Maverick_Mom Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Yesterday I had ds take their free online learning assessment, and I was really impressed with the feedback from it. If they work to address a student's individual learning profile, that's great. Their programs are pricey, though. Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone has any experience with them. Ds will be a sophomore next year -- not only do I think he could benefit from having someone else be his teacher, but I think the online option would suit him well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick_Mom Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Is this one connected with m i m i r o th s c h i l d? I spaced those out so this thread wouldn't show up on one of her searches--I don't need a lawsuit... There was an earlier discussion of Bridgeway on WTM. Oh, heavens, I hope not. I'm familiar with all of that but couldn't remember her name. I'm definitely not interested in a program that has any connection with that. Will have to do a little digging to find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomeinMT Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Not the same folks. I started to look into Bridgeway because one of the kids I tutor for math and science was using them. His family has been very happy. I believe their accredidation is through the state of Pennsylvania,but can't say for sure. I haven't had any personal experience with them yet but am considering it for my dd since she may want to go to high school her junior/senior year. MT does not accept courses from nonaccredited schools and I know that the family I'm working with has had one child return to the local high school and all of his courses from Bridgeway were accepted for full credit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomeinMT Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Looked it up, here's a link to their page with accreditations: http://www.homeschoolacademy.com/bridgeway-advantage/accreditation-accredited/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 At the convention last year I spent a nice amount of time looking at their booth. I haven't done the online assessment you mentioned. However I talked with the lady who I think is their administrator. What particularly struck me about her was how *in-tune* she was with the abilities of special students. I went up saying CAN'T and she started talking about CANs. That alone was a good thing. And she seemed to be a pretty out of the box person herself. ;) I didn't look at them a ton, but they did have a notebook on the table with lesson plans you could look at. I don't know if they have samples online? What they had in their notebook for samples was SURPRISINGLY thorough. It gave me the sense that they had put a lot of time and effort into making well thought out plans for materials. And given how *broad* their choices were for what they could pull from for a student, I was really surprised. So I didn't ask pricing, but I'm guessing you'd be perceiving value in what you're getting. So I don't know. We're still winging things our own way. I'm just saying the lady impressed me as someone who thought out of the box, understood kids, thought of them in a positive light, and was trying to keep things practical and enjoyable for all. Can't beat that. I didn't catch that they had online programs. I was seeing curriculum and lesson plans. If they have online stuff, is it classes with a live group for discussions, chats, etc.? Or is a recorded thing? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 At the convention last year I spent a nice amount of time looking at their booth. I haven't done the online assessment you mentioned. However I talked with the lady who I think is their administrator. What particularly struck me about her was how *in-tune* she was with the abilities of special students. I went up saying CAN'T and she started talking about CANs. That alone was a good thing. And she seemed to be a pretty out of the box person herself. ;) I didn't look at them a ton, but they did have a notebook on the table with lesson plans you could look at. I don't know if they have samples online? What they had in their notebook for samples was SURPRISINGLY thorough. It gave me the sense that they had put a lot of time and effort into making well thought out plans for materials. And given how *broad* their choices were for what they could pull from for a student, I was really surprised. So I didn't ask pricing, but I'm guessing you'd be perceiving value in what you're getting. So I don't know. We're still winging things our own way. I'm just saying the lady impressed me as someone who thought out of the box, understood kids, thought of them in a positive light, and was trying to keep things practical and enjoyable for all. Can't beat that. I didn't catch that they had online programs. I was seeing curriculum and lesson plans. If they have online stuff, is it classes with a live group for discussions, chats, etc.? Or is a recorded thing? They offer an accredited online High School program. It looks like this is relatively new. I read through some of their online descriptions and it looks interesting. They offer both honors and AP courses. I don't know if we would ever use an all-in-one package like this. It is several thousand dollars. But it looks well put together and the price is reasonable for all that is provided. There are definate advantages to something like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 :lurk5: If anyone's done this with a really asynchronous kid (one who needs both elementary and high school content at the same time, for example), I'd love to know how it worked. DD is moving into high school content in many areas, and really seems to do better with someone besides me to be responsible to, and I like the idea of an accredited diploma, especially if she might end up graduating early. And, really, this isn't much more expensive than what I'm paying to piece together what we're doing now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 They offer an accredited online High School program. It looks like this is relatively new. I read through some of their online descriptions and it looks interesting. They offer both honors and AP courses. I don't know if we would ever use an all-in-one package like this. It is several thousand dollars. But it looks well put together and the price reasonable for all that is provided. There are definate advantages to something like this. Just looked, and their "AP" stuff is Thinkwell. And for the science they listed for the online, they charged an additional fee for the labs (as in you could do the class and skip them). What I found intriguing about them was their willingness to talk through each subject with you and chose eclectically from options, maybe finding things you hadn't considered, to put together a package, and then to have lesson plans for all those materials. But just to stick my kid in front of Thinkwell and online videos, I can't do that, not with my kid. But I'm sure it fits someone else's kid, or they wouldn't be doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 :lurk5: If anyone's done this with a really asynchronous kid (one who needs both elementary and high school content at the same time, for example), I'd love to know how it worked. DD is moving into high school content in many areas, and really seems to do better with someone besides me to be responsible to, and I like the idea of an accredited diploma, especially if she might end up graduating early. And, really, this isn't much more expensive than what I'm paying to piece together what we're doing now... Just to be really polite, I don't think you're their niche. I would keep chosing stuff yourself. You don't need an accredited diploma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Just looked, and their "AP" stuff is Thinkwell. And for the science they listed for the online, they charged an additional fee for the labs (as in you could do the class and skip them). What I found intriguing about them was their willingness to talk through each subject with you and chose eclectically from options, maybe finding things you hadn't considered, to put together a package, and then to have lesson plans for all those materials. But just to stick my kid in front of Thinkwell and online videos, I can't do that, not with my kid. But I'm sure it fits someone else's kid, or they wouldn't be doing it. Are you saying their AP courses are simply repackaged Thinkwell? Or could it be that they use Thinkwell with their own instructors/materials, etc...? Don't AP courses have to follow a certain S&S in prep for the exam? Maybe Thinkwell has already put these together for them? Unfortunately I can't stand the main Thinkwell instructor, Edward Burger. His voice is like nails on a chalkboard whenever I hear him speak. But that's just me and it doesn't mean he's not a good teacher. I'm sure many students like his instruction. Here is a sample of the Calculus course. http://www.thinkwell...roduct/calculus I think there is *some value* in a dilploma from an accredited school even though we most likely will not go this route. This is more true when combined with honors, AP and other courses, along with their transcripts and other documents college admission boards look at. For the majority of us who go the self-styled High School route we'll use other things such as Dual Enrollment, individual online courses, SAT scores, etc... to help validate the mom/dad grades given. One isn't necessarily better than the other. Its just another option and for some simplifies the process quite a bit. My biggest question would be how much could it be tailored to the individual student based on strengths, weaknesses, goals, interests, etc..? Could it work for both LA and STEM directed students equally? Or would it favor one type of student over others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygurl4 Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 :bigear: Hoping you get some more replies. I'm considering Bridgeway for ds, also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Has anyone heard back from Bridgeway on specific questions regarding types of curriculum used? I called and spoke with a customer service rep who was very friendly. Though I did have a hard time getting details/specifics about specific courses. For example a typical question I asked was "what curriculum do you use for AP Calculus?" Though friendly the rep he was unable to answer the question and I haven't heard back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Update: It turns out that they did get back to me. Joel was the rep. But his emails were going to junk mail. So here is a listing of some of their curriculum they use which they also said gets updated frequently as they add more options: "... ACE Aleks Alpha/Omega Publications (Switched-on-Schoolhouse) Cretical Thinking Co. Evan Moore Horizons Paradigm Rosetta Stone Singapore Apologia Steck Vaughn Peace Hill Press Pearson Easy Grammar Life of Fred Saxon Walch Tell Me More Write Source Zeane-Blosser Worldly Wise Mind Leaders Oxford University Press This list, while not entirely exhaustive, is definitely representative... Also, as far as STEM students are concerned, we offer Saxon, Apologia, Pearson for Math and Science. While we don't really have any engineering, we do offer AP Calc and Physics - and Advanced Physics through Apologia, as well as Compass Learning, through which we also offer AP Calc, as well as Chem, Physics, Bio etc." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygurl4 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Update: It turns out that they did get back to me. Joel was the rep. But his emails were going to junk mail. So here is a listing of some of their curriculum they use which they also said gets updated frequently as they add more options: "... ACE Aleks Alpha/Omega Publications (Switched-on-Schoolhouse) Cretical Thinking Co. Evan Moore Horizons Paradigm Rosetta Stone Singapore Apologia Steck Vaughn Peace Hill Press Pearson Easy Grammar Life of Fred Saxon Walch Tell Me More Write Source Zeane-Blosser Worldly Wise Mind Leaders Oxford University Press This list, while not entirely exhaustive, is definitely representative... Also, as far as STEM students are concerned, we offer Saxon, Apologia, Pearson for Math and Science. While we don't really have any engineering, we do offer AP Calc and Physics - and Advanced Physics through Apologia, as well as Compass Learning, through which we also offer AP Calc, as well as Chem, Physics, Bio etc." That sure is a lot! I like all the choices. Do they help you choose according to your students needs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 That sure is a lot! I like all the choices. Do they help you choose according to your students needs? Yes, based on my discussions with them they try to tailor their program for the individual child and use assessment tools to help with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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