Anyone using Oak Meadow for high school?

[Greta]

I asked this as part of another thread, but thought it might get more attention if I separated it out. I'm looking for study-at-home but enrolled-with-an-accredited-school options for 7th - 12th. I know that Oak Meadow is very relaxed and gentle in the early years. Does it stay that way through middle and high school as well? I'm looking for something really academically solid and comprehensive. Could Oak Meadow work or should I look elsewhere?

 

Thanks!

[mbholly]

I am using Oak Meadow curriculum for only a few high school courses. We are using "World Geography" and "The Story of Art/Integrated Drawing". The geography course uses a Glencoe textbook. I like it and find it comprehensive. I like that each week, there are comprehension questions as well as some options for essays or hands on projects.

The text for art is a great read. I am learning a lot right along with my son :).

[Greta]

I am using Oak Meadow curriculum for only a few high school courses. We are using "World Geography" and "The Story of Art/Integrated Drawing". The geography course uses a Glencoe textbook. I like it and find it comprehensive. I like that each week, there are comprehension questions as well as some options for essays or hands on projects.

The text for art is a great read. I am learning a lot right along with my son :).

 

Sounds nice! Thank you for posting! :001_smile:

[AHASRADA]

My ds is in grade 9, and I wanted him to earn credits from an accredited high school program. We decided to go eclectic and use a few different schools this year so we can determine if there is one we prefer and want to use for the rest of HS, or if this mix fits him, etc.

 

He is taking English through Oak Meadow. Honestly, I chose OM for English because I wasn't satisfied with the English classes at the other schools I looked at. To be fair, I never actually saw the course materials or assignments for the others schools. I made this value judgement based on the fact that the others used anthologies rather than real, complete books for literature study. I have been very pleased with the book selection for OM grade 9 English. It includes Wizard of Earthsea, Animal Farm, Our Town and To Kill and Mockingbird, as well as some poetry. It is very, very strong in literary analysis. There is a lot of writing. Ds has actually been overwhelmed by the amount of writing, since I never required much, but it has been a huge growth experience for him. That said, there really isn't any writing "instruction" per se, so I have been providing that myself. However, the OM teacher is available to review assignments/rough drafts and provide guidance if the students seeks it.

 

I did not chose to enroll him in any other OM courses this year, in large part due to the cost, but also because OM requires a deeper level of study and higher order thinking than he honestly has time to work through in every course. I love their questions which ask the student to really think through the material they have read, make connections, draw conclusions, etc. Another thing that sets OM apart is the fact that they offer choices of assignments in many cases. In a science or history course, for example, they will have the choice to write an essay/research paper, make a model or draw an example. For his study of Our Town, he can either write an essay, or act out a scene from the play, videotape it and send it to his teacher.

 

I love the creative aspect and respecting each student's individuality. In practicality, though, all this creative soul-searching takes a lot of time and effort. I'm sure it works for some kids, but mine takes forever to complete assignment and would be overwhelmed by too many of these "deep" classes.

 

Therefore, he is taking 2 courses from American School and 2 more from Keystone. I am very pleased with both schools, although Keystone offers more teacher support, and their online courses provide for instant feedback on practice quizzes and 3-day correction for other assignments. Both schools do a great job of guiding the student through the material and helping them to digest and retain the information, but in a typical "public school" way. That is, read, test, read, test, etc. There are questions that require them to have assimilated the material, but not in the higher-order thinking way of OM. For us, it's not important to have this depth in all subjects, some things can just be covered, get credit and move on, so that is what we are using these courses for.

 

Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.

[Greta]

He is taking English through Oak Meadow. . . . .

 

Thank you, this was hugely helpful! It is so nice to get these kinds of insights from someone using the program. This makes me think that in the case of my particular daughter, Oak Meadow would work extremely well. She hates the more traditional read and regurgitate approach (though I always did well with that myself) and would thrive on this sort of creativity. Not being the creative type myself though (sometimes I wonder how my own flesh and blood can think so differently from the way I do) I do not want to take the time and make the effort to do deep, projecty things with her. I'm more of a finish the worksheet and be done type. I've done her a disservice in this regard. Maybe OM could help correct that. I'm leaning strongly towards giving it a try for 7th next year, and then we would certainly have a better idea if and how much of their high school would work for us.

 

Thank you again, I really appreciate it!