Good news for chemistry

[Gwen in VA]

Chem Advantage is offering Honors Chemistry again this year! Originally they had thought they wouldn't, but after thinking things through, they decided to.

 

(My connection with ChemAdvantage is just as a satisfied parent -- my older son took AP chem and my younger son took Honors Chem this year and will do AP chem next year)

[Michelle in AL]

Oh no, now I have another choice. I originally wanted my dd to take Honors Chem too, and when I saw they weren't offering it I began searching to see what she could do on her own.

 

Can you tell me the daily time requirement for this class?

 

Can the student take the class and do well with no outside help from you?

 

Does the teacher make chemistry interesting and bring it to life?

[Michelle in AL]

Does the class meet all together each week or is it asynchronous?

 

Thanks for all your help!

[Moira in MA]

Thanks for posting this Gwen, I was really disappointed that he'd taken the class out of his offerings.

 

Now if only somebody steps up with a manageable biology course in 2011 -- dd1 is taking AP bio with PAH but it isn't being offered this year, so I'm doubtful about how I'll handle that science for dd2 -- I'll be all set.

 

~Moira

[Gwen in VA]

The class is entirely asynchronous. The students don't interact at all.

 

Daily time requirements -- my son probably spent an hour per day on average, occasionally more, and very very rarely much more (mostly due to my son not planning well). It is not an easy class, but the teacher is incredibly supportive, he is great about responding quickly to questions, and he is wonderful about granting an extension if the student has questions early on the day something is due.

 

My son did this class with absolutely no help or supervision or nagging from me. The assignments are clear, and the teacher responds to questions quickly enough that my son could always move ahead on his work. (Translation -- he wasn't stuck for a day or two waiting for an email response to a question.)

 

My son took the class because he is interested in engineering and he understands that he needs a rigorous chem class. He was not expecting to LIKE the class -- but he does. It is far and away his favorite class this year, he enjoys the problem sets (!!!!!), and he has found the labs fun and satisfying.

[Michelle in AL]

Thanks Gwen, it sounds very good!

[April in CA]

Thank you Gwen!

Could you tell us how much time AP Chem took your son daily/weekly on average? How were the labs? My son is doing chemistry with DIVE this year, and he is enjoying it, so I am thinking about AP chem for next year. Thanks so much!

Blessings,

April

[Gwen in VA]

AP chemistry --

 

My older ds took AP chemistry without the benefit of a strong chem background, so for the first few weeks it took an amazing amount of time. After the initial few weeks, though, where he crammed most of what he should have learned in a decent chem class, the class only took him 1 - 1.5 hours per day. It was not his most time-consuming class by any means.

 

The labs were outstanding -- they all worked!!! and they didn't take too much time.