worked well. I figure that since it costs the same anyway, I can let them each drop a class or two if it is too much.

 

I am ordering the complete grade level for my two elementary age students and i will probably drop one or two when I figure out which teachers/classes are the most beneficial to them. It doesn't cost anymore to do it this way.

 

We will do English/Lit and Latin/Greek on our own. The younger ones will get historical fiction added in to the history courses. I feel that they will get plenty of reading this way.

[mamato4girls]

Cost aside, if I did the whole thing and decided I only wanted her to do 2 or 3 classes, do they count her "absent" or claim she didn't attend/do the work? How does that work?

I am ordering the complete grade level for my two elementary age students and i will probably drop one or two when I figure out which teachers/classes are the most beneficial to them. It doesn't cost anymore to do it this way.

 

We will do English/Lit and Latin/Greek on our own. The younger ones will get historical fiction added in to the history courses. I feel that they will get plenty of reading this way.

[Susan C.]

Cost aside, if I did the whole thing and decided I only wanted her to do 2 or 3 classes, do they count her "absent" or claim she didn't attend/do the work? How does that work?

 

Unless you are enrolled in their academy, you get to do what you want. :) You are watching dvds, not attending a class. Everything is for you to use as you wish.

[Jugglin'5]

Unless you are enrolled in their academy, you get to do what you want. :) You are watching dvds, not attending a class. Everything is for you to use as you wish.

 

Yep!

[DesertDweller]

We're doing Spanish1 and Physical Science this year using the DVD's. Both are 45 minutes.

 

Dd also does BJU Geography, Algebra1, and Grammar/Literature on her own without the DVD's.

 

It does take time to watch the class and then do the homework. There are also days (mainly with science) that she will start and stop when the teacher is asking questions that she needs to do during the class. This makes the class take longer. OTOH, there are times when she can fast forward through things that are unimportant or that she doesn't need to watch.

 

We are planning on ordering the whole kit next year. I don't know that I'll have her watch all the classes. Right now, I'm thinking she'll for sure watch Geometry, Biology, and History. She is switching to American Sign Language, so that will be at a coop, and I'll probably have her continue grammar/literature on her own. Not sure though. We'll watch the DVD's a bit in the beginning to determine if we want to use them.

[Susan C.]

Unless you are enrolled in their academy, you get to do what you want. :) You are watching dvds, not attending a class. Everything is for you to use as you wish.

 

In case someone is new to using BJU dvds, you rent the dvds and have to send them back, but you get to keep the books. They have arrangements to keep the dvds one or two more years for next kids (it didn't work out that way for me, my kids are four years apart...).

[Cindyg]

I am leaning towards BJU online for my rising 10th grader....I guess in my mind I see her at the computer 6 hours a day...

 

I'ved used HomeSat for six years, and this year we're using it online. We (DS and I) are not at all sitting in front of the computer for 6 hours.

 

First of all, we view the classes on the TV screen, not on a computer. It's a small distinction, but it puts us sitting together on the couch, not him isolated in front of a TV where he might toggle over to a chat room and while the day away. :)

 

Secondly, we don't watch all the programming. We watch what we enjoy and what we need. We skip the rest. It's a great comfort to me to have the content there; but we don't partake of everything. Mom's choice. :)

 

Third, there's plenty of workbook/textbook work to do. (I've not done Grade 10, but I assume there's a lot of reading and writing to do.)

 

Fourth, while the content is delivered through the internet and watched over a screen, it is really more like video learning than online learning. It doesn't actually require much technical savvy, and you're not interacting with the computer anymore than you interact with the DVD player watching a DVD. (Again, I've not done 10th grade; maybe it's different.) So you need to decide whether you'd like that kind of school.

 

Personally, we've been very pleased with the BJUP program as our spine for everything for 6 years. We're free to pick and choose, to enrich or skip, to slow down or speed up -- and always, there is the option of well organized, well researched, and well delivered instruction for every single lesson. (And Mom doesn't have to know everything about everything to get the lesson delivered.)

[mamato4girls]

Thank ya'll so much, that was so helpful!